FY 21-23 Budget Forum - Internal Requests

What are Internal Requests?

Internal budget requests are made each year by university divisions in preparation for fiscal year planning. In odd-numbered years internal requests are made for all major budgeting across the university and planned as part of the two-year (biennial) budget. In even-numbered years requests are limited to those that are emergent and were not able to be budgeted for as a part of the previous year's cycle.

Budget requests are submitted to Budget & Financial Planning and are then reviewed by the University Planning and Resources Council (UPRC).  UPRC evaluates requests against the university's strategic plan and makes recommendations to the Deans and Vice Presidents who review and make final decisions.

The campus community is asked to provide comments on requests as part of the review process.  Comments are solicited on all submissions prior to being discussed by the UPRC and are solicited again on the VP's final recommended requests. The forum is typically opened in late winter and closed in spring depending on the budget cycle calendar for that year.

Current proposals for comment are listed below. Please contact Budget & Financial Planning with any questions at BFP@wwu.edu. 

 

2021-23 Biennium (FY22 and FY23) Internal Requests

Click proposal titles below to read the narrative proposal. Click "Detail" to see spreadsheets with fiscal details.

UPRC will discuss proposals at meetings on April 14. Audiocasts of those meetings can be heard here once available:

April 14th UPRC meeting     

Comments are now closed.

All comments will be approved by a moderator within Budget and Financial Planning and will be posted as quickly as possible. The moderator will not approve comments that contain any harmful, threatening, defamatory or hateful speech or that are offensive in nature. Comments that are submitted which are clearly outside of the stated topic will likewise not be approved by the moderator. If you have any questions as to why your comment was not posted, you may email Budget & Financial Planning at BFP@wwu.edu and we will respond as soon as possible. 

Comments will be open until Monday, April 19, but please submit comments before April 14 for consideration at the April 14 UPRC meeting.

Department Details Recurring FY21 Dollars Recurring FY21 FTE One-Time FY21 Dollars Recurring FY22 Dollars Recurring FY22 FTE One-time FY22 Dollars
Academic Affairs TOTALS $2,976,139 47.70 $1,148,200 $4,984,307 78.06 $4,000
CBE EID Detail $67,836 6 $12,600 $69,209 6 $0
CFPA Art Detail $0 0 $50,000 $182,266 2 $0
CFPA Design Detail $0 0 $10,000 $108,894 1 $0
CFPA Illustration Detail $63,953 .78 $4,000 $63,953 .78 $0
CFPA Sound Engineer

Detail

 $82,818 1 $0 $84,938 1 $0
CFPA Steam Center Detail $74,612 1 $39,000 $76,441 1 $0
CHSS ASL Detail $60,376 .67 $1,500 $60,376 .67 $0
CHSS EMR Detail $33,860 0 $17,600 $33,860 0 $0
CHSS Film Studies Detail $0 0 $17,000 $182,266 2 $0
CHSS WGSS Detail $0 0 $30,000 $280,503 3 $0
CSE EECE Detail $84,050 1 $215,000 $340,032 3 $0
CSE FY Eng Tech Detail $72,612 1 $0 $74,441 1 $0
CSE Pre-Health Detail $256,928 5 $440,000 $664,280 9 $0
HCE Operations Detail $132,175 1.65 $0 $135,113 1.65 $0
ITS Software Detail $167,160 0 $0 $169,891 0 $0
ITS Staffing Detail $786,855 6.8 $0 $806,970 6.8 $0
PROV Honors Detail            
PROV IGE Detail $193,138 2.08 $0 $197,454 2.08 $0
PROV RWI Detail $14,298 .22 $0 $14,298 .22 $0
PROV SJEC Detail $43,444 .5 $92,000 $0 0 $0
PROV SSI Detail $25,736 .4 $5,000 $25,736 .4 $0
Telepresence Detail $0 0 $200,000 $0 0 $0
VPR TA Stipends Detail $191,469 12 $0 $393,112 23.4 $0
VPUE First-Year Expansion Detail $0 0 $0 $14,298 0 $0
VPUE FYE Detail $46,029 .5 $1,500 $46,029 .5 $0
WCE Program Assistant Detail $57,920 1 $5,000 $59,292 1 $0
WL Subscription Detail $0 0 $0 $131,291 0 $0
               
Department Details Recurring FY21 Dollars Recurring FY21 FTE One-Time FY21 Dollars Recurring FY22 Dollars Recurring FY22 FTE One-time FY22 Dollars
Business and Financial Affairs TOTALS $78,000 .5 $0 $78,000 .5 $0
Risk and Compliance Analyst Detail $78,000 .5 $0 $78,000 .5 0
               
Department Details Recurring FY21 Dollars Recurring FY21 FTE One-Time FY21 Dollars Recurring FY22 Dollars Recurring FY22 FTE One-time FY22 Dollars
Enrollment and Student Services TOTALS $1,548,917 13.42 $34,795 $1,728,790 15.42 $3,000
Advancing Inclusive Success Detail $1,045,254 7.92 $31,795 $1,048,129 7.92 $3,000
Enrollment Management Staffing & Prog. Support Detail $429,758 4.5 $0 $438,123 4.5 $0
Western Success Scholars Program Detail $0 0 $0 $116,764 1.5 $0
Underrepresented Student Support Detail $73,905 1 $3,000 $125,774 1.5 $0
               
Department Details Recurring FY21 Dollars Recurring FY21 FTE One-Time FY21 Dollars Recurring FY22 Dollars Recurring FY22 FTE One-time FY22 Dollars
President TOTALS $319,354 2.0 $0 $319,354 2.0 $0
Office of Equity   Detail $319,354 2.0 $0 $319,354 2.0 $0
               
Department Details Recurring FY21 Dollars Recurring FY21 FTE One-Time FY21 Dollars Recurring FY22 Dollars Recurring FY22 FTE One-time FY22 Dollars
University Relations & Marketing TOTALS $576,024 5.0 $0 $576,024 5.0 $0
Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech Detail $576,024 5.0 $0 $576,024 5.0 $0
               
Grand Total All Divisions $5,498,434 68.62 $1,182,995 $7,686,474 100.98 $7,000
  Recurring
Dollars

Recurring FTE

 One Time
Dollars FY22		 Recurring
Dollars		 Recurring
FTE		 One Time
Dollars FY23

