To the University of Michigan Regents,
The choice of our next University president affects all members of our community: undergraduate students, graduate students, tenured and non-tenured instructors, staff and the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint. We all work together to make the University the transformative educational and research institution that it is. We are all stakeholders, not bystanders, in this decision.
Therefore, we feel strongly that the current Presidential Search Advisory Committee does not represent the diversity of our community, our questions, our needs and our hopes for the new president. A committee made up solely of tenured faculty departs from the University’s own practices in past searches.
We respectfully request that the University take the opportunity to strengthen the Presidential Search Advisory Committee by including members who are undergraduates, graduate students, non-tenured instructors and staff. We look forward to welcoming a president who will listen to the many voices that make up our campuses and lead the whole University community into the challenges of the future.
Sincerely,
ForUM
The Student Union of Michigan
The Lecturers’ Employee Organization
The Graduate Employee Organization
The University of Michigan Skilled Trades Union
Ian Matchet, Liz DeLisle Rodrigues and Ismali Ali
LSA/Art and Design senior, Rackham graduate student, LSA junior