by Duane Storti, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
(March 2011)

 

Lately there have been reports of consideration by the legislature of truly unfortunate funding outcomes. If such an unfortunate outcome should come to pass, would it result in a state of financial emergency at the UW? While there is no way of knowing the answer to that question at this point in time, there a number of related questions than are answered in Section 26-31 of the faculty Code. Here is a summary in question and answer format:

 

Q. Who exactly declares a financial emergency and what is the procedure to get there?

 

A. When the President perceives an extraordinary financial crisis that threatens the institution as a whole (i.e., a crisis so severe that program eliminations and other cost-reduction measures would not be enough to meet mandatory budget reductions), then the following procedures are followed:

• The President convenes the Financial Emergency Committee (FEC), consisting of the combined voting membership of the Senate Executive Committee and the Senate Budget Committee, and chaired by the Chair of the Faculty Senate, to explain the perceived crisis.
• The President and the FEC request a meeting of the Faculty Senate to provide information on the perceived crisis. The Senate forwards its determination regarding declaration of financial emergency to the President and the FEC.
• The FEC forwards its determination regarding declaration of financial emergency to the President.
• The President, in consultation with the FEC and the Senate, makes a determination regarding financial emergency.
• If the President and FEC agree, a joint recommendation (with supporting documents including the Senate resolution) is forwarded to the Board of Regents. (If the recommendations differ, both recommendations and the Senate Resolution are forwarded to the Regents for consideration.)
• The Board of Regents then decides whether to declare a state of financial emergency.

Q. Can issues other than financial crisis (e.g. desire to reorganize or to implement long-range educational policy) provide the basis for a declaration of financial emergency?

 

A. No.

 

Q. What happens first during a state of financial emergency?

 

A. Initially, the Financial Emergency Committee does the following:

• Advises the President on means for resolving the financial emergency.
• Identifies and evaluates cost-reduction measures designed to avoid removal of faculty.

The President and Board of Regents then consider and implement cost-reduction measures, short of removal of faculty, that they deem feasible and appropriate. (

 

Q. What happens next if the President deems the initial cost-reduction measures to be insufficient?

 

A. The President then asks the FEC to develop procedures for removal of faculty guided by the following principles:

• Ensure maximum protection for academic programs.
• Remain faithful to the spirit of the Faculty Code.
• Protect the university’s commitment to tenure and affirmative action.
• Identify criteria and procedures, including faculty participation mechanisms, to be used in identification of programs to be eliminated and faculty to be removed.
• Provide for review and appeal mechanisms for Reorganization, Consolidation, and Elimination Procedures (RCEP) in accord with Chapters 25 and 26 with the exception of their time provisions; i.e. the RCEP process can be accelerated.
• Provide appeal mechanisms, through existing faculty committees, for faculty affected by removal.

Q. Can new faculty be hired during a financial emergency?

 

A. Hiring of new faculty is to be limited to extraordinary circumstances and stringently reviewed by the college’s elected faculty body.

 

Q. Are their provisions to mitigate the impact on removed faculty?

 

A. Yes, as follows:

• All efforts shall be made to provide suitable placement elsewhere in the University.
• Removed faculty members shall be hired preferentially to fill any vacancy in the department or program within 5 years of removal.
• Removed faculty are granted affiliate faculty status for a 5-year period to ensure prerogatives including access to libraries, computing, cultural, and recreation facilities; continuation of graduate faculty status; and access to grant and contract offices.
• Removed faculty retain health, life, and other insurance benefits in accordance with state law.

Q. How would removal procedures be enacted?

 

A. The FEC recommends procedures that are forwarded to the President and to the Senate. The Senate votes to agree or disagree and forwards its finding to the President. The President and Chair of the FEC make recommendations to the Board of Regents which then adopts procedures to be followed.

 

Q. Does shared governance continue during a financial emergency?

 

A. Yes, policies and procedures not specifically suspended or superseded remain in effect; and regular consultation between the FEC, the President and the faculty (through the Senate) is mandated.

 

Q. How do we get out of a state of financial emergency?

 

A. Once either the President or the FEC determines that a financial crisis no longer exists, a recommendation to terminate the state of emergency is submitted to the Board of Regents which has the authority to terminate the state of emergency.

 

For the full details of the code regarding financial emergency, please Section 26-31 of the Faculty Code at the following web address:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/FCG/FCCH26.html