Comments

Subscriptions

neemj replied on
 
Dear colleagues on UPRC: I fully support the Libraries' request for additional funding. We have reached the point where this is a crisis. In the History Department, our undergraduate students are unable to get access to the journals and books that they need to write their capstone papers. Our MA students lack the collections required for MA theses. And faculty are unable to access the journals that they need for teaching and research. It is, honestly, an emergency. On top of that, the amount of faculty labor involved with the annual subscriptions reductions is a significant waste of state resources and has had a notable impact on faculty morale and faculty members' confidence that WWU supports teaching and research in their fields. I am not sure how we can recruit new faculty when they realize that WWU does not subscribe to core journals in their fields. Sincerely, Johann Neem, Chair, History Department

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Western Libraries Proposal

arthurj2 replied on
 
I wish to add my very strong support for the Western Libraries proposal. It is imperative to ensure that faculty and students continue to have access to both journals and books that are critical to their work at Western. As just one example, within the short quarter system format in which our students learn and write research papers, they simply cannot wait for so many items on ILL to arrive to complete their projects. The lack of access to resources impedes their learning and the challenge faculty can offer in their courses. Continuing to rely on ILL diminishes the quality of the assignments that we can assign to students. Moreover, the continued cuts are detrimental to faculty morale and raise anxiety that our research, and thus our career advancement, is in jeopardy. - J. Arthur-Cameselle, Health and Human Development

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

supporting an increase to the library base budget

brodham replied on
 
I'd like to add my support to the request for a base increase to the Libraries’ Resource Access Budget. A library is the heart of a university, where students and faculty go to find knowledge. This is becoming embarrassingly difficult at our institution. Although workarounds abound, it would be great to see the administration prioritize facile access to knowledge by granting the library the funds it requires to maintain a reasonable set of journal subscriptions, instead of slashing this set of subscriptions more with every passing year. Sincerely, Marion Brodhagen, Professor, Biology

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Library subscriptions

pihosp replied on
 
I wanted to write briefly to stress how essential the expansion and development of Western Library subscriptions is for research and teaching. Without strong library resources, we cannot teach our students about the current, and often most important, ideas in our fields. Without strengthening our library subscriptions faculty cannot meet the research expectations necessary for promotion or to advance ideas in our fields. Additionally, continually trimming creates a bias that prevents fields that have not been as historically strong at Western from developing adequate library collections. This means that our collections are stronger in areas that are not necessarily as relevant to our needs. Finally, having to scrum and scrap every year for extremely basic library subscriptions not only pits faculty against one another in an uncollegial way, but also fundamentally detracts from our mission as an institution dedicated to the promotion of knowledge.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Annually Budgeted Financial Support for the Library

zimmers5 replied on
 
The university must fully and annually fund the library. My students depend on the library's resources for course materials and research. There are very few alternatives for accessing information related to the African continent. The library's ability to maintain subscriptions and acquire new materials--primary, secondary, digital or otherwise--is fundamental my students' success. I also depend on Western's library for curriculum development and my own research. The library is at the center of our university's mission and core values.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

urgent need

schwarr5 replied on
 
Black Feminist Thought is essential to equity and justice. The WGSS program is an underfunded and understaffed program even though it strives to meets the needs of students and upholds the mission and strategic goals of the university. Current it only has three half time positions, serves hundreds of students across campus, and offers a variety GUR's. Support this program and scholarship of black feminist scholars is essentail not only to the program and college but to students to learn about this important area of scholarship.

Proposal

AA: CHSS WGSS

support for library proposal

zarrows replied on
 
It is absolutely essential that Western keep up with subscription costs--for faculty research and for students. We need to ensure that students have access to current research in the field, both for their in-class learning and independent research. As faculty, we also need to be able to access new scholarship for our own research. Using ILL services is helpful but does not substitute for having access to the full journal.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Wilson Library journal subscriptions

pddiehl replied on
 
I strongly endorse the proposal to budget for inflation in the cost of journal subscriptions. Decades of indifference to library resources on the part of the administration needs to end. We cannot continue to shed subscriptions and still support the high-quality teaching and research that WWU aspires to provide. At what point will the deterioration of the library's acquisitions budget start to draw adverse attention from accreditation agencies and our partners in the Orbis/Cascade consortium?

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Support for Western Libraries

wasserr replied on
 
I would like to add my voice to the many supporting the budget proposal from WL. Among other things, it would eliminate the need for reactionary subscription cancellations that have had a negative impact on faculty research and morale across the university.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Support WL Subscription Request

chardd replied on
 
To whom it may concern, I am writing to express my support for Western Libraries’ request for a sustainable subscriptions budget. Maintaining and expanding library resources is crucial for my teaching research-led, student-inquiry driven history courses as well as for my own research. Sincerely, Dan Chard Visiting Assistant Professor WWU History Department

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Retaining journals

howardd replied on
 
I write in support of WL's request to maintain journal subscriptions. It is imperative for me and my students to have immediate access to cutting-edge research.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Urgent Need within CBE

kanovj replied on
 
Please prioritize funding this CBE EID proposal. CBE students were involved in its development and they have made it clear that, while this initiative can benefit all students, it will be particularly beneficial to BIPOC and first-generation students presently facing and navigating numerous barriers to success at Western. The CBE's new EID Committee sees the initiatives outlined in this proposal as crucial for making real and immediate positive changes with regard to our underrepresented students' day-to-day experiences of equity and inclusion.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

brownk56 replied on
 
This would be a great resource for business students and alumni.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

CBE Student Success Center

oertelr replied on
 
As CBE strives to serve all its students, it is especially important to eliminate unnecessary hurdles faced by students from underrepresented groups. Establishing a CBE Student Success Center as an information hub for students will be a crucial step toward the goal of retaining and nurturing our BIPOC and first-generation students, and to ultimately guide them towards timely graduation.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

YES

scheuem replied on
 
yes

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

yes

scheuem replied on
 
yes

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

As a graduate student at

lawlerk2 replied on
 
As a graduate student at Western for the past two years, I've seen and experienced significant financial stress that has detracted from both my teaching and coursework. I'm in support of this proposal as I want future graduate students to have a better experience than I and much of my cohort did.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Insufficient Funding

everyhj replied on
 
As a staff member at the English Department I have spoken with and interacted with many graduate students. The funding they receive is far, far below both minimum wage for the work they do, and even farther below living wage in Bellingham. These students work hard and are promised funding they come into the program believing will be sufficient to cover their needs. It is not.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Cost of Living

atkinsb2 replied on
 
The cost of living in Bellingham in association with the current TA payment does not provide adequate support for TAs. Many TAs, myself included, have other jobs to supplement the TA payment. This means we are not only grad students and full-time TAs, but also part-time workers during the week and weekends.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

