Here is a round-up of Syracuse University news that you might have missed over the weekend.

Campus Facilities Advisory Board meeting held

Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly and Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala on Thursday held the first Campus Facilities Advisory Board meeting.

The board during the meeting unanimously endorsed two recommendations, according to an SU News release.

The first recommendation is to support the draft Campus Framework’s recommendation to position the physical heart of the campus as the academic core of SU, which entails that “all current space physically situated around or near the Shaw Quadrangle will be used for academic departments, student-service units and administrative support offices that provide invaluable support to Syracuse students.”

“As new space becomes available near or around the academic core, the space needs of the academic and student-support units will take priority,” the release states.

The board also endorsed the recommendation of supporting “a time sensitive request” by an “important” academic unit to identify additional space for teaching, learning and research.

The Campus Facilities Advisory Board is tasked with assessing all academic and nonacademic investments within the Campus Framework, one of the three components of SU Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Fast Forward Syracuse initiative.

SU partnership awards $19,000 for green building construction research

The SU Sustainable Enterprise Partnership, cooperating with the U.S. Green Building Council, awarded $19,000 to fund new research on green building construction methods.

Rene Germain — a professor of forest and natural resources management at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry — and Martin J. Whitman School of Management professor Patrick Penfield will conduct the research, according to an SU News release.

The research will focus specifically on cross-laminated timber products in multi-family housing, per the release.

“Using (cross laminated timber) in commercial buildings, rather than concrete, masonry or steel provides significant supply chain, environmental and cost benefits for companies and organizations in the U.S.,” Penfield said in the release.

The SEP annually awards a grant of up to $20,000 to promote research in sustainable enterprise, and all faculty, Ph.D. students and other researchers from SU, SUNY-ESF and the Syracuse Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems are eligible to receive the funding, per the release.

Professor awarded for dissertation work

An assistant professor in the SU School of Information Studies won an international award for her dissertation work.

Rachel Ivy Clarke was honored with the 2017 Doctoral Dissertation Award from the iSchools Organizationm— an annual award that recognizes outstanding work in the information field, according to an SU News release. Clarke conducted her dissertation at the University of Washington’s Information School.

Jasy Liew Suet Yan, a graduate of SU’s iSchool doctoral program, was runner-up in the competition. Clarke won $2,500 while Yuan won $1,000 for their dissertations, per the release.

The iSchool Organization is composed of more than 80 institutions worldwide, according to the release, and dissertations are judged by an award committee “drawn from leading international schools.”

Mentoring program opens applications for peer mentors

SU’s fullCIRCLE Mentoring Program on Friday announced it was opening applications for peer mentors to serve in the program for the 2017-18 academic year.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. The application form is online.

Peer mentors help their mentees adapt to college life and engage with them in skill development and community building.

According to an SU News release, fullCIRCLE will be welcoming its sixth cohort of mentees this fall. The program aims to support the development of undergraduate students of color through “intentional relationships with peers, faculty, staff, alumni and employers,” according to the release.

The fullCIRCLE program puts an emphasis on black and African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Hispanic and Latinx American and indigenous and Native American students, per the release.

Published on February 19, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek