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Construction of the new Syracuse University residence hall on Ostrom Avenue will begin later this year, Chancellor Kent Syverud announced at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting.

The “modern, new” residence hall, which is located by Thornden Park, is currently being designed, Syverud said. He said the size and timeline for the demolition of Marion and Kimmel Halls to be replaced with two new modern residence halls remains under evaluation.

Announced on Feb. 26, the pair will be the first new dorms built since Ernie Davis Hall 15 years ago, according to a Monday press release. Neither will be completed for the 2024-25 school year’s housing selection, Syverud said.

Syverud said the university held “listening sessions” with first and second-year students, peer educators, living learning community students, Student Living staff and the Student Advisory Council to ensure the Ostrom Avenue hall “meets student needs.”

The two new residence hall announcements come after plans to convert the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center and The Marshall — which are now known as 801 University Ave. and 727 S. Crouse Ave., respectively — into second-year student housing. The university will begin converting the Sheraton after commencement in May, and both units will be part of second-year housing selection for the 2024-25 academic year, Syverud said.

The added housing comes as the result of a three-year housing review and is part of a push to get sophomores “onto central campus and off of South Campus,” Syverud said.

At the meeting, Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter confirmed that Syracuse Graduate Employees United and the university’s bargaining committees reached a tentative agreement that includes “significant increases” in some minimum stipends for both Ph.D. and master’s graduate assistants. The agreement also includes “enhanced health care coverage” and “an agreed upon workload,” Ritter said.

“I want to thank the members of both bargaining committees for their thoughtful, diligent and constructive engagement to get us here,” she said. “I’m hopeful that the union will ratify this contract in the weeks to come, and in the meantime, we’ll be meeting with all of the deans and helping them to think about how to manage some of the budgetary impacts of this new agreement.”

Ritter also discussed the ongoing efforts to create the “Syracuse Statement” — the university’s upcoming statement on academic freedom and free speech. She said over 200 students, faculty and staff have joined the working group in recent forums and that the campus-wide survey has received hundreds of responses.

“Our goal is to collect as much feedback from as many people as possible,” Ritter said. “This input will directly inform the development of agreed-upon principles and a guiding statement.”

Ritter also announced a new “AI academic task force,” which will be charged with developing an “AI academic strategy.” Ritter said she is charging the task force to “consider AI’s impact” on the classroom, academic policy and research to identify next steps.

The new task force is co-chaired by Duncan Brown, SU’s vice president for research; Lois Agnew, associate provost for academic programs and Andrew Sears, the dean of SU’s School of Information Studies. The task force will also include interdisciplinary faculty and staff, Ritter said.

She also spoke about recent artificial intelligence-related efforts on campus, including a March 6 event that hosted AI expert Rumman Chowdhury, which she said was “especially relevant” for the task force.

Syverud confirmed that iSchool professor of practice Jeff Rubin will become the university’s chief digital officer and inaugural senior vice president for digital transformation. In the position, he will establish a university-wide AI strategy, oversee data management and security and lead the information technology team, Syverud said.

“I’m confident that under his leadership, the university is on course to be a digital and technology leader,” Syverud said.

The Agenda Committee shared proposed motions to update the Student Life Committee’s charges and a motion to expand the number of senators the Agenda Committee can add in future elections. Votes on both proposals will be held in the Senate’s next meeting, Agenda Committee Chair Kira Reed said.

During the meeting, the Academic Affairs Committee reviewed the faculty manual revision process that began summer 2023, said Jamie Winders, associate provost for faculty affairs. The revisions discussed at Wednesday’s meeting are “a first go” at revising the entire manual, she said.

The revisions were divided and completed by the Agenda Committee, the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Professional Ethics, the Committee on Research and the Committee on Appointment and Promotions. Reed said that an open forum to discuss the proposed revisions will be announced and held before the revised manual is voted on in April.

At the end of the meeting, the Senate held an “executive session” — which only senators can attend — for a scheduled Honorary Degrees Committee report. USen’s next meeting on April 17 will be the final meeting of the spring semester and will be held in person at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Published on March 21, 2024 at 1:04 am

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu