Submitted Concerns

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 to begin this process once again.

The recent Employee Engagement Survey sent to faculty does not suffice as a method of evaluating administration. Additionally, because the survey was distributed by members of the senior administration, some faculty and staff members chose not to participate in that survey for fear that … » More …

Forum Post

Faculty member Anne Marie Guerrettaz provided the information below regarding au pairs:

If you are looking for (creative) solutions to the childcare shortage that affects many faculty, you might consider seeing how WSU can build some alliances with au pair agencies to recruit childcare from abroad. Au pair programs bring international childcare providers to local U.S. families.

As a new parent, I did some research into local childcare options myself over the past months. I was disappointed to learn that au pair services, which are an excellent childcare alternative to local daycares, are not available at … » More …

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 were also told that if they have concerns regarding other campus leaders (i.e. Associate Dean, CAS), to come directly to VCAA. On other occasions, faculty were told a review is unnecessary and faculty an option to provide feedback on the COACHE survey and recent Engagement Survey.

The COACHE survey results … » More …

Forum Post

For a communication from President Schulz about issues of concern to the university community, please see the faculty senate blog.

Comments

Forum Post

We write to express our concerns about the stagnant research enterprise at WSU. While we have many things to be proud of, neither of us are content with our current rankings and overall, we feel that a re-imagining of WSU’s research enterprise and recognition that we are not progressing at a pace expected for R1 institutions is sorely needed.

First, we state the current status of our research enterprise using data from NSF’s Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) database. According to Vice President for Research Chris Keane (Faculty Senate presentation 2-16-23), WSU’s R&D expenditures per Tenure/Tenure-Track faculty are close to the highest … » More …

Forum Post

Over the course of this semester, I have noticed a few trickles of students trying to use AI to do their work for them. It seems easy enough to spot at the moment because it reads like gibberish and isn’t about the reading assignment at all. I would like to know a few things. Firstly, what can we as faculty do to better prepare ourselves for this technology? Secondly, what is Canvas/Turnitin doing to help on this front? Thirdly, how will we handle this on the academic integrity front with WSU Center for Community Standards?

Ryan Booth
WSU History Department Faculty

Forum Post

On February 21, 2023, Von Walden, Glen Duncan, and I delivered a letter to President Schulz, Provost Chilton, and Board of Regents Chair Dickinson describing faculty concerns about the Athletics Budget Update presented as Information Item #1 to the Board of Regents last month. We allowed WSU faculty to view and sign the letter prior to delivery. The letter was co-signed by 261 WSU career-track and tenure-track faculty of all ranks and from all campuses and many extension offices. Given how widely these concerns are shared among WSU faculty, we decided to post a PDF of the letter as a … » More …

Forum Post

How many Associate and Assistant VPs does WSU Pullman have now? Is there an updated organizational chart reflecting the most recent hires in 2022-2023 that can be shared with faculty that includes the names of the people holding these positions? Finally, how many of these positions have been created in the last three years?

Anonymous Faculty

Response

The faculty senate executive officers raised the issue of organizational charts with the WSU president and provost. They indicated that charts will be coming soon, stay tuned. ~04.03.23

Comment

Forum Post

Good news for WSU – WSU Nets Top 100 Ranking Among U.S. Universities – WSU Insider 

Response

For insight into the research.com university ranking methodology, scroll down to the section on university rankings from this link. Note that research.com rankings include “leading scholars” rather than all faculty at a university.

Christine Horne
Faculty Senate Chair

Comments

Forum Post

The cost of parking for faculty and staff is outrageous. For example, $850 for an orange permit or $600 for a green permit is outrageous. By comparison, across town at U of I, the most expensive parking permit is $395. That makes parking 115% more expensive when comparing our Orange permits to U of I Gold permits.

Anonymous Faculty

Response

We can’t speak to University of Idaho rates. Here in Pullman, parking must be financially self-supporting; it needs to charge enough to cover its expenses. Please see Doug Call’s March 30, 2022 blog post on the issue.

… » More …

Forum Post

To meet its mission and vision WSU must invest in its faculty. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources has shown that there is a national failure for higher ed pay to keep pace with inflation. This comes as no surprise to those of us who are on the faculty at WSU.

The faculty salary equity process initiated in fall 2022 by Provost Elizabeth Chilton and the Provost’s Office was an excellent start to delving into the problems that WSU faculty face regarding compensation. Salary compression, differential pay for career track faculty, and a decades long lack … » More …

Forum Post

I received the following message from one of my colleagues in CAHNRS. They wanted it to be shared with the Faculty Senate.

