Faculty Senate

66th Faculty Senate, 2024 - 2025

Applied Arts: Michael Supancic, Criminal Justice

Business Administration: Kevin Jetton, Information Systems and Analytics

Education: Stacey Bender, Health and Human Performance; Jo Beth Oestreich, (Secretary), Curriculum and Instruction 

Fine Arts & Communication: Dale Blasingame , Journalism and Mass Communication; Lynn Ledbetter (Chair), Music; Adetty Perez de Miles, Art and Design

Health Professions: Farzan Irani, Communication Disorders

Liberal Arts: Peter Dedek, History; Valentina Glajar, World Languages and Literatures; William Kelemen, Psychology; Steve Wilson, English

Science and Engineering: Noland Martin, Biology; David Donnelly, (Vice Chair) Physics; Alex White, Mathematics

The Texas State University 65^th Faculty Senate worked diligently as an advocate for faculty from May 2023 – May 2024. Below is a list of accomplishments highlighting the work completed during this period.

The 65^th Faculty Senate:

• Reviewed and endorsed awards related to the following peer review processes:  
  • Research Enhancement Grants, 
  • Nontenure Line Faculty Workload Release, 
  • University Lecturers Series Awards, 
  • Part-Time Faculty Teaching Awards, and the 
  • Piper Professor and Everette Swinney Teaching Awards.
• Reviewed and recommended 66 Faculty Development Leave applications.
• Met weekly during fall and spring semesters.
• Met as a full senate including Senate Liaisons once in each semester in 2023-2024. The spring meeting liaisons and senators discussed issues brought forth by their constituents within their colleges. A final report listing concerns affecting the whole of the university was shared with the Presidential Academic Advisory Group.
• Reviewed revisions to 98 Academic Affairs and University policies. 
• Served as impartial observers in Chair and Director and Dean reviews.
• Reviewed applications and chose Senate Fellow Piyush Shroff for his 2023-2024 project on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the Texas State University community.
• Formed a Faculty Senate Subcommittee to conduct a study on the Follett Booksmart Program. The subcommittee distributed surveys to faculty and students regarding concerns with the implementation of the new program. Results of the study were shared with the Presidential Academic Advisory Group and Eric Algoe, CFO.
• Conducted several surveys in 2023-2024:
  • Administrators Perception survey, 
  • Committee Preference survey and 
  • Booksmart survey
• Reviewed and endorsed committee membership for 15 Faculty Senate Committees and for university committees and councils that hold Faculty Senate appointments. Reviews and changes to membership were made throughout the year in response to resignations, retirements, or department transfers.
• Reviewed reports from the Faculty Senate Committees including but not limited to:  Academic Computing, Academic Freedom, University Curriculum, University Lecturers, University Research Enhancement.
• The senate election was conducted in March/April 2024 resulting in 3 senators winning re-election and 4 new senators.
• Responded to more than 40 concerns brought to the Faculty Senate either through the confidential website contact form, senate email or directly through a liaison or senator.

The 65^th Faculty Senate comprised the following members: 

Lynn Ledbetter, Chair
Rachel Davenport, Vice-Chair
Jo Beth Oestreich, Secretary

Vaughn Baltzly (Spring 2024), Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Stacey Bender, Dale Blasingame, William Chittenden, Peter Dedek, David Donnelly, Farzan Irani, Jennifer Jensen (Fall 2023) William Kelemen, Adetty Perez de Miles, Michael Supancic, Alex White