Introduction

  • This election is for Faculty Senate College of Arts and Humanities Representatives. The rules for this election are listed below.
  • The nominees for the Faculty Senate College of Arts and Humanities Representatives election are listed to the right. The list to the right is not a ballot.
  • This list in not official until nominations have been closed and the list of nominees has been reviewed and verified by the APSCUF Nominations and Elections Committee.
  • The statements the candidates submitted with their nominations are given below. By clicking on a name in the list of candidates, you will be taken to that candidate's statement.
  • Clicking on the words Return to Top will return you to this part of the page.
  • If you are a nominee and wish to modify your statement or withdraw your nomination, click on the "Modify" button. You will need your password to make any modifications.
  • When you are finished, you may choose to view nominees for other elections, nominate yourself, view the list of elections, return to the APSCUF Nominations and Elections homepage, visit the APSCUF homepage, or visit the WCU homepage.
The nominees for Faculty Senate College of Arts and Humanities Representatives are:

Kristopher Benedict
Eirini Panagiotidou
James Scythes
Esther Smidt
maria urrutia

Nominations close Mar 22, 2021.
Regular Faculty in the College of Arts and Humanities may be nominated.

Rules for the Election


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Kristopher Benedict


Department: Art + Design

I have proudly served on the Faculty Senate as a Senator-At-Large from the College of Art and Humanities (formerly the College of Visual and the Performing Arts) since Fall 2015. I fully support the Faculty Senate’s mission to promote transparency, inclusion, a positive campus climate for faculty and students, and shared governance. I view serving as a conduit for my department and college as my most critical role as a Senator, and look to garner support for, and involvement in, the efforts addressed by the Senate there. Thank you very much for considering my nomination!


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Eirini Panagiotidou


Department: English

I am an associate professor at the English department, and I am excited at the opportunity to serve on the Faculty Senate as a College of Arts and Humanities representative. As a member of the senate, I will work to foster policies that promote the well-being of the WCU community with particular emphasis on issues pertaining to faculty welfare. In light of the Carnegie R2 reclassification, I would like to work with other members to advocate for strong institutional support for faculty development programs which would allow faculty to not only successfully meet tenure and promotion criteria but also to find support and even renew their excitement about conducting research. Additionally, as an international faculty member, I am particularly invested in issues related to faculty diversity, including recruitment and retention and wish to act as liaison with WCU’s Multicultural Faculty Commission in order to promote inclusion and representation.

Having served as a proxy member in the past, I am familiar with the powerful voice that the Senate gives us to represent our communities. My diverse administrative experience, which includes directing the Linguistics Minor and serving on CAH committees such as the Poetry Center’s Faculty Advisory Committee, have offered me a broad understanding of the College’s interdisciplinary nature, and I look forward to representing our faculty at the Senate.


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James Scythes


Department: History

I am an Assistant Professor in the History Department, and I currently serve as a College of Arts and Humanities Representative to the Faculty Senate. I started on Faculty Senate during the 2012-13 academic year as one of the Temporary Faculty representatives. After being converted to tenure track in 2013, I served as an At-Large Representative from 2013 to 2018. In 2018 I was elected as a College of Arts and Humanities Representative.

During my time as a senator, I have served as a member of the Student Welfare Committee and chair of the Faculty Welfare and Ethics Committee. In 2017, I served as one of the two Faculty Senate representatives to the committee that planned President Fiorentino's inauguration. I currently serve as the Faculty Senate representative to the Strategic Transportation and Parking Task Force and was the College of Arts and Humanities Representative on the Carnegie R2 Reclassification Taskforce.

I have enjoyed working with the members of the Faculty Senate on many important issues and would like the opportunity to continue serving. I would appreciate your vote. Thank you.


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Esther Smidt


Department: Languages and Cultures

I am currently a Faculty Senate At-large Representative whose term will end this semester. I have learned a large amount on the role of the Faculty Senate in the life of our university. In my 10 years at WCU, I have increasingly become involved in service at the college level, particularly on the curriculum committee and RACA (scholarship funding) committee. I also believe that my experience in different service areas such as distance education, CPE, Grad Council, CELT, and faculty mentoring will be useful in representing the College of Arts and Humanities on the Faculty Senate.


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maria urrutia


Department: Theater and Dance

As a member of Faculty Senate my contribution could be a varied perspective on diversity and inclusion. Personally, I would be expanding further outside the College of Arts and Humanities to grasps a larger context on advocating for faculty in different colleges and diving deeper into the WCU structures.


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