The Faculty Senate elected officers and committee members for 2006 during its Dec. 7 meeting. 

Steven Craig, professor of economics, is the current president-elect and will replace Allen Warner as the official president at the next Faculty Senate meeting January 26. Under Senate rules, whoever is elected president must wait one term before stepping in as president. 

Craig has worked at UH for 24 years and participated in the Faculty Senate for 12 years. 

“The long run agenda for the Faculty Senate is to push UH to become a research university,” Craig said. 

Joe Kotarba, professor of sociology, was elected the Senate's president-elect. He will serve in this position until 2007, when he will assume the role of president. 

“I am excited about stepping into this role,” Kotarba said in a release. “I plan to focus on raising the quality of life for faculty, as well as the quality of work. I'd like to review items that impact the professors on campus such as healthcare, benefits and opportunities to travel to academic conferences.” 

Kotarba is chairman of the Scholarship and Community Committee and is the Senate's delegate to the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics. He has served on Faculty Senate for four years and has worked at UH for 26 years. 

Peter Copeland, associate professor of geosciences, was elected secretary. He and the rest of the elected officers will begin their terms in January. Warner will give a presidential farewell address at the January meeting. 

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