Submitted Concerns

Forum Post Why is “Pomp and Circumstance” no longer played at Commencement for our graduating seniors, who are expected to seat themselves in silence, whereas it is played for the commencement platform–mostly administrators? It sends the wrong message, because the administrators are not the ones being honored at Commencement. Please honor our graduating seniors. I’ve […]

Forum Post It seems really tone-deaf to me to have a Provost search on top of the Chancellor of Pullman position. This will grow our already byzantine upper administration while we are repeatedly asked to give back college level funds. ~Anonymous Faculty  Response The Faculty Senate Executive Officers have been notified of this forum post […]

Forum Post In Part II of the ‘misinformation’ series, we specifically address WSU’s research enterprise. President Schulz lauded our recent 3% increase in R&D and movement up one position in the HERD rankings. We argue that these accomplishments fall far short of expectations and do little to reinvigorate our stagnant research enterprise. Once again, the […]

Forum Post Dear Colleagues, Recent posts on the Faculty Senate Forum have raised concerns about WSU and its leadership but are themselves flawed. Overall, the concerns are understandable, and more is needed from our leadership. However, as representatives of higher education, it is essential that we apply objectivity and critical thinking to these issues before […]

Forum Post Perhaps the most accurate reflection of an institution’s values is how it chooses to allocate resources. The Administration aims for budget transparency and provides individual Senators the opportunity to have their voices heard on important advisory committees such as the University’s Athletic Budget Oversight Committee and the Athletic Program Advisory Committee (among others). […]

Forum Post As we strive to recruit and retain high-quality faculty and staff at WSU, I urge the consideration of two impactful policies – tuition waivers for dependents of employees and facilitated access to campus childcare. Many peer institutions offer tuition remission benefits for dependents of faculty and staff. This is a powerful recruitment tool, […]

Forum Post Dear Colleagues, By now, you no doubt have heard much about a group of senior faculty who are highlighting the pervasive, systemic, and long standing concerns that plague the WSU System. In a series of forthcoming posts, we will systematically explain these concerns and address the responses provided by President Schulz and the […]

Forum Post Please provide detailed tables (not charts) for the last 5 years, at a minimum, showing the following: The income, expenditures, and outflows of each unit (assuming a unit is in the black). This includes each instructional unit, professional unit (e.g., nursing, the medical school, and the vet school), athletics, administration, facilities, parking, housing […]

Forum Post Dear Colleagues, A subgroup of five members from a larger group of senior faculty met with President Schulz, Provost and Executive Vice President Chilton, Executive Vice President and Spokane Chancellor DeWald, and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Brunelli  (08-30-2023 — Review PDF for context). Six overarching issues negatively impacting the WSU […]

Forum Post The following statement was drafted by a group of senior WSU faculty who are deeply concerned about the future of WSU and the University’s leadership. They wish to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. Faculty may have already been forwarded an email with the statement along with an associated URL to an anonymous […]

Forum Post It seems that Graduate Programs will likely have to accommodate the newly negotiated salary increases for Graduate/Teaching/Research Assistants within the existing resources. In my department, we are currently not permitted to offer scholarships to graduate applicants. The effect will be detrimental to our graduate programs as our reputation and introductory graduate class offerings […]

Forum Post I was a little surprised to read in recent emails from the Provost that “the University has already agreed to create a variety of new programs for ASEs, including a new child and dependent care subsidy program unavailable to any other WSU employee group.” Childcare is an issue in the WSU community and […]

Forum Post With the increase in cost to subscriber premiums, the combined two years of salary increases for some faculty members has been completely erased and more. This can be seen in the first paystubs of 2024. ~Anonymous Faculty Response The Faculty Senate Executive Officers have been notified of this forum post and will respond […]

Forum Post I am the Faculty Senator for the School of Economic Sciences, but I am writing only as a constituent, on my own behalf. In response to the cash flow crisis at the University of Arizona, UA President Robert Robbins has been quoted in media reports as telling UA’s Faculty Senators that he is […]