TA Stipends

brodham replied on
 
Dear colleagues, I would like to add my strong support for the request for an increase in graduate TA stipends. Allowing students a wage that permits them to do their jobs (as TAs) and work on their thesis projects without diverting time and energy to an outside job would permit them to really focus on what they came to WWU to do. A fair wage would allow our graduate TAs to better achieve their full potential, which will reflect well on WWU. Sincerely, Marion Brodhagen, Professor, Biology

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

How will WWU justify insufficient TA wages in the years to come?

timssb replied on
 
The cost of living in Bellingham has steadily increased over the four years I have lived here. As is, the stipend that TAs are awarded with is not enough to live in this town. Others have already replied saying they require multiple jobs to do so, taking away time from their TA work, and their more important graduate student work as well. In the years to come, and as the cost of living in this town continues to rise, how will WWU justify paying its TAs insufficient wages, when you already are failing to do so? For the future graduate students of this school, I support this move to increase TA stipends.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

The TA stipend *must* be

wongj9 replied on
 
The TA stipend *must* be increased as soon as possible; the graduate TAs are in financial crisis. The current stipend is inadequate considering the cost of living in Bellingham. Graduate TAs often resort to taking on additional jobs. Our graduate students came to Western with the desire to deepen their scholarly research and creative work. We need to support their work through equitable pay and with resources that will allow them to flourish with respect. This inadequate stipend is also an issue of recruitment and retainment, and also disproportionally affects current and prospective BIPOC students. If Western is committed to equitable change and inclusion, the TA stipends must also reflect that.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Unsustainable System

larsonr6 replied on
 
As a graduate student and instructor at WWU for the past two years, I have also seen and experienced significant financial stress that has detracted from both my teaching and coursework. Living and working in Bellingham using our current funding is almost impossible. Graduate TAs must either come from a wealthy background and/or go into significant debt to finish programs here, and the stress of these financial burdens is not healthy or sustainable. I am in support of this proposal as I fear for the health and wellbeing of Graduate Students going forward.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Support for increasing TA stipends

lees65 replied on
 
TAs provide essential services to our students as instructors and near-peer mentors, and yet, their stipends are not enough to support basic living costs in Bellingham. As a result, this limits the diversity of our TA population to those who can manage to partially self-fund and/or students have to take on additional jobs that limit their ability to focus on their teaching and research. To better support our graduate students who depend on TA stipends to live while playing critical roles as researchers and instructors, please raise student stipends!

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Critical Need for Library Subscriptions budget

destlek replied on
 
As the political science department has made clear in communications with the Dean of Libraries and Provost, this a critical budget priority. We cannot continue to do our jobs in a context of repeated subscription cuts which imperil faculty research and student opportunities. The dire state of subscriptions has reached such a point where we may struggle to recruit and retain scholars for faculty members in our fields because of Western's failure to provide the most basic research resources. Addition of funds to the subscription base budget is a critical step in restoring Western's commitment to liberal education.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

WL Subscription

mooreh22 replied on
 
I would like to express my support for the Western Libraries' budget request. The publication industry is increasingly oriented around corporate profit motives, a change which threatens the long-term viability of scholarly communication as we have known it. This budget request is essential to ensure efficient access to scholarship for our teaching and research at WWU.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

CBE has an urgent need for a student success center

hallt21 replied on
 
Please do approve the CBE EID proposal--it includes an urgently needed student success center which will enable CBE students, who have no central hub in CBE to seek help, to access resources and advising easily. It also supports a team of student advocates who can help CBE improve our EID efforts. This proposal was reviewed by students and they are saying it's what they need. Help us help them.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

CBE Serving Students and Upholding Commitments

losansk replied on
 
I think it is very important to fund the CBE's request for an Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity initiative. Business culture is rooted in white privilege, nepotism, ableism, financial gatekeeping, and misogyny, and it needs to be addressed. I believe that the CBE's commitment to creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment is not only beneficial for students to experience but also teaches students the value of EID in their future business practices. Setting this precedent and paying student advocates for their contributions goes beyond a signed email condemning bigotry - it shows students that EID is not a phase but a continuous and fruitful endeavor.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

barenba replied on
 
CBE is a hard college to navigate through especially for BIPOC, disabled, womxn, and other marginalized individuals. I have had multiple times where I have thought about dropping out of my major because it was hard to find a support system within the college, I support this proposal and think it would benefit many students.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

ander830 replied on
 
As a non-traditional and transfer student, I would find a Student Success Center enormously helpful. I will be beginning classes Summer quarter and honestly, I find a lot of being a new student fairly overwhelming. Trying to manage where I can apply for scholarships, get career advice, where my advisors are located, where the main CBE buildings are, plus navigating all of the amazing amenities that Western has to offer has definitely been difficult and if we were able to have one place that could help with directing us on the what's, where's and how to's, that would be amazing. Please approve this funding for the College of Business and Economics! Thank you.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

bluer2 replied on
 
I'm a Senior in the Economics/Political Science program and I full support the EID initiative at the College of Business and Economics. When I compare my experiences between the College of the Humanities and CBE I must admit that I've felt a much greater sense of support, camaraderie and direction within the College of the Humanities. I've really enjoyed studying Economics at Western and I think the faculty and courses offered are really quite good, that being said as I reflect on my experience I think myself and other students would be helped a lot if there were a central location to receive support and information on classes and other opportunities, I think the EID proposal would do a lot to foster a more cohesive and fulfilling academic experience for all CBE students.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

wiechee replied on
 
The CBE needs a space for students to feel supported in achieving their degrees. Right now the process of figuring out what classes you need to take for each major is complicated and not very seamless when switching majors in the CBE. To ensure students continue to be CBE majors and engage in the community this is very important!

