The Academic Senate resumed meeting after the spring break on Monday, April 16. While each division has at least one of the two available senatorial positions filled, the two seats of the Social Science division are currently without representation and have been so for more than a quarter.

According to Kathy Plum, president of the Academic Senate, this underrepresentation is “a chronic problem” in the Executive Committee.

Since service on the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate is not a contractual but a professional responsibility, there is no legal requirement to have representation.

Plum said she has been in contact with the Dean of the Social Science division on several occasions during the past month and a half, but cannot order division representation, as this responsibility ultimately defaults to the division dean and the specific division.

While the officers of the Senate would like to have full representation, according to Vice President Paul Ches-ler, there are often “good reasons” why some divisions are not or only partially represented.

History instructor Margret Stevens from the Social Science division has previously served on the Academic Senate Executive Committee for three two-year terms, but had to discontinue her involvement due to knee injuries and surgery.

She said the current vacancies can have several explanations. First of all, serving on the Academic Senate requires responsibility and expertise about academic and administrative issues.

“It took me about a year to fi-gure out the orientation and goals of the Academic Se-nate.”

In addition, fa-culty within the division are very busy and often cannot afford the time-consuming involvement.

Besides, a number of faculty members serve on other committees or the Faculty Association.

Ultimately, attitude may play a role, too, according to Stevens. A lack of faculty involvement in the community and interest in campus issues, may potentially lead to a lack of ignorance of or concern for campus issues.

“Some members of the division might not feel as [if they are] part of community, so they don’t feel it’s necessary to represent,” Stevens said.

There are a number of ways to regain representation in the Academic Senate.

If no one comes forward voluntarily, the division dean could order faculty members within Social Science to participate. However, Stevens says she prefers volunteers or elections rather than coercion.

“You have to have a sense of ownership to want to participate.”

According to Ste-vens, many of the discussions in the Aca-demic Senate are “ongoing” and thus participation is needed to have a voice in important decisions. “Our divion’s votes and input have made a difference in the past.”

In addition, keeping up-to-date is important, said Stevens, who regularly talks to friends who serve in the Academic Senate or on special committees, in order to keep herself informed about current issues.

According to an Academic Senate list, other divisions that currently have vacant seats are Child Development, IIS, Learning Resources and Physical Edu-cation.