[phas-faculty_staff_others] Faculty Senator elections at next faculty meeting

[Kurtis Williams]

Oh, I forgot to mention that one or two alternates also must be elected to fill in if the elected senator cannot make a meeting.  If you want to be senator but have a class scheduled in the fall, the alternate could fill in during fall meetings.

Dr. Kurtis A. Williams
Associate Professor
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Texas A&M University-Commerce
kurtis.williams at tamuc.edu<mailto:kurtis.williams at tamuc.edu>
(903) 886-5516

On Mar 5, 2019, at 9:30 AM, Kurtis Williams <Kurtis.Williams at tamuc.edu<mailto:Kurtis.Williams at tamuc.edu>> wrote:

Hi folks,

I’ve had the honor of serving as department senator in the Faculty Senate for the past six years, and my second term is ending at the conclusion of this academic year.  We therefore need to have elections for a faculty senator at the next faculty meeting.

I would prefer to pass the baton on to another faculty member, though I’d continue serving if nobody wants to step up and/or if you choose to re-elect me anyway.  But I think some fresh and more vigorous blood would be nice.

Faculty senate meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month from 2-3pm (though meetings often last until 4) during fall and spring semesters.

The procedure for elections (which we’ve never followed since I’ve been here but the senate is asking us to follow) is appended below.  Basically, the ballot must have all eligible faculty members on it (this includes people who don’t want to be senator for whatever reason), we all vote, and the two most junior faculty count the votes.  There seems to be no restriction on who can vote, so I assume all faculty can.

To be eligible, a faculty member needs to have completed two full years of employment at the university, cannot hold a full time administrative appointment, and must hold the rank of instructor or higher.  Department heads are not eligible.  By my reckoning, that means the following faculty are eligible, in something approaching order of seniority (I apologize if I have not gotten the order correct):

Dr. Anil Chourasia
Dr. Bao-An Li
Dr. Carlos Bertulani
Dr. Kurtis Williams
Dr. William Newton
Dr. Cheri Davis
Dr. Robynne Lock
Dr. Heungman Park
(It is unclear to me if Dr. Wood is eligible, since he is currently administration but will be faculty by next year.)

Sorry Dr. Modir!  Next time you’ll be eligible.

Before our next faculty meeting, please let me know whether or not you’d like to be considered.  Your name has to appear on the ballot anyway, but there is nothing in the procedures preventing us from announcing who would like to be elected and who would not like to be elected.

More information about the faculty senate can be found here: http://www.tamuc.edu/aboutUs/administrativeOffices/committeesAndCouncils/facultySenate

One final note, almost all faculty senate meetings are considered open and may be attended by anyone, though visitors do not get to participate in voting and there are occasional times the meeting must be closed to discuss sensitive matters.

Cheers,
Kurtis


The procedure for electing a new Senator is below:

  1.  1.3.1.1  The Academic Department electing a Faculty Senator will convene at a time and place of its choosing for the purpose of holding an election.
  2.  1.3.1.2  Minutes of the election meeting are to be kept by a faculty member present at the election.
  3.  1.3.1.3  A list of eligible faculty members within the department will be presented to those assembled.
  4.  1.3.1.4  The votes cast will be gathered in the presence of the assembled faculty and the results will be tallied by the two most junior faculty members present.
  5.  1.3.1.5  The faculty member garnering the highest number of votes will become the Academic Department’s Faculty Senator upon the expiration of the current Faculty Senator’s term.

  1.  1.3.1.6  In the event of a tie between two or more faculty members, a second round of voting will be held with the votes cast only for those tied in the first election.
  2.  1.3.1.7  A currently seated Faculty Senator may be reelected.
  3.  1.3.1.8  When an election is completed, the minutes of the election and the name of the elected Faculty Senator will be presented to the President on or before the Faculty Senate monthly meeting in April following the election.

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