Syracuse University faculty and staff members will gather in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Friday for a celebration honoring Eric Spina, who stepped down as SU’s vice chancellor and provost in December 2014.

“The chancellor wanted to hold an event giving everyone an opportunity to celebrate Eric’s accomplishments and talk to him,” said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president of public affairs.

Though the program’s details are not yet finalized, Chancellor Kent Syverud and several others are expected to speak at the beginning of the event, Quinn said.

After the brief speaking program, the floor will be opened up into an “informal” mix-and-mingle reception with catered food, said Charles Merrihew, vice president of advancement and external affairs.

The celebration is being thrown months after Spina stepped down because of difficulties scheduling a time that most faculty would be free, Merrihew said.

Merrihew added that as of Wednesday, more than 200 faculty and staff members are expected to attend with the number of people most likely to increase within the next few days.

“He was in the provost role for a long time, and he worked with many people,” Merrihew said.

Spina began his career at SU in 1988 as a professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. In December 2003, Spina became dean of the college.

In July 2006, Spina was named interim vice chancellor and provost until that position became permanent in January 2007. Spina also served as interim chancellor of SU from Oct. 14, 2013 to Jan. 13, 2014.

“I don’t like it when things are about me,” Spina said of the event. “This is really about the people I worked with, and it’s a chance to thank them for all the sacrifices they’ve made.”

In the provost role, Spina was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the academic side of SU’s administration, with various workgroups and deans from all SU’s colleges reporting to him, said Elizabeth Liddy, current interim vice chancellor and provost.

He also played a key role in beginning SU’s Academic Strategic Plan, part of Syverud’s Fast Forward initiative, Liddy added.

The Academic Strategic Plan is a comprehensive and still-evolving plan that aims to improve standards of various SU academic services such as academic advising and student opportunities, said Liddy, who currently oversees the plan.

“It’s really very impressive, the most impressive thing I’ve seen in academics,” Liddy said. “It started with Eric.”

Liddy, who took over for Spina as vice chancellor and provost on Jan. 1, said he has been very helpful in guiding her through the transition, and he has still made himself available to her as a resource.

While a December 2014 press release stated Spina was interested in pursuing a top leadership role at another university, in the meantime he said he’s looking forward to doing research and teaching with the engineering faculty in his new role as a trustee professor.

“I’ve been in SU administration for a long time,” Spina said. “It’ll be great to get back in the classroom with students, which is after all the reason the university is here.”

Published on April 22, 2015 at 8:27 pm

Contact Thomas: tjbeckle@syr.edu