Faculty Senate

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The Wentworth Faculty Senate is a representative body whose purpose is to maintain and improve the quality of the Institute’s teaching and learning environment.  Launched in 1992, the Faculty Senate serves to promote shared governance as a means to elevate the quality of learning and influence decision-making processes at WIT.  You’ll find several resources to acclimate you to the history of the Senate, organizational structures, and ongoing business.

Read the Senate's Current Bylaws

Meetings

Beginning in October of 2024, Senate meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every month from noon to 1:30 via Zoom. Meetings are open to all faculty regardless of status or rank.  For the Zoom link, please contact Senate Chair Cynthia Williams at williamsc6@wit.edu.  If the first Tuesday of the month conflicts with a school holiday, a new date will be set and communicated broadly.

See Recent Meeting Minutes

 

History of the Faculty Senate

Faculty governance has a long history at Wentworth and initially existed as a “Faculty Assembly”. In this structure, all faculty participated as members of the Faculty Assembly and could contribute to discussions related to shared governance and institutional well-being. As the number of faculty grew, however, it became increasingly difficult to efficiently conduct business. As a result, the Faculty Assembly dissolved in 1988.

It soon became clear, however, that a faculty governance structure needed to be in place to promote shared governance and accreditation. Thus, in the Fall of 1991, the Institute’s full professors convened to discuss possible faculty governance structures that would contribute to shared governance at Wentworth.  The result of this collaboration was the establishment of the Wentworth Faculty Senate which held initial elections in the Spring of 1992 and met for the first time on September 8, 1992. Some of the first actions by the Faculty Senate were to develop a committee structure that aligned with the committees of the Academic Council (a cross-functional committee of the whole composed of administrators, departments heads, academic directors, committee chairs, and the Senate Chair) and provide recommendations to support academic reorganization from three Colleges to five Schools. During these deliberations, the Senate settled on six committees and made recommendations that altered the proposed reorganization from five Schools to seven Departments. Since then, the Faculty Senate (and its committees) has worked on behalf of the faculty to promote shared governance and strengthen the faculty voice at Wentworth Institute of Technology.  

Previous Chairs

1992 – William Westwood
1997 – Charles Cimino
1998 – Jon Ripley
2002 – Michael Greene
2004 – Peter Rourke
2006 – Tom Lesko
2010 – Joe Santacroce
2014 – Beth-Ann Cooke Cornell
2018 – Emma Smith Zbarsky
2021 – David Lemar Simpson
2023 - Leon Deligiannidis

Current Officers

Chair

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 Cynthia Williams, School of Science and Humanities

Vice-Chair

Jennifer Lee Michaliszyn

Jennifer Lee Michaliszyn, School of Architecture and Design

Secretary

Lauren Melfi

Lauren Melfi, School of Computing and Data Science

Members-At-Large

Payam Bakhshi

Payam Bakhshi, School of Management

Hadi Kazemiroodsari

Hadi Kazemiroodsari, School of Engineering

Current Senators

Senate Committees

Senate committees represent the working bodies that allow the Senate to make informed recommendations to the teaching and learning landscape at WIT.  Each committee serves a specific purpose in promoting shared governance and elevating faculty voice.  To learn more about the purpose of each Committee (and contact information for Committee Chairs) please see below.

  • Academic Instruction

    The Academic Instruction Committee’s mission is to act as a conduit of faculty voices regarding all areas of academic instruction support at WIT. This includes, but is not limited to, facilities, equipment, technology, training, and other support related to academic instruction. The committee will seek to foster communication among faculty and staff regarding these aspects of academic instruction and make recommendations and proposals to the Senate in any matter impacting these areas.

    Current Chair: Mel Hendriksen

  • Academic Policy

    The Academic Policy Committee’s mission includes the creation, revision, improvement, and/or oversight of policies regarding any academic interactions at WIT.

    Co-chairs: Haifa El-Said and Mary McCormack

  • Enrollment and Admissions

    understand how the university’s strategic goals are translated into admissions policies, practices, and priorities.  Similarly, the committee serves as a resource and point of interface with the faculty, including faculty governance, academic leadership and the schools regarding enrollment trends, the competitive landscape, as well as the desired composition of the student body. It will also provide an avenue for feedback regarding the relative success of Admissions criteria in cultivating a student body that is prepared for success in their chosen courses of study. The committee provides recommendations to other decision-makers across campus in support of enrollment goals and student success.

    Chair: Not currently charged

  • Faculty Affairs

    The Faculty Affairs Committee’s mission is to examine initiatives as they relate to Faculty Affairs, providing context, resources, and recommendations to ensure the continued success of students and faculty.

    Chair: Not currently charged

  • Institute Curriculum Committee

    The ICC ensures that all Institute courses and curricula meet the academic standards of the Institute, fit within the Institute’s mission, and fulfill accreditation and legal requirements. The ICC sets all Institute-wide policies related to courses and curricula and enforces those policies through faculty review of new, revised, and existing courses and curricula. 

    Co-chairs: Ted Rooney and Afshin Pourmokhtarian

  • New Programs

    The New Programs committee is charged with making recommendations on the implementation of new programs to the Faculty Senate and Provosts. The committee will review oversee the submission and review process of all new programs (both undergraduate and graduate) at WIT.

    Chair: Joe Martel-Foley

    This is a joint committee between the Faculty Senate and Office of the Provost.

  • Program Review

    The Program Review Committee was created to review all of the programs through the lens of the criteria established by the committee, to assist each program in improving overall program objectives, and to assist in the accreditation process when possible.

    Chair: Joe Martel-Foley

    This is a joint committee between the Faculty Senate and Office of the Provost.