Senate officer positions all uncontested for next year

By DONOVAN HARRELL

Senate Council will be hosting elections for Senate officers and Faculty Assembly positions through April 18.

A full slate of candidates was finalized on March 29, said Lori Molinaro, secretary for the Senate Council.

Full-time faculty are eligible to vote for candidates in their respective academic units, and voters can access ballots through a portal on my.pitt.edu, starting on April 3. Bios for each candidate can be accessed through the portal as well.

The results of the vote will not be known until April 19, Molinaro said, and those elected will begin their new positions on July 1. Senate officers serve a one-year term and can serve for three consecutive years. Faculty Assembly and committee seats have a three-year term.  

Following Senate elections, committee elections will run from April 24 through May 6. The slate of candidates is still being assembled, Molinaro said, and there are three openings per committee each year.

Molinaro said the turnout for the Senate votes is usually around 10 percent, with some schools higher than others. She’s hoping faculty recognize the importance of the votes.

“It’s a chance for the faculty to have a seat at the table and have their voices heard,” Molinaro said.

The full list of candidates and available seats for the April 3 election are as follows:

Senate officers

President: Chris Bonneau, Political Science, Arts & Sciences (running unopposed)

Vice president: David Salcido, Emergency Medicine, Schools of Medicine (running unopposed)       

Secretary: Gosia Fort, Health Science Library System (running unopposed)                 

Faculty Assembly

Humanities (two vacancies): Mazviita Chirimuuta, History & Philosophy of Science; Benjamin Gordon, Religious Studies; Scott Kiesling, Linguistics

Natural Sciences (two vacancies): Kirill Kiselyov, Biological Sciences; Lucas Mentch, Statistics; David Nero, Physics & Astronomy; Laurel Roberts, Biological Sciences

Social Sciences (one vacancy): Marc Bermann, Anthropology; Margaret Judd, Anthropology

Business (no vacancy)

Education (one vacancy): Cindy Popovich​​​​​​​

Engineering (two vacancies): Andy Bunger, Alex Jones

GSPIA (one vacancy): Jennifer Murtazashvili​​​​​​​

Law (no vacancy)

School of Computing and Information (no vacancy)

Social Work (one vacancy): Toya Jones, Mary Rauktis​​​​​​​

University Library System (one vacancy): Zach Brodt​​​​​​​

Dental Medicine (one vacancy): Alejandro Almarza​​​​​​​

Public Health (one vacancy): Jong Jeong​​​​​​​

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (one vacancy): Nicole Cecchini, Nicholas (Alex) Cutsumbis, Goeran Fiedler, Barbara Vento​​​​​​​

Health Sciences Library System (one vacancy): Mary Lou Klem, Rebekah Miller

Pharmacy (one vacancy): Brian Potoski​​​​​​​

Nursing (one vacancy): Rick Henker​​​​​​​

Medicine (three vacancies): Carey Balaban, Jim Becker, Abbe De Vallejo, Martica (Tica) Hall, Gary Kohanbash, Iain Scott, Melanie Scott, Alexander Spiess

Donovan Harrell is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at dharrell@pitt.edu or 412-383-9905.