The University Senate voted to ban all sexual relationships between Syracuse University faculty and undergraduate students during Wednesday’s meeting.

A resolution on the issue was presented to the Senate during Wednesday’s meeting. After a discussion among faculty, the Senate passed the resolution with 89 percent in favor.

The resolution was drafted by senators on the Women’s Concerns committee and the Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics committee. Thomas Keck, a professor of political science, presented the resolution to the Senate.

Before the resolution passed, a few faculty members gave examples of successful relationships between faculty and graduate students to show that there are some exceptions. But most senators spoke in favor of the resolution to ban all relationships.

An SU alumna and graduate student voiced her support for the resolutions. While she attended SU as an undergraduate student, she said she was sexually harassed by faculty members on two occasions. The alumna became emotional while speaking and did not say anything further about her experiences.

Tom Sherman, a professor in the department of transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, asked Keck if the Senate committees considered SU peer institutions when making the resolution, and how other schools’ policies compared to SU’s.

Keck said the committees did look at a few peer institutions and all of them had stricter policies than SU before the resolution was passed. But with the resolution, SU is hoping to move forward to be more in line with SU’s peers, Keck said.

Faculty salary adjustment updates

Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly gave updates on adjustments being made to address faculty salary inequity. She said progress was on track and changes are still set to be made in time for the next fiscal year.

She added that the university administration has been working closely with deans to “get this right.”

Wheatly said almost all of the statistically significant differences had been eliminated with the salary adjustments in last week’s analysis of faculty data. But she said there remained “modest but statistically significant differences in the associate professor category.”

The provost said she is “committed to entirely eliminating” faculty salary inequities. Fixing the pay gap requires more analysis by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and the deans, she said.

Wheatly said the university cannot apply a formulaic approach to the pay gap and must address it on a case-by-case basis.

“While the timeline for a final set of decisions is taking a bit longer than anticipated, the delay is going to result in a better outcome for the university,” Wheatly said.

A few faculty members asked Wheatly questions about future transparency and continued reports on the issue. Lori Brown, a professor of architecture, said there have been talks about some deans and chairs not wanting to make salary adjustments. She asked Wheatly if the provost could ensure everyone would make the appropriate adjustments.

“We are holding all of the academic deans accountable … we’re making sure we’ve looked at every single thing, and this means line by line,” Wheatly said. “… I’ve lived my life as a woman in STEM, so I’ve got a lot of personal experience, and I’m very committed, as is the chancellor, to making sure we get this right, and we do the right thing.”

Invest Syracuse initiatives

A portion of the Invest Syracuse funds will go toward creating an undergraduate research center at SU, Chancellor Kent Syverud said.

The center will focus on creating and sustaining a culture of inquiry among undergraduate students, Syverud said. He added that many groups have worked together on this project, including the Student Association, the Senate’s Committee on Research and the Renée Crown Honors Program.

This initiative will quadruple the funding for undergraduate research, Syverud said, and thousands of students will benefit from the initiative in the next few months.

Invest Syracuse money will also be used to expand counseling services at SU, Syverud said. The Counseling Center, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics are coordinating the expansion of services. They are also working to provide professional experiences for students in the health professions field.

Syverud said the Counseling Center is in the process of hiring a training director to provide clinical supervision and oversee a team of graduate student trainees and behavior health interns. The interns study subjects such as clinical psychology, counselor education and social work. The graduate student trainees will provide individual counseling, assist with group therapy and lead educational programming.

More details about both Invest Syracuse initiatives will be announced in the next week, Syverud said.

Published on April 19, 2018 at 2:08 am

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann