Associate Professor of Sociology Liz Ziff was elected to serve as the acting president of the University of Indianapolis’ Faculty Senate for the 2025-26 academic year.
The faculty senate president is elected by the senate, which has 25 senators, all elected by faculty to represent the different colleges on campus, Ziff said. Five senators are part of the senate executive committee, which includes the senate president, vice president, secretary and two at-large members. The executive committee is elected in the closing session of the previous year’s senate.
“I’m excited to be in this role, but I also recognize that it’s a role that’s bigger than a person, because you don’t stay in it forever,” Ziff said. “You’re also kind of a steward of it.”
The faculty senate president’s job is to preside and facilitate faculty senate meetings, according to Ziff. It is their responsibility to set the agenda and make sure the senate follows it throughout meetings.
The faculty senate serves as an arm of the shared governance model at UIndy, according to Ziff. Under the shared governance model, faculty have a say in how classes operate via the faculty senate. A majority of the decisions made in the faculty senate are related to curriculum. The shared governance model is also comprised of the board of trustees and university administration.
Provost and Executive Vice President Chris Plouff serves as an ex-officio member of the faculty senate. He does not vote on things but can request items be added to the senate agenda, like other faculty members. Plouff said in his role, he brings up items the administration would like to see go through the senate.
“Liz is awesome,” Plouff said. “Ziff is someone I’ve worked with for three years. I just finished my third year at UIndy as the provost, and I’ve worked with Ziff since the beginning. She’s a great colleague. She is somebody who understands the needs of the institution well.”
Ziff said her first goal for the faculty senate is to stick to the certain areas they are in charge of under the shared governance model, such as curriculum. She would like to see more communication between entities and administration on campus, in hopes it will maintain strong relationships. Ziff wants to make sure the faculty senate stays on track this year.
“The thing I’m the most thankful for is having fantastic senators I work with and my executive committee, they’re wonderful,” Ziff said. “I also know that I have the ability to ask people questions and lean on people and to think like, what does it mean to do a good job in this role and have a sounding board for that?”
