By Abigail Gan | Staff Writer
The Baylor Faculty Senate and Staff Council work to highlight communications and opportunities for growth across different levels of the university, and the Faculty Senate aims to prioritize supporting students and address faculty and staff concerns.
Faculty Senate chair-elect Dr. Gia Chevis said universities are about shared governance, and everyone has a role to play.
“The administration has a role to play, faculty has a role to play, staff has a role to play. But they all need to be communicating with each other so that everybody is able to execute on what it is that is their responsibility,” Chevis said.
At the first business meeting of the fall, Chevis said the Faculty Senate voted and adopted a final set of priorities.
“There’s about 10 items on the list, which is a lot to try and accomplish in a year. And of course, there are some things that are always on the priority list. Because you’re never done with them,” Chevis said. “There are always issues that you’re wanting to advocate for and keep an eye on and speak into. Student issues are often like that.”
Chevis said one of their priorities is to support students in all aspects: academically, spiritually, personally as well as in affordability and accessibility.
“One of our priorities is to continue to speak into and support inclusion and belonging for all students. To make sure that everybody is feeling supported and loved and having their issues addressed while they’re here,” Chevis said.
Chevis said another priority that should be resolved soon is the revision to the lecturer policy. Chevis said, unlike other faculty, lecturers don’t have a third tier and often stop at senior lecturer.
“Let’s give some additional incentive to reward [lecturers] for the outstanding job that they’re doing for the support they’re giving to the university’s overall mission. Because they do such a great job teaching and coaching and mentoring students,” Chevis said.
Chevis said the Faculty Senate is comprehensive and allows for a fuller picture of what is going on at the university level.
“You get an even higher level and even better understanding of what’s going on at the university level and the different tensions that are at play. Universities, like anybody else, have limited resources, and they [have to] figure out where best to deploy them,” Chevis said. “Everybody has a different idea of what that priority order is. So, seeing how all of those pieces work together [and] how different parts of the university think through those things is very interesting. It’s not a view … you would get from within your own department.”
Chevis also said the Faculty Senate is prioritizing faculty evaluation based on their workload and allocation of teaching, research and service, and how it varies by college and is still consistent.
Staff Council vice chair Lauren Muhl currently serves on the faculty senate as the liaison between the Staff Council and the Faculty Senate. Muhl said the partnership between the Faculty Senate and Staff Council helps lines of communication stay open.
“Working alongside [each other] to advocate for both faculty and staff together and have a strong partnership and collaboration is really, really our goal and their goal for serving on staff council,” Muhl said.
Staff Council chair Dr. Kimberly Black says on Staff Council, her role is to think about her area and advocate on behalf of all staff at Baylor. Black said she and Muhl are often in discussions, whether it is bringing clarity to policies or decisions that have been made or other conversations that occur.
Black said the Staff Council also advocates for and thinks about student body, faculty and staff issues throughout their decisions. Black said an issue the Staff Council is currently trying to address is childcare in Waco.
“Council is asking that question super early … we don’t expect Baylor to pay for childcare for our kids on Friday, that’s not the ask, but as a caring Christian community … what does it look like for us to anticipate impacts to staff, and then to support in ways that are appropriate for our organization?” Black said.
Muhl said Baylor responded by offering a premium membership to care.com for Baylor faculty and staff.
“There’s this sort of nonpartisan body or person who they can go to as a trusted friend, an advocate as someone who will help them sort of navigate complex situations,” Black said.
“The people in administration have a great sense of the big picture and the broader environment, right? But in order to adjust and adapt and steer the university proverbial ship in the right direction, they need line of sight information,” Chevis said. “Unless we speak into that … unless they hear from us about what we’re experiencing, they may make decisions that they think are in the best interest of Baylor, but that aren’t going to play out well.”
