As a president-elect prepares to step into his office and nine seats go up for grabs, the Faculty Senate members are gearing up for the spring semester.

Max Wortman, president-elect of the Faculty Senate, said the senate will focus on maintaining its constituents this spring.

“Our most significant issue is to retain and gain more faculty,” said Wortman, distinguished professor of management.

The Faculty Senate started progress on its goals in December, when it passed legislation requiring that no more than 15 percent of university faculty are temporary, including no more than 25 percent in any given department, Wortman said.

“We feel that may have been the most significant piece of legislation ever passed,” he said.

The campus parking issues, magnified by the parking expansion proposal released by the Department of Public Safety, also are of concern. Although faculty are in need of more parking spaces, the recent influx of students must be dealt with, he said.

“The faculty are not as concerned about parking as students are because so many more students have come to campus,” he said. “The faculty would be interested in seeing students have a place to park.”

The senate’s operating system will also come under scrutiny during his term, Wortman said.

“I would like to make the Faculty Senate run a lot more efficiently and effectively than it currently does,” he said. “I believe the Faculty Senate must be a team.”

One of the ways he plans to make the senate more efficient is to create a nominating committee for open positions.

Nominations currently are being accepted for at-large senators from five colleges. Two positions are open in the College of Agriculture, one in the College of Engineering, two in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, three in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and one in the College of Veterinary Medicine

Nominations are due Feb. 5 in the senate office in 103 Lab of Mechanics.

Max Porter, chairman of the Faculty Senate governance council, said senate candidates must either hold a regular or adjunct faculty appointment.

The senate also is considering revising the handbook, creating new procedure documents, lengthening term limits and creating an ombudsperson position, said Porter, professor of civil and construction engineering.

“An ombudsperson can help pave the way to a solution for a problem,” Porter said.

The next set of Faculty Senate elections will be March 6, Wortman said. The positions of secretary, chairs of governance, academic affairs, judiciary and appeals, faculty development and administrative relations and university resources and policy allocations will all be elected.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 in 260 Scheman. For more details, visit the Faculty Senate Web site at www.facsen.iastate.edu.