Faculty Senator Election Process

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1.7. Faculty Senate.

1.7.1. AU uses the Faculty Senate as an integral part of shared governance of the University.

The Senate advises AU/CC and other senior leaders on matters of faculty concern. Faculty

members chosen to serve on the Faculty Senate provide a highly valued service to the

institution.

1.7.2. The Eaker Center Faculty elect three Senators annually to represent the Eaker Center as

members of the AU Faculty Senate. At least one Senator will be from a distance learning (DL)

program. The election process involves the following:

• March/April

Eaker CC or Dean announces the election process.

• Late April

Interested faculty submit their petition or nomination to run to the Dean

and CC along with bio to run for Senator representing DL faculty (or the Senators

representing the other faculty).

• May

Candidates are announced at the Eaker staff meeting and via an Eaker-wide

email with an accompanying bio for each candidate.

• June

Respective candidates make themselves

available at a scheduled “Eaker Town

Hall”

(in-person or virtual) to be introduced and answer questions by Eaker faculty.

The event is hosted by the Dean or designated representative.

• July

In early July, the Dean, the Director of Institutional Effectiveness, or designated

representative, conducts the election via Qualtrics as an online survey/voting tool.

Faculty are given two weeks to cast their vote(s). Results are announced in late July.

• August

The outgoing Senators conduct an onboarding process and handover of

responsibilities to the incoming Senators.

• September

The newly elected Senators begin their term on September 1.

1.7.3. Participation in the Faculty Senate is voluntary and does not constitute an administrative

duty, nor do participants receive additional compensation.

1.7.4. All Eaker Center full-time military and civilian faculty members assigned to educational

programs are eligible to become Senators.

1.7.5. Faculty members who are current administrative/staff who are in non-teaching roles

and/or supervisory positions are not eligible.

1.7.6. The term of membership is one year. Terms begin on 1 September and end

31 August of the following year. Members may be elected to serve a maximum of three

consecutive terms. At least one year must elapse after the third term before a member may be

elected to serve again.

1.7.7. In the event of a Senator departing from a faculty position or from the Eaker Center prior

to the end of the term, the Commander has the authority to appoint a replacement to serve the

remainder of that term.