Immediate Past Chair Annual Report – 2024-25
The Faculty Senate of the University of Washington concluded its 2024-2025 session in June 2025, with the Senate Executive Committee (SEC) continuing to represent the Senate over the summer per Faculty Code. The Senate consists of over 150 elected senators from all 3 campuses and 16 schools and colleges, who held 7 full sessions of at least 2.5 hours, some in continuation, with more work behind the scenes. The SEC also met for 10 full sessions and 1 special meeting. Another critical site of shared governance is made up of our twelve faculty councils, who meet monthly or bi-monthly to advance specific areas of concern for faculty. A conservative estimate of hours spent on meetings alone comes to 4,200 hours over the academic year. All our faculty colleagues volunteer their time in these “engine room” spaces of governance, for little recognition, and they take institution-building seriously. The institution is better off because of colleagues who step into these roles in the spirit of service, and we are very grateful to them.
Senate officers serve one-year terms, except for the Secretary of the Faculty, and (as of 8/1/25) the Chair of the Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting. This can create continuity pressure, as officers invest significant time in learning their roles only to cycle off after one year, unless re-elected as has been the case for our recent Legislative Representatives whose longevity of service has been of great benefit to senate leadership and the faculty at large. The Vice Chair-Elect serves one year as Vice Chair, a year as Chair, and (as of 7/1/25) a year as Immediate Past Chair, the latter being a new role that should help with institutional memory and continuity of work. The Office of the Provost provides partial buy-out support for each of these roles, for which we are grateful. It is essential for excellence in shared governance that these increasingly challenging leadership roles be incentivized and supported in ways similar to official administrative roles. One welcome development has been the eligibility of Senate leaders for “conflict engagement” training workshops offered by OAP, an opportunity taken up by most Senate leaders this past year.
The full report can be found here.