Dr. Rodney Ashlock has been elected as the chair-elect of the Faculty Senate, and several other faculty members were elected for the first time to the Faculty Senate.
Ashlock, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry, will serve as chair of the Faculty Senate in 2012-13. Dr. Rusty Towell, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, will serve as chair of the Faculty Senate in 2011-12. Dr. Kim Pamplin, associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will serve as past chair in 2011-12.
Ashlock served as a faculty senator from 2006-09. He said he looks forward to learning the responsibilities of being chair of the Faculty Senate in preparation for when he becomes chair in fall 2012.
“It’s mainly a listening and learning period where I’m trying to get back into the groove of Faculty Senate and find out what major pressing issues the faculty will face in 2012-13,” Ashlock said.
Ashlock said he looks forward to representing and serving the faculty in the coming years.
“You take up and take on the pressing issues that face faculty, from salary to curriculum issues,” Ashlock said. “You’re also always trying to work with administration in productive ways and trying to make that a better and healthier relationship.”
Dr. Allen Teel, professor of music, will serve as one of seven new faculty senators who will begin their terms in the fall. Teel said he has full confidence in Ashlock’s abilities to chair the Faculty Senate.
“I think he’ll be fantastic. I’ve known him for quite a few years,” Teel said. “He’s a person of great integrity who has students’ best interests at heart, but will serve really well for faculty at the same time.”
Teel said he also looks forward to serving as a faculty senator for the second time. Teel began teaching at ACU in 1985.
“It’s a big time commitment, but there is a lot of value in being able to represent the faculty in things that are important to us,” Teel said.
Dr. Brad Crisp, assistant professor of information systems, will serve alongside Teel on the Faculty Senate next fall. Crisp said he is looking forward to serving faculty and ensuring their interests are met over the coming three years.
“There is a chance to learn more about how the university is functioning and what issues are being presented and ways we as faculty can be engaged in those issues,” Crisp said. “This is an important time in higher education with lots of challenges.”
