FACULTY SENATE ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP

May 14, 2003

UNM FACULTY SENATE ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP

The University of New Mexico Faculty Senate recently elected Sherri Burr, professor, School of Law, president elect. Also elected were new members of the senate operations committee, including Robert Leonard and Hugh Witemeyer, Arts & Sciences; Fred Hashimoto, School of Medicine; and Pauline Turner, College of Education.

"The new members of the Faculty Senate Operations Committee are long-term UNM faculty and have served the senate for many years. They bring a wealth of experience and will serve us well," said Burris.

Current UNM Faculty Senate President Beverly Burris, sociology, said that she is looking forward to working with Burr, who will serve as senate president in 2004-05.

"This is the first time an individual from north campus will lead Faculty Senate. Sherri has served two full terms already and has a lot of community experience which is beneficial to Faculty Senate," Burris said.

Burris points to the transition between F. Chris Garcia's presidency and Louis Caldera's as an important time at the University.

"We are on a roll. We have established momentum with more faculty willing to put time into faculty governance. As we have worked with new regents this year to promote discussion and dialog, we hope to do the same with a new administration," said Burris.

"I ran for the office of president-elect because I wish to use my leadership and media experience in further service of the University of New Mexico faculty. I have been a professor at UNM School of Law since 1988 and first became a faculty senator in 1989," said Burr.

A specialist in international law and intellectual property, Burr earned an undergraduate degree in politics from Mount Holyoke College, a master's in public affairs from Princeton, and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School.

Since December 2000, she has written a weekly column for the Albuquerque Tribune and has hosted two television shows, including ARTS TALK, which she created in 1998 currently airing on Channel 27 at 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

"The Faculty Senate is faced with the daunting task of obtaining a faculty regent who can give a strong voice to some of the most important issues facing the university, such as improving faculty and staff salaries, retaining students while increasing their graduation rates and shared governance.

"To procure a faculty regent requires an amendment to the New Mexico Constitution. I am prepared to draft the legislation, obtain sponsors in the House and Senate sufficient to guarantee a two-thirds vote to put the item on a referendum for public vote. I believe that we can make the faculty a force with which to be reckoned," she said.

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