AU's full-time faculty have selected School of Communication Professor Patricia Aufderheide, College of Arts and Sciences Professor Alan Kraut and Senior Reference Librarian Mary Mintz to serve as faculty representatives on the Presidential Search Committee, according to AU faculty members.
According to an e-mail obtained by The Eagle, the three nominees who had the highest vote totals and were from different schools would be selected. The deadline for full-time faculty to vote was Sept. 15. The Faculty Senate decided to select the three faculty members by popular vote at its Aug. 30 meeting, The Eagle previously reported.
CAS Professor Jonathan Loesberg, who helped conduct the election as chair of the Faculty Senate, said the process worked out well.
"I think it was a good election," Loesberg said. "I think the faculty selected three strong people who will represent our entire faculty well."
Since the AU board of trustees allotted three seats for the faculty on the committee, the Kogod School of Business, School of Public Affairs and School of International Service will have no members of their faculties on the committee.
While Laura Langbein, a professor in the School of Public Affairs and member of the Faculty Senate, said she is concerned that no representatives from her school will be included on the committee, she also said the Faculty Senate did agree to the decision to allow faculty to vote for their committee representatives.
"The [Faculty] Senate did agree to this selection procedure ... and since the process was fairly voted on, that's the way things are," she said.
The faculty representatives were elected to represent the entire faculty, rather than individual schools, Langbein said.
"I'm not sure it's a question of one school versus another school. It's more a case of representing the entire faculty," she said. "The [Faculty] Senate is represented by the faculty on the committee, and the [Faculty] Senate certainly speaks for all the schools."
Loesberg said the committee would have to decide how they would include schools that did not have faculty on the committee in the search process.
The board of trustees must confirm Aufderheide, Kraut and Mintz, along with the rest of the 15-person Presidential Search Committee, before they can begin the search process.
A closer look at the newly chosen faculty:
Patricia Aufderheide
Aufderheide, a doctoral graduate of the University of Minnesota, is a professor in the Visual Media Division of SOC. She also serves as executive director of the Center for Social Media, which "focuses on social documentaries for civil society and democracy and on the public media environment that supports them," according to the center's Web site. She was selected as AU's 2004-2005 Scholar-Teacher of the Year.
Besides serving as a consultant for the Benton, Ford, MacArthur and Rockefeller Foundations, Aufderheide has worked with several public television organizations and the United Church of Christ. She also serves on the editorial boards of several publications, including "In These Times" and "Communication Law and Policy." She also sits on the board of directors of the Independent Television Service and the film advisory board for the National Gallery of Art.
Alan Kraut
Kraut, a doctoral graduate of Cornell University, is a professor in the history department of CAS. Kraut is the co-director of the annual Civil War Institute with Edward Smith. He was selected as AU's 1998-1999 Scholar-Teacher of the Year.
Kraut has written six books on American immigration history and the history of American public health. He also specializes in the social history of 19th century America.
Kraut serves as chair of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island History Committee and sits on the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society. He also serves as a consultant to the National Park Service and the Tenement House Museum. He is currently an adviser for PBS' "History Detectives"
