Sept. 2, 2010

Mark Owen

Micheal Owen

Faculty Senate president, 2010-11

Owen's senate service:

Senator (1998-2004, 2005-09) and president-elect (2009-10); resource policies and allocations council member (1999-2001, 2003-10); Agriculture and Life Sciences caucus chair (2002-04, 2005-09); executive board (2002-04, 2005-10); committee on committees member (2005-09) and chair (2009-10); nontenure-eligible appointments for research task force member (2005-10); vet med task force member (2005-06); business and finance committee chair (2008-10); nontenure-eligible teaching task force member (2008-10)

The basics

Position: Associate chair and professor, agronomy
Arrived at ISU: December 1982, assistant professor, agronomy

Owen's top goals

  • Increase faculty participation in senate business
  • Help faculty recognize the senate's opportunity to participate in shared governance with central administration

Senate priorities

  • Budget
  • Filling faculty lines to meet increasing enrollment demands
  • Monitoring how budget-related changes at the department and college levels affect faculty
  • Continued work on major curriculum changes
  • Task force work on several topics (for example, post-tenure review and a five-year review of the student affairs office)

Senate's biggest challenge

"Getting through the changes that are almost inevitable in the academy because of the budget. Faculty need to be as nimble and flexible as they can be. Change is difficult, but unfortunately with the way the budget has gone, change has to occur. We will have to adjust to that. The academy in the next few years is going to look very different than the academy that was here when I started."

Owen's thoughts on the year ahead

"Faculty Senate will be extremely busy this year, moving forward in addressing those issues that are important and supportive of the faculty, continuing to strive to enhance shared governance, and working closely with central administration."