Faculty Senate Meeting Summary, 4/2/26
Dear Colleagues,
I鈥檓 writing with a report on the Senate meeting held on April 2, 2026. As always, full text of remarks and reports can be found in the agenda.
Senate Chair鈥檚 Remarks
Chair Bhat gave updates on these initiatives:
- Paid parental leave 鈥� the Faculty Council on Gender, Equity, and Justice passed Class B legislation regarding faculty leave, including paid parental leave. The legislation will come before the Senate Executive Committee on April 20 and the Faculty Senate on April 30.
- The strategic plan is seeking feedback on the current draft by April 17.
President Jones鈥� Remarks
The President highlighted several key updates, including the release of the campus climate survey by VP Hall and his team. He noted that releasing the data is not the final step, but rather the beginning of a process to analyze the findings and determine actions to improve the campus environment. Although participation in the survey was lower than anticipated, the data is still considered meaningful, particularly in identifying whether members of the community may not be thriving. VP Hall is expected to present the survey results to the Senate Executive Committee. The President also expressed appreciation to the team that led the development of the strategic plan, noting that a draft has been released and now requires further structure and refinement. Units across campus are encouraged to engage in discussions about the plan, with a timeline leading to a presentation to the Board by April 17 for endorsement, after which implementation can move forward.
New Business
Nomination and Presentation of Candidates for 2026-2027 Faculty Legislative Representative: Professor Beth Ebel and Professor Jacob Vigdor were the nominees for Faculty Legislative Representative. They both gave a presentation at the Senate and the election results will be announced on April 10.
Nomination and Presentation of Candidates for 2026-2027 Deputy Faculty Legislative Representative: Professors Jonathan Medverd, Jonathan Warren, Dana Raigrodski, and Mike Teodoresecu were the nominees for Deputy Faculty Legislative Representative. They all gave a presentation at the Senate and the election results will be announced on April 10.
Class A Legislation 鈥� Chair鈥檚 or Dean鈥檚 Designee in Discussion of Allegations against Faculty Member: Senators passed this legislation on second consideration and it was sent to faculty for vote on April 3. This legislation permits the chair (or dean in an undepartmentalized school of college) to designate an administrator with a faculty appointment to hold the meeting with the faculty member who is alleged to have violated a rule or regulation.
Class A Legislation 鈥� Aligning the Faculty Code with Executive Orders, Faculty Governance, and Appointment Procedures at 91探花Bothell and 91探花Tacoma: Senators passed this legislation on first consideration and it will now go back to the Senate Executive Committee for another review. This legislation aligns the Faculty Code with Executive Orders 71 and 72.听
Class B Legislation 鈥� Updating Grading Definitions. Senators passed this Class B legislation and it was sent to faculty for objections on April 3.. The legislation updates grade definitions for the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Law, School of Pharmacy, and Graduate School.
Digital Accessibility
- Increased PDF guidance and remediation support — The provides guidance for PDFs, replacing them with accessible alternatives, and what to do if you can鈥檛, and announces a new PDF remediation tool: 鈥�Little Forest.鈥�
- A new accessibility checker for Google — 鈥溾�� is an add-on that can check Google docs, slides, and sheets.
- Labeling past courses 鈥淎rchive鈥� — are now live for courses Winter 2026 or earlier.
- A new process reviews software for accessibility or eligibility for an exception. See the Digital Product Accessibility Review page for details.
Whether you鈥檙e just getting started or well on your way, please take advantage of webpage and upcoming events organized by Accessible Technology Services.
The Faculty Senate will meet again on April 30. The meeting schedule can be found on our website.
Legislation passed and under consideration can also be found on our website.
With appreciation for all you do,
Rania Hussein, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate