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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

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NEWS KANM seeks $25,000 for launch of new FM signal to bring student voices and music to local community A3

SPORTS Logan Lednicky and A&M volleyball hit the road for back-to-back matchups in the Beehive State B1

A&M Faculty Senate to dissolve, replaced by advisory council

Samuel Falade — THE BATTALION

An aerial view of the Texas A&M main campus on Monday, March 11, 2024.

Following Texas state law requiring faculty senates to end by Sept. 1, A&M will initiate a Faculty Advisory Council Steve Carrasco IV — THE BATTALION

Adriano Espinosa — THE BATTALION

Top to bottom: Recent Campus Mobility Project implementations at Lamar Street for the new centralized bus hub at Texas A&M University on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. New bike lanes along Houston Street in Texas A&M University campus on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.

Redesigning how Aggies move

Services Associate Director portation Institute, all involved in this planTransportation Services adds ClintTransportation Willis said support from A&M Presi- ning process.” Mark A. Welsh III, Chief Operating Fifer added that feedback from students on new transit options, infastruc- dent Officer and campus architect was given to the student experience survey — in which with the project in such a way that it they were given the opportunity to identify ture upgrades across campus proceed addressed the needs of the students. areas where they would like to see improve“We have heavily congested areas where we really need to create that separation,” Willis said. “… We want to create that separation so somebody doesn’t have to worry about if I’m driving a wheel device, I don’t have to worry about a pedestrian stepping in

ment — gave Transportation Services the chance to incorporate their feedback into the planning process. Aggies returning to campus this fall may They also conducted a rider survey as the have already noticed significant changes in project primarily involved adapting their plan the ways they travel around campus. As Texto accommodate what students had requested as A&M continues to implement they do. a major mobility project this fall, To navigate possible confuadding a centralized bus hub, exsion from updated transit methpanded pedestrian walkways and The community’s safety always goes into every ods, people can look on the bus new designated passenger dropwebsite and use the trip discussion that we have when we’re planning route off zones across campus. A&M’s planning feature, which provides Transportation Services aim to multiple options for where they this project. ease congestion and improve can go, what stops to get on and Clint Willis safety with these new modificadifferent routes available. tions. “One of the big changes we Transportation Services Associate Director This effort incorporated recmade, which kind of came out ommendations from students, of the surveys, was increasing the faculty and staff along with key service to the engineering corstakeholders and was guided by inputs in- front of me.” ridor area,” Kelm said. “Before this change, cluding the Campus Master Plan of 2017 to The new white and green lines on campus you could really only get from the [Memorial the President’s Student Experience Study of aid in ensuring pedestrians do not clash with Student Center] to that area of campus via 2024. wheeled devices, setting a standard across one route, and now there’s five.” Transportation Services Communications campus. Kelm added that in the beginning of the Manager Tad Fifer said this series of planning Welsh’s emphasis is on working together semester, especially the first couple of weeks, initiatives and studies is what made this con- to solve challenges and plan for the future they see a drastic increase in traffic and bus struction project unique. which adds to the uniqueness of this project, usage. “Those surveys outlined some challenges Fifer said. and some opportunities that the campus has, “We have a lot of different stakeholders SCAN TO READ and it kind of identified some issues like stu- and groups that come together, including dent enrollment being so big over the past the City of College Station and Bryan,” Fifer FULL STORY ONLINE several years,” Fifer said. said. “We’ve got areas like the Texas Trans-

By Hilani Quinones Associate News Editor

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By Hilani Quinones Associate News Editor In their last special meeting on Aug. 29, Texas A&M’s Faculty Senate announced it will officially dissolve on Sept. 1, after more than 40 years of governance. This change comes as part of new Texas law, Senate Bill 37, passed this year by the Texas Legislature which requires the elimination of all faculty senates at public universities unless authorized by their boards of regents. In its place, the faculty senate announced that the body will evolve into the Faculty Advisory Council moving forward, beginning Nov. 1, to continue serving as a platform for faculty input and representation. A&M is the latest to join the University of Texas System and the Texas State University System in abolishing their faculty senates to make way for faculty advisory groups. Members of the Faculty Advisory Council will remain faculty members, but the change limits the number of members to no more than 60 with at least two representatives from each college or school, including one member appointed by the president or chief executive officer of the institution. At A&M, 10 colleges will be represented by two representatives each — one appointed and one elected. The remaining members would be elected by a vote of the faculty of the member’s respective college. This would cut the faculty member body roughly in half from its current 122 members, and the bill shifts oversight over curriculum and hiring to governor-appointed university system regents. Alongside changes to the composition of the new council, the president will also appoint a presiding officer, associate presiding officer and secretary from the members of the Faculty Advisory Council. Members appointed by university administrators will serve longer terms than elected members. In the meeting, Speaker of the Faculty Senate Andrew Klein said Senate Bill 37 does not fundamentally change the role of the future faculty advisory board body. “The role of the faculty senates in the Texas A&M system has always been advisory,” Klein said. “It will be what we make of it.” Member David Bapst said he is unsure if the advisory group will provide a replacement for the Senate. Klein said this would mark a transition period where the faculty voice would look different, but it is still needed and important. “While the future of the Senate may not look exactly as we would like it, we find ourselves in a better place than many other university systems across the state,” Klein said.

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