Former Faculty Senate President Dan Wells passed the gavel to the new 2010 President, Mark Clarke, during Wednesday’s meeting.
“When I was first considering running for this job, I really had no idea whatsoever, of what I was getting into,” Clarke said.
“Needless to say, my perception has changed over the last year while serving as president-elect. It has been a great honor.”
He took the opportunity to thank all the senators for their contributions to UH.
Clarke also gave the faculty advice for the upcoming year.
“I urge you to continue to be involved and committed to the business of this senate and, more importantly, to actively solicit from your faculty constituents,” Clarke said.
He closed his speech with something he said was personally important to him: helping the junior faculty.
“We will be continuing the efforts that Dan has put in motion,” Clarke said. “Personally, I would like to continue with helping our junior faculty be successful here at UH.”
Wells took the opportunity to give his farewell address during the meeting, recalling his memories and the achievements of the senate during his term.
“A year ago when I stood here, I talked about setting some specific goals for 2009, and I said that when I came back to give my farewell address I would reassess those goals and see how we did and whether we accomplished them,” Wells said.
Some of his accomplished goals included more faculty governance communication. This was made possible by having one stronger unified voice rather than many weaker ones.
Another accomplishment during his presidency was the creation of the new name and expansion of the Faculty Governance Committee.
The committee is charged with the responsibility of making recommendations on improvements when needed, according to the Faculty Senate Constitution.
Lastly, Wells and the senators took on the issue of enrollment.
“We worked with enrollment management issues. This year the enrollment task force has expanded,” Wells said.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be at 12:15 p.m., on Feb. 17, in the M. D. Anderson Memorial Library’s Rockwell Pavilion.