Faculty Senate
69th Faculty Senate of ºÚÁϳԹÏ
To better represent their constituents the Faculty Senate conducted an election in spring 2026 in three colleges to add additional senators based on the number of voting faculty per college. Join us in welcoming Dimitry Tetin (College of Fine Arts and Communication), Reiko Graham (College of Liberal Arts) and Piyush Shroff (College of Science and Engineering). The Presidential appointees for 2026-2027 remain as in the previous year with the addition of Kevin Gates (College of Fine Arts and Communication).
You may find contact information here.
Elected
| College | Name | Rank | Department/School | Term End |
| College of Applied Arts | P Michael Supancic | Assistant Professor | School of Criminal Justice and Criminology | May-27 |
| College of Education | Stacy Hunter | Associate Professor | Department of Health and Human Performance | May-27 |
| McCoy College of Business | Kevin Jetton | Professor of Instruction | Department of Information Systems and Analytics | May-27 |
| College of Fine Arts and Communication | Lynn Ledbetter | Professor | School of Music | May-27 |
| College of Fine Arts and Communication | Dimitry Tetin | Associate Professor | School of Art and Design | May-28 |
| College of Health Professions | Kim Lee | Associate Professor of Practice | School of Health Administration | May-27 |
| College of Liberal Arts | Peter Dedek | Professor | Department of History | May-27 |
| College of Liberal Arts | Reiko Graham | Professor | Department of Psychology | May-28 |
| College of Science and Engineering | Noland Martin | Professor | Department of Biology | May-27 |
| College of Science and Engineering | Piyush Shroff | Professor of Instruction | Department of Mathematics | May-28 |
Presidential Appointees
| College | Name | Rank | Department/School | Term End |
| College of Applied Arts | Shailen Singh | Associate Professor | Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies | May-27 |
| College of Fine Arts and Communication | Kevin Gates | Associate Professor of Instruction | Department of Theatre, Dance & Film | May-27 |
| College of Education | Jo Beth Oestreich | Professor of Instruction | Department of Curriculum and Instruction | May-27 |
| College of Health Professions | Barbara Hewitt | Associate Professor | Department of Health Informatics and Information Management | May-27 |
| College of Liberal Arts | Amy Meeks | Professor of Instruction | Department of Psychology | May-27 |
| McCoy College of Business | Tahir Ekin | Professor | Department of Information Systems and Analytics | May-27 |
| College of Science and Engineering | David Donnelly | Professor | Department of Physics | May-27 |
The following officers have been re-appointed for 2026-2027:
Lynn Ledbetter, Chair
David Donnelly, Vice Chair
Kevin Jetton, Secretary
68th Faculty Senate Accomplishments
The ºÚÁÏ³Ô¹Ï Senate Advisory Group/68th Faculty Senate worked diligently as an advocate for faculty from September 2025 – May 2026. Below is a list of accomplishments highlighting the work completed during this period.
The Senate Advisory Group/68th Faculty Senate:
In adherence to Texas Senate Bill 37, the Senate Advisory Group was formed in Fall 2025. An election in each of the 7 colleges resulted in one senate seat per college and 7 presidential appointments completed the 14 member Senate Advisory Group. This group was to become the new 68th Faculty Senate once approve by the Board of Regents in January 2026.
The Senate Advisory Group were first tasked with establishing new bylaws to use as a governing document for the Faculty Senate. In addition to this crucial and prodigious task, the Senate Advisory Group continued the work of the Faculty Senate during the fall semester and the newly formed Faculty Senate continued in the spring as outlined below:
- 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.
- Formed a subcommittee to review the FDL ranking process for the Senate
- Formed a subcommittee to review the Faculty Constitution in comparison to the newly established bylaws.
- Met weekly during fall and spring semesters.
- Met as a full senate including Senate Liaisons once in spring 2026 to discuss the role of the liaisons.
- Reviewed 16 curriculum additions, deletions and revisions.
- Reviewed revisions to 76 Academic Affairs and University policies.
- Served as impartial observers in Chair and Director and Dean reviews.
- Conducted several surveys in 2025-2026:
- Liaison Survey
- Administrators Perception survey,
- Committee Preference survey and
- Provided summary reports on the Chair Survey.
- Reviewed and endorsed committee membership for 14 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: University Curriculum, University Lecturers, University Research Enhancement, Committee on Committees.
- Conducted a Spring 2026 election to add senate seats for the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Fine Arts and Science and Engineering to better serve their constituents.
The 68th Faculty Senate comprises the following members:
Lynn Ledbetter, Chair
David Donnelly, Vice-Chair
Kevin Jetton, Secretary
Peter Dedek, David Donnelly, Tahir Ekin, Barbara Hewitt, Stacy Hunter, Kevin Jetton, Kim Lee, Lynn Ledbetter, Noland Martin, Amy Meeks, Jo Beth Oestreich, Shailen Singh, Michael Supancic, Dimitry Tetin