Role of the Senate at Washington State University
The purpose of the Faculty Senate is to provide a representative body of the faculty community, with due consideration for women and minorities, to consider and to make recommendations to the President and appropriate administrative officials of the University, and through the President to the Board of Regents, on matters affecting the general welfare of Washington State University and its educational, research, and service activities.
The purpose of the Faculty Senate is to exercise the legislative powers delegated to it and to make recommendations to the President and appropriate administrative officials of the University and through the President to the Board of Regents on matters affecting the general welfare of Washington State University and its educational, research, and service activities.
The Faculty Senate shall consist of members elected by and from the faculty (as defined in the Faculty Manual) of Washington State University. The membership shall consist of 2 tenure-track faculty members from each degree-granting college, 2 tenure-track faculty from the Libraries, and one representative from each of the non-Pullman campuses. Additional tenure-track representation for each constituency (Article 2, Section 4) shall be determined by the following formula: total number of tenure-track college faculty minus 50 divided by 25, with fractional positions at 0.5 and above rounded up to the next highest integer, and below 0.5 rounded down to the next lowest integer.
Members of the non-tenure track faculty (Section 5, Part D) shall have 2 seats per degree-granting college, plus additional representation as determined by the following formula: the total number of eligible non-tenure track faculty minus 50 divided by 50, with fractional positions at 0.5 and above rounded up to the next highest integer, and below 0.5 rounded down to the next lowest integer.
Additional tenure-track representation for the campuses not co-located with Pullman shall be determined by the following formula: the number of eligible faculty (tenure-track) divided by 50, with fractional positions at 0.5 and above rounded up to the next highest integer, and below 0.5 rounded down to the next lowest integer.
Additional non-tenure track representation (section 5, Part D) for the campuses not co-located with Pullman shall be determined by the following formula: the number of eligible faculty (non-tenure track, Section 5, Part D) divided by 50, with fractional positions at 0.5 and above rounded up to the next highest integer, and below 0.5 rounded down to the next lowest integer.
Representatives shall be elected by and from the tenure track and non-tenure track faculty of Washington State University in their respective constituencies, except for one member who shall be the president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
Adopted April 12, 2018
The Faculty Senate standing committees and their subcommittees have been assigned functions by the Senate to enable the Senate to carry out its purposes as described. The Senate has the power to determine the number and size of its committees and subcommittees and the terms of office of committee members. All Senate standing committees are responsible to the Senate; their subcommittees are responsible to the parent committees. Both the standing committees and their subcommittees may in some cases also report committee views to an administrative officer(s) of the institution. The official year for the Faculty Senate extends from August 16 of one year to August 15 of the year following.
Members of the standing committees and their subcommittees of the Senate, except where the contrary is indicated, are elected by the Senate on the basis of nominations from the Committee on Committees and from the floor. Any individual may be elected by the Senate to its committees, and subcommittees may include members who are not members of the parent committee. A member having completed a full term on a committee, which is two three-year terms consecutively, is normally not eligible for reappointment to that committee for a period of one year. Terms of members, other than assigned or ex officio members, are staggered with terms expiring August 15 of the year indicated. Vacancies on Senate committees and subcommittees of less than one academic year will be filled by action of the Senate Steering Committee on nominations submitted by the Committee on Committees. Such action will be reported to the Senate. Vacancies of one academic year or longer will be filled by Senate election.
Chairs of Senate standing committees who are not members of the Senate shall be regarded as non-voting members of the Senate and will be expected to participate fully in its proceedings concerning matters within the jurisdiction of their respective committees. No ex officio members of the standing committees or their subcommittees may serve as chairs. Chairs, unless otherwise indicated, are elected by April 25 for the following year by the committee or subcommittee from among those whose terms continue throughout that year and by those whose terms begin August 16.
Whenever possible, all Faculty Senate committee meetings should be scheduled in facilities that are accessible to handicapped individuals.
Faculty Senate committees and subcommittees are contributors to decision-making in a state agency. Their meetings therefore normally should be open to the public, including representatives of the news media. Exceptions may be made for executive sessions to consider matters affecting national security, selection or disposal of real estate, or personnel decisions. To improve access, meeting schedules will be published on the Faculty Senate homepage facsen.wsu.edu.