Overview

The Faculty Advisory Council is established to improve the representativeness, functioning, and outputs of the existing Academic Board/Department Head system of governance and VMI.

It is intended to afford faculty an avenue by which to provide commentary of existing and proposed academic policy to the Dean and the Academic Board, complementing direct faculty participation in Institute governance through previously established modes.

All members shall be in regular communication with faculty members of their division and the faculty as a whole (town hall-style meeting, intra- and inter-divisional meetings, email correspondence, etc.).

One (rotating) member of the Faculty Advisory Council shall be in attendance at every Academic Board Meeting. This individual will report on the Faculty Advisory Council’s activities and convey substantive suggestions to the Academic Board and directly to the Dean.

The Faculty Advisory Council shall endeavor to:

• solicit, receive, aggregate faculty interest regarding academic policy, regulations, and faculty development
• advise the Dean and Academic Board of these faculty interests and ideas
• serve as a conduit of information about the development of proposals and policy from the Dean and Academic Board to the faculty, and vice versa.

---

Mission Statement

The Faculty Advisory Council is one of your representative bodies on Post through which you can participate to solicit change. We are an elected body of ten members, comprised of two representatives from each of the five academic divisions across Post. Our purpose is to represent faculty interest to the Dean through conversations and proposals on matters that concern you and to keep you informed of developments of proposals and policies from the Dean’s Office and Academic Board.

Participation is what’s needed to make our mission successful. When you send us your ideas on academic policies, regulations, and faculty development that can lead to actionable proposals, you become a bigger part of the conversation and decision-making process.  Our collective voices can amplify your ideas, lead to constructive dialog, and ideally, changes that benefit everyone at VMI. You may choose to become involved by contacting any council representative by any means you choose. We look forward to hearing from you.

WE RELY ON FACULTY INPUT.

Procedures for Faculty Input:

Contact a Faculty Advisory Council Representative (see list below)

• You are welcome to speak to us in person or submit a concern in writing.

Submit a proposal to the Faculty Advisory Council for consideration via email to your FAC representative, FAC Chair, FAC Secretary, or FAC@vmi.edu:

• Use memo style (date, issue, submitting faculty names/contact)
• Include paragraph with specifics of proposal/concern/suggested solution
• Include paragraph of reasons for proposal and suggested solution
• Include paragraph of support/research for background or historical knowledge
• The FAC will make every effort to reply in a timely manner to all proposals and emails submitted.
• If the FAC has received a number of emails/proposals, it will establish criteria for prioritizing the review and response to each submission.

---

Current Members (Fall 2023 - Spring 2025)

Discipline	Faculty Member	Department
Natural Sciences	Col. Greg Topasna (Chair)	Physics and Astronomy
Natural Sciences	Lt. Col. Meagan Herald	Applied Mathematics
Life Sciences	Lt. Col. Sara Whipple (Secretary)	Psychology
Life Sciences	Col. Paul Moosman	Biology
Humanities	Lt. Col. Jochen Arndt	History
Humanities	Lt. Col. Pennie Ticen	English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies
Social & Information Sciences	Dr. Vera Heuer	International Studies
Social & Information Sciences	Col. Brent Hierman	International Studies
Engineering	Col. Jay Sullivan	Mechanical Engineering
Engineering	Col. Tom Timmes	Civil and Environmental Engineering