The David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics gained a new graduate program at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting held at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The meeting lasted approximately 20 minutes.

Bruce Carter, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, presented the Committee on Curricula’s report. The report included the new 36-credit program, a Master of Science in sport venue and event management, which was passed unanimously by the senate. Content areas of the program include sport finance, sport law and legal operations management and event planning operations management.

The program is made of faculty from colleges beside the Department of Sport Management in Falk, including the School of Information Studies, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

Ian Ludd, an undergraduate USen representative, said changes like this to the curriculum are one of USen’s better features and usually pass without contention.

‘I think it’s good to create so many different programs and majors for different students to find what they want to study,’ Ludd said.

The Agenda Committee’s report was presented by Samuel Gorovitz, a member of the Academic Affairs Committee. He said the committee is currently seeking the views of individuals attending Syracuse University, individuals outside the university and alumni to gain an unbiased view of the university.

‘All members of the expanded Syracuse community are encouraged to express their views to us,’ Gorovitz said.

In his report from the Committee on Athletic Policy, Michael Wasylenko emphasized the ability of sports opportunities for men and women, student-athlete welfare and academics, and compliance with NCAA regulations. He said the committee is no longer focusing on budgetary matters in detail and is instead leaving those matters to the USen Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee.

Wasylenko also spoke about SU’s recent move up in the Director’s Cup rankings. Schools are allotted points depending on how well their teams do in relation to other schools, he said.

‘Of the 279 teams in the Division I we are finished 61, which is a good move up,’ Wasylenko said.

Wasylenko said that when he was on the search committee for a new athletic director, several candidates said they were surprised by SU’s low ranking given that the university is such a high-quality institution.

He said pursuing a goal in moving up further in these rankings is positive.

‘It speaks to student-athletes who don’t just want to compete, they want to compete well and do well. I think that is a worthy thing and the committee does support that,’ Wasylenko said.

Wasylenko provided updates on the revamping of academic support for athletes. He said the quality of tutors has been enhanced, especially for difficult subjects like math and science.

rebarill@syr.edu

Published on October 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm