Faculty Senate elects leadership for 2016-17

Carmen Sceppa, professor and chair of the Department of Health Services, was re-elected chair of the Senate Agenda Committee by the Faculty Senate on Wednesday at the first official meeting of the 2016-17 session.

Sceppa, who ran unopposed, was elected to her second term as chair. The Senate Agenda Committee’s many responsibilities include arranging meeting agendas, submitting standing committee assignments, and maintaining an open channel of communication between faculty and university administration.

“It’s been a very good year,” Sceppa said. “I look forward to the next year working with all of you on initiatives that will continue on and new ones that we will work on together. I appreciate you believing in me.”

Robert Hanson, the Matthews Distinguished University Professor in the College of Science, was re-elected secretary of the Faculty Senate and will continue to serve on the Senate Agenda Committee.

Four other senators were elected to serve on the Senate Agenda Committee as well: Louis Kruger, associate professor in the the Bouvé College of Health Sciences; Timothy Bickmore, associate professor in the College of Computer and Information Science; Neal Lerner, associate professor in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities; and Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, associate professor in the College of Arts, Media and Design.

Kruger, Bickmore, and Lerner were re-elected to their posts.

Following the elections on Wednesday, the Faculty Senate held its final meeting of the 2015–16 academic year. The senate passed a number of resolutions, including:

•    Combining the Department of African American Studies and the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures to create the Department of Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies

•    Accepting reports from the Committee for Research Policy Oversight, the Committee for Full-Time Non-Tenure Track Faculty, and the Committee for Enrollment and Admissions Policy

•    Accepting suggestions for bolstering information technology and cybersecurity on campus