University of Washington, Seattle
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Students have multiple options for participating in governing bodies at UW:

The University of Washington Board of Regents is the UW's governing body whose broad responsibilities are to supervise, coordinate, manage and regulate the University, as provided by state statute. The Board of Regents consists of 10 members, one of whom is a student chosen by the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW), the student governing body at the UW. Regents are appointed by the governor to serve six-year terms, with the exception of the student regent, who serves a one-year term.

The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) is a non-profit organization that serves as the student government at the University of Washington. The structure of the ASUW is a complex composition of 25 units, including entities, enterprises, commissions, programs, and committees. Operating with a budget of approximately $1M, 72 employees and over 500 volunteers work to serve students and improve student life.

The Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) is the official student government representing the 15,000 graduate and professional students at the University of Washington. GPSS exists to actively support and improve all aspects of graduate and professional student life. Over 150 elected or appointed students represent the graduate and professional degree granting schools, departments, and programs. GPSS grants two senators for each graduate and professional degree-granting department at the University of Washington. Senators are expected to attend two meetings per quarter and to represent their fellow students on an internal GPSS or university committee. GPSS has four elected officers: a president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary. They are supported by a staff of nine. GPSS has 13 internal standing committees in addition to the full Senate through which it conducts its business: Executive, Judicial, Elections, Academic and Administrative Affairs, Community Affairs, Diversity, Student Life, Graduate Program Review, Finance and Budget, Social, State Legislative Steering, Federal Legislative Steering, and Communication and Outreach.

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) Committee is comprised of multiple student positions, allowing full student control over the allocation of the fund. The committee consists of seven student voting members and three ex-officio, non-voting advisors.

Staff are appointed to various Faculty Council and Faculty Senate committees. University faculty councils are one of the three sites of shared governance at the University of Washington. These councils, which advise both the provost and the Senate Executive Committee, include:

Voting members of the University faculty
President’s designees
Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW)
Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS)
Association of Librarians of the University of Washington (ALUW)
Professional Staff Organization (PSO)
University of Washington Retirement Association (UWRA)

Additionally staff govern the Professional Staff Organization's activities and decisions. The Professional Staff Organization (PSO) highlights the essential role of, enriches the experience of, and serves as a resource for professional staff at the University of Washington. PSO focuses on a variety of areas:

Advocacy — PSO advocates for the interests and benefits of professional staff as a whole.

Communication — PSO promotes effective communication among professional staff and with the University community.

Education — PSO educates professional staff and the University community about issues that affect professional staff.

Professional Development — PSO provides scholarships and grants to support professional development.

Representation — PSO represents the myriad groups of professional staff through participation in university governance.

Faculty contribute to decisions and governance for the University of Washington through a variety of committees and governing bodies, primarily focused on the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Council. The Faculty Senate is the legislative arm of the faculty. It consists of 122 elected senators and is guided by the chair of the Faculty Senate and the Senate Executive Committee (SEC). The Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting (SCPB) consults with the SEC and the Faculty Senate on matters of policy pertaining to long-range planning, preparation of budgets, and distribution of funds. The faculty legislative representative (FLR) represents the faculty in all matters of legislation in the state affecting the University. University faculty councils serve as deliberative and advisory bodies for all matters of university policy, and are primary forums for faculty and administrative interaction in determining that policy.

Although the UW Campus Plan offers multiple opportunities in which external stakeholders can be engaged with an active campus plan and in the creation of new campus plans, it does not specifically identify how external stakeholders are regularly engaged in university planning and thus does not meet the STARS criteria. Given the amount and breadth of engagement opportunities, we thought it was still important to include here. The 2018 Campus Master Plan was recently published. In addition, community stakeholders participate in the advisory committee and multiple public meetings are announced, held, and the summary of those meetings posted publicly. More information can be found at the link below:
https://cpd.uw.edu/campus-master-plan

Detailed information on Campus Master Plan engagement and partnerships with community and business organizations, the City of Seattle, King County, and other regional and state agencies and constituents can be found here:
https://cpd.uw.edu/cmp/partnerships

