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The Faculty Senate is the voice of the NMSU Faculty and plays a critical role in the shared governance of the institution. As established in NMSU Policy, the Faculty Senate has legislative jurisdiction over policies affecting the university’s academic mission. The Faculty Senate has 60 elected senators who represent Faculty from the Colleges on the main campus, the NMSU Library, the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service, and College Faculty.
Senators are elected for three-year terms and may serve for two consecutive terms. The Senate is led by the Chair and Vice-Chair, who both serve on a variety of University committees and councils, which are also policy making bodies. The Chair and Vice-Chair are advised by the Senate’s Committee on Committees, which is comprised of the senior senators from each electing group.
All senators participate in one of four standing committees. These are charged with reviewing, modifying, and recommending legislation for action by the full senate. The senate meets a minimum of once a month to fulfill its obligations in a timely manner.
Stuart Munson-McGee, Faculty Senate Chair
Professor of Food Science and Technology, earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware (UD) in 1982 and worked as a research engineer for Owens Corning Fiberglas and UD prior to joining the NMSU Chemical Engineering Department in January 1991. In August 2011, Stu moved to his current department to pursue his teaching and research interests in food science and engineering. Since joining NMSU he has been active in research, education, service, and outreach. Stu and his graduate students have performed research in a variety of fields which recently include advanced materials and applications of optimum experimental design. As an educator, Stu teaches 5 or 6 courses annually, including core and elective courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also is the developer and teacher of ChE 395V “Brewing Science and Society”, aka the Beer Class. His contributions as a teacher were recognized by NMSU in 2004 when he was honored with the Donald C. Roush Award for Teaching Excellence. Stu’s recent service activities at NMSU include Faculty Senate as well as numerous committees and other activities. Externally, he has served on many review panels including NSF, DOE, and several technical journals.
Tim Ketelaar, Faculty Senate Vice-Chair
Associate professor in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Ketelaar has been teaching in the honors college since 2003 and in 2009 he was the recipient of the Donald C. Roush Teaching Award for Excellence. Dr. Ketelaar has chaired the Undergraduate Program Committee in the Department of Psychology since 2006 and participated in the 2010-2011 Cohort of the NMSU Advancing Leaders Training program. His research and teaching focuses on the Science of Human Emotion. He is currently working on a book proposal “Emotional Minds: A journey through the past century of scientific research on human emotion.” He has been an active member of the NMSU faculty senate for two terms, sponsoring numerous pieces of legislation and recently took on the responsibilities as chair of the Faculty Senate Working group on Faculty Compensation.
The ceremonial mace, used widely by universities, is a descendant of the royal scepter and the medieval battle mace. The academic mace signifies authority, and its use dates from the 14th century. New Mexico State University’s mace is carried at commencement and other formal occasions by the president of the Faculty Senate.
Literal and symbolic information about the university is incorporated into the design. The ornament atop the mace signifies a blooming cactus flower and the university’s blossoming into maturity. The smooth, rounded walls of adobe architecture are reflected in the next section, while a disk carries the New Mexico State University logo on one side and a compatible Mimbres pottery design on the other. The many academic disciplines are noted in the bundled rods of the shaft. The meter-long piece is of sterling silver, while the center of the shaft holds a piece of wood from the university’s first building, McFie Hall (Old Main), which burned in 1910.