A 13-person committee of faculty, staff, students and trustees has been created to aid in the search for a new vice chancellor and provost.

The committee was approved at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting and includes representation from most schools and colleges, except for the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

In his address to the Senate, Chancellor Kent Syverud noted that the search for a new director of athletics is also underway. Interim Athletic Director Pete Sala serves on the committee to search for a new director, but is not a candidate for the position, Syverud said. A search consultant is assisting the committee and has already visited Syracuse University’s campus twice, he added.

Syverud said he met with several Senate committees to discuss the formation of the Vice Chancellor Search Committee and what its upcoming duties will be. A committee chair has not yet been selected, but Syverud said he plans to meet with the Senate to discuss possible nominations.

The committee will begin the “bulk of its work” in August and into the fall, he said.

“It’s very important to me that we have a genuinely open search for the provost — that it includes internal and external candidates, that there be no favoritism in any direction and that there’s no more important hire that we’ll be making in the next year,” Syverud said.

Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Elizabeth Liddy also provided an update on the Provost Advisory Committee, a group of faculty that will meet with the provost to provide feedback on university-level reviews for cases of promotion and tenure.

The group will consist of seven tenured, full-time professors representing several university-wide disciplines, who will serve two-year terms — the vice president for research and the associate provost of academic affairs. The Senate Agenda Committee will hold elections in the fall to select full professors to fill the position, Liddy said.

Three final dean candidates for the College of Engineering and Computer Science visited campus two weeks ago, Liddy said. She added that a slate of candidates for dean of SU Libraries has also been finalized.

At the end of the nearly two-hour-long meeting, the Senate Budget Committee presented an abridged version of its report to a crowd that waned to approximately 40 senators. The report touched on areas such as SU’s primary revenue sources, developing a password-enabled database for colleges to access budget data, as well as other areas.

“We are primarily a tuition-driven school,” said Budget Committee Chair Dawit Negussey. “Almost 55 percent of our income comes from tuition.”

Other business discussed:

— Next fall, the Committee on Women’s Concerns will look at how Title IX is implemented at SU, specifically within the realm of sexual harassment and those affected by sexual violence. The committee will also continue its proposal to develop an ombudsman office at SU.

— The Senate approved a resolution to honor several retiring faculty and administrators with emeritus status, including former Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina and Melvin Stith, former dean of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

— The Academic Affairs Committee announced this year’s University Scholars, an academic achievement award given to 12 undergraduate students, all seniors: Maryann Akinboyewa, a marketing management and writing and rhetoric dual major; Brooke Baerman, an art history and philosophy dual major; Matthew Fernandes, an English and textual studies and television, radio and film dual major; Alex Ganes, a music composition major; Jonathan Lee, an information management and technology and policy studies dual major; Elizabeth McMahon, a biology and policy studies dual major; Natalie Rebeyev, a biology and modern Jewish studies dual major; Elliott Russell, a bioengineering and biotechnology dual major; Bo Stewart, a policy studies, political science, economics and Spanish language, literature and culture triple major; Emily Tucci, a bioengineering major; Kristin Weeks, a biology, political science and sociology triple major; and Mark Zlotsky, an architecture major.

— In its report, the Academic Affairs Committee also provided an update on its proposal to change the description of Professors of Practice. The official motion will be presented at the first Senate meeting next fall.

— The Academic Affairs Committee report also noted that a few faculty representatives on the Board of Trustees will be elected. Shiu-Kai Chin, the current representative, will leave this year once his two-year term ends.

Published on April 15, 2015 at 10:12 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu