Welcome Back From the Senate Chair |
|
September 4, 2012,
Volume 59, No. 02 |
Fostering a Culture of Collaborative Governance
As Chair of the Faculty Senate, I welcome you to the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. The University of Pennsylvania has a tradition of faculty involvement in governance, and the Faculty Senate, composed of all standing faculty, is the voice of the Faculty. In our system of shared governance, the Tri-Chairs (Past-Chair Camille Charles, Chair-Elect Dwight Jaggard, and myself as Chair) of the Faculty Senate meet regularly with administrative officials, including biweekly consultations with the President and Provost. In addition, the Senate Executive Committee, with representation from all 12 schools and all faculty ranks, meets monthly with administrative officials and to discuss issues that affect faculty.
To ensure that we represent the perspective of the Faculty and serve as your advocates, I encourage you to contact your representatives in the Senate Executive Committee. You may also contact me (Margulies@seas.upenn.edu) or the Executive Assistant of the Senate, Sue White (senate@pobox.upenn.edu) with your issues and questions.
The standing Faculty Senate Committees are the working groups charged to monitor, investigate, and/or make recommendations regarding specific issues of concern to the faculty. This year the timely topics will include: faculty salary and benefits, implementation of the 12 school-based Faculty Diversity plans, the scheduled Faculty Gender Equity Report, alternatives to sabbatical for scholarly renewal, reduction of faculty administrative burdens associated with research, changes to faculty tracks and caps, centralized information for dual career hiring/retention, faculty oversight in graduate and undergraduate educational programs (including Coursera), and revisions to the Faculty Grievance Procedures.
Over 70% of the standing faculty participated in the Faculty Climate Survey last winter, and your valuable data is being analyzed by a group of faculty jointly appointed by the Faculty Senate and the Provost with the overarching goals of identifying the pillars of strength in Faculty Life at Penn and opportunities for enhancing our scholarly environment in collaborative initiatives.
I look forward to leading the Faculty Senate this year, and thank Sherri Adams for encouraging me to accept this opportunity. It is my privilege to serve with Camille Charles, now Past-Chair, whose insight and commitment as Chair last year were inspiring, and Dwight Jaggard, our Chair-Elect whose humor and compassion are a perfect match for our team. Lastly, I am deeply grateful to Sue White for her excellent organizational skills, long memory, and patient guidance.
—Susan Margulies, Chair
|