UPDATE: March 7, 12:41 a.m.

Staff, faculty and students are invited to discuss what they would like to see in Syracuse University’s next chancellor during a series of open forums on March 18, university officials announced Wednesday.

There will be three opportunities for the campus to participate:

• Staff members are invited to a forum in the Schine Underground from noon to 1:30 p.m. Search committee member Ryan Williams, associate vice president of enrollment management and director of scholarships and student aid, will host the forum.

• Faculty members are invited to another forum in the Schine Underground from 4-5:30 p.m. Search committee member Kendall Phillips, professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, will host the forum.

• Students are invited to the last forum of the day, held in Maxwell Auditorium from 7:30-9:00 p.m. The forum will be a part of the Student Association’s weekly meeting, but all students are welcome to attend. SA Chief of Staff and junior film major PJ Alampi will host the session.

Representatives from Spencer Stuart, a New York-based search firm hired to assist the university in the search, will help run the meetings. Search committee chair Joanne Alper will also be present. The forums will hopefully draw in a strong attendance representative of the campus, said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs at SU.

“We are eager to hear from our many constituents and know that an open process like this is the best way to ensure our next chancellor represents the wide range of people and interests that make Syracuse University such a dynamic and special place,” Alper said in a statement released Wednesday.

In addition to the forums, the website syr.edu/chancellorsearch went live Wednesday.

The website includes an online survey, search timeline and information, and an opportunity to suggest a specific candidate or provide other feedback to the search committee.

The search committee held its first meeting in February to discuss the challenges facing the university and the ideal chancellor for SU. These are the first public forums discussing the chancellor search.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor announced Oct. 12 she plans to leave the university when her contract expires in 2014. The committee is expected to end its search by November or December.

When Alampi and Ivan Rosales-Robles, the undergraduate representatives on the committee, heard from Spencer Stuart that collecting student input could be one of the more difficult aspects of the search, they began discussing holding the forum with SA. By holding the forum at the same time as the SA meeting, at least 50 students will be present, they said.

Alampi and Rosales-Robles, chair of SA’s Student Life Committee and a sophomore accounting and public policy major, are working together to organize the student forum. They said having SA members present also means there will be a number of student leaders with knowledge of how the administration works.

They plan to reach out individually to campus organizations and leaders to encourage more students to attend, as well as use social media to spread the word.

Alampi said that although both he and Rosales-Robles are able to serve on the committee and are knowledgeable about SU, neither knows every student’s concern. This is why it is important for students to attend the forum to voice their opinions, Alampi said.

As a student, Rosales-Robles said he appreciated the efforts SU has made with campus diversity. He said he hopes to see that continue with the next chancellor, as well as increased outreach to the West Coast, where he is from.

The forum is an opportunity for students to discuss the future of SU, Rosales-Robles said. The goal of the meeting is not to discuss what students do not like about the university, but what trends students would like to see SU continue or return to with the next chancellor, he said.

“We don’t want this to turn into complaining,” Rosales-Robles said. “The point is looking forward – where we want the university to go.”

Published on March 6, 2013 at 3:43 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride