Each spring, the Senate Personnel and Elections Committee (SPEC) identifies and nominates faculty candidates to place on important university and senate committees. The annual Faculty Interest Survey is now open. By taking it, career-line and tenure-line faculty members can indicate which committees are of interest to them. This survey is open until March 6, 2026—and in a few short minutes, you can help SPEC connect you with meaningful opportunities to engage with critical policies and issues across the university.
Senate committee charges range widely from reviewing academic policy, strategic planning and faculty review processes, to student, faculty and staff success. University committees include the University Teaching Committee, University Research Committee, Campus Health and Safety Committee, Academic Appeals and Misconduct Committee, Athletics Advisory Committee and more.
Former SPEC chair Dale Larsen highlights the scope and relevance of the work accomplished by these committees:
The idea of being able to research and teach without fear of repercussions from outside academia (for example, Galileo Galilei being placed under house arrest for suggesting the Earth isn't the center of the universe) is an idea called academic freedom. To sustain this freedom, we share the responsibility of governance, policies and procedures together as a body of faculty, staff and administration. This shared governance runs the gamut from reviewing parking tickets to reviewing policy on radiation safety. Without your participation in governance, our university can become vulnerable to initiatives to stifle or suppress research in humanities, social sciences and even STEM.
Faculty who are interested in being nominated for the senate and university committees have until March 6 to register by taking the poll. Final appointments of nominees will be made through either the senate elections or the university president’s appointment in May 2026.
Below is a list of all the committees that have vacancies in the next academic year.
