With only seven members present, the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs elected two new officers yesterday to lead the faculty's governing body during the next year.
Beginning in May, physiology Prof. Louis D'Alecy will chair SACUA and Nursing Prof. Carol Loveland-Cherry will take over D'Alecy's current position as vice chair.
The elections were informal - there were no nominations or speeches before SACUA members scribbled their votes on pieces of white paper.
"I've never seen an election with such eager candidates," sociology Prof. Donald Deskins said sarcastically.
Despite the lack of emotion during the elections, both incoming officers said they are excited about starting in their new positions.
"I'm going to miss (current chair) Thomas Dunn," D'Alecy said. "There's a bunch of these guys that sort of introduced me to this process and I'm still going to need to lean on them for counsel."
Loveland-Cherry said she is looking forward to working with D'Alecy.
"I think it's an important role to play and I'm looking forward to having a more active role," Loveland-Cherry said. "I see (my new position) as a liason between SACUA and the University."
D'Alecy said that although the pressing issue of the University's presidential turnover will be over when he assumes the chair position, there are a number of serious concerns that SACUA will need to address during the next year.
D'Alecy said he is concerned about implications surrounding the recent attention given to the issue of recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty and students.
"Once you start deciding before the fact which faculty and what students are brilliant, you should be put in a rubber room," D'Alecy.
Among his other plans, D'Alecy said he wants to look at the Department of Public Safety and discuss ways to make it more people-oriented and diverse. "There's no good model in any major university for a university police force and I think that's what we want to structure," he said.
Dunn, a chemistry professor and SACUA's current chair, said the new officers represent a continuation of the emphasis on faculty interests and issues.
"The presidential selection has thrown a lot of weight on faculty views and a lot of things have come together because of it," Dunn said.