When Robert Frank, vice president for academic affairs and provost elect, starts work on July 3, he’ll have a refreshed Faculty Senate to consult.

The newly elected – and in some cases re-elected – at-large members, senators and alternates are expected to take their positions in Faculty Senate June 1.

Mary Stansbury, who is coming off of a three-year term, was re-elected as an at-large member and represents tenure-track faculty at all campuses. She said being re-elected is “a real honor.”

“It is a wonderful learning experience,” Stansbury said. “Faculty Senate does a wonderful job of representing the needs and interests of the faculty.”

At-large members are voted into office by the entire university instead of by individual colleges, like the senators from Arts & Sciences. Faculty Senate Chair Cheryl Casper said at-large members have a “better sense of the big picture” because they’re more experienced within the university.

The positions normally require a three-year term, so a new senate isn’t elected every year. This ensures that senators who voted on an initiative are in appointment long enough to see it through from beginning to end.

Alternate senators are also elected, Casper said, because members often go on sabbatical or leave the senate, especially in larger colleges such Arts & Sciences.

Casper said she was pleased with the turnout of the election.

“I think it’s a great body of people, and I am particularly pleased to see some new faces in the group that was elected,” Casper said. “For example, Jonathan Selinger holds a distinguished chair in the university (Ohio Eminent Scholar), and it is good to see members of that caliber wanting to be involved in university governance.”

Stansbury agreed with Casper, saying the Faculty Senate looks strong. She called at-large members Mike Mikusa and Thomas Norton-Smith “exceptional faculty and exceptional senators.”

“I’m pleased and eager to see what this next year will bring with a new provost and other changes that will be presented by the administration,” Stansbury said. “I’m excited to be participating in faculty governance in a time where things are changing. It should be pretty interesting.”

Contact academic affairs reporter Kevin Kolus at [email protected].