2024-2025 Legislative Actions

The Faculty Senate endorsed and approved signing on to the following statement at the Faculty Senate meeting on April 9, 2025:

Statement in Support of the Core Mission and Values of Higher Education in the United States of America

Private and public higher education institutions in the United States have for over three centuries contributed to the public good, and the nation’s global leadership position, through the advancement and sharing of knowledge, and by providing pathways for workforce development.

Research funding in universities is judiciously used to drive innovation, providing an exceptional return on investment that advances economic growth, health and well-being, scientific breakthroughs, national security, and cultural and civic development. Academic research and scholarly expertise are also vital to excellent teaching and training, ensuring that the U.S. workforce of the future remains globally competitive.

Higher education in the United States continuously sets standards for international excellence and attracts students and colleagues from all over the world. The contributions of international scholars, staff, and students to U.S. higher education are integral to its leadership position.

U.S. higher education’s global excellence and public impact require working and learning environments that ensure opportunities for all. Initiatives that reduce discrimination are part of that imperative.

As recent challenges to funding and programming threaten to dismantle the core values and mission of higher education, at great detriment to the public at large and the U.S.’s international reputation, the undersigned faculty governance bodies affirm the following: 

1. Public and private universities serve the public good and contribute to the U.S.’s national and global excellence, through teaching, research, and service.
2. Cuts to research funding in higher education will undermine scientific innovation, health, societal progress, and the U.S.’s leadership position, with long-lasting detrimental
3. Academic scholarship and research, through peer review and professional accreditation, lead to evidence-based expertise, not partisan viewpoints.
4. We support academic freedom and free speech, and those who exercise their rights thereto, citizens and non-citizens alike.
5. We oppose the targeted harassment of faculty members for their
6. We support the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right of people to peaceably assemble. All community members who engage in peaceful assembly, regardless of viewpoint or citizenship status, should have the opportunity to do so without retaliation.

7. We agree with the Department of Education that discrimination based on race, color, or national origin (Title VI), sex (Title IX), and disability (ADA) is reprehensible, affirming our legal and moral obligation as educational institutions not to discriminate based on these or other identifying characteristics. Initiatives that help to reduce such discrimination, when grounded in best practice, increase opportunities and ensure real meritocracy for all.
8. We affirm the essential role of transparent and collaborative shared governance in maintaining the integrity of our universities, and commit to its continued
9. Lastly, we call upon faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community partners of our universities to unite in support of the core mission, values, and academic freedoms of higher education in the U.S.

The Faculty Senate approved the following members of the Committee on Cause on October 16, 2024: 

• Tom Hope, Professor, Cell and Molecular Biology (Feinberg) — Chair
• Mark Johnson, Professor, Biomedical Engineering (McCormick)
• Caryn Ward, Professor, Journalism Undergrad (Medill)
• TJ Billard, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies (SoC)
• Faisal Akkawi, Faculty Director, information Systems (SPS)
• Julia Oliver Rajan, Associate Professor of Instruction, Spanish and Portuguese (WCAS)
• Heather Risser, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behav. Sciences (Feinberg)
• Susan Pearson, Professor, History (WCAS)

The Faculty Senate approved the following slate of standing committee chairs on October 16, 2024: 

• Michael Fishman, Professor, Finance (Kellogg)
• Tom Hope, Professor, Cell and Molecular Biology (Feinberg)
• Jacqueline Babb, Senior Lecturer, Int. Marketing Communications (Medill)
• Anne Zald, Librarian (University Libraries)
• Mark Alznauer, Associate Professor, Philosophy (WCAS)
• Ceci Rodgers, Professor, Non-Tenure (Medill)
• Cat Fabian, Clinical Assistant Professor, Non-Tenure (SoC)
• Swati Kulkarni, Professor, Surgery (Feinberg)
• Ian Horswill, Associate Professor, Computer Science (McCormick)
• Danny M. Cohen, Associate Professor of Instruction, Non-Tenure (SESP)
• Rebecca Zorach, Professor, Art History (WCAS)
• Ana Maria Acosta, Professor, Phys. Thpy. and Hum. Mov. Sci. (Feinberg)