Brady plans to lead collaboratively as chair of University Senate

Colleen Brady, 2022-23 chair of the University Senate and professor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image

In the more than 20 years that Colleen Brady has worked at Purdue, her passion for community-based education and collaborative leadership has never wavered. When she isn’t busy leading groups of students on study abroad trips, Brady often travels around the state, visiting different communities as part of her work with Purdue Extension.

“I have a lot of experience working with groups through Extension, and I think that will be beneficial in my new role with the University Senate because I’m used to working with groups who sometimes have different views and ideas,” Brady said.

Brady took office on June 1 as the 2022-23 chair of the University Senate. Here she answers questions from Purdue Today about her plans for leading the committee. 

How long, and in what positions, have you worked at Purdue?

I started working at Purdue in 1999 as an assistant professor in what was then known as the Department of 4-H Youth Development. That has evolved over more than 20 years to be the current Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication. I’m currently a professor within that department.

What do you like most about what you do at Purdue?

I came in as an Extension specialist focused on youth Extension, but it’s broadened over the years. That’s really what I love. The whole concept of Extension is taking the information that we have at the University and disseminating it out to communities in different areas and in different ways. My background is in animal science, and I’m an equine specialist, so my target audience is the horse industry. I have always enjoyed doing Extension work, and 22 years later, I still really enjoy doing that community-based education.

What has been your favorite memory during your time as a Purdue employee?

At this moment, my answer to that would be leading study abroad trips. I just recently got back from taking our first group of students abroad since COVID-19 struck. I led a study abroad to Ireland, and we had students from the University of Nebraska, the University of Florida and Purdue go. We spent 18 days together in Ireland learning about the history and culture of Ireland, and the horse industry. It was really fun to have students from different institutions because they came with different experiences depending on where they grew up. I think that really enhanced the experience for the students.

When you’re not in the office, what do you most like to do on or around campus?

I think we have a beautiful campus. I tend to spend most of my time south of State Street, but I kind of just like to walk around campus and look at everything. I live in Indianapolis, so I don’t come up here for a lot of convocations, but I always enjoy going to the farmer’s market and the Boiler Butcher Block. It’s a campus that looks like what you would imagine a college campus to look like. Some institutions are so integrated into the community that it’s hard to tell where campus begins and ends.

When did you first become involved with University Senate, and why did you decide to become a member? 

A colleague and mentor of mine had been involved in the Senate for a long time and was a past chair. She encouraged me to get involved because she thought it would be good for me to develop my leadership skills and get a better idea of how the University functions as a whole. I have found over the years that following her recommendations is usually beneficial to me.  I agreed to run for election, and I ended up coming in as a senator at large.

What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment since becoming a Senate member?

I have served on the steering and advisory committees, so I haven’t been really involved with a committee that brings forth a lot of resolutions. There has been a lot of activity around equity and inclusion for members of the Purdue community, which I think is incredibly important. We want to make sure everybody who is part of the Purdue community feels like a part of it. This includes protecting people who may be victims of violence or sexual assault. We don’t want people to forget that these are things we need to be aware of, watching for and thinking about. A lot of the issues around equity and inclusion are societal issues, and they need to be addressed both on and off campus. 

What have you learned about the University from your time as a Senate member?

Everything is complicated, and things are never as simple as they may appear. I think there is a sincere effort to hear what different constituents have to say to incorporate that into decisions, but there are so many layers of bureaucracy and red tape that make it harder to move as quickly on some things as we wish we could. 

What did you learn as a vice chair or committee member that will guide your leadership this year?

As vice chair, I learned a lot about the partnership between the Provost’s Office, Senate and Board of Trustees, so that will definitely inform how I lead as a chair. I have a lot of experience working with groups through Extension, and I think that will be beneficial in my new role with the University Senate because I’m used to working with groups who sometimes have different views and ideas. I’m a very collaborative leader, and I would really like to continue to focus on this whole area of inclusion. We focus a lot on recruiting students, faculty and staff that are broadly representative of society, but you also want to focus on keeping those people. Inclusion is how you keep people.

What will the Senate be working on during the upcoming year? What do you hope the Senate will accomplish under your leadership? 

We are actually having a meeting with the Senate leadership right before classes start to discuss some initiatives that the different committees want to work on throughout the year. I’m not coming in with a particular platform, other than this idea of inclusion. I’m not coming in with a particular list of things and saying, ‘OK, this year I think the Senate needs to do this, this and this.’ This just goes back to my leadership style. I think, especially when you are leading peers, that it’s up to the Senate committees to decide what their priorities are. It’s not my role to tell them what their priorities should be.

What would you like faculty and staff to know about the Senate?

It is their path to have concerns and issues that are important to them brought forward. These structures are in place so the administration can know what’s going on in the trenches and so we can help facilitate and address those issues. It’s not just bad things. If you have a really good idea related to how we could improve the Purdue experience, let your senator or representative with the appropriate organization know so we can try to make that happen. 

How can faculty get involved with the Senate?

Different units select senators in different ways, so start by contacting the secretary of faculties or one of the senators in your college or department. Talk to your senators about the experience, what have they gained from it, what have they contributed, have they felt it’s worth their while, and just simply ask how to get involved.