Faculty Senate Budget Representative October 2024 Report

Welcome to the first post of the Faculty Senate Budget Representative (FSBR) blog. I am Kristi Tyran, a Professor in the Management Department of the College of Business and Economics, and I was elected to serve as the FSBR for AY 2024-25.

In 2023, the Faculty Senate voted to replace its University Planning and Resource Council (UPRC) with two new positions, the Faculty Senate University Budget Representative and the Faculty Senate University Budget Deputy Representative.  Tesla Monson, an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department, currently serves in the deputy role and will become the FSBR in AY 2025-26.

Together, we provide advocacy, transparency, and communication on budget-related issues. We represent faculty perspectives, questions, and concerns to the administration, and report back to the faculty.  As part of our ongoing efforts to serve as a resource for faculty regarding budget questions, we will be providing regular updates through this blog. Since the start of the Fall Quarter, a great deal has happened! 

Key Events 

  • University Budget Committee (UBC) meeting (October 8)
  •  President Randhawa announces strategic reorganization plan (October 14)
  • Provost Johnson budget presentation to Faculty Senate (October 14)
  • Quarterly budget meeting with FSBR Kristi Tyran and Deputy FSBR Tesla Monson, Faculty Senate President Michael Slouber, Provost Johnson, VP for Business and Financial Affairs Joyce Lopes, and Assistant VP for Strategy, Management, and Budget Faye Gallant (October 24)
  • University Budget Forum (October 24)

Funding and Strategic Reorganization Key Issues

The main budget focus is the 2024-25 proposed budget and the strategic reorganization of the University. There are several areas of concern to faculty interests, summarized below:

  • There have been several reorganization efforts that tangentially affect Academic Affairs. Most faculty will not be impacted by these changes, although there are often ripple effects that are not noticeable initially.
  • Elimination of “parallel structures”
    • In discussions with the Provost, indications were that these decisions would be conducted jointly with the Provost and college deans, strategies might vary by college, and faculty involvement in these discussions was possible.
  • Outreach and Continuing Education (OCE) reorganization, including the movement of College in the High Schools and Compass to Campus into OCE
  • Continuation of travel restrictions
  • Continued reductions in the number of course sections for under-enrolled courses
  • Immediate elimination of 25 positions, with an additional 30 positions to be eliminated in the 2025-26 AY budget. 
    • The Strategic Reorganization announcement stated that “consultation between UFWW, WFSE, PSE, Police Guild, and WWU Human Resources labor relations representatives on the folding of these positions is now in progress.” After the consultation is completed, a list of the eliminated positions (25 positions this year) will be shared. 

Additional Resources

Questions and Concerns

Please feel free to contact me at tyrank@wwu.edu with any questions or concerns that you would like raised in budget discussions.

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fall quarter