Cheryl Casper was re-elected president of Kent State’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The AAUP-KSU held elections this past month for president and for campus and departmental delegates.

Casper, an economics professor, received 160 of the 268 votes, said Tish Soper, chairwoman of the nominations and elections committee and assistant professor of accounting technology at the Salem campus. Casper’s opponent, Frank Smith, a mathematics professor, received 102 votes. There was one write-in ballot cast, and five ballots were deemed invalid.

Next year will be Casper’s fourth as president of the union. A main focus of this year has been the contract negotiations with university administration, an issue Casper said she would like to see resolved soon.

“I felt a sense of obligation to see that process through to its completion,” Casper said.

She said she also wants to increase faculty membership in the union, citing it as the key to the long-term success of the organization. Greater involvement at the regional campuses also is important, Casper said.

Elections for union president are held yearly, while campus and departmental delegates have a two-year term, Soper said. The new officers will take their positions in the beginning of Fall 2005, lasting through 2007.

The delegates’ terms correspond with the full-time faculty contracts, Soper said, which begin about a week before fall classes and end about a week after spring finals. The current representatives will remain active over the summer.

Elections for the offices of first vice president, second vice president, secretary and treasurer will take place in the fall by the union’s council, made up of the delegates, Casper said. Any changes in chairs will be made and appointed at that time as well.

Contact academics reporter Rachel Abbey at [email protected].