University of Iowa College of Law professor of legal analysis, writing, and research Caroline Sheerin will serve as UI Faculty Senate president for the 2024-25 academic year

The Senate appointed the governing body’s officers on Tuesday.

Rodica Curtu, UI professor of mathematics, was elected vice president, and Craig Just, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was elected secretary through a closed ballot vote.

Sheerin served as the Senate’s vice president for the 2023-24 academic year. Mary Charlton, professor of epidemiology, previously served in the secretary role.

Ed Gillan, professor in the department of chemistry, served as the faculty senate president for the 2023-24 academic year. Before his appointment, Ana Rodriguez-Rodriguez served as president.

Returning and new senate members were deciding voices on the officers at the senate’s organizational meeting.

Gillan will now assume the officer role of past president.

Traditionally, the Faculty Senate vice president assumes the role of president in the following academic year.

“With Caroline’s legal background and connections she has around campus, she is going to be great for faculty,” Gillan said.

Sheerin joined the UI’s Law School in 2006 and has previously served as the senate’s secretary and vice president.

Sheerin thanked her fellow colleagues and said she is looking to build on the successes of shared governance at the university level and work to encourage colleges and departments at the local effort to make efforts to improve faculty participation.

“I can distinctly remember sitting on the sidelines of a council meeting hoping that one day I too, could sit at that table. Higher education is the key not just to success, but also to personal satisfaction,” Sheerin said.

She said her goal in the coming year is to continue to strengthen shared governance at the university and ensure faculty have a clear sense of the protections that are afforded to them and to students.

“We are modeling leadership and governance for our students,” Sheerin said. “By watching administration, staff, faculty, and students working together to tackle problems, students are watching democracy in action.”