Faculty Senate and Steering Committee meetings will be held virtually via ZOOM during the Fall 2020 semester. The meeting schedule remains the same. A decision about the format for Spring 2021 meetings will be made at a later date.
To encourage the participation of faculty at commencement exercises, the Faculty Senate has assembled a collection of academic regalia. This project was initiated by the late Dr. Karen Steckol, former President of the Faculty Senate, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders; in her memory the program was named the Karen Steckol Academic Regalia Loan Program.
The regalia are maintained by the Senate and loaned to faculty on a first-come, first-served basis immediately prior to each commencement ceremony.
Please contact Linda Knowles (lknowles@cba.ua.edu; 348-6635), Administrative Secretary to the Faculty Senate, to reserve regalia and to arrange pick-up. Clean regalia must be returned to room 401 Martha Parham West between 8:00 am and 4:45 pm on Tuesday or Thursday of the week immediately following Commencement.
Regalia donations may be delivered to room 401 Martha Parham West between 8:00 am and 4:45 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please contact Linda Knowles (lknowles@cba.ua.edu; 348-6635) to ensure that she is available to accept the donation or the return of borrowed regalia.
The Faculty Senate of The University of Alabama does not speak for The University of Alabama system but seeks to aid the System and University in making judgments on questions of policy, development, and operations and provides input on matters of general faculty concern. The Senate recognizes a legal obligation to follow federal, state, and local laws, including those which are the subject of disagreement. However, recent enactments at both the state and federal levels have impinged upon both academic freedom and the institutional autonomy required for its protection. The Senate has a responsibility to defend academic freedom specifically and the purposes of universities and higher education generally.
Read the full resoultion
As the Faculty Senate for The University of Alabama, we speak with one voice in support of Alabama students who were harmed by explicitly bigoted, anonymous text messages targeting Black students on campus last week. There is no place for hatred or harassment targeting Alabama students, and we unequivocally condemn such acts. We are educators because we are committed to supporting students by creating safe, healthy learning environments where students can develop substantive knowledge and professional skills. As members of the faculty, we are available to speak with any students who were harmed directly or indirectly by the bigoted text messages. Students should feel free to reach out to faculty for support and to the Office of Student Care and Wellbeing. We are confident that we can build a better future for this campus and work together to build a stronger community.
Dan Blakley, Associate Vice President of the Office for Economic and Business Engagement (OEBE), and Ying Qin, Assistant Director / Commercialization & Business Engagement presented “Translational Research Support at UA” with highlights listed below. Complete presentation slides are available here.
The UA Faculty Senate hereby supports the SGA’s Resolution towards obtaining the New York Times on behalf of all persons with a ua.edu address. The Faculty Senate would like the ultimate facilitation of the service to reside within the UA Libraries.
The UA Faculty Senate was an early and strong proponent of the need for a sexual assault forensics examination center to be established in Tuscaloosa to serve the West Alabama community. The SAFE Center was established in 2018 through joint cooperation between UA, DCH Regional Medical Center and the City of Tuscaloosa. The Center is a 24/7 sexual assault crisis center providing comprehensive medical care and support to sexual assault survivors 14 years and older. For the past 6 years, the UA Faculty Senate has been a proud sponsor of the annual banquet fund-raising event that is organized by the UA student organization Not on My Campus.
Faculty Senate Service Projects
The University of Alabama’s Faculty Senate expresses condolences and stands in support of the UA community members who were affected, directly or indirectly, by the February 6th and 20th earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The well-being of our UA family, faculty, staff, students, alumni, visiting researchers, research partners and their families is uppermost in our minds.
The Senate encourages its members and the UA community to lend their support in concrete ways, including helping those in need through the organizations recognized by US AID: (https://www.cidi.org/disaster-responses/turkiye-earthquake/). Additional resources for both Turkey and Syria can be found here. Faculty, Staff, and Students affected should seek out available UA resources such as those listed by the UA College of Education.
The University of Alabama Faculty Senate unequivocally condemns the antisemitic messages scrawled on campus sidewalks on the morning of January 26, 2023. We respect and stand in solidarity with our Jewish students, staff, and faculty and renew our pledge to cultivate a campus community that rejects hate and fosters equity and inclusivity. We support the University’s investigation and commitment to hold the culprits accountable, ensuring the safety of our Jewish students and colleagues.
