Jordan Sly elected UMD Senate Chair-Elect

Jordan Sly, Head, Humanities and Social Science Librarians, and School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Librarian for German, Italian, and French, has been elected as the Chair-Elect of the University Senate for the 2023 - 2024 term after which he will become Chair of the Senate and then Past Chair serving for a total of three years in these positions.  

The University Senate, composed of faculty, staff, students, and administrators, is one of the largest and most influential governing bodies at the university. The senate advises the university president on nearly all matters of campus policy matters and concerns.

“I am thrilled and honored to be chosen as the Chair-Elect of the University of Maryland Senate. Our senate is unique amongst peer institutions in that we are a truly shared governance body because we represent faculty, student, and staff voices as one collective as opposed to separated into factions as is the case at many other institutions,” said Sly.

Before election as Chair-Elect, Sly served as a university senator for the Libraries, vocally advocating for the libraries in multiple ways, including in his role on the Senate Executive Committee. During his time on the senate, Sly has been glad to witness how receptive university administrators have been to the issues brought before them and their willingness to support our shared mission and vision for student, faculty, and staff success and the furthering of shared research endeavors.

“As Chair-Elect, I will continue to work closely with campus partners to ensure our voices are heard and the needs of our users addressed, including the needs expressed in the goals from the Libraries. The roles of Chair-Elect and Chair are campus-wide positions that take into account the vast needs of the campus as a whole and for me personally, I have been thrilled over the past few years to understand the complexity of the administrative apparatus and the ways our Libraries have successfully continued the mission, vision, and strategic goals set out by our President and Provost.”

“I am very excited to fully-embrace this new role as I carry out the duties first of the Chair-Elect, then next year as Chair,” said Sly. “I am extremely proud of my work on the senate and in senate committees such as the Student Conduct Board and I am extraordinarily proud to be selected for this high-profile role and being privileged to be able to serve this institution that I love so much.”

“Jordan’s election is a testament to his reputation as a collaborative leader and colleague across campus,” said Adriene Lim, Dean of University Libraries. “All of us are proud to have a member of the Libraries take on such an important shared-governance position for our institution and we look forward to seeing Jordan succeed in this new role.”