Message from Chancellor Kent Syverud

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

Last spring, Syracuse University conducted a comprehensive climate survey to assess the learning, living and work environment on campus.

Nearly 6,000 students, faculty and staff members took part in the survey. Issues evaluated via the survey included sexual harassment and sexual violence, race, gender identity and gender expression, sexual orientation, disability services, academic environment and experiences for students, faculty/staff workplace climate and employee benefits, among other topics.

I am committed, as are all University leaders, to transparency in the results of this survey.

On Thursday, Oct. 20, an executive summary of the survey results will be made available to the University community. Next week, the Climate Assessment Planning Committee, co-chaired by Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz and Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Assessment Libby Barlow, will host a pair of campus update sessions. During these sessions, project consultant Susan Rankin, a leading national expert who has conducted institutional climate studies at more than 130 institutions across the country, will describe the survey findings.

It is really important that all of us be prepared to learn from this complex data and participate in discussion about next steps in order to become an even better University community.

The update sessions are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 27, from noon-1:30 p.m. and 4-5:30 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. I encourage you to attend one of these sessions or follow online the live stream of the second session.

Next steps will include an online feedback form and a series of open conversations later this semester and early next semester. From these meetings, and from comments submitted online, the Climate Assessment Planning Committee hopes to obtain additional input in preparation for the release of its final report and recommendations.

I am grateful to the members of the Climate Assessment Planning Committee for their leadership. More importantly, I thank the campus community for being a part of this very important initiative.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Kent Syverud