Mallory Hlava
Contributing writer
Melony Shemberger was voted faculty regent after the runoff election ended on April 18.
Shemberger answered the following questions from The News on April 22. Some answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
What inspired you to run for faculty regent?
“I really made the decision in late 2018. Part of it was personal for me, even though Murray State didn’t have complete control over this, I just felt like if I was in a position where I could try to voice these concerns better, but it had to do with the state tuition waiver. The Kentucky General Assembly last year authorized a bill that would allow public universities in Kentucky to not have to honor the state tuition waiver. I’m taking graduate courses at the University of Kentucky. Those were paid for by a state waiver, so I didn’t have to pay for anything except an online course fee. For us, those employees that work full time at a university, that’s a benefit. That benefit was stripped. Again, no fault to Murray State, but it was just something that really bothered me, so I want to make sure that whatever education benefits that we have, that those are protected. That was one of the reasons. Then, the other large reason is we just have not had good communication. We don’t receive communication from the faculty regent as far as what’s been going on at the board level. Sure, we can get in and maybe watch the stream of the meetings, but not everybody can sit here and do that, or not everybody can go to the meetings. It had been historically that the previous regents would send an email just saying, ‘This occured, this is how I voted and this is what I think we should be concerned about.’ We didn’t get that kind of dialogue. That bothered me. I am part of the faculty senate, but it’s different than on the Board of Regents level.”
What are some changes you would like to see and implement now that you are faculty regent?
“I want somebody in a position where they can really represent us and not be afraid to vote no even when the decision is going to benefit the University as a whole. We have to think about faculty. Faculty are not necessarily well-known to the board. They kind of see us as, and I just mean this generically, but I think they see it as we’re just employees. Really, without the faculty, we wouldn’t have a university. I’m only one person, let me just say that. What I do plan to do is make sure faculty are informed. For the first meeting, I want to have an informal pre-meeting forum with faculty if faculty have time to stop by and tell me what their concerns are. When I get the board agenda, I want them to see it, too. So, I’m going to share that with them. Then, they’ll get more communication from me after the meeting. I’ve already told them that weekend after the meeting they would get a full report from me. They would know what happened, what took place, how I voted and how the others voted. I’m going to be very transparent. We have to establish a solid level of transparency between the faculty regent and the faculty.”
What are your priorities as faculty regent?
“I just want to make sure I tell the faculty’s story to the board.”
How do you plan to work with the Board of Regents to accomplish your goals?
“I want to encourage the board to be curious about what we do as faculty. I’m going to have maybe an invitation to the board members. Not all at once, but if a board member wants to come in on a classroom, I can arrange something with a faculty member who would love to share what they do in their classes with a board member. I want some faculty members who are doing good things with teaching and research. I want them to come share that with board members. I want the board to see more faculty, as far as activities. Faculty are busy. When they’re not here, they’re maybe at a conference or meeting, so they’re constantly busy.”
Is there anything else you would like Murray State to know?
“Faculty could not do what they do without staff. We can’t teach and run registrar. We can’t teach and try to run fees and payments. Our staff are really important, and the students are the core. We’re building you so that you can have a strong core that will go out after you graduate and do well. I think faculty are any university’s greatest asset. I don’t think it’s really ever been done to have the spotlight on the faculty. Even when I was in college, I was amazed by the faculty. I was a little intimidated by them, but I held them at high esteem. I thought, ‘There’s never going to be a time I could do something like that,’ and then I just kept working my way up. Our faculty do a lot outside of the classroom, and I want to send that message. If they’re not teaching, they’re doing committee work, which is so important, they’re trying to do their research and they’re trying to meet deadlines with journal editors. They’re trying to write grants for funding for their projects, and not just for their projects, for student projects. They’re advising students. They’re serving as organization advisers. I don’t know how much we can put on a faculty member’s plate if we continue to slash positions and the funding continues to dwindle.”
Shemberger will serve as faculty regent for a three-year term ending in 2022.
