Faculty Senate Leader Reflects on Year, Calls for New Committee
Faculty Senate President Frank Wilson described a year of progress for the Faculty Assembly during its May 9 session, pointing to new policy recommendations, the potential creation of new committees and changed salary benchmarking practices for faculty at the Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown campuses.
He said assembly and committee members have been able to dig into complicated issues, engage in open discussion and have been successful in reaching enough consensus to move forward on key issues and recommendations that contributed to healthy shared governance.
He said the work continues as he presented a resolution that calls for further exploration of the University’s investments related to fossil fuel divestment. The resolution “encourages the Chancellor to form a committee of faculty, staff, students, and administration, and initiate a systematic process for consideration of socially responsible investing as a strategy for the University to orient its investments, and issue a public report on its work and findings in support of this decision process.”
The Senate will consider the resolution May 17 at its last session of the academic year.
The resolution is a product of an ad hoc committee that was formed last year at the urging of Michael Goodhart, faculty member in political science and former member of the assembly, in response to increased activity by students concerned with the University’s investments.
It was noted by the assembly last year that the purpose of the ad hoc committee was to look into the issue, not to take a formal position, and to consult with students and the trustees committee.
The following topics were included in Wilson’s overview of the 2016–17 academic year:
- The University Times transitioned from a print to an all-digital format (Sept. 1, 2016, University Times).
- Faculty Assembly approved a consensual relationship policy (Feb. 16, 2017, University Times) and recommendations about part-time non-tenure-stream (NTS) faculty issues (March 16, 2017, University Times) and about evaluation and assessment of faculty teaching (March 16, 2017, University Times).
- Faculty salaries at the Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown regional campuses are now evaluated using a new benchmarking group (Nov. 10, 2016, University Times).
- The potential creation of a new Senate standing committee is being considered (April 13, 2017, University Times).
- Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson was a guest speaker at a Faculty Assembly session in November (Nov. 10, 2016, University Times).
Senate Committees Announced
The Senate committees have been elected for the next academic year, and the election results were shared at the session.
Athletics
Matthew Darnell, health and rehabilitation sciences; Mike Epitropoulos, sociology/arts and sciences; Jay Irrgang, health and rehabilitation sciences
Benefits and Welfare
Lucas Berenbrok, pharmacy; Miriam Meislik, University Library System; Ann Mitchell, nursing
Budget Policies
Elia Beniash, dental medicine; Tony Bledsoe, biological sciences/arts and sciences; Emily Murphy, health and rehabilitation sciences
Bylaws and Procedures
Gosia Fort, Health Sciences Library System
Community Relations
Amani Attia, linguistics/arts and sciences; Paul Harper, business; Anne Hays, education
Computer Usage
Dmitriy Babichenko, information sciences; Arif Jamal, University Library System; Young Lee, nursing
Educational Policies
Marnie Hampton, University Library System; Barb Kucinski, psychology/arts and sciences; Cynthia Lausberg, psychology/arts and sciences
Equity, Inclusion and Anti-discrimination Advocacy
Allyn Bove, health and rehabilitation sciences; Cindy Danford, nursing; Kathryn Gardner, biological sciences/arts and sciences
Governmental Relations
Mark Kelley, biological and health sciences/Pitt-Bradford; Meri Long, political science/arts and sciences; Alyson Stover, health and rehabilitation sciences
Library
Becky Faett, nursing; Irene Frieze, emeritus/arts and sciences; John Mendeloff, public and international affairs
Plant Utilization and Planning
Jeanine Buchanich, public health; Debbie Miller, health and rehabilitation sciences; Tracey Olanyk, University Library System
Research
Eileen Chasens, nursing; Kelly Cole, medicine; Rami Melhem, computer science/arts and sciences
Student Admissions, Aid and Affairs
Frayda Cohen, gender, sexuality and women’s studies/arts and sciences; Sue Skledar, pharmacy; Juan Taboas, dental medicine
Tenure and Academic Freedom
Carey Balaban, medicine; Kirill Kiselyov, biology/arts and sciences; Ergin Kocyildirim, medicine
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