General Faculty Organization

2024-25 GFO Officers:

GFO Chair

Linda Watts
lswatts@uw.edu

GFO Vice Chair

Tyson Marsh
tysonm@uw.edu

GFO Past Chair

Nora Kenworthy
njk8@uw.edu

Announcements

May 2025

INFORM THE WORK OF GFO – FACULTY SURVEY NOW OPEN!

The GFO is reaching out to all faculty members—part-time, full-time, teaching, and tenure track—to participate in the Spring 2025 GFO Faculty Survey. Amid challenging times, the GFO emphasizes the importance of faculty feedback to prioritize key issues affecting the campus. The survey aims to gather insights on faculty affairs, promotion and tenure, budgeting, workload, morale, equity, leadership, and governance. Faculty members are encouraged to take just 10 minutes to share their thoughts, contributing to a better future for faculty at UW Bothell.

April 2025

GFO-CCAL BYLAW AMENDMENTS RATIFIED

On Apr 22, 2025, the voting faculty of UWB ratified the proposed amendments to the GFO’s Campus Council on Assessment & Learning (CCAL) bylaws. (voting results). These amendments aimed to align CCAL’s responsibilities with its evolving role, enhance clarity, ensure flexibility, and reflect current collaborative practices. The updated bylaws are now posted on GFO Bylaw Page.  Thank you to all faculty who participated in this important faculty governance process! 

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Two significant Class C resolutions recently passed at UW. These include the establishment of a Mutual Academic Defense Compact and support for community members facing immigration status changes. Summaries of the resolutions are provided below, and full text of each is linked on the Faculty Senate Legislation page. If you have questions, please reach out to one of your UW Bothell Faculty Senators or to GFO leadership-uwbgfo@uw.edu. If you have questions, please reach out to one of your UW Bothell Faculty Senators or to GFO leadership-uwbgfo@uw.edu.

• Class C Resolution to Establish a Mutual Defense Compact for the Universities of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise.
  Received Faculty Senate Approval on April 17, 2025
  • Summary: This resolution proposes the creation of a Mutual Academic Defense Compact among Big Ten universities to collectively defend against politically motivated threats to academic freedom, institutional integrity, and scientific research. It calls for shared resources and coordinated responses to support any member institution facing political or legal infringement.
• Class C Resolution on Supporting UW Community Members Facing Immigration Status Changes.
  Received Faculty Senate Approval on April 17, 2025
  • Summary: This resolution addresses the sudden termination of immigration statuses for UW students and recent graduates by the State Department, impacting their safety and academic standing. It calls for the University to support affected individuals through legal representation, financial aid, and flexible academic accommodations. The resolution emphasizes the importance of maintaining the well-being and academic progress of international students, scholars, staff, and faculty facing immigration status changes.

February 2025

UPDATES FROM FACULTY SENATE CHAIR

The following is a summary of Winter 2025 updates from Faculty Senate Chair, Louisa Mackenzie. Faculty can direct any questions, concerns or feedback to any UW Bothell Faculty Senators or GFO Officer.

• A special meeting of the SEC was held on Feb 3, 2025, to nominate faculty regent candidates. Two nominees will be forwarded to the Senate for the March 6th meeting.
• Robert J. Jones, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will succeed President Cauce on August 1st.
• The position of chair of the Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting (SCPB) is now an elected position. Nominations, including self-nominations, are invited. Senate leadership is also seeking a parliamentarian.
• February 24th, Professor Kate Starbird will deliver the 2025 University Faculty Lecture on rumors and online conversations at 5:30 PM in the HUB, with a streaming option.
• Administrative partners are working with state officials and the AG’s office on federal executive orders. Potential impacts include cancellation of core research projects, medical research and care, loss of personnel, and possible immigration enforcement on campus. Updates are available on the central website and the office of research website.
• Well-being listening sessions revealed themes such as unfunded mandates, workload and salary equity, teaching challenges, and lack of sense of belonging. Findings will be circulated, and actionable policy suggestions will be developed.

December 2024

FACULTY SENATE UPDATES

The following updates & announcements were provided by Aarti Bhat, Vice Chair, UW Faculty Senate. Faculty can direct any questions, concerns or feedback to any UW Bothell Faculty Senators or GFO Officer.

Faculty Service Opportunities and Updates:

• Deputy Faculty Legislative Representative: Nominations have concluded. Candidate materials will be available soon, with voting to follow their presentations to the Faculty Senate on Dec 5th. Legislative representatives play a crucial role in representing faculty’s interests to the state legislature. For more details, see the FLR report.
• Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate: Nominations are open. Please consider this service opportunity and apply by Dec 9th.

Faculty Dispute Resolutions:

• As highlighted in the report of the Secretary of the Faculty, moving forward, these will be handled by UW HR. The Secretary of the Faculty invites faculty members to serve on adjudication panels. If interested, please email secfac@uw.edu.

Topics Covered in Nov 18 Senate Executive Committee (SEC) Meeting:

• Faculty Regent: Class A legislation on the codification of the Faculty Regent election process was brought up for second consideration in the SEC. Voting will take place in the upcoming Senate meeting.
• Chair of the Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting (SCPB): Class A legislation on codifying this new position and its terms was discussed and will go to the Senate for first consideration.
• Defining Core Elements of Effective Teaching: Class A legislation to include these elements in the Faculty Code was discussed and will go to the Senate for first consideration.
• Code Housekeeping Changes: Miscellaneous updates to keep Faculty Code current. Class A legislation will come to the Senate for first consideration.

Additional Information:

• Legislation Tracking: A new tracking mechanism is available to monitor specific legislation. This tool aims to increase organizational efficiency.
• Economic Contributions Report: A new report quantifies the economic contributions of the University of Washington to state-wide, local, and national economies. It highlights the significant impact of our institution and its three campuses and 18 colleges.

October 2024

GFO PRIORITES AND COUNCIL CHARGES

In order to provide transparency and clarity about the work of the GFO to Bothell faculty, students, staff, and administration, the GFO’s Executive Council has formally charged each GFO standing council with high-priority tasks and deliverables. GFO leadership developed the priority items in charge letters collaboratively with council chairs through individual discussions as well as discussions with the GFO Executive Council in a Oct 22 meeting and the GFO at large in the Oct 24 GFO general meeting. Taken together, these charge letters describe the work the GFO plans to do in the 2024-25 academic year in support of the GFO Priorities. The GFO priorities and council charge letters can be view in the 2024-25 GFO Council Charge Letters and Priorities folder. Questions or feedback on the charge letters are welcome and can be directed to GFO Chair, Linda Watts at uwbgfo@uw.edu or to the chair of the relevant GFO council.