Department Liaisons

The liaison acts as a conduit of information from the Senate to department members and from departments to the Senate. As such, the liaison does not “represent” a department per se, but conveys views of the faculty to the Senate.

Liaison Introduction

Early in fall semester, ECAS Senate President will introduce liaisons (via email) to chairs of departments to be represented, informing them to share the liaison contact with department members. The list of departmental Senate liaisons will be posted on the Senate website (http://www.senate.emory.edu).

Arranging a Department Visit

Liaisons should request a date to visit the department to summarize work of the Senate, solicit views on major Senate undertakings, and hear general concerns of faculty members. The visits should coincide with Senate discussions of major issues faced in a year (e.g., for 2018-19, the Senate Review constitutes a major issue and thus liaisons should visit departments in November prior to the writing of the Review Report, or in early spring to discuss the report). Visits should occur at least once a year.

After Department Visit

The liaison should provide a summary to Senate executive council (via email) one week after the meeting. The (bulleted or prose) summary should indicate the department visited and date of visit and categorize the views of the faculty members at the meeting: 1) pertaining to the major issue facing the Senate; 2) other concerns raised (which may be further organized, depending upon content). The summaries will be useful in planning future Senate business.

Ongoing Email Exchanges

Liaisons should check-in (via email) with department chairs periodically throughout the academic year. They should encourage chairs to have their faculty members directly contact the liaison as well.