The Faculty Senate
Senate Committees and Councils
Other Faculty Organizations
For membership information, or the name of the current OSU representative, call the Faculty Senate office at 541-737-4344.
The Association of Oregon Faculties. The Association of Oregon Faculties, founded in 1978, is a system-wide organization with a professional lobbyist. It consists of campus chapters and a state executive committee. AOF seeks to influence the Governor and the Legislature on fiscal matters relating to higher education, particularly faculty salaries and benefits.
American Association of University Professors. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is the only national organization devoted entirely to the interests of scholars at colleges and universities. AAUP has been the national leader in protecting academic freedom and the rights of faculty. It publishes the monthly journal "Academe," and the "Red Book," a compendium of AAUP positions on academic matters. Each year, AAUP completes a national salary survey that provides institution-by-institution salary data, as well as national and regional salary averages.
Faculty Research Assistant Committee. The Faculty Research Assistant Committee represents the interests and concerns of the FRA’s at Oregon State University. The committee’s primary objective is to promote the welfare and professional development of FRA’s by:
- gathering information on FRA concerns through surveys and open forum discussions and reporting them to University Administration;
- reviewing University policies regarding salaries, promotion, evaluation and termination pertaining to FRA’s and advising FRA’s about these policies;
- fostering improved professionalism among FRA’s by sponsoring seminars and workshops;
- maintaining liaison with other faculty committees; and
- providing a means for communication among FRA’s on campus.
The FRA Committee is composed of seven to ten members, several of these are courtesy members that have been recognized by the University as outstanding FRA’s. The members are elected for a three-year term by a popular vote of the FRA population. The committee meets monthly and publishes a quarterly newsletter, FRA Update. Regular meetings are held with the Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies, a representative from the Office of Faculty Affairs, and the Dean of Research to update OSU Administrators on current activities of the Committee.
The Committee has an annual budget allocated by the Research Office, which is used primarily to publish and distribute the newsletter. Committee decisions on pertinent issues and policies that affect Faculty Research Assistants are made by a minimum of five committee members, and a majority of votes; fifty percent is required to enact a decision.
Interinstitutional Faculty Senate. The Interinstitutional Faculty Senate is a statewide senate with representatives from all eight OUS campuses. It addresses any and all matters of concern to faculty and makes recommendations to the State Board, Chancellor, the State System Universities, and the Legislature. At OSU, the members are chosen in campus-wide elections, and are ex-officio members of the OSU Faculty Senate. Copies of IFS bylaws are available in the Faculty Senate office.
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the only national honor society that recognizes academic excellence in all disciplines. The Oregon State University chapter was established in 1924 and is one of more than 250 chapters nationwide. The local chapter awards several undergraduate scholarships as partial tuition waivers, administers the Emerging Scholar Award for non-tenured faculty, provides the Phi Kappa Phi Biology Colloquium Award to the keynote speaker, and invites into membership eligible juniors (upper 5 percent), seniors (upper 10 percent), graduate students (upper 10 percent), and faculty members (5-8 individuals each year) from all disciplines. Students may also compete for several national and international internship and study-abroad awards.
Sigma Xi. Sigma Xi was founded in 1886 by a group of Cornell University students and a faculty member who believed the time had come to establish an honor society for scientists and engineers. From this beginning, Sigma Xi has grown to include more than 500 chapters and clubs. Its purpose is to encourage original investigations in pure and applied science and bring a better understanding of science to the community. Full membership requires demonstrated research ability, and associate members must demonstrate aptitude for research. The chapter’s major activities include a campus-wide Graduate Student Research Day. The chapter annually honors a prominent scientist at OSU with the Sigma Xi Research Award. This and other awards are presented at the chapter’s annual initiation banquet held in May.