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

yockeyg replied on
 
I am a first year CBE pre-major who has needed extensive help within my academic planning due to the pandemic, and I believe that funding toward CBE EID would help make this transition that I went through easier for the loads of future first years who will be heading into this situation in the fall. Having these amedities all in one place for not only new students like me but all students would be extremely beneficial toward our success and overall feeling of support.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Preserve Subscriptions

trueblk replied on
 
Given how much money this university has in its Reserve Funds, I see no reason why it continues to shave away at library resources that are essential to the work of faculty and students. Because of online teaching, I have used the library's online subscriptions and ebooks more than ever. In two of my courses, online articles supplant traditional textbooks. I reject the narrative of scarcity being used to justify cuts to library subscriptions.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Film Studies

trueblk replied on
 
We live in a digital world and students want film courses. Analyzing narrative through film is just as valuable as analyzing literature and often complementary. We have scholars in global film studies who want to do ambitious things with the program. Please fund these courses.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

I fully support this

wongj9 replied on
 
I fully support this fantastic proposal for two new TT lines in film and media studies. The film studies program needs to grow into a major as students are demanding for more classes and opportunities in film. Western is definitely behind its peer institutions in keeping up with new developments in this necessary field.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

Film Studies please

vargasc replied on
 
As a professor who teaches film production classes in the art department, I see firsthand the need and enthusiasm for this area of study. I have worked closely with the Film Minor faculty and students and I know this will be an extremely popular major. It will also help deepen students understanding of the power of film images and media within culture.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

TA Stipends

trueblk replied on
 
I serve on the Graduate Committee, so I know for certain that when students turn down our program, it is often related to TA-stipend. Recently, one such student wrote to say that she had chosen another institution because the pay was 19K with health insurance, and the cost of living was lower in Iowa. We're not even close. According to the City of Bellingham stats, from 2000 to 2017, the median home value increased by 67% and there is a shortage of rentals. COB finds that only 33% of rentals can be considered affordable to a family earning a median income. Our students cannot make it on what we pay them. We are conducting fundraising drives for our students who are short on food. It's just wrong.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Help CBE Serve Students

gitelmm replied on
 
I support this proposal. I think students need and deserve something like this and deserve a better, more equitable, inclusive, and diverse CBE.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Supporting film studies at WWU

loarc replied on
 
As the proposal so clearly lays out, there is an extraordinary need to expand our offerings in film studies at WWU. The demand is clear in the high enrollments and enormous wait lists for the courses offered in this area. Unfortunately, Western is falling behind its peer institutions in keeping up with new developments in this field, and we will continue to lose students--and to underserve the students we do recruit and retain--until we can expand our offerings in this area.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

TAs need competitive stipends

loarc replied on
 
This, in my view, needs to be at the very top of the university's funding priorities. Our TA stipends languished while the cost of living in Bellingham exploded, and the last two years' increases--welcome as they are--are only the first step in what is needed. Our low stipends present our graduate students with painful decisions. As the Director of Graduate Studies in English, I have gotten used to hearing students talk about needing to work 15-20 hours a week or more *outside the university* just to be able to buy food for themselves. This year, our students organized a fundraiser for some TAs who were facing housing and food insecurity. Not only is this a terrible ethical standard for the university to set; it makes it extremely difficult for me to recruit students to our programs, knowing some of the hardships they are likely to face here. This is not just a problem for our graduate programs. Recruiting strong students in our program is critical for the entire university, since all but two of WWU's 101 sections are taught by TAs. When we lose strong students to other universities because of our low stipends, our undergraduates lose out as well. I'm sure that TAs in other programs are critical to the functioning of many undergraduate classrooms as well.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Library subscriptions

loarc replied on
 
Adequately funding the library's subscription budget is also a critical issue for the university. It's increasingly embarrassing and depressing to watch our librarians--whose mission is supposed to be to support research and teaching--forced to repeatedly poll faculty to see which essential journal subscriptions would damage our work the least. Please--timely access to research is essential to my work as a scholar and a teacher. Every year I'm forced to spend more time making ILL requests for my own work, and trying to find ethical ways to share scholarship with my students without blowing the library's ILL budget or violating fair use standards. These subscriptions are critical to the university's mission; I urge that they be funded adequately, as this proposal outlines.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Support for the library

costasus replied on
 
This university desperately needs to develop ongoing funding mechanisms for the library, including the request for the subscription budget. Libraries are the "labs" for the humanities. Journals and books are our equipment. Can you imagine the administration going into a science lab and throwing away the equipment? Books - into the dumpster! Journals - into the dumpster! Alas, digitizing was sold as a way to save money, but costs are ongoing, while university commitment is not. In this new paradigm, students and faculty alike have increasingly narrow options for scholarship. Summit and ILL are not effective substitutes, especially for students who operate in the quarter system. While cuts may seem to pay off in the short term, in the long view, the university will be unable to attract promising students and faculty if it does not finding a permanent, stable funding source for this critical resource.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

fund Western Libraries collections

koehlea2 replied on
 
In my time here, the Libraries has struggled to align subscription content with the teaching and research needs because the base budget is so inadequate. It doesn't cover normal price increases year-to-year not to mention the excessive inflationary costs of some journals and packages -- the scholarly publishing industry is notorious for this. If we value our work, if we value equitable and inclusive access to information for students and faculty, then we fund the Libraries collections fully. If we don't, we continue to lose access, year after year, and at an accelerated rate. The impacts of this are far-reaching both for current students and faculty as well as future knowledge-creators.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

fund Libraries collections

koehlea2 replied on
 
In my time here, the Libraries has struggled to align subscription content with the teaching and research needs because the base budget is so inadequate. It doesn't cover normal price increases year-to-year not to mention the excessive inflationary costs of some journals and packages -- the scholarly publishing industry is notorious for this. If we value our work, if we value equitable and inclusive access to information for students and faculty, then we fund the Libraries collections fully. If we don't, we continue to lose access, year after year, and at an accelerated rate. The impacts of this are far-reaching both for current students and faculty as well as future knowledge-creators.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Help CBE Serve Studetns

urream2 replied on
 
A student success center is vital for the CBE. There are many students that are unaware of the help and resources available to them and due to this unawareness students often struggle. As a student advocate for the CBE, one of the many reasons I joined this role is to advocate for a space like this. Where students can not only go and get support academically but also find and feel a sense of community in the CBE. Business is often taught as to hide your emotions and enforces strict professional, but how can students execute professionalism when they're struggling to navigate their own classes and major. Thankfully I've had the wonderful chance of having a fruitful relationship with my peer advisor and it really makes a difference when it comes properly planning my courses. I wish more students also knew that they have a peer advisor and other support available to them so they can better prepare and plan their time at Western. Not only would a success center be great for academic support but for support in all other aspects of students life. Success is not only about doing good in class but excelling in all aspects of your life: mental, emotional, physical and I feel that having a success center can take on this role and increase the sense of community and support in the CBE. Ensuring that the proper people take on this role of leading the student success center it can have tremendous changes and benefits to the CBE. Let's change how we think of business.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Support Livable TA Wages

kempz replied on
 
Current compensation for TA labor does not provide a competitive or livable wage. The average rental cost in Bellingham is $968, and once one adjusts for bills and groceries, let alone the price of professional development conferences, workshops, and books, they quickly see how current stipends fail to cover even basic needs. Graduate works are instrumental to the functioning of the university model, and our labor, often necessarily exceeding expectations, merits greater compensation. Historically, the university has delayed and dodged its responsibility to increase stipends for some of its most vital yet vulnerable workers. However, the cost of living will only increase, so I encourage you to take action here and support the budget proposal for "Fair and Competitive TA Stipends."

