Dear Colleagues,

As you saw in yesterday’s faculty email from us, Brian Burton, and Steve Vanderstaay, the administration, UFWW, and Faculty Senate have been working together since Tuesday on the university’s response to this health emergency and to make our transition to remote teaching as smooth as possible. We will continue to serve on the ICS to ensure shared governance during this time.

The temporary move to remote learning will not be easy for faculty, staff, or students. The one -week delay to the start of Spring Quarter attempts to balance faculty time to prepare, students’ ability to plan and maintain financial aid, and the need to preserve the integrity of the educational experience. Everyone understands that these are not ideal learning conditions and no one expects either students or faculty to do more than the best they can.

Given the emergency nature of this situation, we want to remind colleagues, especially Non-Tenure Track faculty and probationary Tenure Track faculty that student evaluations during this quarter are optional, and that we will work together to determine if and how to proceed in the future. Both UFWW and the administration will ensure that nothing that happens during this emergency will be punitive for faculty later. 

Our Collective Bargaining Agreement is very clear about faculty ownership of intellectual property. Both UFWW and the Western administration have always fully supported the protection of faculty intellectual property and will continue to do so. We have complete confidence that the university will not make any attempt to claim ownership of any faculty intellectual property as a result of this emergency. If you choose to load material onto platforms beyond those provided by the university, we strongly encourage you to fully understand the terms of use.

Both UFWW and the administration are firmly committed to returning to normal operation as soon as it is safe.  Remote teaching is a response to an emergency and there will be no attempt to permanently change anything about our teaching as a result of this emergency. 

Yesterday, Governor Inslee mandated many of the steps Western is taking.  In his press conference, he was clear that collective bargaining agreements across the state will continue to be implemented and relied upon. Our collective bargaining agreement has allowed the faculty and the administration to build a strong relationship over the years and it is serving all of us well now.  We admire and appreciate the way that everyone—administration, faculty, staff, and students—have worked together to do what is best for Western, our students, and the state.

The daily emails can’t answer all of your questions, so feel free to direct them to us as needed.

Rich Brown, President UFWW

Jeff Young, Faculty Senate President

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