Dear Colleagues,
By now everyone is probably pretty weary of the relentlessly bad budget
news. President Shepard and Provost Murphy have begun and continue regular
discussions with the UFWW leadership about the budget situation. We are
committed to working with the administration to make sure that the economic
problems do as little damage to Western as possible. The quality education
that we deliver to our students will play an important role in helping the
state recover and we will do everything we can to make sure that that
education is not compromised.
The strongest protection we have against damaging budget cuts is the
Collective Bargaining Agreement. It puts the educational mission of the
university first by protecting the time and resources that faculty need to
give our students the best education possible. Both the faculty and the
administration worked very hard on this Agreement and both sides have shown
a strong commitment to protecting and respecting it.
The upcoming legislative session promises to be a tough one and Išm sure
wešll have lots of ups and downs before all the smoke clears in the spring.
Right now it is imperative that we, the faculty, do everything we can to
make sure that our representatives in Olympia understand how important our
work is to the state. The statewide strength that comes with our
affiliations with the Washington Education Association and AFT-Washington
makes our voice much stronger than it has ever been before.
The United Faculty of Washington State will soon begin a coordinated effort
to educate legislators about the importance of four year higher education in
Washington. State ethics laws forbid our using state email accounts to help
faculty get involved in this effort. So please take a moment to click on
the following link and send us your HOME email address:
This list-serve will be used ONLY by the UFWW executive committee to keep
faculty apprised of UFWW efforts in Olympia<no solicitations, no spam, no
blogs. All WWU faculty are invited to join this list<tenure track and non
tenure track, UFWW members and non-members.
There is a lot we can do to protect our students, the university, and its
mission. Please join us.
Sincerely,
Bill Lyne
UFWW President