Three faculty members with backgrounds in engineering, public health and computer science will soon join the executive committee of the U-M’s central faculty governance system.
The Senate Assembly voted electronically March 17-20 to elect the following members to the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs:
- Jesse Capecelatro, associate professor of mechanical engineering and of aerospace engineering, College of Engineering.
- Kirsten Herold, lecturer IV in dean’s office, School of Public Health.
- Kentaro Toyama, W K Kellogg Professor of Community Information and professor of information, School of Information.
Each member’s three-year term begins May 1.
Capecelatro, Herold and Toyama will succeed three SACUA members whose terms expire April 30: Rebekah Modrak, professor of art and design, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design; Simon Cushing, professor of philosophy, UM-Flint; and Craig Smith, senior associate librarian, University Library.
Capecelatro said he hopes to help mend a weakened relationship between faculty governance and the administration — and he wants to give the College of Engineering a voice on SACUA to address threats to research funding, upon which the CoE relies heavily.
“I think that SACUA must be proactive in addressing challenges advocating and standing up for faculty interests and ensuring that research remains a pillar of Michigan’s academic mission,” he said.
As outgoing president of the Lecturers’ Employment Organization, a union for non-tenure faculty, Herold said she represents an important voice on U-M’s campus. She also said she believes faculty governance must move toward a more collaborative approach with the administration.
“With all the work I’ve done, I have really become convinced that representation, whether it’s through collective bargaining and union representation or through faculty governance is not just in the interest of whoever is being represented, it is in all our interest. We really are a much better, stronger place when all the voices are heard,” she said.
Toyama said one of the first things he did when he came to U-M in 2015 was join a Senate Assembly committee that met monthly with then-provost Martha Pollack to discuss faculty concerns. Toyama said he’d like to get back to that regular, open communication with the administration.
Toyama also said he hopes to represent a wider range of voices on campus. “I have my personal opinions about a great range of things, but I do think that those of us who serve on faculty governance have a responsibility to try to represent all faculty’s views.”
Other candidates on the ballot were:
- Laura Nyantung Beny, Earl Warren DeLano Professor of Law and professor of law, Law School.
- Wayne C. Petty, associate professor of music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
- 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, Stamps School.
- Quentin F. Stout, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of climate and space sciences and engineering, CoE.
Christina Snider, associate professor of nursing, UM-Flint, was nominated but removed herself from consideration before voting began March 17.
SACUA is the nine-member executive arm of U-M’s central faculty governance system, which also includes the Senate Assembly and the full Faculty Senate.
