Ana Rodríguez-Rodríguez will serve as the University of Iowa Faculty Senate’s president for the 2022-23 academic year. Ed Gillan was appointed as vice president, and Caroline Sheerin as secretary, at its meeting Tuesday.

Twelve faculty members were elected to Faculty Council, and 43 to Faculty Senate. Members of the Faculty Council also serve in Faculty Senate.

Rodríguez-Rodríguez previously served as vice president of the organization before taking her new position. Former president Teresa Marshall will serve in the officer role of past president for the 2022-23 academic year.

Rodríguez-Rodríguez told the 2022-23 Faculty Senate in her address as president that her main goal for the year is to overcome all the “loss and damage” faculty have experienced over the last two years.

“I am especially concerned about the decreasing morale among faculty, and one of my priorities this year will be finding ways to change the situation and work with the administration to develop solutions to this,” she said at the meeting on Tuesday.

The Faculty Senate vice president traditionally serves as president-elect for the following year.

Elections were held for Faculty Senate and Council vacancies in the Colleges of Business, Dentistry, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Medicine.

The elections for officer, councilor, and senator positions were conducted electronically. According to the Faculty Senate website, faculty received emails prompting them to participate in the 2022 Faculty Senate electronic election process.

Faculty Senate had its senate election from Feb. 25 to March 5 and its council election from March 25 to April 2.

Rodríguez-Rodríguez said she will also work to defend the relevance of all the disciplines at the UI, and defend policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“I understand diversity as something that is embedded in everything we do, not as an add-on to our mission,” she said at the meeting. “My own work revolves around these issues, and I will advocate for expanding cultural competence and strengthening connections across diverse cultures throughout our campus, our state, our nation, and the world.”

Rodríguez-Rodríguez said at the meeting that she is a believer in the power of dialogue and communication, even when it seems impossible to come to an agreement.

“Dialogue, flexibility, collaboration, transparency, and lots of forward-thinking will be essential as we navigate the months ahead of us as your president,” she said. “I will work to respond to these challenges with professionalism and always defending the indispensable role of shared governance at the University of Iowa.”