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Western Libraries Must be Prioritized

sloubem replied on
 
A strong library is the foundation of our University, and the administration's routine failure to adequately fund subscriptions and print collections is eroding our ability to educate Washington's students to the basic standards that they deserve. Lack of adequate collections means research projects have to rely on what is available in the context of a fast-paced quarter system. Often that means the best scholarship does not get read by our students. The erosion of our print collections also significantly hinders faculty research by introducing delays of weeks between discovering a new reference and actually getting it delivered to the library patron.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

CBE EID Student Support

crutchc replied on
 
As a faculty member, I see the disconnect between what we think students should know and what they do know. There is so much information it is hard for students to find what is needed. Students, especially BIPOC students, often feel intimidated to ask for help. To have a physical space with student advocates will help our students get the resources needed. When a group of CBE BIPOC students were asked what they think would help students succeed, the number one priority they mentioned was a place to find answers with other students to help them.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Provide stable funding for our library

kanders replied on
 
In the last decade, I have regularly had the experience of searching local library websites to access new academic book that is making a splash to find that the Bellingham Public Library had several copies, whereas Western's Libraries had no copies. The library is the heart of the university and deserves to be funded as such.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Help CBE Serve Students

kanglej replied on
 
It is vital that CBE students can have a place to get connected with information to help them with their career.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Fair Compensation for Graduate Teaching Assistants

hainess replied on
 
TA stipends for graduate students are not enough for a student to even scrape by with what has become a highly-inflated cost of living in Bellingham. I have colleagues right now who are struggling with basic necessities whilst shouldering the burden of teaching the majority of WWU's ENG 101 curriculum. We now have a food bank for those WWU employees. We now have the equivalent of a GoGundMe account for them. This is not right. WWU has the means and Must act. This issue is a priority of the must crucial kind and it must be resolved.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Comments on CBE EID Proposal

aldene replied on
 
I am writing in strong support of establishing a Student Success Center in CBE. I have just been at CBE for two years now, after a long career in Washington D.C. I am impressed by the quality of WWU students, but also aware that they wrestle with a great deal of uncertainty about their career paths. The students I worked with in DC through internships and other programs generally had strong social networks through their parents and schools that were invaluable in finding internships and first jobs. Western students, it has appeared to me, are much more on their own. First generation students, in particular, rarely have the sort of family support that will help them in launching careers or making choices about continued graduate school education. A student success center that focuses both on academic and career success for CBE students would be a hugely valuable addition to the department. Best regards, Edward Alden

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Funding

willi454 replied on
 
We need more funding for more diversity in our College of Business! Diversity is SO important, and it is not considered nearly as much as it should, specifically in this area of Western's colleges.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

they deserve money for their

schaefb3 replied on
 
they deserve money for their work

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

student success center fund

deutscz replied on
 
Help CBE Serve Students

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

This would give students a

magnos2 replied on
 
This would give students a space to thrive and collaborate. Given the circumstances due to covid, it would be nice to have a designated area for study.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

kargope replied on
 
Help CBE Serve Students

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

sotnikn replied on
 
Help CBE Serve Students

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech

blaiss replied on
 
Funding for centralized marketing and webtech is an investment in the future of our organization. COVID has hastened the 'demographic cliff'-- —a steep drop-off in potential first-time full-time freshmen-- WWU and academic institutions around the country are feeling the pinch. As the available population of potential students heads into steep decline, there will be stronger competition for students-- we're already seeing that happen. The only way to make sure we continue to attract students is to amp up the story telling surrounding our amazing faculty, students, and the important research and work that happens here. Storytelling and marketing is vital to our ability to thrive and grow into the future. Invest in the future of WWU and finally provide a base budget for marketing across digital platforms.

Proposal

URM: Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech

EID

shanl replied on
 
Offer psychological or financial help to those students who experienced unfair situation. Help those students integrate into our community.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Without students there is no Western.

thomps94 replied on
 
Washington's Higher Education space is increasingly competitive, especially post-pandemic, and there is not a four-year state school that spends less on recruitment marketing than Western does. WWU has long relied on word of mouth, reputation, and sense of place to recruit students. That is an antiquated way of thinking, especially when your competition is outspending you 10:1 or more on recruitment marketing. Like EVERY OTHER state-funded four-year school in Washington, Western needs a devoted line item of annual budget devoted to recruitment marketing if the university wants to retain its share of the state's college students. If we have learned anything from the past 12 months, it's that every single job on this campus relies on a full class of new students each year, and a marketing budget and devoted funds to maintaining URM and WebTech's ability to communicate that marketing across campus platforms is vital. This funding would also allow for more of the intentional authentic storytelling Western is doing that is focused on the achievements of students of color and other underrepresented populations, which is encouraging more enrollments from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, first gen and people with disabilities who see themselves and their lived experiences reflected at Western.

Proposal

URM: Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech

I support this proposal!

dmyterw replied on
 
I support this proposal!

