Faculty Senate chair ready to attack issues

Barbara Lowery has steadily become more involved in campus issues since she arrived at the University in 1970 as a Nursing instructor. But next year's Faculty Senate chairperson still believes she belongs in the classroom more than anywhere else, which is why many colleagues did not expect her to take the new leadership role to which she was recently elected. Because next year is so "critical" for the University, though, Lowery accepted the lead position -- and plans to attack the most pertinent issues. "[It is] a challenge to come through these transition years with the faculty, and have their voices heard," she said in an interview last month. In past years, Lowery was asked numerous times to lead the senate body, and turned the offers down each time to stay close to her students and research. As she begins her term next fall with an incoming president and provost, Lowery said her most important role will be to voice faculty concerns. "The biggest issue we're facing is to address recommendations of the Chisum Committee on faculty roles," she said. The Commission on Strengthening the Community, chaired by Vice Chairperson of the University Board of Trustees Gloria Chisum, released a 15-page report last month on issues ranging from Greek rush to academic integrity. Included in the report are several suggestions concerning faculty. The Commission recommended that University professors take a greater role in advising students, in residential programs, and in the community as a whole. "This report is certainly a milestone because it deals with a lot of things that haven't been dealt with in other reports," she said. "But there's a lot of implementation work to do." Lowery met with Chisum earlier this year to discuss the possible implications of the report. But, she added, "the faculty haven't bought any of this yet." The reason for the hesitation is that some research professors cannot afford to give up time allocated for research to community issues. "There are tremendous demands to keep up a funded research program -- you have to be successful," she said. At the same time, both students and professors have advocated a stronger advising system. "Students say faculty don't know what they're doing, faculty say they don't know what they're doing?it really is going to require some examination about what should be done about advising," she said. The bottom line, according to Lowery, is that some faculty are suited for advising while others simply are not. "If you don't want to do advising, you're better off not doing it," she said. Balancing scholarship roles with student needs is nothing new to Lowery, who began her career as a staff nurse at a Reading, Pa. hospital. She is now associate dean for research at the Nursing School, specializing in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. Many of the issues Lowery deals with at Nursing are similar to those facing the entire University. "Nurses are now much more the colleagues of other health professionals than when I started," she said. And as nurses have taken more prominent roles at universities, scholars like Lowery have had to balance research with teaching and practice. "Probably one of the biggest issues we're facing now is how to link our education with practice issues," she said. Lowery said research is what brings the University the best faculty and the best students. "[And] Penn is at the top in the country with research," she added. Currently, Lowery's studies follow the mental health of heart patients. Statistics Professor David Hildebrand, a past chairperson of the Faculty Senate, said Lowery is a "class act." "She's not going to go throwing bombs for the sake of generating excitement, but when she does something, she does it under a clear obligation," he said.