News - Page 6 of 41 - Academic Personnel & Faculty

2025 UW Faculty Demographic Baseline Report Now Available

The Office for Academic Personnel and Faculty has released the 2025 UW Faculty Demographic Baseline Report, a comprehensive institutional resource detailing the composition, recruitment patterns, and professional trajectories of the University of Washington’s professorial faculty. Drawing on October 2025 census data alongside annual information on hiring, separations, promotion, retention, and faculty development, the report provides a clear, data‑driven view of the faculty workforce across the Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma campuses.

Several long‑term trends stand out. Over the past decade, UW has seen a gradual decline in the proportion of white male faculty, accompanied by steady increases among women and faculty who identify as Asian or from underrepresented groups. Age‑distribution data reflect a predominantly mid‑career faculty, while the demographic profile of new hires continues to mirror that of the assistant professor cohort, suggesting incremental but consistent evolution rather than rapid change.

The report also offers a detailed look at the mechanics of faculty hiring at UW, outlining the multi‑stage recruitment process that spans internal planning, national search activity, and extensive evaluation of finalists. The annual hiring cycle is now aligned with broader institutional planning timelines, providing a more cohesive structure for understanding and anticipating faculty workforce needs.

Additional sections examine the University’s international scholar population, promotion and tenure patterns, and the outcomes of competitive and preemptive retention efforts. Promotion rates remain strong, and most faculty who receive retention counteroffers choose to remain at UW.

For academic leaders, department chairs, shared‑governance partners, and faculty members across all campuses, the 2025 UW Faculty Demographic Baseline Report provides an essential reference point for understanding the composition and experiences of UW’s faculty. It also offers a foundation for future planning as the University continues to strengthen the structures that support recruitment, advancement, engagement, and long‑term faculty success.

The full 2025 UW Faculty Demographic Baseline Report is now available on the Office for Academic Personnel and Faculty website.

Dr. Kate Starbird Honored by UW Athletics: Celebrating a Scholar, Innovator, and Standout Basketball Player

The Office for Academic Personnel and Faculty is proud to celebrate Dr. Kate Starbird, a distinguished University of Washington faculty member whose career reflects excellence in scholarship, public service, and community impact. On February 15, UW Athletics recognized Dr. Starbird during halftime of the UW Women’s Basketball game against the University of Oregon, honoring both her academic achievements and her remarkable legacy in women’s basketball.

A Leader in Crisis Informatics and Public‑Impact Research

Dr. Starbird is a professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering and a co‑founder of the Center for an Informed Public (CIP). Her research resides at the intersection of human‑computer interaction and crisis informatics, examining how social media and digital communication systems shape public understanding during emergencies and breaking news events. Her work has contributed vital insight into how rumors, misinformation, and disinformation emerge and circulate during crises—research that has become increasingly crucial in today’s fast‑moving information environment.

In 2024, Dr. Starbird received two major honors for her impact on scholarship and society. The 2024 University Faculty Lecture Award recognized the widespread influence of her research and the profound contributions she has made to her field and to the broader public. She also received the 2024 SIGCHI Societal Impact Award, acknowledging her leadership in addressing urgent social issues through human‑computer interaction research.

From the Court to the Classroom: Starbird’s Remarkable Athletic Legacy

Long before joining UW’s faculty, Dr. Starbird made her mark as one of the nation’s top collegiate basketball players. As a student‑athlete at Stanford University from 1993 to 1997, she earned Naismith College Player of the Year honors and helped lead her team to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 1995 to 1997. She scored 2,215 career points, setting a Stanford program record that stood for 11 years.

After college, she played professionally in the American Basketball League, the WNBA, and across several European leagues, competing for teams including the Seattle Reign, Sacramento Monarchs, Utah Starzz, Seattle Storm, and Indiana Fever.

Her athletic career reflects the same qualities she brings to her scholarship—discipline, resilience, collaboration, and a drive for excellence.

