Appointment of the 2020 Faculty Activity Committee (January 6, 2020)

Dear Colleagues,

I write to announce the appointment of the 2020 Faculty Activity Committee (FAC). The charge of this year’s FAC is to identify and propose ways that we might make committee and other forms of University service more manageable, equitable, and recognized.  

The 2020 FAC membership is as follows:

• Mary-Louise Timmermans, Committee Chair, Professor of Geology and Geophysics
• Peter Aronow, Associate Professor of Political Science and in the Institute for Social and Policy Studies, and of Public Health (Biostatistics)
• Jack Dovidio, Senior Advisor to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Carl Iver Hovland Professor of Psychology, Professor in the ISPS and of Epidemiology
• Larry Gladney, Phyllis Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Professor of Physics and of Astronomy
• Joe Fischel, Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Daniel Harrison, Allen Forte Professor of Music Theory
• Maria-Lourdes Sabé-Colom, Senior Lector I, Spanish and Portuguese

Staff support will be provided by John Mangan, Senior Associate Dean and Dean of Faculty Affairs in the FAS Dean’s Office.

The charge for the 2020 FAC arises from recommendations made by the 2019 Faculty Activity Committee, whose August 2019 report can be found here.  That report contained thoughtful recommendations regarding (i) the structure and process of the Faculty Activity Report (FAR), (ii) collecting and disseminating information about faculty service, and (iii) reducing the number and size of standing committees.

We very are pleased to report that we have implemented the 2019 committee’s recommendations with respect to the structure and process of the FAR and we look forward to seeing how these new approaches clarify and streamline the FAR process. The 2020 Faculty Activity Committee will continue its predecessor’s work, focusing on topics (ii) and (iii), and identifying next steps that might be taken. As in 2019, the 2020 Faculty Activity Committee will consult broadly with faculty across the FAS as it seeks to identify ways to make the service contributions of faculty more manageable, more equitable, and more legible.

I am grateful to the committee members for their willingness to engage with critical questions pertaining to our work as faculty members, and invite you to share your perspective with them by emailing fas.dean@yale.edu.

Best,
Tamar

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science