“I am becoming quite worried that the WSU administration is running the ship aground. The symptoms have been around for quite some time, and now behaviors and decisions of the administration are coming home to roost, e.g., 6% operating budget reductions, and it won’t stop there – enrollment declines are projected to continue to decline for two more years – as was reported to the Board of Regents, bottoming out, perhaps, at an aggregate 20% overall decrease in enrollment, with … » More …

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I am concerned that the guidance we have received thus far from the institution regarding the ongoing WSU graduate student unionization process essentially prevents faculty and staff from showing any support/opinion on that process. I would like to see clarification, perhaps from an outside source, on what legal protections there are for faculty and staff to comment on and, if they choose to do so under their first amendment rights, voice support for the process.

Anonymous Faculty

Response

Because the issues are complex it is difficult for us to provide a reliable response. If you have a question, HRS recommends that … » More …

Post

In December of 2022, The Learning Center closed in Pullman. This left many families scrambling for childcare and many have had to find an arrangement that is less than ideal (half day care etc.,). Infant care in the area is largely unavailable. WSU has a childcare center on the Pullman campus which is open to those who are affiliated with WSU and ideally, there would be space for those who would like to utilize it. However, the waitlist time ranges from 9-18 months thus you would need to put your name on the waitlist well before your child is born. With the 12 … » More …

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The parental leave policy at WSU does not meet the needs of many 9-month faculty who teach. Specifically, leaves tend to be granted for 12 weeks (per federal FML policies), often starting the day a person has or adopts a child. Because leave is 12 weeks , so it’s been a challenge to work with 9-mont faculty who teach a 15 week semester. The challenge has been hard to navigate with HR and, largely, the “solution” to make it work falls on departments themselves. Having each department create a parental leave policy (or even different ones for faculty with different baby birth/adoption dates) … » More …

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Hello,

I am chairing a search committee in my school. Applicants are required to upload 8 documents (such as, CV, job market paper, DEI statement, etc.). Screening begins Dec. 1st. We found out that applicants are having the following issues:

1. Inability to upload all documents.
2. Inability to view or edit their application if they log back in.

So far we have 75 applications. Given the time constraint, we sent out an email to all applicants to send us their materials directly and that we will upload them. This is a massive amount of work to be done in a few … » More …

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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 in 2028 (estimated at $93,288.00). In addition, there are new rules coming for hourly workers that will require us paying them benefits after 1040 hrs worked (6 months at full time, one year at 50%). These changes are based on new legislation in Washington State. For full professors, this … » More …

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In 2022, there was confusion regarding announced and retracted changes to the 2022 summer semester start date, specifically that there would be a week of time between the end of spring finals week and start of summer classes. This change was announced, but apparently did not get Faculty Senate approval in time for the 2022 Summer semester, and was thus retracted.

Looking at the current 2023 Summer Academic Calendar, it seems that there is once again no gap between the end of Spring 2023 and the start of Summer 2023. Have plans for adding this week of much needed downtime (which allows for … » More …

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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 instead go to the Global campus when other units/colleges had been investing in it (with the expectation that revenues would come). I suspect that current staffing models vary quite a bit, with different units using a range of tenure track faculty, career faculty, graduate students and adjuncts to teach … » More …

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I read in the MP Daily News that you are discussing possibly requiring Covid-19 vaccinations for students. I strongly support this idea — but it must be made clear that students need to be current on those vaccinations. The bottom line is that the vaccines are moving into “flu vaccine” status — the formulation changes a bit each year. Thus, I think any vaccine requirement should make that clear: students need the most up-to-the minute version of the vaccine. Another vaccine that should also be required is the flu vaccine. While it is true that students are not likely to die from either … » More …

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There is a huge gap for professors in different ranks and different departments. Many professors are paid less than assistant or associate professors. For example, the department of mathematics and statistics covers more than 20% total teaching credits in college of art and sciences, the professors in the department are the lowest paid professors across the whole university.

~Anonymous Constituent 

Response

We appreciate the concern. We recognize that salaries are irrational in that they don’t reflect the range of faculty contributions to WSU. The Faculty Senate continues to advocate for faculty salary increases.

Comments

Post

REQUEST 1: Please have the doors to the Faculty Hoteling Rooms in SPARK left unlocked.

