Eight candidates are running for three seats on the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the nine-member executive arm of the University of Michigan’s central faculty governance system.
The winning candidates will begin their terms May 1.
Electronic voting will open at the end of the March 17 Senate Assembly meeting. Members will be able to vote for 72 hours following the meeting. The winners are expected to be announced March 21.
The top three vote getters will serve three-year terms, replacing SACUA members whose terms are ending:
- Rebekah Modrak, professor of art and design, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
- Simon Cushing, professor of philosophy, UM-Flint
- Craig Smith, senior associate librarian, University Library
Biographical information and position statements supplied by the candidates to the Faculty Senate Office are listed below.
Laura Nyantung Beny
Earl Warren DeLano Professor of Law and professor of law, Law School
Education: Juris Doctor, Harvard Law School; Master of Arts and Ph.D. in economics, Harvard University; Bachelor of Arts in economics, Stanford University
Faculty leadership: Member, Faculty Senate Assembly Communications Advisory Committee, July 2022-present; associate director, U-M African Studies Center at U-M International Institute, 2018-21; member, U-M African Studies Center Executive Committee, 2021-22 and 2015-17
Candidate statement: I am honored to accept the nomination to run for SACUA. I deeply value shared governance, and now more than ever, it is critical that faculty interests are represented in key institutional decisions. If elected, I will serve as a strong faculty advocate, committed to transparency, fairness, and due process in all matters affecting faculty. I will work to protect faculty rights, uphold impartial grievance procedures, and ensure that all faculty voices are heard. In short, I will champion a faculty-centered approach to shaping institutional policies. I appreciate your support and your vote!
Jesse Capecelatro
Associate professor of mechanical engineering and of aerospace engineering, College of Engineering
Education: Postdoctoral fellow in scientific computing, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2014–16; Ph.D. in mechanical & aerospace engineering, Cornell University, 2014; Master of Science in mechanical and aerospace engineering, Cornell University, 2012; Master of Science in mechanical engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 2011; Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering, State University of New York Binghamton, 2009
Faculty leadership: Member, Senate Assembly, 2023-present; Research Advisory Committee, 2023-present; Mechanical Engineering Advisory Committee, 2023-present; Management and Education Committee for Michigan Institute of Computational Discovery and Engineering, 2024-present; Editorial Advisory Committee for the Journal of Aerosol Science, 2023-25; COVID-19 Rapid Response Steering Committee, 2020; Online Academic Integrity Committee, 2020; Advanced Research Computing Advisory Team, 2017-18
Candidate statement: As an advocate for faculty interests, I am eager to join SACUA to amplify our voices in decision-making, especially amid attacks on federal funding and freedom of expression. Since joining U-M in 2016, I’ve held key leadership positions, notably on the Advanced Research Computing Advisory Team and the Online Academic Integrity Committee, developing remote teaching guidelines during COVID-19. My work on the COVID-19 Rapid Response Steering Committee bridged communication between engineering faculty and the University Health System. As a SACUA member, I aim to strengthen relations with leadership and Regents to ensure policies align with Michigan’s core values.
Kirsten Herold
Lecturer IV in Dean’s Office, School of Public Health
Education: Ph.D., University of Michigan Ann Arbor, 1992; Bachelor of Arts, Colby College, 1984
Faculty leadership: Campus chair, LEO, 2002-05; vice president, LEO, 2005-21; president, LEO, 2021-25; AFT Michigan executive VP (secretary-treasurer), 2022-present; member, General Counsel’s Advisory Committee; and various other universitywide committees
Candidate statement: I am running for SACUA because nontenure-track faculty need more representation than the ONE current member of the Senate. If elected, I would bring two decades+ experience of working with university leadership on all three campuses. I have used this experience in bargaining groundbreaking contracts and improving lecturers’ working conditions, which frankly has made this a much better university. I believe strongly that there is a way to argue vigorously and effectively for the interests of your constituency while remaining collaborative. I hope to apply this skillset to my work at SACUA when my LEO presidency ends April 30, 2025.
Wayne C. Petty
Associate professor of music (music theory), School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Education: Ph.D., (music theory), Master of Philosophy, and Bachelor of Arts, Yale University
Faculty leadership: Past chair, Provost’s Council on Student Honors; past chair, SMTD merit review policy committee; past chair, Music Theory department; member (currently chair), Faculty Senate Committee on Oversight of Administrative Action
Candidate statement: I am a candidate because SACUA needs advocates for faculty rights, due process, policy compliance, and effective conflict resolution throughout the university. In 30 years as a professor at U-M, including the past two years as a member of the Faculty Senate’s Committee on Oversight of Administrative Action, I have witnessed a shift in the balance of university governance away from faculty and toward administration, including in matters requiring faculty expertise. If elected, I will strive to help restore a more appropriate balance in decision making, and to strengthen SACUA’s role in representing the interests of the faculty.
