Resolution Regarding Recent Medical School Senate Assembly Ballot Provision
WHEREAS the University Senate, Senate Assembly, and Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) are intended to serve as the consultative bodies of the University of Michigan faculty with respect to “any subject pertaining to the interests of the University”;
WHEREAS the University Bylaws and the University Senate Rules specify that any Senate member “whose total appointment is at least 50%” may be a member of the Senate Assembly, and nowhere in these rules is it stipulated or suggested that the University administration should determine or influence the composition of the Senate Assembly or SACUA, other than through their individual votes as members of the Senate;
WHEREAS Bylaw 4.02 specifically stipulates, “The University Senate may adopt rules concerning its own government and procedure and concerning its officers and committees”;
WHEREAS in at least one academic unit, a “professionalism” standard was used to limit which faculty could run for election to the Senate Assembly;
BE IT RESOLVED that administrators of units of the University should not add requirements or constraints on who can stand for election to the Senate Assembly or to SACUA, or serve on a Senate Assembly Committee, other than through their individual vote in elections;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that bylaws and other rules of units should not be amended to add requirements or constraints on who can stand for election to the Senate Assembly or to SACUA, or serve on a Senate Assembly Committee, without the assent of a supermajority of the University Senate members in the unit;
This resolution affirms the active University Bylaws and rules of the University Senate, including that candidates for Senate Assembly elections must be members of the University Senate in the unit in which they are standing for election.
Approved by the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) on May 21, 2025