A Commitment to Public Service and Informed Communities

Across her research, teaching, and public engagement, Dr. Starbird has dedicated her career to helping society better understand how information flows in moments of uncertainty. As faculty director of the Center for an Informed Public from 2020 to 2023, she helped shape a cross‑disciplinary effort to strengthen democratic discourse and resist strategic misinformation, advancing CIP’s mission of promoting an informed society.

Her scholarship has been widely recognized for its societal relevance, and she continues to be a leading voice in national conversations about digital information, crisis response, and the evolving dynamics of online participation.

Honored by UW Athletics on February 15

On February 15, during halftime of the UW Women’s Basketball game versus the University of Oregon, UW Athletics highlighted Dr. Starbird’s extraordinary contributions as part of the UW Faculty and Staff Spotlight, presented by BECU and The Whole U. This recognition celebrates the full arc of her career—from her achievements as one of the most accomplished collegiate basketball players of her era to her influential work as a scholar and public‑impact researcher at the University of Washington.

Her story is a powerful example of Husky excellence across disciplines, reminding us that the skills honed on the court—leadership, perseverance, teamwork—can shape and elevate an academic career with global impact.

Celebrating a Scholar‑Athlete and a Champion for Informed Communities

Dr. Kate Starbird’s career embodies the highest ideals of the University of Washington: rigorous scholarship, commitment to the public good, and the pursuit of excellence in all endeavors. We congratulate her on her recent honors and celebrating her accomplishments with the UW community.

Story filed by Courtney Laguio

2026-2027 Promotion and Tenure Cycle Now Open

Welcome to the new Promotion and Tenure (P&T) cycle! Case initiation for the 2026–2027 cycle is now open.

Getting Started

Case initiation is available on the Case Maintenance page. After completing any unit template updates, initiate your new cases through this page. Cases will appear in Interfolio RPT within two hours. This streamlined process includes Workday data with each case and eliminates the need to manually enter appointment data.

Important Reminders for 2026-2027

New standing committees may be required. If a standing committee’s membership is changing from the 2025–26 cycle, you must create a new committee. Any changes to an existing committee will update all associated cases, including 2025–26 cases. Update your template to ensure all cases are created with the correct committees.
Remember to use the Replace functionality for committees to retain step instructions and requirements.
Candidates must be notified when their cases are ready. Steps with form requirements must have a Committee Manager assigned to complete the form.

Recent Updates

Closing cases. If a case must be closed due to an error or candidate withdrawal, use the existing reason codes Error or Candidate Withdrew, respectively. Please do not create new reason codes, as we want to track closed cases for reporting purposes. If a case is closed due to the candidate’s withdrawal, please also email acadpers@uw.edu to notify our office.

External Reviewer Grid updates. In response to formatting feedback, the following updates have been made to the template on our website:

Removed two columns used to track reminder email dates
Combined the name fields into a single column (Last, First)
Reordered columns to reflect content importance
Updated formatting to narrow margins, landscape orientation, and fit-to-one-page layout

We hope these changes improve both usability and readability.

External Reviewer Nominees form. Based on feedback regarding issues with the required External Reviewer Nominees form, APF has approved removing this requirement from your template. Nominees provided by the candidate should still appear on the External Reviewer Nominee grid, but names may be collected outside of RPT. You may also share the grid directly with candidates to reduce duplicate work.

To remove the form from your template:
1. Navigate to your template.
2. From the Template Summary page, select Candidate Requirements on the right.
Screenshot showing Candidate Requirements selection
3. From the Candidate Requirements page, scroll down to Packet Requirements.
4. Locate the External Reviewer Nominees form and remove it from your template by clicking the X. Do not remove any other requirements.
Screenshot showing Packet Requirements section
5. Confirm the removal.
Screenshot showing External Reviewer Nominees form with X button highlighted

Questions?

Please submit inquiries to acadpers@uw.edu.