Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
Jan. 24, 1997

Woodman elected to second term as Faculty Senate president

by Linda Charles
Faculty Senate president William Woodman, professor of sociology, was re-elected to a second term during the Jan. 14 senate meeting.

Woodman, who was unopposed, said the senate has made progress in recent years but certain issues, such as faculty morale and equity, still need to be addressed. As he proposed when he ran for his first term, Woodman suggested the need for a faculty club. But he also called upon faculty to take the initiative to build a "sense of community."

"Does your department have a meeting place or a lounge other than a mail room where you can talk to other people in your department, or even more so, any place where you talk to anybody from a discipline not your own?" he asked. "Do you or your colleagues hold any kind of social events outside of staff meetings and the 'company picnic' in the spring?

"Don't wait for orders from headquarters," he said. "Just do it."

Woodman also reaffirmed his belief that all faculty appointments to committees should be channeled through the senate. In addition, he said, the role of faculty and professional and scientific staff needs to be re-examined. Some P&S staff are being called upon to perform traditional faculty duties, such as teaching, without the protection afforded tenured professors.

"P&S staff are as worried as we are about the blurring of the line," he said.

Woodman also proposed setting aside time at senate meetings for discussion of various issues that are important to faculty but do not necessarily call for senate action.

Woodman's new term will run to May 1998.

Senate vice president Denise Vrchota, adjunct assistant professor of journalism and mass communication, was elected president-elect, defeating Jack Girton, associate professor of zoology and genetics and chair of the senate Council on Judiciary and Appeals.

The newly created position will replace the vice president position in May. Vrchota will assume the senate presidency in May '98.

Vrchota called upon senators to build and maintain links with their constituents, conduct an annual survey of faculty, work for incentives for serving on the senate and performing other university service, change the senate meeting to daytime hours and help develop a wellness program.

The next senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in 260 Scheman. The meetings are open to the public.

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