Updates

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University locations

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We are pleased to share that presidential appointments were finalized today for the three officer positions within the inaugural Faculty Advisory Council (FAC). Interim President Tommy Williams ’78 has appointed the following individuals for the 2026-27 Academic Year:

• Andrew Klein, Chair
• John Criscione, Vice Chair
• Sue Rajan, Secretary

These appointments will be effective from Sept. 1, 2026, to Aug. 31, 2027, and each of these officers will serve on the body’s executive committee, along with six at-large members who will be elected next week by FAC members.

The FAC represents the entire faculty of the university and advises the administration regarding matters directly related to the academic programs of the university. These individuals will play key leadership roles on behalf of the FAC and in establishing the council.

In April, we finalized the seating of the entire FAC with 60 members from across the university’s 17 colleges and schools. These members are a mix of individuals appointed by the president and elected by their peers, and their terms are staggered (one- and two-year) for the first year to create continuity of leadership as this new body is established.

We want to thank the faculty members who have agreed to serve their colleagues and the institution in this way, and we look forward to their work ahead.

Thanks, and Gig ’em!

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team
Andrew Klein, Co-chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University locations

Colleagues,

Last Friday, the election for the inaugural Texas A&M University Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) closed with over 1,080 votes cast across all colleges and schools. Thank you to all the eligible faculty members who voted for representation from their college or school. The results are as follows

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (95 voters):

• Ahmed Darwish (two-year term)
• Tammie Preston (two-year term)
• Senarath Dharmasena (one-year term)
• Russell McGee (one-year term)

College of Architecture (28 voters):

• Zofia Rybkowski (one-year term)

College of Arts and Sciences (308 voters):

• Mary Campbell (two-year term)
• Marian Eide (two-year term)
• Andrew Klein (two-year term)
• Dale Rice (two-year term)
• James Howell (one-year term)
• Asha Rao (one-year term)
• Alexei Safonov (one-year term)
• Rebecca Schlegel (one-year term)
• Andrew Tag (one-year term)
• David Tarvin (one-year term)
• Due to the resignation of an elected member after votes were certified, one two-year term is now vacant and will be filled through a special election.

The Bush School of Government and Public Service (38 voters):

• Runoff election required for this seat (one-year term)

College of Dentistry (53 voters):

• Partha Mukherji (two-year term)

College of Education and Human Development (77 voters):

• Wendi Zimmer (two-year term)
• Karen Rambo-Hernandez (one-year term)

College of Engineering (133 voters):

• Amarnath Banerjee (two-year term)
• Anthony Cahill (two-year term)
• Angie Hill Price (two-year term)
• Daniel Jimenez (two-year term)
• Duncan Walker (two-year term)
• Saira Anwar (one-year term)
• John Criscione (one-year term)
• Eduardo Gildin (one-year term)
• Shreyas Kumar (one-year term)
• Daniel McAdams (one-year term)

School of Engineering Medicine (10 voters):

• Mark Slivkoff

Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy (31 voters):

• Fadi Khasawneh (two-year term)

School of Law (25 voters):

• William Byrnes (two-year term)
  
  

College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies (17 voters):

• Philip Matich (one-year term)

Mays Business School (58 voters):

• Bin Zhang (two-year term)
• Adam Kolasinski (one-year term)

Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine (54 voters):

• Rajesh Miranda (two-year term)
• James Lucas (one-year term)

College of Nursing (35 voters):

• Wendy Greenwood (two-year-term)

College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts (47 voters):

• Tina Budzise-Weaver (two-year term)

School of Public Health (29 voters):

• Anabel Rodriguez (one-year term)

College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (43 voters):

• Eric Kneese (two-year term)
• Luke Lyons (one-year term)

These elected members will join the 17 faculty members appointed by Interim President Tommy Williams in March to comprise the inaugural FAC, which will begin its term on Sept. 1, 2026. In accordance with the University Rule, should a vacancy occur for an elected member, the vacancy will be filled through a special election no later than 21 days after the vacancy occurs. Appointed member vacancies will be filled by presidential appointment within the same time frame.

