Faculty Senate members voted yesterday to keep economics professor Cheryl Casper chair of the organization, while electing three other new executive committee members.

In determining next year’s agenda for the senate, Casper said it is important to look back at this past year.

“The accomplishments of the senate are not the accomplishments of one individual, but of all of us working together,” she said.

Other positions elected include: Paul Farrell, computer science professor, as vice chair; James Tyner, associate geography professor, as secretary; and Thomas Sosnowski, associate history professor, as at-large member.

Also during the meeting, university President Lester Lefton made remarks about next year’s budget and said he is unsure of how it will look because of the governor’s tuition freeze proposal.

“We have no idea of what our budget is going to look like next year, especially the part that comes from the state,” he said. “Without tuition increases, we are going to be left in a very difficult situation.”

Biology professor Brent Brunot presented a recommendation to rename the Educational Policies Council to the University Curriculum Committee and change its member composition. He also proposed a Regional Campus Curriculum Committee to allow regional campuses to review campus-specific proposals.

Ed Mahon, vice president of Information Services, outlined Information Technology’s current activities. He said IT has been working to improve distributed support for the university and a more inclusive process that would allow for program-specific technology.

Senate members finalized approval of three Educational Policies Council agenda items:

• Inactivation of the ethnic heritage major.
• Establishment of a Center of Public Health Preparedness.
• Establishment of a Teaching English as a Second Language major within the master’s degree.

Additionally, Sosnowski provided an update about the doctoral budget reallocation, saying history, sociology, English and music doctoral programs were at risk due to Ohio’s law requiring universities to provide research funding to sciences and technology.

Contact academics reporter Christina Stavale at [email protected].