After a week-long election, new members were welcomed into the Faculty Senate April 25 during the senate’s last meeting of the semester.
Dr. Neal Coates, chair of the Department of Political Science, said there were three openings on the Senate and one officer position, the chair elect, which is a three year post.
“The Faculty Senate is the elected body of teachers at ACU who gather together and ask questions an give advice and help the administration oversee campus through a concept called ‘Shared Governance,'” Coates said.
Coates served as the chair elect for the 2012-13 academic year and will serve as the chair for next year’s senate.
He said the Faculty Senate Constitution requires members to be full-time faculty members at the rank of assistant or above. Officers are required to have served on the senate four years and must have tenure.
Coates said this year’s senate worked with the provost, Dr. Robert Rhodes, to advise him on matters of significance to the faculty and university at large. He said the senate also spoke with administration regarding how a new science facility would be shaped, communicated with the Board of Trustees, expressed concerns about OpenClass and tuition costs for students and salaries for faculty and staff.
Dr. Rodney Ashlock, assistant professor of Bible, served as the chair this year. He will serve next year’s senate as the past chair.
“One of the primary responsibilities is to run elections,” he said. “For instance, a department might decide that a particular program is no longer relevant, so if we need to drop a program or something like that, the faculty votes on that issue, and so somebody has to run the election.”
Coates and Ashlock said the goal for next year’s senate is to continue the discussion about faculty salaries and appointments. Coates also said the questions of a new science facility and how campus will operate in a time of lean budgets are important to next year’s senate.
The Faculty Senate meets every two weeks in the Foster Science Building.
Faculty Senate members for the upcoming school year:
Neal Coates, political science, CAS Chair
Joe Cardot, communication, CASÂ Chair elect
Rodney Ashlock, Bible, missions, and ministry, CBS, Past chair
Tim Head, engineering and physics, CAS
Cynthia Roper, communication, CAS
Mikee Delony, language and literature, CAS
Pat Hernandez, biology, CAS
John Ehrke, mathematics, CAS
Kenneth Pybus, journalism and mass communication, CAS
Shelly Sanders, English, CAS
Allen Teel, music, CAS
Brandon Young, art and design, CAS
Vic McCracken, Bible, missions, and ministry, CBS
Houston Heflin, Bible, missions and ministry, CBS
Brad Crisp, management sciences, COBA
Phil Vardiman, management sciences, COBA
Brenda Bender, communication sciences & disorders, CEHS
Sheila Delony, teacher education, CEHS
Joe Bell, kinesiology & nutrition, CEHS
Shan Martinez, library
Dan McGregor, art & design, CAS (At-large)
