Section 45-31 Responsibility and Limitations of the Faculty Regent
State law provides that one member of the Board of Regents must be a faculty member.
As a member of the governing board, the Faculty Regent serves the people of Washington and does not represent the faculty or the Faculty Senate. The Senate Chair serves as spokesperson and representative of the Faculty Senate (Chapter 22, Section 22-54, Subsection E) at meetings of the Board of Regents and in other venues.
Section 45-32 Nomination Process
A. Except in the event of a vacancy, nominations for Faculty Regent must take place in the Autumn or Winter Quarter of the academic year immediately prior to the expiration of the incumbent Faculty Regent’s term.
B. The Executive Committee must submit to the Senate two to five full-time or emeritus faculty nominees for possible appointment as Faculty Regent. Nominations from the floor shall not be accepted. Senators must use a ballot listing all nominees to mark all nominees they wish to approve for submission to the Governor. The Secretary of the Faculty must then rank the candidates according to approval percentage and submit to the Governor’s office, omitting ranking information:
- The names of the two candidates receiving the highest approval percentage, or in the event of a tie all candidates with an approval percentage greater than or equal to the second highest approval percentage recorded; and
- The name of any other candidate receiving approval on at least two-thirds of submitted ballots.
C. The Faculty Regent, once appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the State Senate, will serve for a three-year term beginning October 1 in the year of nomination.
D. If the Faculty Regent position becomes vacant, the Executive Committee and the Senate must use the procedure of Subsection B to submit names of candidates to the Governor’s office. The ordinary authority of the Executive Committee to act on behalf of the Senate under Section 22-60, Subsection B.12, does not extend to the final approval of nominees to be forwarded to the Governor.
S-A 175, January 15, 2025 with Presidential approval.