Sept. 3, 2009
Arnold van der Valk
2009-10 Faculty Senate president
Position at ISU
Professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology
Arrived at ISU
1973
Previous service on Faculty Senate
Senator (2004-08); executive board (2004-05, 2008-09); president-elect (2008-09); resource policies and allocations council member (2004-09); faculty compensation committee chair (2008-09); committee on committees member (2004-05) and chair (2008-09); business and finance committee (2008-09); Liberal Arts and Sciences caucus chair (2004-05)
Senate's top goals this year
- Dealing with budget crisis (preserving faculty positions, sustaining academic quality)
- Restoring lost tenure-track positions
- Improving teaching
- Resolving issue of non-tenure track faculty numbers
- Improving post-tenure reviews
Thoughts on the year ahead
"It is going to be a difficult year for everyone at ISU, especially if there are additional budget cuts to the university's state appropriations during the academic year. Budget reductions combined with a significant increase in enrollment have increased faculty workloads and negatively altered faculty work-life balance. I am sure that our faculty will rise to the occasion, but this trend toward reduced state support for the university cannot be sustained without it having negative consequences for our academic and research programs."
Issue that could be the most important to the senate this year
"The budget will be the overriding issue this year, especially any additional budget cuts during this academic year. How to deal with additional budget cuts will raise difficult and controversial issues with which the senate will have to deal, such as elimination of small academic programs, merging of academic units, and possibly reduction in faculty numbers."