Rogério Meireles Pinto
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work, professor of social work, School of Social Work; professor of theatre and drama, School of Music, Theatre & Dance; professor of art and design, Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design
Education: Ph.D. in social work, Columbia University, 2003; master’s degree in social work, Yeshiva University, 1997; bachelor’s degree in biological sciences (minor in education), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1987
Faculty leadership: Member, Senate Assembly, 2000-23; chair, General Counsel’s Advisory Committee University Senate, 2022-24; Social Work Associate Dean for Research & Innovation, 2018-23; member, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; oversight of the President’s Initiative – Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion and Academic Affairs, Robert Sellers; chair, Associate Dean for Educational Programs, Jorge Delva, 2015-16; member or chair of several search committees across campus, 2015-24
Candidate statement: Today, academic freedom in America is under attack. SACUA needs representatives who will expand faculty decision-making and expand oversight of policies impacting our ability to teach and conduct research without compromising our dignity, empathy, and imagination. In this moment of uncertainty and lack of transparency, SACUA must expand its role in shaping university policy. I will use my expertise in social science research and the arts to engage more colleagues in governance and to help broadcast a collective voice to protect academic freedom. This historic moment of repression demands more organizing and a clear action toward liberation.
Christina Snider
Associate Professor of Nursing, UM-Flint
Education: Doctor of Nursing Practice in educational leadership, Case Western Reserve University, 2012; Master of Science in nursing, UM-Flint, 2001; Bachelor of Science in nursing, Michigan State University, 1995
Faculty leadership: I have served in various leadership roles in my time here at UM-Flint. I am currently on our executive committee in nursing, have been on the Senate Assembly for the past two years, am the vice president of the AFT-AAUP 5671 and have helped to get our union recognized and begin to bargain for our first contract. I am the FNP Concentration Coordinator and Family Nurse Practitioner Lead Faculty. I also serve as a faculty mentor to new faculty and as a research mentor to faculty who are in need of mentoring post midterm review. I also was interim graduate nursing program director when our now retired colleague Connie Creech was on sabbatical in winter and spring 2016.
Candidate statement: I share my willingness to be considered for the position of Flint campus representative to SACUA. As a faculty member for over two decades, I have watched our university transition through many changes and challenges. Faculty need an experienced, effective voice working for them. Our workload, our tenure and in some cases, our very existence are being challenged by the dire situation of higher education over the past several years. I recognize the perilous position of faculty. I am well prepared to speak to our concerns and work effectively with administration.
Quentin F. Stout
Professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and of climate and space sciences and engineering, College of Engineering
Education: Ph.D. in mathematics, Indiana University, 1977; Bachelor of Arts in mathematics, Centre College, 1970
Faculty leadership: Member, Faculty Senate, 2021-24; Information Technology Committee, 2023-26 (chair, 2024-25); Research Advisory Committee, 2023-26; Standing Judicial Committee, 2021-present; chair, Rackham review of Dearborn Computer and Information Science graduate program, 2015; Rackham Faculty Allies, 2012-present; CoE Rules Committee, 2017-19; EECS Executive Committee; AOSS chair search, 2011; director, Center for Parallel Computing, 1992-2001; CoE Research Computing Executive Committee, 2006-10; Japan Prize Nominating Committee, 2007-19; Earth Systems Modeling Framework Executive Committee, 2002-17. At SUNY-Binghamton: Faculty Senate, 1982-83; Dean’s search, 1982
Candidate statement: Faculty provide continuity of core university values, such as freedom of speech, yet the administration makes many poor decisions that we then react to. We need to force earlier involvement. It’s critical now since rapid federal government changes drives us to immediately set up faculty-administration procedures to deal with them. E.g., some Senate members don’t have tenure, so we have to help protect them. We can also be more effective with current activities. For example, many Senate committees are learning a lot (I’m on two), but it isn’t being disseminated well. SACUA should be organizing dissemination and discussions.
Kentaro Toyama
W K Kellogg Professor of Community Information and Professor of Information, School of Information
Education: Ph.D. in computer science, Yale University; AB in physics, Harvard University
Faculty leadership: President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), U-M Ann Arbor chapter, 2021-23; member, SACUA, 2020-23; member, Senate Assembly, 2017-20, 2023-present; chair, Academic Affairs Advisory Committee, 2017-20; director, School of Information Master’s Program, 2017-20; member, Faculty Advisory Committee to Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, 2016-19; member, Working Group on Regents’ Bylaws 5.09/5.10, 2019-20; member, SI Dean search committee, 2015-16
Candidate statement: Faculty — all faculty — are the soul of any world-class university, and my ongoing commitment is to ensure that well-informed faculty views are strongly represented in university decision-making. I have been continuously active in faculty governance since the first year I arrived at U-M over a decade ago, and those years have taught me much about how the university works and doesn’t work. Effective shared governance requires strategy and flexibility; no single working style works for all issues, especially in these days of broader political turmoil. If elected, I will do everything in my power to increase faculty voice at U-M.