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Support for CBE students

andrusk2 replied on
 
Having more support for career services for CBE students would be extremely beneficial! It took me a few years to start understanding what career paths are open to me which is very discouraging and I'm sure deters some students from pursuing CBE programs.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

szabon replied on
 
CBE needs the student success center! Additionally, CBE has a lot of work to do on EID measures with marginalized student voices centered in this work, but this labor needs to be paid and not expected as volunteer hours. I support this funding request. As a non-traditional, first-gen transfer student I've found CBE to lack a supportive central culture. Additionally, I have heard feedback from BIPOC students in the program that CBE can feel hostile. There is a TON of work to do, but creating a Student Center and paid positions for student EID advocates is a good step.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

tolenti replied on
 
I believe this to be a very opportunistic proposal and I support it fully! I hope future and current CBE students are able to gain access and aid in their journey through this program. As a POC transfer student, it can be intimidating navigating this program so I find this proposal to be very beneficial.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Provide More Guidance to CBE Students

boulosb2 replied on
 
As a senior in the CBE, I completely support this effort. My first two years of school were spent aimlessly, taking classes with no beneficial academic guidance. I believe that this initiative can make a huge impact on CBE student's knowledge of the resources available to them and how to tackle their college career in an efficient and valuable way.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE Serve Students

mendoza8 replied on
 
I think students would benefit from a student run resource like this. Finding information about classes, degrees, and registering can be very confusing and frustrating, especially as a new student. Having student voices help with equity and inclusion issues would make a big difference in finding actionable solutions to the issues that effect us directly.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Western needs a centralized marketing effort

gallagm7 replied on
 
I've been continually impressed with my "new" colleagues in URM, whose work now serves the university as a whole. Thanks to their beautiful storytelling and modern digital marketing techniques, Western is already seeing an increase in interest from out of state students. And a short campaign earlier this year resulted in a significantly higher number of financial aid applications (which means, hopefully, more aid for more students). This team has demonstrated how valuable they are in telling Western's story in a meaningful, cohesive manner -- please ensure their permanent funding so they can continue the kind of marketing work that benefits all of us. Thanks very much, Mary Gallagher

Proposal

URM: Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech

Help CBE Serve Students

mitchet3 replied on
 
I would love the opportunity to have a Student Success Center at CBE. Equity and inclusion are such important topics to me and many other students here at Western. This proposal will help support equity and inclusion by giving students the resources that they need in order to be successful in academics and after graduation. A Student Success Center is essential in making WWU a more equitable and inclusive institution.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE serve students

zambraa replied on
 
I believe that this space and resources will be beneficial to many students. First generation students need the support and advice they do not receive from their families and having the school do that for that will be helpful. Speaking from personal experience I would have liked having a space to go ask for help that made me feel included and seen. CBE students need this type of support to finish the major and graduate and be successful in the future. Sometimes it gets difficult and not seeing help makes it easy to quit. I am lucky to have sought out for help and resources from professors and advisors but there are others who may be more shy or afraid.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

CBE EID Student Success Center Needed

drumd replied on
 
Expansion of CBE's ability to serve all students, and in particular, BIPOC, First-Gen, and transfer students, is an extreme need. Navigating the many departments and offices required to keep students on track and minimize issues is vital. Our current advisor is in desperate need of help.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Fund URM

beardsr2 replied on
 
For years Western has struggled with the inefficiencies of decentralized marketing. The siloed version of marketing meant pockets of staff across campus with varying duties and funding, and this also translated into the duplication of efforts and an unfocused brand. Western moved towards a commitment of marketing in the hiring of the VP of University Relations and Marketing, and this addition provided the University with a focused brand with a clear goal of supporting enrollment and recruitment. However, the division lacked a budget and a marketing team to implement the work. Now, more than ever, in the changing and competitive landscape of recruitment and retention, Western needs to support a centralized marketing unit. Marketing is an essential function of any organization, including higher education. We simply cannot continue to leave this essential unit on campus without a budget and staff.

Proposal

URM: Funding for Centralized Marketing and WebTech

Help CBE Serve Students

nybergd replied on
 
The College of Business and Economics is vital part of the WWU community. With a donation, CBE can create a Student Success Center that will cultivate and help our future business leaders develop into valued members of society.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Help CBE serve students!

chamban replied on
 
Business and economics are fields dominated by white men. Western is a notoriously white school. I think it is necessary to give students a place to connect with other students in the program, feel supported, and have people that are in their corner to help them succeed. I think that equity should be implemented across campus and it’s programs without hesitation. We need to support our women and POC students through the CBE so that we can be the most successful in school and after graduation.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Support Expanding the Film Studies at WWU

leej223 replied on
 
I strongly support opening 2 TT lines to transition the film studies minor into a major track. This would help meeting our students' academic and professional interest in cinema and media studies. The number of students consistently waitlisted for their courses underlines the urgency of this request. Also, the requested TT lines in digital media/television/video games and American screen industries/cultures of production (including access and inequity) would bring our course offerings up to do date with comparable universities and support WWU's incorporation of analysis of structural inequalities in our curricula.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

Hiring TT for Black Feminist Thought Is a High Priority

leej223 replied on
 
I strongly support the TT line for a scholar of Black Feminist Thought in WGSS. This is in line with the move to foreground antiracism in WWU's curricula and will foster the critical consciousness that our students are demand. Hiring a TT in WGSS would also make courses in Black feminism more accessible to students, as such courses are currently very few, and thus, harder to find.

Proposal

AA: CHSS WGSS

Support of Film Studies major

feodorj replied on
 
I want to voice my full support of transforming the Film Studies minor into a major within the English dept. Western has been behind on this issue for too long now.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

Fund the affinity space in the CBE

sengerl replied on
 
This proposal is in alignment with the frequent requests made by students to have an apparent and dedicated physical space where resources and support are consolidated and accessible. It also provides space for our historically resilient student populations to build community and provides a physical space for faculty and staff to make a collective contribution to their safety and success.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Film studies discourse enhance the study of literature

timssb replied on
 
When I was an undergraduate at WWU, I took many film classes and found that it created in me an invaluable kind of multidisciplinary perspective for my studies. I support the creation of a film major because I believe the language and ideas of cinema are essential to the 21st century consciousness, and allowing our students to research film in the way they want to will help cultivate some really marvelous things.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

Keep Library Funding Apace with Inflation

leej223 replied on
 
Against the mission of WWU of academic excellence, the administration has consistently devalued and underfunded our library's collections and subscriptions. Without adequate subscriptions (especially in the humanities) teaching goals, which include student research, and faculty contributions to their respective fields is seriously hampered. Also, when the library staff are forced by the administration, against the ethos of their profession, to ask faculty to review which subscriptions should be cut, it creates a difficult working environment for these staff and faculty who must act against their roles in preserving and growing knowledge on this campus. I echo the many comments supporting funding the library's subscription budget to support pedagogical and research initiatives at WWU.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Adjust TA Stipends to Reflect Inflation

leej223 replied on
 
I support the proposal to increase TA stipends to reflect the inflation in the cost of living and attending WWU. WWU's decreasing ability to retain graduate students due to financial hardships stemming from low stipends is in an inverse relationship with how highly necessary and important their labor is on campus. Fair and competitive stipends should be prioritized.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

This will help the CBE put

singhd4 replied on
 
This will help the CBE put Students first

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

In my first year at Western

poteskm replied on
 
In my first year at Western for a graduate program, I, along with many of my peers, have incurred financial stress which has impacted our teaching and individual studies. The cost of living in Bellingham heavily outweighs the stipend TAs are allotted. In addition to spending well over the 20 hours per week we are compensated for so that our students receive a quality education and the time required to adequately get by in our own education, many of us spend the small amount of leftover time we have finding the means for additional income. A university is supposed to foster a culture of learning and academic growth, not a culture of burnout. I am in full support of this proposal.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Help support student needs

aguilal2 replied on
 
Given that the College of Business & Economics is a student-focused school, its business students should be provided with a space where they can seek answers and be provided with resources. Having a student success center in Parks hall not only centralizes resources, information, and advising for student success but will also cultivate a sense of community within CBE. This initiative should be fully funded to enhance student experiences while attending WWU!

