Dear Colleagues
I hope the quarter is going well so far. I’m writing from the Faculty Senate with what will be a bi-monthly update on our work.
This message contains the following updates:
- Town Hall on Decarbonization at the UW: this Wednesday at 4:30.
- Provost’s Teaching and Learning initiative: please give feedback.
- Finance Transformation stabilisation, impact on research/grants.
- Wellness resources for students.
- Agenda items for next Senate meeting, Nov. 9th
Decarbonization Town Hall. Wednesday October 25th, 4:30-6:15 pm, Kane Hall 110 or via livestream (registration required). All are welcome at this panel discussion on the UW’s efforts to decarbonize our operations and address climate change. There will be opportunity for questions. A good opportunity to see shared governance in action. Hosted by the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Council on Campus Planning and Stewardship.
Future of Teaching and Learning. This Provost’s working group plans to send a recommendation to the Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning (FCTL) in Spring 2024 which may result in legislation. It is important that we have your feedback at every stage moving forward. See here for opportunities for feedback.
Finance Transformation. The UWFT team fully acknowledges the challenges for research and grants, and asks that we direct our frustrations to “processes, not people.” Staff we look to as experts are still themselves learning, and working extremely hard under duress. Please see this message from the Vice Provost for Research. Forms/knowledge articles/training materials for UWFT can be found here.
Student Wellness resources. The Faculty Council on Student Affairs and the Director of the Counseling Center recently sent out information on two resources we can direct students to: Let’s Talk, for informal consultation without an appointment, and Husky HelpLine, for same-day mental health and crisis intervention support, in multiple languages.
Senate agenda, Nov. 9th. The next full Senate meeting will include the following items (agenda subject to approval). Discussion items will include the Teaching and Learning working group’s recommendations, and artificial intelligence. New Business will include: Secretary of the Faculty Tenure Requirement; Grading System (incompletes and Xs), and academic probation.
Please reach out with any business that you think shared governance can help with. My bookings page is in my signature.
Respectfully submitted,
Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate
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Louisa Mackenzie (they/she)
Associate Professor, Comparative History of Ideas
Vice Chair, Faculty Senate University of Washington, Seattle
Book a meeting with me to discuss Senate issues and concerns
All correspondence to/from this address constitutes a public record per R.C.W. 42.56.