Member, 2023-2026, 2026-2029

• Vice Chairperson, 2026-2027
• Secretary, 2024-2026

I was elected to serve as the Library representative on the University Committee on Academic Governance (UCAG), with my first term running from 2023-2026. I was re-elected by Library faculty to continue in this role for another three-year term and will serve through 2029. I was elected Secretary by UCAG members each year from 2024-2026 and am responsible for writing the minutes, minutes that were repeatedly described as “beautiful” by the Secretary for Academic Governance. During UCAG’s final meeting for the 2025-2026 term, I was elected to serve as Vice Chairperson starting in Fall 2026. In that role, I will provide support to the Chair of UCAG and will serve in her stead at meetings, including Faculty Senate, University Council, and with the Board of Trustees if she is unable to attend.

UCAG is responsible for reviewing, interpreting, and recommending amendments to the Bylaws for Academic Governance. The committee’s decisions are subject to review by the University Council and the Board of Trustees. UCAG also reviews college bylaws for consistency with the Bylaws for Academic Governance. Every college’s bylaws are reviewed at least once every five years. This review will be conducted during Fall 2026. Additionally, UCAG conducts a continuing review of best practices for dean reviews, reviews unit appeals involving cases between units, and provides helps coordinate the membership of various other academic governance bodies. This group meets biweekly during the Fall and Spring semesters.

UCAG Ad Hoc Committee for the Bylaws Review Process

During the summer 2026, I am working with the former Chair and incoming Chair of UCAG, along with the Office of the Secretary for Academic Governance to create a workflow and establish a questionnaire to guide UCAG’s five year review of all college bylaws. This process is one of the required duties of UCAG to help ensure college bylaws are in congruence with University bylaws.

UCAG Ad Hoc Committee for Pool of Faculty Volunteer (POFV) Standards

I worked with the Chair and Vice Chair of UCAG and the Office of the Secretary for Academic Governance over the summer 2025 to develop a set of standards that UCAG members could use when reviewing nominations for the POFV. We also revised the questions that are asked on the nomination application to ensure that the questions asked align with the standards. We also planned a UCAG retreat that was held at the beginning of the Fall semester.

UCAG Ad Hoc Committee on Equitable Non-College Faculty Representation

I was invited to serve on this ad hoc committee. The Bylaws for Academic Governance provide for representation of Non-College faculty (faculty not represented through the colleges) on the Faculty Senate and five of the University-level Standing Committees. UCAG established this ad hoc committee to review and recommend improvements to the structure and processes for Non-College faculty representation to ensure there is equitable, effective, and diverse representation from this group in university-level governance. The committee met on a bi-weekly basis in January and February 2025. Committee members reviewed benchmarking data from across the BTAA and MSU on advisory committee functions, composition, and election procedures and wrote a final report of our recommendations, which were presented to UCAG in March 2025.

The report and recommendations from the ad hoc committee were not fully adopted by UCAG. The sole governance change that resulted was the removal of the word “regular” from University Bylaw 3.3.1.2.4. The intent of this revision was to extend eligibility for participation in the Faculty Senate and University Council to faculty in Non-College units who did not meet the previous definition of “regular faculty.”

Unfortunately, because of significant turnover in the Office of the Secretary for Academic Governance, the change was advanced on an accelerated timeline. Critical details concerning implementation—particularly how the new provisions would affect representation for Non-College units—were not fully developed prior to rollout.

The practical outcome has been a broad expansion of representation for Non-College units. More than 300 previously disenfranchised individuals are now able to participate in academic governance, and three additional representative positions have been created. For the Library, however, the change had the opposite effect: it eliminated our two long-standing dedicated Faculty Senate seats. The Library was reclassified within the broader Non-College grouping, subject to a yet-to-be-determined election process.

In response to this reduction in representation, I have worked actively with Library colleagues—including the Steering Committee Chair—and other members of the academic governance system to advocate for the restoration of dedicated Faculty Senate representation for the Library. As part of these efforts, I have conducted historical research in the University Archives. The record clearly demonstrates that the Library has held dedicated representation for more than fifty years and that its internal governance structure and academic role align far more closely with those of a college than with other Non-College units. This work is currently on hold while UCAG awaits a formal definition of “academic unit” from the Provost and I will continue advocating for the Library when my new term begins in August. 

Additional activities:

I was invited to serve as a search committee member for the Deputy Secretary for Academic Governance position in the summer of 2025.