The organization meets in the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters every year, and we host a reception each year at the Assessment, Teaching, & Learning Conference hosted by the State Board of Community & Technical Colleges (SBCTC). We strive to share information from our respective colleges, seek solutions for common problems, provide an avenue for communication, and serve as a representative voice for faculty in the Washington community college network. We will post recent meeting summaries below, and please feel free to look at our minutes and agendas for a more detailed understanding of what happens at our meetings.
Winter 2025
SBCTC Headquarters, January 30 & 31
On January 30th and 31st, 2025, the FACTC meeting covered several topics, including officer updates, discussions about a proposed statewide “virtual campus,” and organizational matters. President Tisha shared her perspective of conversations with Senator Slatter about a draft bill proposed by Dr. Kathy Cox to create a statewide virtual campus similar to California. Members present expressed significant concern about its impact on faculty, academic integrity, and funding, and they agreed more information was needed, especially perspectives and input from FACTC representatives. Vice President Sangha, raised concerns about how colleges managed promotions and salary increases and asked that members share information to compare practices at the next meeting. Additionally, the group discussed proposed changes to the bylaws and planning for the upcoming Spring meeting at the Assessment Teaching and Learning Conference at the end of April.
The next meeting will be held at Clark College on April 29, 2025 and a reception will follow at the Assessment Teaching & Learning Conference on April 30, 2025.
Fall 2024 Meeting
Renton Technical College, November 4
At the Fall 2024 meeting, the Faculty Association for Technical and Community Colleges (FACTC) discussed a variety of issues, namely, whether or not to join the State Board of Community and Technical College’s governance structure as a council underneath the Instruction Commission. After a planning session and a meeting with the SBCTC Deputy Director for Education, Joyce Hammer, the representatives discussed the matter and passed a motion to vote on it at the upcoming meeting. The representatives also reviewed the bylaws as a group and made collective suggestions to be proposed at the next meeting. In addition to these two major topics, the group reported that their membership is improving, dues need to be collected, the website has been updated (factc.org) and there will be a new listserv for communication between meetings.
The next meeting will be held in Olympia, location to be determined, on the afternoon of January 30, 2025 and morning / afternoon of January 31, 2025.