The University of Michigan faculty’s Senate Assembly will choose three new representatives to the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs at its meeting March 20.
SACUA is the nine-member executive arm of the university’s central faculty governance system.
The Senate Assembly’s SACUA Nominating Committee has presented six candidates for the positions that will be vacated by SACUA members whose three-year terms expire April 30. Additional candidates may announce their intent to run up to the time of the election.
The Senate Assembly meeting is set for 3:15 p.m. in Forum Hall of Palmer Commons.
Leaving SACUA this year are John Lehman, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; David Smith, John G. Wagner Collegiate Professor of Pharmacy and professor of pharmaceutical sciences; and Silke-Maria Weineck, Professor of Germanic languages and literatures, and comparative literature.
The top three vote getters will begin their three-year terms on SACUA May 1.
Besides SACUA, central faculty governance consists of the Senate Assembly and the Faculty Senate. The full Senate consists of all professorial faculty, librarians, full-time research faculty, executive officers and deans. The Senate Assembly consists of 74 elected faculty members from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.
Biographical information and position statements supplied by the SACUA candidates follow.
Joy Beatty
Associate professor of management, College of Business, UM-Dearborn
Education: Bachelor of Science, industrial management, Carnegie Mellon University; Master of Science, industrial administration, Carnegie Mellon; Ph.D., organization studies, Boston College
Faculty leadership: Senate Assembly, Dearborn Faculty Senate, Dearborn Faculty Senate Council, Campus Promotion and Tenure Committee, Undergraduate Curriculum and Degree Committee, College of Business Executive Committee, College of Business Curriculum Committee (chair), College of Business Academic Standards Committee, College of Business Governing Faculty Secretary; Executive Board member, Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division, Academy of Management (two terms); Executive Board member, Organizational Behavior Teaching Society; associate editor, Journal of Management Education; co-editor, Organization Management Journal
Candidate statement: Faculty governance is important because we are a conduit between the faculty and administration. Through our meetings, deliberations, and decision making we have the opportunity to improve the University of Michigan for students, staff, and faculty. Our campus is decentralized with many subunits. This affords us adaptability, but also causes information silos. Senate is a venue for faculty to learn what’s going on in other corners of the university — and to take action. I offer my vantage point and service experience on the Dearborn campus, as well as disciplinary expertise in management, organizational behavior, diversity, and disability issues.
Kathryn A. Eaton
Professor of microbiology and immunology, Medical School
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Amherst College, 1978; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University 1984; Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Pathologists, 1990; Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 1990
Faculty leadership: Chair, SACUA Research Policy Committee; member, Research Administration Advisory Council; director, Germ-Free and Gnotobiotic Mouse Core Facility, Host Microbiome Initiative local executive committee member; Senate Assembly member; Microbiology and Immunology Advancement, Promotion, and Awards Committee member
Candidate statement: My goal as a senior faculty member is to support the freedom of faculty to pursue research activities. Over the past 3-4 years, I have worked to address the greatest risk that faculty face in our efforts to perform our jobs: administrative burden. Burgeoning regulatory requirements from outside and inside the university hamper our academic progress. As faculty, we must work with the administration to seek solutions to current and increasing regulatory roadblocks. Faculty and administrative partnerships such as the SACUA RPC and RAAC have begun to make inroads, and my goal is to continue this work.
John S. Ellis
Professor of history, College of Arts and Sciences, UM-Flint
Education: Bachelor of Arts, education, Eastern Michigan University; Master of Arts, Welsh history, University of Wales-Aberystwyth; Ph.D., British and Irish history, Boston College
Faculty leadership: Senate Assembly, 2014-17; Tri-campus Taskforce, Senate Assembly, 2017; chair, Department of History, 2008-12, 2015; International Travel Advisory Committee, 2009-15; International and Global Studies Program Committee, 2003-15; LEO Review Committee, 2007-10; Library Committee, 2004-07; Honor’s Council, 2003-07; CAS Curriculum Committee, 2006
Candidate statement: As a member of SACUA from UM-Flint, I will work to strengthen faculty governance, improve communication and foster collaboration between faculty on all three campuses of the University of Michigan. I hope to further integrate the Dearborn and Flint campuses into the single university system and to build on the strengths and protections of a single university faculty.
Andreas Gailus
Associate professor and associate chair of Germanic languages and literatures, LSA
Education: Ph.D., Columbia University, 1996
Faculty leadership: Associate chair, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, 2013-15, 2016; member, SACUA, Tenure, Promotions and Professional Development Committee, 2015-present
Candidate statement: SACUA is an important venue to ensure that the idea of faculty governance remains active at our university. If elected, I will work to increase transparency by involving faculty in all decisions significantly affecting the institution and community, so we can avoid repeats of the AST debacle. Moreover, during a time when universities are bound to face increasingly hostile political winds, there is added urgency in pulling together. That is particularly true for the liberal arts in general and the humanities in particular, that is, for disciplines that produce a kind of knowledge that cannot be easily instrumentalized and monetized.
Sami Malek
Associate professor of internal Medicine, Medical School
Education: M.D., University of Hamburg/Germany MD, 1991. Postdoctoral training in molecular biology and genetics, Johns Hopkins University, 1997
Faculty leadership: Senate Assembly 2014-17; Medical Advisory Committee 2015-17
Candidate statement: Faculty governance is of importance in balancing various influences shaping policy at the University of Michigan. While specific policy and strategic decisions are beyond listing here, I believe in open and transparent and constructive dialogues about all relevant issues. Supporting and living the academic values that many members of this community believe in is my major incentive to serve on SACUA.
Neil Marsh
Professor of chemistry, LSA; and biological chemistry, Medical School
Education: Bachelor of Arts, natural sciences, University of Cambridge, 1985; Doctor of Philosophy, biochemistry, University of Cambridge, 1988
Faculty leadership: Senate Academic Affairs Advisory Committee, 2015-present; Dow Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainability, 2015-present; LSA curriculum committee, 2009-11; chair, Undergraduate Advising, Department of Chemistry; Executive Committee, Department of Chemistry 2012-15; Dean’s Taskforce on Team Science, Medical School, 2006
Candidate statement: Faculty governance is most effective when speaking with the strength of many voices. However, many Faculty feel excluded or ignored in decisions made by the University administration. I will work to improve channels of communication between SACUA, Senate Assembly and the Faculty, and press for more transparency in decision-making. I will facilitate broader participation from all faculty constituencies on matters of concern to the University community. I have found constructive engagement with University administrators is the most effective way to facilitate change. In that spirit, I will be a vigorous advocate for the Faculty in SACUA’s dealings with the administration.
