Shannon Davis. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services.
The George Mason University Faculty Senate on Wednesday elected Shannon Davis to a second one-year term as chair. She ran unopposed.
Davis’s first year in that role has been an eventful one. In addition to the usual Faculty Senate chair duties, Davis co-chaired the presidential search committee that led to the hiring of Gregory Washington, and she played a pivotal role in Mason faculty quickly shifting 5,200 courses online this spring in response to COVID-19.
At the end of her first term, she also began working with a new provost, Mark Ginsberg, who was appointed on an interim basis while the university conducts a comprehensive search to replace S. David Wu, the incoming president at Baruch College.
“Thanks to all of you for your continued confidence and collaboration,” Davis told her fellow faculty senators during their virtual meeting Wednesday. “We have had an extraordinary year…and are continuing to live in that extraordinary time. I appreciate your continued support of our shared governance approach, and our shared and collaborative spirit working together in support of our students and the university.”
Davis, director of graduate programs in sociology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, ran unopposed for the chair position last year after serving on the Faculty Senate for three years, including two on the executive committee. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has been at Mason since 2006.