FAMU Faculty Senate Convenes First Meeting

The Faculty Senate held its first formal meeting of the year at 3 p.m. in Lee Hall on Tuesday.

Although the meeting was slated to begin promptly at 3 p.m., it began about 10 minutes later than scheduled.

The meeting started with opening remarks from Faculty Senate President Narayan Persaud.

“We are not anti-anybody, rather we are the antibodies to exclusion, secrecy, intimidation, and faculty disunity. In the spirit of unity, let us claim our seats in collective governance,” Persaud told the small gathering of faculty members in Lee Hall.

Persaud’s remarks were followed by the swearing-in of new faculty senators by University deputy General Counsel Shira Thomas.

Provost Cynthia Hughes-Harris served as the official representative of the administration, in place of President Ammons.

“President Ammons engaged in those presidential activities that are so very important to our university. They include connecting with significant individuals near and far, identifying opportunities for our growth and development,” Hughes-Harris told the faculty senate.

Many topics were outlined during the meeting, but the most pertinent was plans to move forward with restructuring process.

“Restructuring is not a singular event. It’s a process that’s going to take time. It will require a tremendous amount of work,” said Hughes-Harris.

The first stage of the restructuring process was moving the Department of Economics from the College of Arts and Sciences to the School of Business and Industry on July 1. Also, the engineering component of the College of Engineering, Science, Technology, and Agriculture was moved to the School of Architecture, according to Hughes-Harris.

Hughes-Harris also mentioned that the administration was proposing name changes to many of the university academic units, schools, and colleges.

The Environmental Sciences Institute is proposed to become the stand-alone School of the Environment.

In January, administrators will propose to the Board of Trustees that the teacher education program become a component of the College of Education.

By June, the board will have made its proposal to split the College of Arts and Sciences into the College of Behavioral Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and the College of Sciences, Technology, Mathematics.

In 2013, a proposal to establish the School of Public Health will go before the BOT, and if approved will be the first of its kind in Florida.

Faculty senate meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month, and are open to the public.