As a result of this election, the university will hold one runoff election for candidates from The Bush School, Soren Jordan and Kenneth Taylor, who received the same number of votes. This runoff will take place for one week and will open later today, April 10. Eligible Bush School faculty will receive an invite to participate directly from “TAMU Faculty Advisory Council Transition Team” to their NetID email. Additionally, information will be shared soon with faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences regarding the necessary special election.

We extend our congratulations to all our colleagues who were elected to these important roles and look forward to the results of The Bush School runoff election next week. Following those results, members of the FAC will nominate themselves or other members to serve as one of three officer positions — chair, vice chair and secretary — which will be appointed by the president. Over the summer, members of the FAC will work to prepare documentation to support the inaugural FAC that will be reviewed, discussed and approved when the FAC terms begin in September.

Again, thank you to all faculty who voted and to those who ran. Your willingness to step forward and represent your colleagues is commendable and appreciated. The FAC represents the entire faculty of the university and advises the administration regarding matters directly related to the academic programs of the university. We look forward to this group’s work ahead. For more information about the election, seat apportionment and terms, visit the Faculty Advisory Council website.

Thank you,

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team
Andrew Klein, Co-chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder

Dear Faculty,

The election of the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) for the 2026-27 academic year is currently underway, closing Friday, April 3, at 5 p.m. CDT. Candidates for election were nominated by their peers, and a full list of candidates for election is available on the Faculty Advisory Council website. You are invited to vote for candidates in your college prior to the election closing.

Available seats for each college or school were apportioned using the equal proportions method employed by the U.S. House of Representatives. In the inaugural year of the FAC, one-half of the elected representatives will be elected to a one-year term rather than a two-year term, ensuring an appropriate stagger and continuity of elected representation in the future. In colleges with more than one elected seat, individuals will be seated in one- or two-year terms based on the number of votes they receive; individuals receiving the most votes will be seated into a two-year term until all available two-year term seats are filled within their respective college or school. All elected positions are effective Sept. 1, 2026.

Following the election results, the president will appoint leadership positions per University Rule 12.04.99.M1.

If you have not yet, please log in and cast your vote today. Your voice is an important part of this process. All votes must be cast by April 3 to be counted. If you have any questions, please reach out to fac-transition@tamu.edu.

Thank you,

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team
Andrew Klein, Co-chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University Locations.

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty eligible to nominate Faculty Advisory Council members, across all Texas A&M University locations

Dear Faculty,

Earlier today, nominations for the inaugural Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) election opened. You should have received an email to your NetID email (tamu.edu email address) from “TAMU Faculty Advisory Council Transition Team” with a link to begin the nomination process. If you did not receive the email, please check your spam folder, as it is possible your email screened it.

We encourage you to first review the FAC University Rule and then nominate individuals, including yourself, you believe would represent your college or school well. You may nominate yourself or other faculty members within your college or school until Friday, Feb. 20, at 11:59 p.m. CST. There is no limit to the number of nominations you may make, and you can view your submissions within InfoReady, the nomination platform.

As a reminder, nominated individuals will receive an email coming from the “TAMU Faculty Advisory Council Transition Team” to confirm their willingness to serve. If the individual does not complete that approval process, their nomination will not move forward. If a nominee has approved their nomination once for this election cycle, they will not be asked again should they receive multiple nominations. All nominated individuals will also be required to provide a short biographical sketch in InfoReady.

To help you navigate the InfoReady system, we have created a short tutorial walking you through a sample nomination. Throughout the process, if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Kelli Richard at fac-transition@tamu.edu.

Thank you in advance for lending your voice to this important process.

Thanks, and Gig ’em!

