A very important part of the formation of the Center for Quantitative Life Sciences is the establishment of a Faculty Steering Committee (FSC). The role of the FSC will be to advise and provide general oversight of the strategic and operational alignment of the Center relative to community needs and priorities. It will have a major role in guiding major strategic investments by the CQLS, and in particular in identifying Innovation Priority Areas (IPAs). IPAs will be transformative interdisciplinary research initiatives focused on topics that span the interests of multiple colleges and that leverage the expertise and services of the CQLS.

 

The voting membership of the FSC will include two elected representatives each from the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) and the College of Science (COS) and one representative each from the College of Engineering (COE), the College of Public Health and Human Sciences (CPHHS), the College of Forestry (COF), the College of Pharmacy (COP), the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), and the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS), each serving three-year terms.

 

As detailed in the attached document, seven of these positions will be filled by an election in 2021, two representatives from COS, and one each from CAS, COE, CPHHS, CVM, and CEOAS (the remaining three positions will be filled for one year by members of the CQLS Strategic Planning Committee).

 

Faculty employees eligible to vote in Academic Senate elections and who are affiliated with a College represented on the FSC will be eligible to stand for election and to vote in the elections. Non-tenured and untenured tenured-track faculty are advised to consult their supervisor before standing for election.

 

Faculty can only represent their own College and can only vote for representatives of their own College. Faculty with a dual appointment will represent the College that is home to the majority of their FTE. Faculty with an evenly split appointment must identify a home college.

 

Election procedures

 

1. Nominations. The CQLS is now requesting nominations of candidates for election to the FSC, effective August 11, and closing on August 31. A Qualtrics Survey can be found here. Candidates may be nominated by others or may self-nominate. Nominees will be asked to confirm their willingness to stand for election, and to confirm their college membership. The University Advisory Board (UAB) will be informed of the lists of candidates.

 

2. Voting mechanism. Voting will be via a Qualtrics Survey sent to college and CQLS mailing lists (as with the nominations). Voting will open September 13 and close October 1. Faculty will vote for a single candidate from their college. Votes will be checked for correct college membership. The candidate(s) with the highest number of votes from their college will be elected. In the case of ties, the winner will be selected at random from among the tied candidates.

 

Click for more details regarding the functions of the Faculty Steering Committee and how its membership will be established.