2021 Faculty Election
Misha Becker
Running for: Faculty Executive Committee
- Professor, Department Chair
- Linguistics, College of Arts & Sciences
- Appointed: 2002
- PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 2000
- Candidate Website
UNC Service
I have been the chair of the Department of Linguistics since 2018, and I direct the Graduate Certificate in Computational Linguistics. I am also currently a co-chair of the Committee on the Status of Women, and served on that committee starting in 2019. This year I was an alternate delegate to the Faculty Assembly, and in that capacity served on the FA's committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I have been the chair of the Beinecke Scholarship committee since 2019.
In past years I served on the Financial Exigency Committee (2012-2015), Faculty Advisory Board to IAH (2016-2019), and various ad hoc committees throughout my time at UNC.
Candidate Statement
The Faculty Executive Committee forms an important bridge between Faculty Council, the larger faculty body of the university, and the upper administration at UNC. As such, it provides a critical voice for faculty concerns and a means of advocacy on behalf of faculty across the university. I have experience advocating for my department and discipline, for the Humanities, and for salary equity. I care deeply about equity and want to make sure it becomes and remains a central consideration informing administrative decisions about how to move our university forward. As we emerge from a pandemic that has exposed and exacerbated existing inequities both inside and outside of academia, we have an opportunity and responsibility to craft a culture that prioritizes equity.