Faculty Senate elects slate

The full slate of uncontested Faculty Senate nominees were declared elected earlier this week after no petitions were filed in the two-week period following their nomination announcement this month. The elected candidates include Statistics Professor David Hildebrand, named chairperson-elect of the Senate Executive Committee, and Anatomy Associate Professor Peter Dodson, named secretary-elect. Both will be entering the faculty's chief policy-making body at a time when budgetary pressures are mounting for University professors. All 21 elected candidates, comprising the new members of both the SEC and several of its subcommittees, will start their terms of office on May 1. Senate Chairperson-elect Hildebrand said earlier this week that he was both flattered and excited by his nomination to the post. In the context of budget announcements Wednesday -- which included plans for a reduction of 300 faculty and staff positions, slower faculty salary growth, and cuts in faculty programs -- Hildebrand is entering SEC's ranks at a crucial time in the University's fiscal life. Hildebrand said Wednesday that he thinks faculty feel deeply responsible for the University and will be unwilling to "sit idly by" and allow massive cuts in the University's state allocation to take place. Current Faculty Senate Chairperson Almarin Phillips will move from his post to become past-chairperson, being replaced by Chairperson-elect Louise Shoemaker when the newly elected candidates assume their positions later this semester. Phillips said last night he is looking forward to the somewhat lighter duties of the post of past-chairperson, but said the Senate -- including the newly elected officials -- will be extremely busy with cost containment issues over the next year. "The good side is service to the University and exposure to many interesting and important subjects," Phillips said last night. "But they're also getting themselves in for a lot of hard work -- the two seem to go together." Hildebrand faces a three-year commitment to the Senate, holding the official position of chairperson-elect for the first year, to become chairperson for a year, and then past-chairperson a year later. The other elected candidates receiving three-year terms include the SEC at-large members Oriental Studies Professor Roger Allen, Dental School Professor Irving Shapiro, Finance Associate Professor Susan Wachter and Mathematics Professor Herbert Wilf; Senate Academic Freedom and Responsibility Committee members Medical School Associate Professor Jill Beech, Geology Professor Robert Giegengack and School of Social Work Assistant Professor Mark Stern; and Senate Committee on the Economic Status of Faculty members Mathematics Professor Peter Freyd and Linguistics Professor Ellen Prince. Those sharing two-year terms include SEC Assistant Professor members English's David Boyd and Social Work's Catalina Herrerias; Senate Academic Freedom and Responsibility Committee members German Associate Professor Liliane Weissberg; and Senate Conduct Committee members Chemistry Professor Madeleine Joullie, Law Professor Howard Lesnick, and Physics chairperson Gino Segre. Officials assuming one-year posts in May include SEC at-large member Social Welfare Professor June Axinn; Senate Academic Freedom and Responsibility Committee members, Geology Professor Ian Harker and Nursing Professor Barbara Lowery; and Senate Economic Status of Faculty Committee member Economics Professor Robert Summers.

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