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

AA: CBE EID

decookj replied on
 
I believe that a Student Success Center would enhance the experience of students at WWU. An accessible place to learn about the clubs and classes would help students find resources they would otherwise be unaware of. This proposal would also fund student equity advocates. Making an equitable environment at WWU should be a priority, making this an important measure.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

I support this initiative and

wright94 replied on
 
I support this initiative and think it sends a strong message to our students about our priorities.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

In support of providing fair and competitive TA stipends

arakikh replied on
 
I would like to advocate for more equitable and more conscientious TA stipends for our English graduate teaching assistants. Certainly, TAs across every department deserve to be respected and equitably compensated for the teaching, mentoring, leadership, and service they provide to the benefit of the Western community. Our graduate students need to be able to afford their basic needs, otherwise the opportunity provided to them comes with an encumbrance to their physical and psychological health and wellness.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Increase in money

daughea2 replied on
 
The program is a hard but rewarding program that’s why you should allow more students into the program and not be so restrictive by making a new test or another way to apply to the program. This program also needs more money than other because of the demand in health care workers. We need quality gear to learn and help others in the future...

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Support Pre-health students

koiralh2 replied on
 
By increasing the budget, more pre-health students such as myself will be able to complete the prerequisites we need for grad / professional schools. Ultimately, it would be extremely helpful to us money wise to be able to take all the classes we needed before we graduated, so we don’t have to spend extra money outside of our bachelor’s degree. Also, not all pre-health students are biochem majors, but we still need to take those classes, so limiting the biochem seats and other classes is frustrating for us.

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Support for Pre-health Students

saptonc replied on
 
Please consider increasing seats for Biochemistry courses (especially CHEM 474) for pre-health students who are not Chemistry or Biochemistry majors. This will help a lot with completing prerequisites needed for graduate programs!

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Support a student affinity space in the CBE

sengerl replied on
 
This student success center in the CBE answers the frequent request from our students for an apparent and accessible space where dedicated resources are consolidated and available. This center will also meet the needs of our most historically resilient student populations, providing a space where the college can built community and contribute to the safety and success of our students.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Create Film Studies Major

prangef replied on
 
Expanding this field into its own major is vital in supporting students who plan on pursuing further studies and/or careers in film and media. The current lengthy waitlists and limited course options of the film studies minor discourage students from pursuing their interest in film, and puts them at a disadvantage in comparison with other universities in the state. Film studies requires the same level of analysis and critical thinking as any other area of English. A film studies major would allow students to fully explore the diversity of the medium of film which the minor currently lacks.

Proposal

AA: CHSS Film Studies

Please prioritize this The Student Success Center proposal

armstr20 replied on
 
This space and the associated resources will go directly to supporting students - in particular first generation and BIPOC students as well as all students. This is something that we have been told from students, faculty and staff is a necessity for the success of our students during their time at CBE and for setting them up for career success.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Please prioritize this The Student Success Center proposal

armstr20 replied on
 
The Student Success Center at CBE will directly impact students' success and well-being, particularly focused on First Gen and BIPOC students, and also all students. We have repeatedly heard from students, faculty and staff how important this space and the support resources could be in truly supporting students to develop into successful and happy business leaders.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Graduate students critical to undergraduate instruction

thutp replied on
 
Competitive GTA stipends is essential to maintaining a vibrate graduate school at WWU. Current stipends hurt recruitment and the need to work outside jobs detracts from the quality of our GTAs research AND teaching. This proposal is money extremely well spent based on the positive impact it will have on the quality of undergraduate education.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Pre-health students inadequately served by WWU

thutp replied on
 
Washington State needs more qualified healthcare workers and WWU is unable to answer to the call due to critical space and staffing shortages. Student demand for this training is growing faster than we can meet it. This proposal is desperately needed.

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Access to Pre-Healthcare Courses and Associated Majors

spiegep replied on
 
Currently, there are over 1,000 students enrolled at WWU that have a defined interest in healthcare careers, all of whom need courses in biology and chemistry, and several of them decide to major in one of these two departments. Both the Biology and Chemistry Departments are facing significant enrollment pressures where we predict that 50-60% of students interested in majoring in these departments will be turned away, leaving 125-150 students per year without their desired major. There needs to be immediate investment in the infrastructure (building additions/remodels, hiring staff/faculty) to increase our ability to teach courses required for pre-healthcare as well as for biology and chemistry majors. It is long past due for the university to invest strategically in the areas that student demands are perennially increasing. We're on the cusp of crisis where students will start leaving WWU en masse if they're not able to major in their desired fields.

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Pre-heath

brodham replied on
 
Dear colleagues, As someone who teaches a majority of pre-health students, I can attest to the need to expand our ability to more adequately serve this population of students. Access to the majors and courses desired by these students is limited, and we must turn away a significant fraction of those who apply. We are a state school, but we are currently unable to serve the needs of our citizens in this regard. This issue represents a predictable supply/demand problem: as a population grows, do does its demand for health care. Correspondingly, health care training must also grow. Sincerely, Marion Brodhagen, Professor, Biology

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

Please fund CBE's EID initiative

forda9 replied on
 
I believe this is a very important resource that is needed especially for the college of Business and Economics. Considering the fact that CBE’s percentage of female, first-generation, and BIPOC students have not changed during the last 3 academic years, this is a proposal that should be prioritized. As a CBE student who identifies as Black and Muslim, this is a resource that I wish I had while I was beginning to navigate CBE. This proposal will also allow more opportunities for students to be employed by their respective department.

