Faculty Senate Office launches new website
U-M’s Faculty Senate Office launched a new website May 1 that is designed to help people better understand the role of the university’s three central faculty governance bodies: Faculty Senate, Senate Assembly and the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, or SACUA. The site has a fresh look and features an interactive, color-coded element on the homepage that allows users to quickly find information about each body. Other features on the homepage include a calendar, news stories and a monthly Faculty Senate Spotlight that recognizes faculty members who are involved in central faculty governance. The site also has a variety of faculty resources and a prominent “Contact Us” form that allows people to easily share information or concerns with Faculty Senate Office staff. The website was designed by Karen Moeller Design with input from the Faculty Senate Office. Check out the site at facultysenate.umich.edu.
UM-Flint named gold-level veteran-friendly school for fifth consecutive year
The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency has named UM-Flint a gold-level veteran-friendly school for the 2019-20 year. The gold ranking means the university has achieved at least six of seven program criteria, which include things like having an established process for identification of current student-veterans, offering veteran-specific career services and having a veteran-specific website. This is the fifth time UM-Flint has achieved gold-level status since the program was launched in 2015. Serving veterans is a key mission for UM-Flint. The Student Veterans Resource Center, which opened in 2009, offers academic support and various services to veterans. In March, UM-Flint announced the Valiant Veterans Scholarship, a new scholarship to recognize veterans in the greater Flint area who are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree.
Election underway for non-Senate faculty representative on police oversight panel
The election to select a non-Senate faculty representative for a two-year term on the U-M Police Department Oversight Committee is underway. Lecturers, active emeriti, adjunct and clinical faculty members are eligible to participate in this election. Candidates are Howard Bromberg, clinical professor, Law School; Meghan M. O’Neil, research investigator, Population Studies Center; Nora Cobb Krinitsky, lecturer I, LSA Residential College; and Sue Ann Savas, clinical assistant professor, School of Social Work. University Human Resources is coordinating this election. Online voting is available through June 5 at hr.umich.edu/non-senate-faculty-ballot. The newly elected member’s appointment will take effect June 23. The six-member oversight committee includes two student members, two faculty members (one Senate and one non-Senate faculty), and two staff members (one union and one non-union), who receive and make recommendations regarding grievances against any police officer deputized by the university. For more information, visit hr.umich.edu/pdoc.
U-M students win national, international scholarships, fellowships
Twelve U-M students or graduates have been awarded prestigious national and international scholarships that will allow them to continue their studies in coming years. They include Marshall Schwarzman and Truman scholars, two Knight-Hennessy Scholars and four Goldwater Scholars. This year U-M also moved into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time Goldwater list with 81 total scholars, and is now the top Goldwater school in the Big Ten. LSA’s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships has compiled a list of the recipients. View the list online.
U-M program to aid first-generation students expands to other institutions
As the growing wealth gap between families nationwide impacts student experiences across the country, a new model of scholarship support for first-generation college students pioneered at LSA is expanding to schools nationally. The Kessler Scholars Program is formally expanding to Johns Hopkins University, Queens College, St. Francis College and Syracuse University. These schools join Cornell University, which launched a Kessler Scholars Program in fall 2019, and U-M to form the Kessler Scholars Collaborative, a first-of-its-kind collaboration for sharing best practices and key findings to ensure first-generation students have the resources necessary to thrive on campus and beyond. Click here for more about the Kessler Scholars Program.
The University Record shifts to summer schedule
The University Record’s print and email editions have shifted to their reduced summer schedule. The May 22 email was the last daily edition until the fall semester begins Aug. 31. A weekly version will be emailed to subscribers during the spring and summer, beginning May 27. Although the weekly email is tentatively scheduled to be sent each Wednesday, the delivery day could fluctuate this summer due to the possibility of news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on U-M. The Record website will be updated throughout the week with news for faculty and staff, and the weekly email will include items added to the website during the previous week. The Record’s print edition also will operate on a reduced schedule for the summer, with print issues to be published June 8 and 22, July 20, and Aug. 10. The Record will resume its regular weekly print edition Aug. 31.
— Compiled by Ann Zaniewski and James Iseler, The University Record
