Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate shall consist of the chair, vice chair, a representative for contingent faculty elected by all contingent faculty who are contracted when the election is held and two representatives each elected by the members of the College of Health Professions, the College of Liberal Studies, the College of Natural Sciences, and the College of Professional Studies. All members have the right to voice and vote in the senate.
Advisory members shall consist of the president, the provost, and the chairs of faculty standing committees. These advisory members shall have the same rights and privileges as any other member of the senate except the right to make motion and to vote.
Specif duties of the Senate:
- To conduct the regular business of faculty governance.
- To express faculty sentiment on appropriate occasions.
- To collaborate with, support, and consider recommendations from faculty standing committees.
- To advise the administration of the university and express faculty concerns and interests regarding the allocation of funds in the budget.
- To make recommendations to the administration regarding future directions and policies of the university.
- To formally report to the faculty concerning all senate activities and all matters of faculty interest, including the activities of those designated organizations on which faculty representatives have been appointed by the senate.
- To review and make recommendations to the faculty regarding all proposals for the establishment of ad hoc faculty committees and other ad hoc committees involving faculty membership and which transcend division or school lines, including joint faculty-student or faculty-administration committees.
- To review faculty and university policies regularly, including:
- Reviewing the effectiveness of faculty governance structures and proposing any necessary changes to the committee system, Faculty Senate, or Faculty Assembly. A careful review should be managed by the faculty chair every five years.
- Reviewing the university’s policies regarding standards of student academic performances and the university’s Academic Integrity Policy, and making or recommending necessary changes. A careful review should be managed by the senate’s coordinator for academic performance and integrity policies every three years.
- Reviewing curricular policies related to global and community engaged education in consultation with the Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education, and making or recommending necessary changes. A careful review should be managed by the senate’s coordinator for global education policies every three years.
- To develop policy and make recommendations to the administration concerning all matters of university business that impact faculty welfare, including:
- Policy concerning the utilization of resources available to faculty.
- Policy concerning faculty scholarships and grants.
- Policy concerning faculty leaves.
- Policy concerning fringe benefits, retirement, and salaries.
- To consult with the Office of the Provost in the planning and organization of the faculty fall conference.
- To elect members of the senate to serve in the following roles:
- Faculty Secretary
- Faculty representative to the Board of Regents
- Two members of the University Budget Advisory Committee
- One member of the University Benefits Committee
- One coordinator for academic performance and integrity policies
- One coordinator for global education policies
- One member that will serve on the Conciliation Committee if it is called
- Four members, one representing each College, that will serve on the Faculty Joint Committee if it is called.
- To recommend, elect, or appoint faculty to serve in the following roles:
- Advisory member to the Retirement Fund Advisory Committee
- Member of the Title IX Committee
- Member of the University Diversity Committee
- Member of the University Safety Committee
- Four faculty who will work closely with the Dean of Students Office to serve on Academic Dishonesty Hearing Panels.
- Five members and five alternatives for the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee
Membership:
Chair of Faculty – Oksana Ezhokina
Vice Chair of Faculty – Jacob Egge
Senators:
College of Health Professions: Riley Stumpf, Terri Farrar
College of Liberal Studies: Michael Atime, Jim Albrecht
College of Natural Sciences: Corey Cook, Andrea Munro
College of Professional Studies: Jim Brown, John Wright
Secretary of Faculty –
Faculty Representative to the Board of Regents –
Advisory Members:
President – Allan Belton
Provost – Joanna Gregson
Chair of Faculty Committees:
Core Curriculum, Educational Policies, Rank & Tenure
Cases involving the dismissal of a faculty member may be brought before the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee.
The procedure for the election of faculty to the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee is found in the Faculty Bylaws, Article VI, Section 2.E.1:
- The Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee shall consist of five members of the permanent faculty who have had at least four years of service at Pacific Lutheran University. They shall be elected as follows: Each September, the Governance Committee shall nominate a panel of fifteen. From these nominees the elected faculty members of Faculty Executive Committee shall elect a panel of ten and the results of this election shall be reported to the faculty. The five with the highest number of votes shall constitute the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee. The remaining five shall serve as alternates in case of vacancies or if in the opinion of the committee any of its members should be disqualified in a particular case. Such alternates shall be chosen in order of highest votes received in the election. These ten are elected to a term of one calendar year beginning on October 15 and ending on October 14 of the following year. Cases still in process at the end of the stipulated calendar year will be completed by the committee assigned to that case.
For the period beginning October 15, 2024 and ending October 14, 2025, the members of the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee as elected by the Faculty Executive Committee are as follows:
Selected members for the Formal Dismissal Hearing Committee (FDHC) (in alphabetical order):
Jim Albrecht – English
Jacob Egge – Biology
Ron Gerhardstein – Music
Heather Mathews – Communication, Media & Design Arts
Marianne Taylor – Psychology
Alternate #1: Troy Storfjell – Native American and Indigenous Studies
Alternate #2: Jessica Schwinck – Nursing
Alternate #3: Charlie Katica – Kinesiology
Alternate #4: Amanda Sweger – Theatre & Dance
Alternate #5: Laurie Murphy – Computer Science
TITLE IX COMMITTEE
(seat expires )
UNIVERSITY DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
(seat expires 2027)
UNIVERSITY SAFETY COMMITTEE
Gerardo Cuevas-Buendia, Sociology, Criminal Justice & Anthropology) (seat expires 2027)
Fall 2026 Senate meetings
Virtual + location
Friday, September 11, 2026, 2:00-3:30 pm
Friday, Friday, October 2, 2026, 2:00-3:30 pm
Friday, November 6
Friday, December 4, 2026, 2:00-3:30 pm
Fall 2026 & Spring 2027 Assembly meetings
Virtual + location
Friday, November, 2026, 3:00-5:00 pm
Friday, April, 2027, 3:00-5:00 pm