Proposal

AA: CBE EID

Library Subscription Funding

fleiscs3 replied on
 
I am writing to support the library's request to fund the subscription budget in a way that keeps up with inflation. Access to relevant publications is essential for scholarship in all disciplines, and it is time-consuming and demoralizing to have to work around limited access. Interlibrary loans are not a real substitute. Predictably having to cancel more and more subscriptions and having our librarians spend valuable time on trying to minimize the damage is not sustainable. Sincerely, Svenja Fleischer, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

TA stipends are shockingly low.

shekelm replied on
 
30 years ago I received a graduate stipend of $14,000 per year to live in St. Louis, where I rented a 3-bedroom apartment for $525 per month. It's shocking to learn that our TAs might be given LESS than that, especially seeing as (1) Bellingham rental rates have gone through the roof since 2014, the time of the last increase, and (2) Western has very little student housing, and no dedicated housing for graduate students to my knowledge. Thus, Western is, on the one hand, a major contributing factor to the explosion in rental prices in Bellingham, in that it has housing for only about 4000 out of 16,000+ plus students, while on the other hand, Western is giving graduate students a stipend that is barely sufficient to pay rent, let along bills and other living expenses. We put our graduate students in the situation where they MUST have jobs in addition to their coursework, research, and TA-ships, which no doubt slows their progress to degree, or else they MUST have outside sources of money, which slows our progress toward a campus that is more welcoming for students from diverse backgrounds. I cannot see that placing the burden of difficult decisions on budget priorities onto our graduate students works in anybody's favor, except for the people who are called upon to make the difficult decisions.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Art History DEI faculty positions

camlinc replied on
 
The two Art History faculty positions, Latin American and Indigenous, may be shared with Honors and housed in Art and Art History, but they will serve the whole community with GURs that address the living material culture of the Americas. These positions are needed by the university at large to address DEI in curriculum -- to decolonize the curriculum and help to change Western's identity to BE what it talks about being.

Proposal

AA: CFPA Art

STEAM means everyone

camlinc replied on
 
Western and WA is very good at funding technology and especially instructional technology staffing for STEM, but a STEAM Center in the Arts Annex would be different. 1. It would be open to all majors and supported by WL. 2. It is founded on cross-disciplinary collaboration of artists, designers, and engineers, which will increase innovation. This is a chance to break down the silos AND address the inequity in instructional technology support on this campus.

Proposal

AA: CFPA STEAM Center

Please support the STEAM Center!

losansk replied on
 
The STEAM center will provide much needed resources for all creatives on campus. This can bolster Western's reputation as a pillar of well-rounded arts education and will provide students will access to the resources they need to build their arts career and identities as artists.

Proposal

AA: CFPA STEAM Center

Honoring Diversity in Arts Education

losansk replied on
 
Honoring the diversity of art history by creating positions and classes that are historically accurate and sustainably welcoming is crucial to upholding Western's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Indigenous and Latin American art plays an important role in all of art's history and should be taught accordingly. This curriculum would be especially impactful given the potential to incorporate the new GUR/PLEJ credits.

Proposal

AA: CFPA Art

Provide funding for our creative minds

garciak8 replied on
 
I am a theatre major student at western and I strongly support and encourage funding for arts department. Having never been on campus I want to be able to feel at home and welcome on campus upon my arrival. It is seen in all areas of our modern society the lack of funding for art students and the creative minds, please do not add yourself to the list. STEM is often the narrative pushed and there can be a stigma around people pursuing arts degrees. Please help our university be truly inclusive by adding the A into STEM and allocating more funds to this area.

Proposal

AA: CFPA Design

Support Anti-racist workshop and Wellness programming for BIPOC

musondb replied on
 
SJEC has a rare but needed combination of ant-racist work, and wellness programming for BIPOC. Most DEI organizations neglect the wellness of BIPOC. BIPOC continue to be harmed by racism on a personal and professional level but there is hardly places providing programing for wellness and recovery apart from SJEC. SJEC has robust anti-racist, and wellness for BIPOC programming.

Proposal

AA: PROV SJEC

urgent need

schwarr5 replied on
 
The importance of anti-racist training is essential. Our campus has been struggling with racism, our students of color have demanded a need, and WWU has had difficulty recruiting and retaining faculty of color. Funding this program is important to the health and wellbeing of our campus. - Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre

Proposal

AA: PROV SJEC

Our library is infrastructure

neffm3 replied on
 
We all use the library differently, but we all use the library! Successfully meeting the teaching and research missions of the university requires that we have access to library subscriptions. With a mostly flat budget, the library is not set up for success. Effective curation of subscriptions and effective negotiation of publisher contracts requires that the library has predictable subscription budget growth. For the university to fail to grow the budget makes everyone's job harder.

Proposal

AA: WL Subscription

Desperately needed support for pre-health students

pollard replied on
 
We are not meeting the needs of our communities to train healthcare workers and we are not able to support students who are passionate about serving their communities as healthcare workers. The proposed staff and space resources will have a big impact on WWU's ability to provide equitable access to those who seek a pre-health education.

Proposal

AA: CSE Pre-Health

TA stipends are an excellent investment

pollard replied on
 
Our low TA stipends result in lost ability to recruit top students with financial needs and lost opportunities for our students to excel while they deal with financial stress and/or part-time work. It is difficult to imagine a more important investment to make.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

TA STIPENDS ARE AN EXCELLENT INVESTMENT

cmoyer replied on
 
As graduate TA's are an integral part of our overall mission when it comes to teaching, this should be our top priority.

Proposal

AA: VPR TA Stipends

Support for Operations Capacity and to Meet Enrollment Growth

dknutson replied on
 
I have been the IT Manager of Huxley College for the past 16 years. I am the sole classified staff member on Western's campus who has overall responsibility for a college's IT support and management needs. I have a very limited number of student IT workers. Student workers are great, but with that level of support it is only temporary and with consistent turnover and training needs. This is not a long term effective strategy or solution for Huxley. During my employment with Huxley we have seen tremendous growth in terms of number of students, programs, and faculty hires. Staff hires have been stagnant for at least the past 15 years and unable to effectively meet the demand of our students and faculty. In addition we've added Huxley on the Peninsulas and several Institutes with their various support needs. We've set up an ITV classroom and conference room to help support remote teaching to these localities and more. With that comes additional complexities and the need for more IT support and it's unfortunately woefully lagging behind. I am in full support of adding staff FTEs as outlined on page 4 of the Support for Operations Capacity to Meet Enrollment Growth and the Establishment of a New Department in HCE.

Proposal

AA: HCE Operations