On behalf of the RIT Academic Senate, it is my pleasure to welcome you as new faculty to the Rochester Institute of Technology. As you step across the threshold of this new experience I believe that you will find RIT a welcoming and vibrant community. You have arrived at an exciting time for our university where positive growth and transition have empowered faculty and created an environment devoted to learning, research and professional development. We look forward to you sharing the ideas and expertise you bring with our students, academic departments and community as a whole.

At RIT you join a faculty who participate in institutional affairs through a system of shared governance. The Academic Senate includes representatives from Student Government, Deans Council, and Administration, but is primarily composed of faculty representing the 8 colleges, the National Technical Institute of the Deaf and Educational Development Faculty (EDF). The Senate is committed to timely communication and actions on issues and policies that affect the faculty, academics, the campus environment, and the RIT community.

The faculty voice in decision-making is dependent on the extent to which individual faculty members are willing to devote time to governance. We encourage you, as new faculty members, to look to us as a resource for any questions that you may have, a forum for participation in discussions involving campus issues and ultimately, as a site of authentic decision making about our academic community and its future.

Opportunities for your participation are extensive and involve the many Senate Committees that work throughout the year. Information about the Academic Senate can be found on the Senate’s web site at http://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/academicsenate/ and includes the Senate’s Charter of Academic Committee information, committee reports, discussion topics, meeting agendas and minutes from the meetings. Senate meetings are held Thursdays from noon – 2:00 PM: usually every other week.

The Office of the Academic Senate is located in room 2106 of the Eastman Building. The Senate administrative support person is Vivian Gifford. Vivian can be contacted at 475-2016 or via e-mail at asenate@rit.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Eileen Feeney Bushnell,
(Chair Academic Senate)

Academic Senate Executive Committee:

• Eileen Feeney Bushnell, Chair, CIAS, x 5-4996, efbfaa@rit.edu
• Tim Engstrom, Vice Chair, CLA, x5-2457, thegsh@rit.edu
• Paul Rosenberg, Operations Officer, COS, x5-6159, lprsch@rit.edu
• Latty Goodwin, EDF, x5-6683, llgldc@rit.edu
• Eli Saber, Treasurer, KGCOE, x5-6927, esseee@rit.edu