Barbara Belbot

I’ve been a faculty member at UH-Downtown for 16 years and things have changed dramatically over that time. Like most faculty, I’ve served on numerous university wide committees. Through that service I’ve acquire a broad perspective on what is happening at the university and where our challenges lie. This year I was appointed to serve on the strategic planning committee assembled to plan for the university’s future. That appointment combined with the most recent assessment “crisis” has been a wake-up call for me of sorts. I was asked to run for the office of Faculty Senate VP. I decided to run because I believe I have the breath of experience to contribute to a Senate that’s going to help transition UHD into an exciting, if uncertain, future. I’d like the opportunity to take the work I’ve done behind the scenes, into a more active and visible venue.

Faculty Senate is not the only way to assume a leadership role at UHD, but it is the only way faculty across the disciplines can speak as a unified (more or less) assembly on a full range of issues. I’d like to work with the other officers to shape an agenda that stresses the university thinking and planning for the long-term. UHD must do better at creating the mechanisms necessary to address our future opportunities and problems. We’re at a place in our history that requires we make decisions about what kind of university we want to become. Not only must faculty be involved in making those decisions, but also in creating the processes by which those decisions will be made.

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