Faculty members from the School of Information (SI), Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning (TCAUP) and the Medical School have been elected to the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA).
At the March 17 meeting at Palmer Commons, Senate Assembly members elected four to SACUA: Gina Poe, associate professor of anesthesiology and associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology, Medical School, and Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program faculty member; Mojtaba “Moji” Navvab, associate professor of architecture within TCAUP, chair of the certificate program in simulation and gaming in the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies; David Potter, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin, Department of Classical Studies, LSA; and Robert Frost, associate professor, SI.
Poe and Navvab, a former SACUA chair, will serve three-year terms. It is yet to be determined which member, Potter or Frost, will serve a three-year term and which one will fill a one-year unexpired term. The three new SACUA members will join Potter, the incumbent, beginning May 1.
Candidate Robert U. Simpson, professor of pharmacology, Medical School, also ran for the board. He was the lone candidate not present to address the Senate Assembly before the March 17 vote. Dr. Charles Smith, SACUA chair, said Simpson was unable to attend due to a professional commitment.
Addressing Senate Assembly representatives before the vote, Frost said the board needs to be attentive to information technology-related issues. Navvab said he was particularly concerned with issues related to benefits. Poe noted she has been attending recent SACUA meetings and was familiar with current issues before the board, including proposed changes to the new faculty handbook. Potter said he wanted to follow through to conclusion issues he has been working on with current SACUA members, including joint appointments and establishing practices in which faculty would clearly be heard by the administration.
The new SACUA board members replace Smith, professor of pharmacology, School of Pharmacy; and Richard Friedman, the Ralph W. Aigler Professor of Law in the Law School.
Remaining SACUA members for 2008-09 are M. Robert Fraser, librarian, Mardigian Library, U-M Dearborn; Bruce Frier, the Frank O. Copley Collegiate Professor of classics and Roman law, LSA, and Henry King Ransom Professor of Law; Keith Riles, professor of physics, LSA; Wayne Stark, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, College of Engineering (CoE); and Michael Thouless, professor of mechanical engineering and professor of materials science and engineering, CoE.
