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Members of Syracuse University’s Academic Strategic Plan committee will host in-person meetings with undergraduate and graduate students later this month to gather feedback on the plan after the Feb. 17 release of its initial draft, said Jamie Winders, SU’s associate provost for faculty affairs, at a Wednesday forum.

SU hosted a previous feedback session at the Schine Student Center in November 2022 to directly engage with students and gather perspectives on ASP, a five-year roadmap outlining 10 goals the university aims to reach by 2028. Over 30 SU community members attended Wednesday’s feedback session, the second of three planned virtual feedback sessions.

This year’s ASP is the first SU has produced since its 2015 Trajectory to Excellence. The plan sets a goal for all undergraduate students to participate in a study abroad or other study away program by 2028, expand STEM research and workforce training in anticipation of Micron’s new Clay facility and promote diversity and community engagement.

Throughout the discussion, faculty expressed optimism surrounding the draft’s approach to new academic objectives, like course and program offerings. Elisa Dekaney, SU’s associate dean of research, graduate studies and internationalization in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said the upcoming changes are necessary to refresh the university’s academics.

“I am excited about the opportunity to engage in meaningful revision of what we do in a more programmatic and constant way,” Dekaney said.

Outside of ASP’s programming content, some attendees appreciated the structural allowances and framework of the plan itself.

Amy Schmidt, the program coordinator for the Citizenship and Civic Engagement department in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said she valued the inclusion of an annual symposium to revise and adapt the ASP on a yearly basis.

Others expressed their concerns with the plausibility of some of the plan’s goals, and questioned the logistics behind getting every undergraduate student to participate in a study abroad or study away program as outlined in the initial ASP draft.

At the Feb. 23 feedback forum, Winders said individual colleges and schools at SU will need to revise their curriculum so that students with “rigid” degree tracks are able to fit into its study abroad goal. Alongside other panelists, Gretchen Ritter, SU’s provost, vice chancellor and chief academic officer, emphasized that students with athletic commitments and intellectual or developmental disabilities need to be included too.

Emily Stokes-Rees, director of SU’s School of Design, said there would be significant cost implications for students if required to go abroad. She said some of her students would love to go abroad but can’t afford it, and others don’t have the same interest as other students.

SU is ahead of most American universities in terms of its student participation in study abroad, said Steven Bennett, SU’s senior vice president for international programs and academic operations. He pointed to the U.S. News and World Report, which currently ranks SU as the ninth-best study abroad program in its 2022-2023 rankings.

Bennett also emphasized the importance that SU accommodates students’ needs in its expansion of abroad programs.

“We just need to be creative, thoughtful and prepared to invest the resources to make it possible for every student — regardless of their financial situation — to have that study abroad experience,” Bennett said. “We’re not going to be able to do it overnight. This is something that we’re going to have to build to over time, but this is in the spirit of distinctive excellence.”

Bennett said that as SU continues to gather feedback, the ASP will begin to come together with the upcoming strategic plans from SU’s individual schools and colleges.

SU will host another feedback session on Tuesday over Zoom. Following the feedback period, an SU News release states the plan will be finalized and shared with the SU community in early April.

Published on March 2, 2023 at 2:36 am

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2