Faculty Senate president Tim Day. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
P​ositions at ISU: Professor of biomedical sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine; faculty athletics representative; and Big 12 Conference representative to the NCAA Division I Council, the group's primary governing body
Years at ISU: 17
Contact information: 294-7100, day@iastate.edu
Describe your work.
My position has been research and teaching, with a larger research focus. My research focus is parasitic diseases and neglected tropical diseases (such as parasitic worms in humans). My lab primarily has been an NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded laboratory in the time that I've been here.
What strengths do you bring to the senate presidency?
I enjoy working with people -- finding their strengths and giving them an opportunity to use those strengths. I really look forward to getting a chance to interact with faculty, staff and administration from all over campus and working together to keep the high quality of our education on track.
What are your top priorities as senate president?
We will focus on clarifying the roles and the positions for faculty who are not in the tenure stream (non-tenure eligible). We want to widely recognize the great work that those folks do at the university and make sure the way their jobs are defined and understood is clear and fair.
Also, we want to work with the administration to find a sustainable financial model that allows Iowa State to continue to provide high-quality higher education to as many students as possible.
What challenges face the senate this year?
There are really important issues being discussed in our current social environment and the university is, rightly, a place to have many of those discussions. We welcome that, but we recognize that open discussions on important issues can sometimes lead to conflict. I think one challenge is for us to be able to facilitate and encourage those conversations while keeping a civil and respectful tone for everyone.
What would you like to tell the faculty you represent?
We should value the level of collegiality and cooperation that already exists amongst Iowa State faculty, staff, administrators and students. To value that means we have to continue to participate in it -- and we have to continue to constructively participate in chasing after the mission of the university. Sometimes it's in our offices, labs and classrooms. But sometimes it's in meetings, making policy decisions and working with our administration.
