University Senate, First in the Region, Celebrates 30 Years
AUC recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its University Senate, which was established in 1993 and was the first in the region. The event celebrated the senate’s accomplishments over the years, inaugurated the newly established Senate Room at the Campus Center, honored distinguished faculty for their dedicated service to the senate, and hosted panel discussions on celebrating the past and working toward the future.
Sending online congratulatory remarks all the way from Utah, Tim Sullivan, professor emeritus of political science who served on the University Senate in the 1990s, said, “I very much appreciate the opportunity to participate in the 30th-anniversary celebration of the senate. The place I would start is the importance of the way the senate is structured. It is a University Senate, not merely a faculty senate as occurs on many university campuses. What that means is that faculty, staff, students and administrators serving in an ex-officio capacity are all in the same place at the same time. It is a safe space for people to engage in open discussion and debate, a place where disagreement is expected and legitimized. That has made a huge difference to AUC over the long run. Even in times when there was a lot of friction and tension, the senate rose to the occasion. That has been crucial over time.”
News@AUC spoke with Hanadi Salem ’83, ’87, mechanical engineering professor and department chair, who has headed the senate for the past three years and has a rich history as former chair of the senate’s Faculty Affairs Committee and a longtime senator since 2000.
What is the main role of the University Senate?
The senate is the representative council of the University faculty, with the participation of students, staff and the administration. It ensures faculty involvement in governance and discussion of issues important to the University community. It aims to facilitate communication among University constituencies as well as foster mutual respect and cooperation among faculty, students and staff. The senate provides a forum for considering matters directly related to the well-being of the AUC community. Its resolutions are communicated to the University president for consideration and appropriate action.
What is the senate structure?
Most of the senate’s activities take place within the seven standing committees:
- Curriculum
- Academic Affairs
- Faculty Affairs
- Student Affairs
- Administrative Affairs
- Grievance
- Budget Review
- Executive
Each committee meets at least twice a month during the academic year to research, review, revise and compose University policies and proposals for senate consideration and voting.
What is the senate's main function?
Shared governance. The senate convenes regularly throughout the academic year to deliberate, debate and vote on a variety of topics, including:
- Institutional policies
- Academic programs
- Community matters
- Long-range and strategic plans
- Financial and budget/facilities
- Faculty, staff and student affairs
What are the senate’s main accomplishments over the years?
- Faculty retirement age, 1997
- Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, 2007
- Faculty Merit Award, 2007
- Ombuds Office, 2010
- First Faculty Handbook, 2011
- Freedom of Expression Policy, 2011 and 2014
- Increased student representation, 2014
- Defending faculty salary denomination in dollars, 2017
- 8% promotion salary increase, 2021
- Grading policy during COVID-19, 2021
How does being on the University Senate add to a student, staff or faculty member on a professional level?
The senate provides a forum for students, faculty and staff to freely express their opinions and allows for a better understanding of how the university operates. Being exposed to different ideas and perspectives facilitates networking among University constituents and leads to a greater awareness of higher education leadership and administration as well as the bigger scheme of university life, resources and opportunities. Being a senator opens direct channels of communication with the University leadership and enhances communication, decision making and leadership skills, whereby senators practice advocacy on behalf of others. Such leadership opportunities are not always available within individual departments.
What was the highlight of the senate’s 30th-anniversary celebration?
The senate’s anniversary was an opportunity to bring together current and former senate members, leaders and administrators, pillars of the AUC senate –– faculty who have laid the groundwork for our fine institution as well as those who worked tirelessly over the years to support and strengthen its legacy. The event also offered a very humble and heartfelt thank you to the founders of the University Senate back in 1993, who instituted the constitution, bylaws and guidelines that paved the way for their successors over the past 30 years.
As you reflect on the University Senate, what are you most proud of?
Looking back on the years, it’s so gratifying to see how much we have grown and accomplished together as a community: the resilience we have shown, the creativity that was brought out, the diligence and, most impo
rtantly, the love and loyalty that have carried us through. The University Senate emerges not just as an institution for dealing with internal affairs as isolated issues, but rather as a reflection of AUC’s political narrative as an American institution in Egypt. We have been and will continue to be driving and responding to narratives. The 30th anniversary of the senate was a celebration to reflect on our journey, celebrate all that we have achieved and cast our gaze into the future.
First Senate Leaders
Nicholas Hopkins, professor of anthropology and former dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences
- First senate chair (1993-1995)
Jehane Ragai ’66, ’69, professor emerita, Department of Chemistry
- Senate chair (1999-2000)
- Grievance Committee member (1993-1994)
- Senate vice chair (1997-1998)
Tim Sullivan, former AUC provost and political science professor
- Ex-officio provost (1999-2000)
- Senate chair (1997-1998)
- Grievance Committee member (1994-1995)
- Executive Committee member at large (1993-1994)
“During my time at AUC, some of the best moments in the University Senate were when we dealt with sensitive and difficult issues, such as reforming the Core Curriculum or establishing procedures and principles for dealing with allegations of sexual harassment or [matters of] academic integrity. What makes the senate work at its best is when ordinary rules of civility prevail. Those aren’t written in any little instruction book or guide; they’re written in each one of us. It’s a case when we treat each other with mutual respect and when disagreements are made without being overly disagreeable. That may sound easy, but it’s not, especially when tension and the stakes are high. It is very difficult to maintain that kind of ordinary civility, but the senate succeeded in doing so. The members of the senate –– faculty, students and staff –– demonstrated that they could be responsible and effective participants in University governance. In that way, the senate succeeded in enormous ways in making AUC a better place. I’m optimistic about the future of AUC and the senate.”
–– Tim Sullivan
Fred Perry, professor emeritus, Department of English Language Instruction
- Executive Committee member (1996-1998)
- Academic Affairs Committee chair (2000-2001)
- Elected Executive Committee member at large (2001-2004)
- Faculty Affairs Committee chair (2004-2007)
- Senate chair (2007-2008)
Pakinam Askalani ’62, ’64, professor emerita, Department of Chemistry
- First senate vice chair ((1993-1995)
- Faculty Affairs Committee chair
