DePaul Faculty Council held its elections for the 2022-2023 academic year at last Wednesday’s meeting. The positions voted on were president, vice president, secretary, three at-large members of Faculty Council Executive Committee (FCEC) and a newly created position of communication officer.

Professor Sonia Soltero, faculty council president, Quinetta Shelby, vice president and associate professor, and Secretary Toy Deiorio, Chair of design and technology of DePaul’s Theatre School, all ran unopposed and will assume the same positions for an additional term beginning July 1, following Wednesday’s results.

Although Soltero had no opponent, her reelection on Wednesday showed significant support from her colleagues on Faculty Council. The vote was unanimous and served as a mark of confidence amongst the council in Soltero’s leadership over the past year. The 2022-2023 academic year will be Soltero’s second consecutive year as the body’s president.

Prior to Soltero, religious studies professor Scott Paeth held the role of Faculty Council president. Paeth currently remains involved with faculty governance as a Faculty Council representative.

The announcement of each officer’s wins garnered applause from faculty members in attendance. With smiles, Soltero, Shelby and Deiorio gave brief thanks to their fellow faculty governance members for the support.

The term length for officer positions of president, vice president, and secretary is one year, and elections occur annually at each year’s June Faculty Council meeting. 35 voting members decided Wednesday’s results.

To assist with correspondence with faculty, management of the council’s website, improved monitoring of council documents, and reducing the extensive duties the secretary is currently responsible for, Deiorio proposed the new position of communication officer at May’s meeting.

On Wednesday, Faculty Council elected Chris Binder to the new position. Binder, who ran unopposed, is head of lighting design at DePaul’s Theatre School. Pending approval for the new position from the university administration, Binder will assume the new role beginning next month.

Four faculty members ran for the three at-large positions of the FCEC. The winners were Mary Mindak, Winifred Curran and Matt Girson.

Mindak is an associate professor and director of the Strobel Honors Program in the School of Accountancy & MIS at DePaul. Curran is a professor of geography in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Girson has served on DePaul’s FCEC this past year and will continue to do so following Wednesday’s election results. Girson is a professor in The Art School at DePaul.

Associate professor of political science Valerie C. Johnson was the lone candidate who did not receive the votes to take one of the three at-large seats. Johnson served as a representative on FCEC this past year and currently chairs the Faculty Council Committee on Equity Inclusion and Diversity.