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University locations

Colleagues,

We are pleased to share information about the nomination process for the new Faculty Advisory Council (FAC), which will officially be active Sept. 1, 2026. The nomination process will begin Monday, Feb. 9, and close Friday, Feb. 20, at 11:59 p.m. CST, and we encourage all eligible faculty members to nominate themselves or others within their college or school during this period.

Only those nominated through this process will be eligible for election by their college or school faculty. The interim president will review the nominations prior to making his appointments, which will be made prior to the election. You can review the election timeline online.

The nomination process will be facilitated through InfoReady, an online platform that handles applications. All eligible faculty will receive a direct email from InfoReady (it will come from the TAMU Faculty Advisory Council Transition Team <support@inforeadyreview.com>) to their NetID email (tamu.edu email address) with a link to nominate. Nominees may self-nominate or nominate other faculty members within their college or school. Nominated individuals will receive an email coming from the TAMU Faculty Advisory Council Transition Team to confirm their willingness to serve. This step must be completed for their nomination to be accepted.

Eligible faculty are all faculty who are employed by Texas A&M University as of Jan. 20, 2026, and (1) whose appointment was approved by the Texas A&M Office of Faculty Affairs, (2) whose faculty appointment at Texas A&M is the person’s primary long-term position and (3) who is employed at Texas A&M with an annual full-time equivalent (FTE) of at least 0.75. Faculty serving in the positions of president, provost or the dean of a college or school are not eligible to serve on the FAC.

You can learn more about the seats available to your college or school for election this year on the Faculty Advisory Council website.

Faculty may make multiple nominations. Throughout the process, if you have questions or concerns, please check the Election Process FAQ or contact Kelli Richard at fac-transition@tamu.edu.

Thank you in advance for your help in identifying qualified nominees for your college or school.

Thanks, and Gig ’em!

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team
Andrew Klein, Co-chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University locations

Colleagues,

In November, Texas A&M University finalized University Rule 12.04.99.M1, codifying the importance of faculty engagement and affirming the essential role that a faculty-only representative body plays in the fulfillment of the institutional mission. From February through April, the university will follow this rule to seat the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC), which will officially begin operations Sept. 1, 2026. This email provides important information regarding this seating process, and a dedicated webpage provides additional details as well.

SEATING PROCESS

The seating process will run from February through April as outlined in the following high-level timeline:

February:

• The nomination process for all colleges and schools runs for a minimum of two weeks through InfoReady, an online platform that facilitates applications. Please note that faculty will receive a direct email from InfoReady to their NetID email (tamu.edu email address) with a link to nominate. Nominees may self-nominate or nominate another faculty member within their college or school. Anyone nominated will be asked to confirm their willingness to serve as part of the nomination process through InfoReady.
• Following the nomination process, Interim President Tommy Williams will appoint one faculty member per college and school from the nominations or more broadly across the faculty to serve on the FAC in accordance with the university rule.

March-April:

• After presidential appointments are announced, faculty will vote on faculty representatives from their college or school to fill the remaining seats based on the initial set of nominees, excluding any presidential appointments.
• Following the election by faculty, faculty will self-nominate or nominate individuals from their college or school’s elected and appointed FAC members for FAC leadership positions.
• Interim President Williams will use these nominations to appoint FAC leadership positions.

April-August:

• Following the seating of the FAC and its leadership, FAC members will prepare necessary organizing documentation that will be reviewed, discussed and approved at their initial meeting in September, supporting a strong start to the FAC in fiscal year 2027.

SEAT APPORTIONMENT BY COLLEGE/SCHOOL

The equal proportions method employed by the U.S. House of Representatives was used to apportion the 60 seats of the FAC to the 17 individual colleges and schools. In the inaugural year of the Faculty Advisory Council, in order to have approximately one-half of the elected representatives elected each year in the future, one-half of the elected representatives in the first year will be elected to a one-year term rather than a two-year term. In colleges with more than one elected seat, individuals will be seated into two- or one-year terms based on the number of votes they receive; individuals receiving the most votes will be seated into a two-year term until all available two-year term seats are filled within their respective college or school.