The calendar system for booking the hoteling and conference rooms in SPARK is not currently working. This has lead to several problems:

 The only way to book a Faculty Hoteling Room is to go to the room itself, hope that the touch-pad is working, then reserve the room.
In order to actually use the room, you must go down to the front desk and ask the very helpful staff to come and open the room for you. The Faculty Hoteling Rooms are kept locked at all … » More …

Post

I have noticed and experiencing this semester an increasing number of break-downs with equipment and video-conferencing connections. In my case, this is mostly in Webster and Spark. They are usually resolved promptly, but it is time for WSU to pay more attention to maintenance of classroom equipment.

Michael Tsatsomeros
Mathematics & Statistics

Response

Please see the response to “Technology in the SPARK Building Is Not Working.”

Christine Horne
Faculty Senate Chair

Comments

Post

There is concern from faculty and graduate students about the football game within the week, and the blocking of parking spaces. For some of our faculty and graduate students this poses a problem as there are, for example, night labs till 10pm. We were wondering whether those who are required to be on campus to teach could be issued a special permit to park so they can meet their teaching obligation.

Eric Roalson
School of Biological Sciences, CAS Senator

Response

I contacted Chris Boyan at Transportation Services. He said that in addition to buses, there are some parking spaces available first … » More …

Forum Post

What is the University Doing to Addressing Culture in the WSU police Department After Resignations?

Over the summer, the top 3 officials in the WSU police force left over mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations.

What is WSU doing to change the culture of the police department? All top 3 officials in the department left over their mishandling of sexual misconduct charges. As the people in charge, they were responsible for the hiring and training of the police officers (and presumably also the WSU police cadet program). What is being done to make sure that the culture of the department is one where … » More …

Forum Post

Over the years, I have tried to be a good citizen and have responded to all the surveys I have been requested to take. However, the number I receive each year both internally from WSU and externally from many organizations has become daunting, and I am almost to the point where I’m just going to stop taking them. This year alone we’ve received the COACHE survey, the Strategic Plan survey, the Teaching Academy Assessment survey, the CougContact research study survey, the IRB/HRPP Customer Satisfaction survey, the Work-Life Balance survey, the WSU Faculty Library survey, the Office of Research Services survey, the VCEA … » More …

Concern

There is a clause allowing FTE reduction without notice in career-track continuous contracts.

While I believe that the overall results of the new career track name and categories have been positive, my own career track faculty and I are still concerned about the clause in continuous contracts that reserves the right to reduce FTE at any time to (apparently) any level. The provision for 9-months’ notice may be good job security, but it is not good paycheck security. I have heard the argument more than once that such a sudden FTE reduction is extremely unlikely to happen; but if this is so, then … » More …

Concern

According to the US News Ranking, over the past 6 years WSU has dropped from 140 to 212 (140 (2018), 140, 166, 176, 179, 212 (2023). We are now last in the PAC 12 (closest is Oregon State at 151). University of Idaho is ranked 176. Other schools tied at 212 include University of Missouri, Lipscomb Univ (Nashville), Kent State Univ, Bethel Univ and Ball State Univ. I am the director of the graduate programs in the Dept of Mathematics and Statistics, and know that international students (especially from China and South Korea) look at rankings before deciding where to apply. We were … » More …

Concern

On Friday, 6/24, SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade, essentially removing a longstanding precedent and what was interpreted in 1973 as a constitutional right to abortion under the 14th amendment’s due process clause.

I am sure our university leadership will be providing more comprehensive information and statements this week, but it cannot come too soon. In the meantime, I know many of us are very concerned about the recent SCOTUS decision.

While one’s own convictions and feelings about abortion are a separate, complex and personal issues — especially for women, girls, and all people with uteruses– this is also a serious and pressing professional … » More …

Concern

It is difficult to read emails with the latest implementation of the ‘[EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK’ before the body of emails. Please request IT survey faculty before implementing changes that affect the everyday lives of Faculty. For example, a faculty survey may have identified an alternative, more preferable, placement of such warnings. Furthermore, IT should present evidence that such changes will actually reduce the number of phishing impacts on WSU faculty. There was also insufficient transparency when WSU IT forced WSU faculty to use outlook and 2-factor authentication.

Where is the academic rigor, data or research behind these decisions? Faculty in other … » More …

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 own salary history and compared that with the consumer price index (CPI) from the US bureau of labor statistics data (<a ... » More …

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 in place an enforceable plan for the Athletics Department to repay over 80 million dollars of debt to WSU. This debt has accumulated over the last 8-10 years as WSU has used profits from other units to cover the annual deficit spending by the Athletics Department so that the … » More …