Forum Post This concern has been raised on behalf of the ANR-Extension unit and the Puyallup Research and Extension Center faculty, who helped craft the language below: A recent memo from WSU’s Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration & CFO states that operating/salary accruals funds and other revenues generated by individual programs will only […]

Forum Post I understand the graduate students are voting whether to go on strike. If they strike, does the Faculty Senate plan to issue a statement supporting the graduate students or will the Faculty Senate ignore the situation? ~Craig Hemmens, Criminal Justice & Criminology Faculty Response The faculty senate is keenly interested in this issue […]

Forum Post A constituent reached out concerned about the virtual silence from the university regarding the attack by Hamas on Israel. The constituent wrote to President Schultz directly about this and he replied that he realized several people connected to the university system have been affected and that his guidance for the academic year to […]

Forum Post I submitted the question below to the September 22nd WSU Pullman Town Hall webinar but it was unfortunately not selected for a live response. Thus, I am submitting here in hopes that the executive administration will provide a response. Question: It is concerning to see WSU drop in global rankings that reflect the […]

Forum Post I would be interested in hearing an update from the faculty senate representative(s) to the Task Force investigating the 2023 US News and World Report college rankings. I have read the Executive Summary of the report, and frankly still have as many questions as before reading it. Thank You. ~Gary Haldorson, CVM Faculty […]

Forum Post The cost of parking on the Pullman Campus remains absurdly high, particularly for faculty and staff located in the central part of campus where parking is most expensive and in the highest demand. This issue comes up almost annually and administration always responds that the legislature requires that parking be self-supporting and that […]

Forum Post I’ve reached out to the HRS about fossil fuels in our retirement options and they only referred me to the Social Choice Equity Account via TIAA. Unfortunately, that one has 8% fossil fuel investments, including Exxon, Conoco Philips, Chevron, etc. Given our experiences with destabilization of our climate, causing extreme heat, wildfire, flooding, […]

Forum Post Dear colleagues, I registered to provide a public comment during the June 8-9 Board meeting; public comment is listed as item XII on the agenda, Board of Regents Meeting Notice, June 8-9, 2023. I was not able to attend in person, but I received written confirmation from Desiree Jacobsen, Director of Board Operations […]

Forum Post In the last senate meeting of the year, President Schulz did not have time to respond to all the questions that had been submitted. Please see his responses here. Comment

Forum Post I am writing to request evaluations of members of the senior administration on the Vancouver campus. It has been well over three years since faculty have been asked to undertake the 360 Degree Evaluation of any of our leadership. With the university having returned to regular operations following the pandemic, it is time […]

Forum Post Faculty on the Vancouver campus have repeatedly asked for 360 degree evaluations of campus administrators (in particular, the VCAA office) through the Council for Faculty Representation (please see minutes throughout the year). The VCAA has stated that such an evaluation is not required and faculty should come directly to her with concerns. Faculty […]

Post RE: Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) is requiring us to pay staff and, more importantly, postdocs overtime if they work more than 40 hrs in a week and earn less than a salary threshold that increases from 1.75x of the statewide minimum wage in 2022 ($52,743.60) and increases to 2.5x the statewide minimum wage […]

Post Has faculty senate thoroughly discussed what it means for Global to be a campus, particularly if it begins to hire for instruction? With the new budget model, there may be reason to be concerned about the investments units and colleges have made in Global courses and majors, and that enrollment moving forward would then […]

Concern Hi!  My constituents are continually concerned about the differences in inflation vs. WSU cost of living adjustment (COLA) increases.  I know we are subject to what the legislature allocates, but WSU administration also obviously has a large amount (50% ?) of control over this.  To show historical differences, I used COLA increases from my […]

Concern Despite the President’s pledge last September, there is still no university plan for the Athletics Department to repay the over 80 million dollars it currently owes WSU for covering years of Athletics’ deficit-spending ways. At the September 23, 2021 Faculty Senate meeting, President Schulz agreed that it was important for the university to put […]