Ten people are running for four seats on the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the body that advises and consults with University of Michigan executive officers on matters that impact faculty.
The winning candidates will begin their terms May 1.
The election will take place at the Senate Assembly meeting at 3:15 p.m. March 21. The meeting will be conducted electronically, and voting will remain open until 11:59 p.m. March 22.
The top three vote-getters will serve for three years, replacing three SACUA members whose terms are expiring: Sara Ahbel-Rappe, professor of Greek and Latin in LSA; Elena Gallo, associate professor of astronomy in LSA; and Donald Freeman, professor of education in the School of Education.
The candidate who places fourth will serve the remaining one year of Vice Chair J. Caitlin Finlayson’s term. Finlayson, a professor of English literature at UM-Dearborn, is stepping down early to pursue an upcoming sabbatical/research leave.
SACUA is the nine-member executive arm of the Faculty Senate and Senate Assembly, which together comprise U-M’s central faculty governance system.
The Faculty 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.
Ten candidates will appear on the ballot: Sergio Villalobos-Ruminott, Ruth Carlos, Kiran Lagisetty, Donald Likosky, Shahzad Mian, Thomas Braun, Rebekah Modrak, Ya Sha (Alex) Yi, Simon Cushing and Merle Rosenzweig. Additional candidates may announce their intent to run up to the time of the election.
Biographical information and position statements supplied by the candidates to the Faculty Senate Office by a March 7 deadline are listed below. Candidates not listed did not submit information.
Thomas M. Braun
Title: Professor of biostatistics, School of Public Health
Education: Bachelor of Business Administration (minor in risk management), University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1990; Ph.D. in biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, 1999
Faculty leadership: Member, Senate Assembly 2021-present; SACUA Committee on Oversight of Administrative Action (2020-present; 2021 chair); SACUA Academic Affairs Advisory Committee (2021-present); Ad-Hoc Committee for Modifying Work Connections (2021-present); U-M Faculty Covid Council (2021-present); co-director AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop (2019-present); U-M ADVANCE Respect in Striving for Excellence (2018-present); School of Public Health Executive Committee (2015-17); Biostatistics Department graduate chair (2014-15)
Candidate statement: As someone with a demonstrated ability to serve all members of U-M, I would be honored to be a member of SACUA, sharing our insight and perspectives with U-M leadership through civil, respectful, yet forthright, dialogue. Our university is now at a crossroads with many future possible paths; where we go depends on your voice being heard by our university’s administration. We need to resolve these past years of disappointment, disconnect, and anger and create an organization that is open to changing in response to criticism and is working toward creating all that can be good in academia.
Simon Cushing
Title: Associate professor of philosophy, UM-Flint
Education: Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, philosophy, politics and economics, St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, 1989; Ph.D., philosophy, University of Southern California, 1999
Faculty leadership: Member, Student Relations Advisory Committee (Ann Arbor) (2021); chair, Philosophy Department (2015-18); member, executive committee of the College of Arts and Sciences (2008-11); member, Rackham Divisional Boards (Ann Arbor) (2005-06)
Candidate statement: Times are hard for smaller state universities, and UM-Flint is feeling the pinch. In the rush to cut costs the most obvious recent victims have been faculty morale, disciplinary autonomy and an institutional respect for the value of scholarship. I would like to reverse the current top-down model and fight for a better university experience for our students, who are slowly returning to campus desperate for an in-person pedagogical experience that has been denied them these past couple of years.
Donald Likosky
Title: Professor of cardiac surgery, Medical School
Education: Bachelor of Arts, philosophy, African-American and African studies (minor), Emory University, 1994; Master of Science, evaluative clinical sciences, Dartmouth College, 1999; Ph.D., evaluative clinical sciences, Dartmouth College, 2002
Faculty leadership: Head, Section of Health Services Research and Quality, Department of Cardiac Surgery; Senate Assembly (2016-19);Senate Assembly Committee on Oversight of Administrative Action (2020-present);Honorary Degree Committee (2019-present);Faculty Grievance Panel (2019-22);Tenure, Promotions and Professional Development Committee (2019-20);UMHS Quality Council (2017-present)
Candidate statement: I am deeply interested in helping to advocate for faculty interests. Throughout my career, I have sought to engage my colleagues in understanding their interests and leveraging the platforms afforded to me to advocate on their behalf. I have held a number of representative faculty positions at the university (Senate Assembly, Senate Assembly Committee on Oversight of Administrative Action, Faculty Grievance Panel). I wish to continue to advocate for greater faculty governance and representation, especially during these challenging times. If elected to SACUA, I would continue to represent the diverse interests and aspirations of our talented faculty across our campuses.
Shahzad I. Mian
Title: Professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, Medical School
Education: Bachelor of Science, Emory University, 1991; Medical Doctor, Emory University School of Medicine, 1996; Department of Internal Medicine intern, Emory University, 1997; Resident, Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, 2000; Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Cornea and Refractive Surgery Fellow, 2002; University of Michigan, Medical Education Scholars Program, 2013
Faculty leadership: Vice chair, Clinical Sciences and Learning (2019-present); associate chair, Education (2012-19); resident program director (2004-19); Terry J. Bergstrom Professorship (2011); Graduate Medical Education Committee (2015-18); Medical Advisory Committee (2021-present)
Candidate statement: As a member of SACUA, I seek to focus our commitment to our academic values and training future leaders who represent the communities in Michigan and globally we serve.
Rebekah Modrak
Title: Professor of art and design, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of Art & Design, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, 1992; Master of Fine Arts in Photography, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University, 1996
Faculty leadership: Co-founder, Community Advocates (2019-present); Motion 4 Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy Working Group (2021-present); member, Academic Affairs Advisory Committee (2019-present); member, Senate Assembly (2020-present)
Candidate statement: I’m committed to unifying faculty around shared interests to collectively build a stronger university. Over the past two years, I’ve brought together faculty from across units to advocate for our involvement in decision-making for COVID planning, especially to support faculty with medical concerns or children at home. I’ve studied the issues around sexual misconduct and co-sponsored a successful motion that led to a faculty committee now working with survivors toward a safer campus. On SACUA, I would be a strong, knowledgeable voice for faculty governance, academic freedom and working constructively with a new administration.
Sergio Villalobos-Ruminott
Villalobos-Ruminott
Title: Professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, LSA
Education: Bachelor in Sociology, Universidad ARCIS, Chile, 1996; Master in Cultural Criticism, Universidad ARCIS, Chile, 1998; Master in Latin American Literature, University of Pittsburgh, 2000; Ph.D. in Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 2003.
Faculty leadership: I have served for three years as a member of AAAC; for three years as a chair of the DEI Committee in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures; and in several search committees. I have also served as the chair for the MLA Latin American Literature 20th and 21st Centuries Committee from 2018-20.
Candidate statement: I joined U-M in the fall of 2015 and since then have been a part of several committees both at the departmental and college-wide level. As a professor, I see my participation in the university community as integral to my work. I am applying to SACUA to ensure that our institution remains democratic by considering the formed opinions of its faculty and staff. Disagreement is part of any complex organization and I view the role of faculty representatives as the active and positive force that could drive the university forward even in the face of new and unavoidable challenges.
