• Faculty Senate Professor Claridge gave an update on Faculty Senate. She noted that the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee did not reject two College in the High School proposals. They were put on hold so the curriculum committee could get clarification on a couple of items. They will get them through as soon as they can during fall quarter. Dr. Claridge explained the complexity of online courses as a faculty member who advises students. She added that sometimes students need a flexible schedule due to personal circumstances. As this conversation continues, faculty would like to be involved in the conversation. Dr. Claridge noted that the Faculty Senate Gen Ed committee provided rationale for why we should not increase cap sizes. Part of it is that there is a national organization for composition that recommends the caps should be at 15. We are currently at 25. She added that students need so much intensive feedback from faculty in these courses that their concern is the impact on student success and retention. This is a foundational course that faculty feel very strongly must be controlled by faculty. Some concerns regarding shared governance were raised as well. Board members shared the concern about the lack of clarity with shared governance and stated that they would like to go through the process with the consultant, Steve Bahls, and figure shared governance out together. The board is focused on always doing what is best for the university. • Employee Classified Council Josie Rollins, Chair of Employee Classified Council, reported that the council has tripled in size from last year. The council has representation from across the campus which helps with the continued efforts to get unified information out to employees. The council continues to be included in large scale committees, and they are really thrilled to be invited to those conversations. • Exempt Employee Association Laura Brant-Hoefer, Chair of the Exempt Employee Association (EEA), thanked the board members who joined their last meeting of the year to get their feedback on how the past six months have gone. She added that exempt employees have mixed thoughts on how shared governance is going. She also noted that in her one-on-one conversation with Dr. Bahls, it was apparent that his work with other institutions did not include staff in the conversations, so we need to keep that in mind as conversations go forward. The EEA is gearing up for next year. Approximately 41 percent of exempt employees participated in voting for representatives, which is a little higher than year. The group will meet this summer for a retreat and talk about their goals for the year. Then they will start meeting on September 10 and will begin planning for the first Town Hall. Chair Hensler explained that the Board will move into executive session at 4:20 p.m. for 55 minutes, and that no action will be taken following the executive session. The public portion of the meeting concluded for the day at 4:16 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Chair Hensler convened the Executive Session at 4:20 p.m. and announced that the session was expected to last approximately 55 minutes. The meeting room was cleared, other than board members. The purpose of the executive session was to review the performance of a public employee, as allowed by RCW 42.30.110 (1)(g). At 5:15 p.m., the executive session was extended an additional 25 minutes. The executive session ended at 5:40 p.m., and no action was taken following the executive session.
Trustees Present: Jeff Hensler, Chair Erin Black, Past Chair
13 Board of Trustees Minutes July 16-17, 2026
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