Senate Meeting of January 28th, 2026

The senate meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 28th from 5:30pm to 8:30pm in Husky Union Building room 332 and online on Zoom. Pizza and a selection of soft drinks will be provided.

Agenda

1. Call to Order (Sponsor: Ryan Wicklund, Time: 1 min.) [ACTION] 
2. Approval of Agenda (Sponsor: Ryan Wicklund, Time: 1 min.) [ACTION] 
3. Approval of Minutes (Sponsor: Ryan Wicklund, Time: 1 min.) [ACTION]
4. Land Acknowledgement (Sponsor: Pavandeep Josan, Time: 2 min.) [INFORMATION] 
5. Announcements and Public Comments (Sponsor: Ryan Wicklund, Time: 15 min.) [INFORMATION] 
6. Suspending the Bylaws for Budget Formation (Sponsor: Riley Talamantes, Time: 5 min) [ACTION] 
7. A Joint Resolution with Tri-Campus Support to Improve Tri-Campus Relations and Joint Efforts First Reading (Sponsor: Ella Spurlock, Joseph Riggio, Time: 20 min.)  [INFORMATION] 
8. Senator of the Month (Sponsor: Pavandeep Josan, Time: 5 min.) [INFORMATION] 
9. Adjournment (Sponsor: Ryan Wicklund, Time: 1 min.)  [ACTION] 

Total Time: 50 minutes

Meeting Recap

• Zehra Khan stressed the need to review procedures for responding when approached by ICE or a suspected ICE agent:
  • Ask: “Am I free to leave?” and begin to back away.
  • If there is no response, you are free to leave.
  • If told you cannot leave, ask: “Am I arrested?”
  • If told you are arrested, state: “I plead the right to remain silent and request an immigration attorney.”
  • If not under arrest, you are free to leave.
• Eli Drake requested this information in a format that could be disseminated. Zehra will draft and distribute a document.
• Ria (ASUW Elections Committee) shared about the ASUW Candidacy Info Forum on February 6, 3:00–4:00pm. She also reminded that ASUW is hiring at $22/hour, and graduate students are encouraged to apply.
• Juan Mora shared about the GPSS Puppy Love event, which will take place on February 27, 1–3pm in HUB 250.
• Juan Mora shared about an opportunity to participate in videos for “Understanding Civil Rights.” If interested, connect directly with jcbeck@uw.edu.
• Maitri Karia thanked everyone for voting for her, shared updates to the website, and mentioned an opportunity to participate in user research.
• Ryan Wicklund shared about the Virtual Graduate Student Lobby that happened on January 19. There will be another opportunity to participate on February 3.
• Ella Spurlock shared about the “From Ph.D. to Policy” event happening on Zoom on February 5, 3–4pm.
• MJ Mencias reminded everyone that Huskies on the Hill is coming up on February 10 and encouraged participation.
• Mark Huppert, Interim Director of Transportation Services from the University Transportation Committee, presented about the parking rate changes.
  • UW is under a regulatory obligation of reducing single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips from 16.6% in 2024 to 13% by 2025. To do that, parking spaces must be reduced quite drastically.
  • The annual parking rate increase has been at 3-4% since 2023; in the 2027-29 biennium, the rate will be capped at 2.8%.

Previous Senate Meeting

• Special Senate Meeting of January 14th, 2026

Next Senate Meeting

• Senate Meeting of February 11th, 2026