Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud announced a series of new initiatives and leadership changes Monday morning in a memorandum that was included in a schoolwide email.

In the memorandum, Syverud listed the following changes in leadership positions on campus:

• Laura Steinberg will step down as the dean of the L.C Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science in December. After Steinberg’s sabbatical in the spring of 2015, she will work with Syverud on the strategic priorities of SU. One of these priorities will be veteran initiatives.
• Professor Michael Haynie will be appointed vice chancellor for veterans and military affairs, effective July 1. Haynie, founder of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, will keep his position as the executive director of the IVMF as well.
• Jeff Kaplan, senior vice president and executive officer at The Ohio State University, will be appointed as the senior advisor to the chancellor and president of SU, effective July 1.
• Syverud said he does not have immediate plans to undertake a search for a new senior vice president and dean of student affairs. Instead, Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz will continue in that position, which she took over on an interim basis in July of 2013.
• Michael Wasylenko, the senior associate dean for academics and administration and a professor of economics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will step down as the faculty athletics representative to the NCAA on June 30. Rick Burton, a sport management professor in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, will assume that role effective July 1.

In addition to leadership announcements, The Board of Trustees approved changes in the faculty promotion policies on May 10, according to the memo. One significant change is that SU granting tenure will coincide with the promotion to associate professor. This change will be implemented in the fall semester.

The chancellor, instructed by the board, announced in the memo that a tenured associate professor is in the process of a disciplinary case with SU due to an alleged violation of the consensual relationships provision of the Policy on Inappropriate Conduct by Faculty Members and the University Code of Ethical Conduct. Syverud said the faculty-member was allegedly in a consensual relationship with an undergraduate student. The student was enrolled in a class with the professor during their relationship. The final step in the disciplinary process is currently underway, and Syverud said he will update the community when the process is completed.

In the memorandum, Syverud said he has asked that necessary changes be made to SU’s sexual violence support services, structures and policies during the summer. The changes will be in compliance with the formal guidance and recommendations provided by a report released in April from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

Syverud added that in the future, any new or expanded community engagement initiative that requires university funds should first be approved and endorsed by the current dean of the school or college related to the proposed initiative.

The memorandum also announced recent decisions made by the university’s Board of Trustees.

The board approved the creation of a new athletics committee, which will be chaired by trustee Robert Miron. Voting trustees Darlene DeRemer, Joshua Heintz and James Kuhn, as well as life trustee Steven Ballentine, will serve on the committee. Chairman Richard Thompson and Syverud will serve as ex-officio members, according to the memo.

Other announcements made in the memorandum included:

• Syverud has launched a national search for a new chief advancement officer, because Tom Walsh, executive vice president for advancement and external affairs, will transition to the role of special counsel to the chancellor in the end of June. During the search process, Charles Merrihew will serve as interim vice president of the division, and Deborah Armstrong will be the interim vice president for development.
• Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, who currently oversees the Division of Public Affairs, will now also oversee and coordinate relations with the State University of New York.
• The chancellor will begin a search soon for a new chief human resources officer at the university.

Published on May 12, 2014 at 1:05 pm

Contact Anna: almerod@syr.edu