All colleges and schools will have one seat appointed by the president for up to six consecutive one-year terms and the following elected seats available (terms are noted):

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: 4 elected seats available (2 one-year terms / 2 two-year terms)
• College of Architecture: 1 elected seat available (one-year term)
• College of Arts and Sciences: 11 elected seats available (6 one-year terms / 5 two-year terms)
• The Bush School of Government and Public Service: 1 elected seat available (one-year term)
• College of Engineering: 10 elected seats available (5 one-year terms / 5 two-year terms)
• School of Engineering Medicine: 1 elected seat available (one-year term)
• School of Law: 1 elected seat available (two-year term)
• Mays Business School: 2 elected seats available (1 one-year term / 1 two-year term)
• College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies: 1 elected seat available (one-year term)
• Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy: 1 elected seat available (two-year term)
• College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts: 1 elected seat available (two-year term)
• College of Education and Human Development: 2 elected seats available (1 one-year term / 1 two-year term)
• College of Dentistry: 1 elected seat available (two-year term)
• Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine: 2 elected seats available (1 one-year term / 1 two-year term)
• College of Nursing: 1 elected seat available (two-year term)
• School of Public Health: 1 elected seat available (one-year term)
• College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: 2 elected seats available (1 one-year term / 1 two-year term)

Detailed information regarding the apportionment calculations and terms is available on the dedicated webpage on the Faculty Advisory Council’s website.

We look forward to establishing this important faculty-only advisory body that will support shared governance at Texas A&M. Please monitor your email for additional updates on this process as we move forward.

Thank you,

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team
Andrew Klein, Co-Chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-Chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder

Sent on behalf of the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team to all faculty and staff, including Texas A&M Health, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and AgriLife Research, across all Texas A&M University locations

Colleagues,

In November, Texas A&M University finalized University Rule 12.04.99.M1, codifying the importance of faculty engagement and affirming the essential role that a faculty-only representative body plays in the fulfillment of the institutional mission. Over the next several months, the university will follow this rule to seat the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) in 2026.

The university has created a dedicated webpage to provide information about the election and seating process for the new FAC, including details about the number of seats apportioned to represent each college and school. We encourage you to review that information to understand representation for your college or school. As a reminder, by Texas law, the FAC will not exceed 60 members.

The seating process will begin with nominations for faculty representatives for each college or school submitted by faculty. Faculty may nominate themselves or another eligible faculty member. Following the nomination process, Interim President Tommy Williams will appoint at least one faculty member per college and school from the nominations or more broadly across the faculty to serve on the FAC in accordance with the university rule. After presidential appointments are announced, faculty will vote on faculty representatives from their college or school to fill the remaining seats based on the initial nominees. In the new year, we will share more information about the seating process and timeline to establish the FAC.

While the seating process is underway, three university committees — the Executive Committee Transition Team, the Core Curriculum Council and the University Curriculum Committee — will continue to support the necessary academic reviews and processes that require faculty input. We will continue to share information about the election and appointment process through the FAC website and via email. If you have questions about the FAC, please reach out directly to the Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team.

We look forward to establishing this important faculty-only advisory body that will support shared governance at Texas A&M.

Thank you,

Faculty Advisory Executive Committee Transition Team

Andrew Klein, Co-Chair
Joseph P. Pettibon II, Co-Chair
Executive committee members: Heather Adair, Zoran Budimlic, Mark Burge, Adam Haney, Angie Hill Price, Shelley Holliday, James Howell, Daniel Jimenez, Michael Johnson, Claire Katz, Fadi Khasawneh, Julie Kopycinski, Blanca Lupiani, Daniel Pugh, Dale Rice, Tim Scott, Mark Sicilio and Paula Yoder