Touching base: Faculty Senate Board of Regents Representative

Touching base: Faculty Senate Board of Regents Representative

About a third way into his time as the Faculty Senate Representative to the Board of Regents, we had a chance to sit down and talk with distinguished professor A.G. Rud.

Q: This isn’t the first time you’ve interacted with the regents. You previously were chair of the faculty senate. Tell us what your interactions were at that time?

A: One of the things the chair does is, like other constituents, give reports to the regents on the Friday morning of regents meetings. So I would do that.

Q: So is this faculty senate representative a new thing? How did this start?

A: President Kirk Schulz has decided to enable the immediate past chair of the faculty senate to be the faculty representative to the regents. This is the second time doing this.

Q: And how are you not an actual regent?

A: The State of Washington doesn’t have faculty regents. It’s a bill that has come before the state’s legislature a number of times and probably will again.

Q: So it’s just a name thing?

A: By being a representative but not being a regent, I’m able to sit at the table with the regents and talk with them about the issues, but because I’m not an actual regent, I can’t vote on any matters. But other than that, I participate fully.

Q: Tell us about the meetings thus far and what’s on the docket for the near future.

A: I’ve gone to two meetings. We had our first meeting in Pullman. Our second meeting was in Vancouver. I’m going to the regents retreat today (Jan. 23) in the Sea-Tac area. So that’ll be fun. Then, from there we’ll have a meeting at WSU Tri-Cities, one in Spokane, and our last retreat will be in Pullman at the end of the academic year. Then my term will be up.

Q: Obviously the regents care about the budget. What’s another thing that regents oversee that you’ve been able to see?

A: We’ve talked about capital improvement projects, athletics… there are various committees and I sit on the research and external funding committee. The regents have the responsibility of hiring and evaluating the president of the university. I don’t participate in that in any closed session that might occur since I’m not actually a regent.

Q: What’s been the most enjoyable part?

A: The most enjoyable part is getting to know these people on a personal basis. What makes them tick? Universally, there is a passion about the university, a loyalty, and wanting the university to do well. They are very devoted to the university. They’re interested in what goes on here. They want us to do the best we can. And I know in our president there’s a real interest and loyalty and a passion for the land-grant experience. In our regents there’s also this love for the land-grant experience.