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January 25, 2018

Low Faculty Turnout in Provost Search Committee Election a Focus for Faculty Assembly

The elected faculty representatives on the provost search committee have been announced, said Senate President Frank Wilson at the Jan. 16 session of Faculty Assembly. The representatives are:

  • Shelome Gooden, chair and faculty member in the Department of Linguistics;
  • Michael Goodhart, a faculty member in the Department of Political Science;
  • Maria Kovacs, a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry;
  • Susan Fullerton, a faculty member in the Swanson School of Engineering;
  • Cindy Tananis, secretary of the University Senate and a faculty member in the School of Education; and
  • Christopher Cook, a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at Pitt–Johnstown.

At the meeting, Wilson indicated that the percentage of voting participation among eligible faculty saw a significant decline from the last provost search. Dietrich School faculty turnout decreased by more than 30 percent, from 55 percent in 2009 to 24 percent in the most recent election. Health Sciences faculty participation dropped from 11 percent voting to 9.5 percent. The most significant decline was among faculty in the professional schools. Wilson said that in 2009, about 74 percent voted in the election and that this year, less than 33 percent participated.

The percentages for the regional campuses were unavailable at the time of the meeting.

Wilson also mentioned complaints from faculty about a lack of basic sciences candidates and what he called “procedural issues.” Wilson added that he “passed on the complaints that came directly to [him]” to Chancellor Patrick Gallagher.

“As flawed as it might have been, I think it turned out better than I actually expected, so we checked off a lot of the boxes that seemed to be impossible with only six positions available,” said Wilson.

Much of the meeting was spent trying to pinpoint the cause of the low voter turnout. Kovacs suggested that some members of Faculty Assembly should survey their colleagues to determine the reasons behind what she described as a “shameful lack of interest in getting involved in faculty affairs.”

Seth Weinberg, a faculty member in the School of Dental Medicine, said that the decrease in voter participation could be attributed to a lack of awareness linked to the University Times’ exclusively being published online.

The University Times featured a story about the search committee formation and the faculty nominating and election process in the Nov. 30 edition. In addition, the University Senate sent a Nov. 20 Read Green to faculty with details about the nomination and election process.

“I think there’s two questions. One, did I even know? The question is that if I knew and didn’t do it, that’s a different issue,” he said.

Lori Molinaro, director of the Senate, clarified that the 2009 election was communicated in the University Times solely through an advertisement.

Patrick Loughlin, a faculty member in the Swanson School of Engineering, suggested that the communications about the election were lost in the volume of emails faculty receives.

Michael Spring, immediate past president of Senate Council, said that an ad-hoc committee could be formed with a focus on communication to faculty. Wilson recommended that the Staff Council’s communication committee could serve as an example for such a panel.

Carey Balaban, a faculty member in the School of Medicine, pointed out faculty’s responsibility as it relates to communication and being what he calls an “informed consumer.”

“We each have to pay attention to what’s coming in and read it,” he said.

 

Contact:
Katie Fike, kfike@pitt.edu, 412-624-1085

 


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