Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Chancellor Syverud Updates University Senate on Benefits, Sustainability and Preparations for Supreme Court Decisions

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, By News Staff
Share
Chancellor Kent SyverudUniversity Senate

Welcome back from spring break! Welcome to the sprint to Commencement. It’s going to be a fast one I know for all of us. I have just two minutes of updates.

First, I have been reviewing suggestions for changes to our process for deciding benefits for our faculty and staff. I have received some input from our human resources professionals, from concerned Senate bodies and from faculty experts. I’ve also reviewed a report that a group of Senators worked on titled “Recommendations Toward Improving the Employee Benefits Determination Process,” and I am taking that report quite seriously. I expect to consult with HR leadership and Professor Eric Kingson in the coming week and to report fully at the April meeting on this and to provide a written report to the Senate on next steps before that meeting.

The second thing is to talk about sustainability at Syracuse University. We have some previous guideposts for the University’s efforts. First—we have Syracuse University’s 2022 Climate Action Plan that you can find on the sustainability website. This document benchmarks our status and outlines specific strategies over the next five years to bring us closer to carbon neutrality.

I have now also reviewed carefully the more recent report on sustainability and recommendations of our Student Association (SA) which worked with students from ESF and Le Moyne on this project. I have spoken since then about priorities under that report with the SA leadership. I expect an announcement, in conjunction with SA leadership, before the next Senate meeting on new steps the University is going to take to enhance sustainability.

Third, I want to speak about the forthcoming Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action in higher education. We expect that these decisions will be coming in June in both the Harvard and University of North Carolina cases. Based on the oral arguments in those cases, it appears quite possible that the Supreme Court will effectively end affirmative action in higher education in these opinions.

With that possibility in mind, we are faced with a question of how Syracuse University is prepared to maintain a diverse and inclusive student body in what may be a post-affirmative action era.

I have created a working group led by Provost Ritter and Chief Student Experience Officer Groves to proactively prepare for this issue. The group has been working hard on several actions in recent months. First, the team is assessing potential outcomes of the court’s decisions. Second, they are devising strategies to maintain our diverse and inclusive University based on each of these potential outcomes. And third, they will be communicating this work in the coming weeks to raise everybody’s awareness and to engage our community on this effort.

We are being proactive in our approach so that we can be nimble and respond based on the detail in the court’s decisions. Inclusion has been one of the core tenets of Syracuse University since its founding in 1870. We are committed to maintaining a diverse student body in the future. The Supreme Court’s decisions may make this more difficult, and may require us to redouble our efforts in different ways. But Syracuse University will remain a diverse and inclusive university.

Those are my two minutes today.  Thank you.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Supporting, Advocating for Trans Youth Will Help Them Thrive As Adults
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By Daryl Lovell
  • 2023-24 Parking Rates Announced
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By News Staff
  • Lutheran Chaplain Announces Retirement
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Dara Harper
  • Dean J. Cole Smith Talks With FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam G’89 About Leadership and Advice for Current Students
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Alex Dunbar
  • From Generation to Generation: Doing Well by Doing Good
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Eileen Korey

More In Campus & Community

2023-24 Parking Rates Announced

Syracuse University has set its parking rates for the 2023-24 academic year. The University’s rates, which align with those of peer institutions, provide funding for technology upgrades and capital improvements to parking lots and garages across campus. Employee rates for…

Lutheran Chaplain Announces Retirement

After 15 years of service as Lutheran Chaplain at Hendricks Chapel, Rev. Gail Riina has announced her retirement, effective at the end of July. Pastor Gail (as she is often known by students) served in numerous campus contexts throughout her…

Dean J. Cole Smith Talks With FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam G’89 About Leadership and Advice for Current Students

Raj Subramaniam G’89 is the president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation. He has more than 30 years of industry experience at FedEx and is responsible for several recent transformational initiatives, including revitalizing the company’s operating strategy, profitably growing…

SyracuseCoE Awards $180,000 for 9 Faculty Fellow Projects Supporting Research and Innovation

The Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE) in Environmental and Energy Systems has awarded nearly $180,000 for the 2023 SyracuseCoE Faculty Fellow awards. These nine research and innovation projects are led by faculty members from Syracuse University, SUNY College of Environmental Science…

Researchers’ Artificial Intelligence-Based Speech Sound Therapy Software Wins $2.5M NIH Grant

Three Syracuse University researchers, supported by a recent $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, are working to refine a clinically intuitive automated system that may improve treatment for speech sound disorders while alleviating the impact of a…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.