Senator Spotlight November 2015

The November Senator Spotlight is on Mathias Arrfelt

What unit do you represent? 

I represent the management department in the business school.

How many years have you served on the Senate?

I think this is my fourth year.

How many years have you been employed at ASU?  What other institutions have you taught at before coming to ASU?   

This is my 8th year here at ASU. Before that, I was at Michigan State where I did my graduate work.

What is your research and/or creative activities focus?  

My research focuses on behavioral, cultural, environmental, and learning related aspects of strategic decision making. This includes work on capital allocation where I study how well corporate managers allocate capital to their business units and how that affects firm performance.

Why did you decide to get involved with the Senate? 

I volunteered to serve and was elected by my department – thought it would be fun to learn a little more about how our university works.

Describe what you have learned during your time on the Senate. 

I am still learning but it’s clear that ASU is a very complex organization with many important stakeholders whose interests and incentives are not always perfectly aligned. This results in a wide variety of interesting issues related to teaching, research, and our community that the Senate looks at. I think the process really works by giving a voice to faculty and I am happy to be part of it. 

What committees have you participated in, or would like to participate in and what were you able to (or hope to) accomplish.  

I have been part of the personnel committee where we looked at various issues (e.g., tenure and promotion, faculty classifications etc. etc.) and provided recommendations for approval by the Senate and other university entities. This experience provided a better understanding for the important work committees do to prepare issues before they are brought up in the Senate.

What would you say to your peers who might be considering accepting a nomination or nominating themselves for a position on the Senate?

 Go for it! Being part of the University Senate is really a great way for faculty to have input into what’s going on at the university. And it’s fun to meet new and interesting people.