Approved by the Faculty Senate Steering Committee per the Faculty Senate Constitution, Article II. Section 2. Steering Committee
January 27, 2023
Statement in Condemnation of Attacks on Iranian Students
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, 1963.
On September 16th, women-led protests erupted across Iran in reaction to the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested and beaten to death while in custody of Iran’s so-called “Morality Police” for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly”. The protests have not abated despite severe internet blockades, an all-out violent crackdown by security forces using excessive and lethal force, and a growing death toll. According to human rights groups, more than 402 protesters, including at least 58 minors, have been killed [1-3]. As many as 18,000 protestors have been arrested, including 524 students [3].
On October 2nd, 2022, students at Sharif University of Technology, the most prestigious university in Iran, were participating in peaceful protests. Anti-riot forces stormed the university campus and started attacking and arresting the students [4]. Since this attack, there have been many similar attacks in different schools of different ranks [5,6]. Tear gas has been fired in a school, and several high schoolers have been arrested or killed by the armed forces [7-10].
These unspeakable attacks against students, especially on campuses, are assaults on the sanctity of education, academia, and fundamental human rights.
Women’s rights are human rights. Freedom of expression is a foundational tenet of universities around the world. We, the University of Alabama Senate, condemn these attacks and severe acts of aggression against universities, schools, and students in Iran, and stand in solidarity with those in Iran and elsewhere who stand up for equity and speak out against injustice.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
– Nelson Mandela
Zan, Zendegi, Azadi
Woman, Life, Freedom
Approved by the Faculty Senate-12/13/2022
The University of Alabama’s Faculty Senate condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has given rise to a terrible humanitarian crisis. Two million Ukrainians have sought refuge in Europe, primarily in Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, and Romania. Nearly 2 million Ukrainians are displaced within Ukraine itself, and others can only shelter in place as the war rages around them. The UN estimates that as many as 4 million people may flee Ukraine in the coming weeks.
The UA Faculty Senate is deeply concerned for the safety of the people of Ukraine, including those who are members of the UA family: faculty, staff, students, and their families, as well as alumni, scholars who have visited UA, research partners, and their families. We also worry for the safety and well-being of members of our community who come from other countries in the region, who face the prospect of extended military conflict and instability. Our concern is heightened by the recent damage to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Enerhador as well as the abhorrent bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital in Mariupol. We are troubled by emerging reports of dire living conditions and human rights abuses in the areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation.
The UA family includes students, faculty, and staff from around the world, including Ukraine and Russia, as well as other nearby countries. Many members of our community have family members who live in this region and have been directly impacted by the invasion.
We stand with the international community in urging a restoration of peace in Ukraine so that the Ukrainian people, as well as those of other nations in the region, can return to their lives, secure from the tragedy of war. We support the immediate establishment of humanitarian corridors. We also intend to lend our support in other concrete ways, including helping those in need through the organizations recognized by US AID (https://www.cidi.org/disaster-responses/ukraine-crisis/) as effectively responding on the ground in Ukraine and nearby, and we encourage members of the UA family who have asked how they can help to do the same. We are hopeful for a swift end to the bloodshed and a return to peace in Ukraine and we offer our continued compassion and support for all of those affected during these troubling times.
In line with our own support, we request that the UA administration reach out to help Ukrainian students, faculty, and staff who may be experiencing anxiety and trauma over these disturbing events. This is especially critical for those whose periods of study, fellowships, or employment were scheduled to end this spring semester and who are now facing visa issues and other legal and economic hardships. We ask that the UA administration ensure that these individuals receive the support they need and that their immediate and future concerns are addressed with urgency and care. Other academic institutions, such as Michigan State University, have even appealed to the U.S. State Department for assistance on behalf of their students and have delivered public statements accordingly. We also ask the UA Administration to consider additional support for UA employees and students whose loved ones in Ukraine have been displaced by the conflict and are in need of urgent humanitarian, legal, and / or medical assistance.
We therefore ask that our administration, using both public and private channels, include a statement that condemns this invasion, that highlights the specific tangible actions UA is taking to support affected individuals, and that provides information on resources available to affected members of our community, including, but not limited to, the Counseling Center; The Capstone International Center; the Financial Aid Office; and The Employee Assistance Program, among others.
STORIES ON UNIVERSITY RESPONSES
ORGANIZATIONS OF SCHOLARS
ORGANIZATIONS OF UNIVERSITIES
U.S. PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
U.S. PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES
EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES
CORPORATE RESPONSES