One of these partnerships, the City/University Community Advisory Committee (CUCAC) does meet the criteria for this credit area. The CUCAC consists of a membership of 16 representatives appointed by surrounding communities and the UW and specifically identifies requirements for external engagement and states that ongoing committee membership is to include designees from the following community organizations: one designee each selected annually by the following organizations: Eastlake Community Council, the Greater University Chamber of Commerce, Laurelhurst
Community Club, Montlake Community Club, Portage Bay/Roanake Park
Community Council, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Ravenna Springs
Community Group, Roosevelt Neighbors’ Alliance, Roosevelt Neighborhood
Association, University District Community Council, University Park
Community Club, Wallingford Community Council. One key task of the CUCAC is to review and comment upon the following actions regarding the physical development of the University and the greater University area: the draft and final Master Plans, (including the Transportation Management Plan, policies, development standards, public outreach plan), major and minor amendments to the Master Plan, environmental documents prepared under SEPA, all annual reports and other issues identified by CUCAC members, represented community organizations, the University and the City.

In addition, though focused only on building architecture, 'Executive Order Number 66 - The UW Architectural Commission' dictates the roles and responsibilities of the Commission. Voting members of the Commission include two from outside the university, as well as the Presidents of the ASUW and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. Though established for architecture, this commission does traditionally provide opinion on campus planning efforts as well. More on this executive order can be found below:
http://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/PO/EO66.html

There are many and diverse ways that the stakeholders groups listed above can participate in institutional governance, including committees, planning, and other meetings that range from the department level to the Board of Regents. An example for each stakeholder group is given below, more examples can be found at the Regional and Community Relations link provided at the bottom of this brief description.

Local Government and/or Educational Organizations
City/University Community Advisory Committee (CUCAC). CUCAC consists of a membership of 16 representatives appointed by surrounding communities and the UW. The purpose of the CUCAC is to: advise the City and the University on the orderly physical development of the greater University area; encourage the provision of adequate City services to the University and adjacent community and business areas; assist the University and City in preserving the many positive aspects of the University’s presence in the community;
Review and comment upon potential adverse effects of removing aspects of University programs from the University campus; and, assist in the protection of the adjacent community and business areas from the adverse effects of University and City actions. More information is available at link below:
https://www.washington.edu/community/cucac/

Private Sector
Private sector stakeholders are engaged in institutional governance at multiple levels at the UW. Our Board of Regents includes business leaders from around Washington state, current regents from the private sector include: Joanne R. Harrell, Senior Director for US Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft Corporation; Jeremy Jaech, Managing Partner, Harmony Meadows, LLC; Blaine Tamaki, Founder, Tamaki Law; and David Zeeck
President and Publisher, The News Tribune, The Olympian, and The Bellingham Herald. A list of current Board of Regents can be found at the following link:
https://www.washington.edu/regents/officers/

An example of private sector participation at a committee level would be The Northwest Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council is a regional business organization that focuses on growth and promotion of minority businesses in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) region and Oregon. The president of this business council is on the board of the UW Foster School of Business Consulting & Business Development Center that accelerates student careers and grows businesses and jobs in communities where they are needed the most.
https://www.nwmtnmsdc.org/
https://foster.uw.edu/centers/consulting-and-business-development-center/

Civil Society
Similar to the private sector, civil society individuals and organizations are engaged in institutional governance at multiple levels at the UW. Our Board of Regents includes civic leaders from around Washington state, current regents from the private sector include: Constance W. Rice, Board Chair 2018-19, Senior Executive Fellow, Casey Family Programs and Rogelio Riojas, President and CEO, Sea Mar Community Health Centers. A list of current Board of Regents can be found at the following link:
https://www.washington.edu/regents/officers/

The U District Partnership is a 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization governed by a Board of Directors that includes property owners, business owners, residents, social service providers, business tenants, at-large members, and four representatives from the UW. The goal of the organization is to continue the work started in 2011 as the U District Livability Partnership to work together towards short-, medium-, and long-range goals for the area. Although this committee does not govern the university directly, it is an organization that advises and does express official opinions on university activities, planning, and governance. More on this partnership can be found at the link below:
https://www.udistrictpartnership.org

The UW Office of Regional & Community Relations links the University with surrounding neighborhoods, civic groups and local government. The office works to build collaborative relationships between these groups through information sharing, and continually seek new opportunities to match UW academic capital with needs in the region and community. In addition, the Office helps seek out community members to participate in UW committees and governance. More information, including recent achievements and new partnerships, is available on the Regional & Community Relations website:
http://www.washington.edu/community/

Additional links of interest:
http://www.washington.edu/faculty/
http://www.asuw.org/board/
http://depts.washington.edu/gpss/
http://csf.uw.edu