In its first meeting of the year, the Faculty Senate will confront issues affecting not only its constituents, but the university as a whole.

The senate will convene Tuesday with a new president, the prospect of addressing a new ISU strategic plan and an unprecedented college combination.

Sanjeev Agarwal, professor in marketing, has served on the Faculty Senate since 1999 and was elected president in 2003.

Agarwal pointed to two large projects as the focus of Tuesday’s meeting.

The first project is the new strategic plan for Iowa State. Agarwal said it involves an academic plan and the senate is required to approve it before it proceeds.

The draft of the 2005-2010 strategic plan was completed Aug. 30 and outlines goals for the future of the university.

Agarwal said his goal with this project is to pass a plan that will strengthen the university.

The second big project to begin the semester is the pending merger of the College of Education and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. The proposed merger must also be discussed and approved by the Faculty Senate.

Agarwal said another goal for the year is to “strengthen the Faculty Senate’s shared-governance role in academic policy issues pertaining to teaching, research and extension.”

He said other issues he hopes to discuss with the senate include declining faculty lines and salaries, recruitment and retention of women and minority faculty, budgets and planning, Veishea, enrollment and several others.

“He is very complete in his analysis of issues,” said Claudia Baldwin, associate professor of veterinary clinical sciences. She is the president-elect for the 2004-2005 school year and will work closely with Agarwal to prepare for her year as president in 2005-2006.

“I am in training, in a sense, and Sanjeev is helping to train me for the future,” Baldwin said.

Agarwal said Baldwin will appoint many committees, prepare a spring faculty conference and sit on the budget and planning committee for the university throughout the year.

The senate meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.