The faculty union will elect a new president as Jim Sullivan steps down after 10 years as faculty union president and retires from SIUC.

Sullivan, 62, has worked at SIUC 29 years. He said he has been planning to retire for three years now, but Illinois Education Association representatives and faculty persuaded him to stay each year. He retires at the end of spring semester.

Sullivan said he felt obliged through the years to carry on the activities and principles of the association, he said, however, that after 10 years it is time to move on. He said his retirement should not come as a surprise to many.

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I’ve put off my retirement for three years in order to continue to serve the association, He said. Sure there was pressure to remain, but as I half-jokingly, and seriously as well, remarked to a number of people that to do so at this point would be to cross that line from altruism to masochism, and I’m not prepared to do that at this stage.

Sullivan, an associate professor in art and design, has led and been the mouthpiece of the association since its legal origin in 1996. Sullivan was instrumental in creating the summer 1996 card drive that prompted a November 1996 election in which 62 percent of 640 faculty voted to unionize. About 700 faculty were eligible.

The last three years have been almost staggering in the amount of work, Sullivan said of the association’s evolution.

This association is now filled with many people with talent and commitment, and I’m sure the process will go on very smoothly.

A mail-in election has been developed by the association’s election committee to elect a new president. The election also will determine vice president, college representatives and other association leadership positions.

Nominations for the election are due today. Ballots will be sent to all association members April 23 and 24. Association members will then vote and mail their votes to the election committee, which will tabulate votes May 6. Runoff ballots will be sent out May 8 in the event of a tie.

Union sources speculate the following faculty members may be nominated as president:Dennis Anderson, associate professor in crime and justice; Kay Carr, faculty negotiating team member and an associate professor in history; Sam Goldman, a professor in education; Mary Lamb, a professor in English; Bary Malik, vice president of the association and professor in physics; Albert Melone, former Faculty Senate president and professor in political science; and Walter Jaehnig, faculty association media coordinator and associate professor in journalism.

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Sullivan said he would remain completely neutral and would not back or endorse any candidate in the election.

Sullivan said he expects the association to remain stable following his retirement with the ascension of a new president. He said the elections will not create partisan divisions within the association.

The very normal fact that there are differences of opinion will indeed create a little excitement I’m sure in terms of the elections, he said. We are an open, democratic and diverse association and that’s the nature of the process.

I think people are talking about it and that’s normal and expected, but I haven’t seen any kind of hard-nosed strategizing or jockeying for the position.

Sullivan announced his retirement in the faculty association newsletter, which was sent to all faculty within the 750-member bargaining unit.

Sullivan said there is much unfinished business that will be left to the new leadership of the association.

There are many, many major areas of concern, Sullivan said. First and foremost is the development of a fair and reasonable contract.

And then there’s the whole issue of working out concurrent jurisdiction with the Faculty Senate and Graduate Council because we firmly believe that the faculty association represents the missing link in the securement of general faculty power in decision making.

He said the association must also improve minority participation in University business, especially in faculty hiring. He said he also hopes to see greater levels of interdisciplinary activities.

Citing the agreement Thursday with a federal mediator to declare a media blackout, Sullivan would not comment on what effect his retirement would have on contract negotiations or how he hopes negotiations will be resolved.

Margaret Winters, spokeswoman for the administration, wished Sullivan well in retirement but also complied with the media blackout. She would not comment on how Sullivan’s departure would affect negotiations.

Sullivan also would not comment on whether he would be active in the association following his retirement.

During his retirement, Sullivan said he would conduct research on art history, painting and art and its relation to education.

Sullivan laid out four areas that he hopes the association will focus on in the future. He said he hopes the association will:secure genuine decision making power for faculty in terms of University priorities and the allocation of resources;

create a larger sense of faculty that finds new ways of working together as a community toward the betterment of SIUC’s students;

establish a bridge between students and faculty using the association’s faculty/student relations committee; and

identify and create new working relationships with the new chancellor Jo Ann Argersinger and future administrators.

Faculty association media coordinator Walter Jaehnig said he echoes many faculty when he says Sullivan will be missed.

He represented the voice of faculty collegiality and harmony back in the days when there were only a handful of members in the association far shorter than the 400 we have now, Jaehnig said. The association is a monument of his accomplishment.