free
WEDNESDAY
jan. 17, 2018 high 22°, low 14°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
N • Loan relief
P • Budget cuts
Experts say a Department of Education proposal could make it more difficult for students to seek loan forgiveness if a college harmed them financially. Page 3
dailyorange.com
Almost a year after the Trump administration announced a plan to cut federal funding for the arts, Syracuse-area arts organizations are trying to remain optimistic. Page 9
S • Making due
Pittsburgh has yet to win a game in the ACC, but the Panthers kept on Syracuse for most of Tuesday’s game. In the end, though, the Orange prevailed. Page 16
SU chancellor details academic changes
on campus
Site team to review SU report Middle States to assess SU reaccreditation By Catherine Leffert asst. news editor
KENT SYVERUD, Syracuse University’s chancellor, delivered a speech Tuesday in the Milton Atrium of the Life Sciences Complex. The address essentially served as a State of the University update. hieu nguyen asst. photo editor
Syverud updates campus on Academic Strategic Plan, Invest Syracuse
Senate tasked with sexual harassment policy review
By Sam Ogozalek
By Daniel Strauss
Chancellor Kent Syverud in a speech Tuesday promised that Syracuse University would start to prioritize the implementation of his broad Academic Strategic Plan throughout the spring semester. A large part of that implementation requires that SU deliver on “promises” set out in the Invest Syracuse initiative, he said. Invest Syracuse is a five-year $100 million fundraising plan that aims to support Syverud’s ASP, in part by implementing a $3,300 tuition premium for first-year and transfer students this fall. “By and large, the vast majority of the university will complete strategic planning this summer,” Syverud said. “It is therefore time that we start moving faster from reaction and planning, to proactive implementation of our strategies.” Syverud detailed progress of Invest Syracuse and the ASP, which outlines future academic goals at SU, during an address in the Milton Atrium of SU’s Life Sciences Complex. He delivered a similar speech last year, essentially serving as a State of the University update. Tangible impacts of Invest Syracuse will be felt across campus in coming months, Syverud said. On Tuesday,
Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud in a speech Tuesday said a review of the university’s policies governing faculty and student sexual relationships is a priority this spring. Syverud asked the University Senate and college deans to provide recommendations on how to review policies governing sexual relationships between faculty or staff and students. “There is a potential for abusive power in these relationships,” Syverud said. “And we have witnessed that here and we have witnessed it at other universities.” In an address this past December, Syverud originally asked the senate to review how SU governs relationships between faculty and undergraduate students. As the rule currently stands, faculty can have sexual relationships with undergraduates as long as they do not teach, advise or supervise them. Syverud on Tuesday said senators and administrators should provide recommendations on the policy by the end of the spring semester and said it’s important to address the issue as soon as possible. “It’s time to reassess whether or not we have the best policies and practices in place at Syracuse,” Syverud said.
news editor
asst. digital editor
see initiatives page 4
see policy page 4
Syracuse University is awaiting a site visit team to review its recently submitted reaccreditation report that, if approved, will allow SU to continue receiving federal financial aid. The team is expected to visit the university’s campus from March 25 to 28. Accreditation is a process that all universities must undergo every 10 years through an external body to determine if a university complies with certain standards. SU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a nonprofit accreditation organization. About two years ago, SU began the process of putting together committees to evaluate different objectives set by Middle States, said Rochelle Ford, a chair of the university’s Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee. Standards vary from things such as ethics and integrity policy to the student experience. “We really used this as an opportunity to make the university better,” Ford said. “Not just check a box and say ‘hey federal government, give us more money for financial aid.’” SU submitted a final draft of the report in the last month, and the next step is for an external team from Middle States to visit campus and review the university’s report. One member of the Middle States site visit team has already visited SU and given his own evaluation, with plans to visit the SU campus in Florence, Italy later next month to continue his evaluation, Ford said. Accreditation agencies are in place to hold universities accountable for what they are meant to be doing and what they say they will do, Ford said. “One of the things we want to ensure is that students are getting what we said we would deliver to them,” Ford said. The federal government relies on accreditation agencies, such as Middle States, to evaluate how universities are performing so they can receive federal funding aid. “In addition, accreditation offers universities an incentive to maintain accountability with the public and to commit to continuous improvement,” said Paul Gaston, trustees professor at Kent State University and an expert on accreditation. The accreditation process opens doors for innovation by using ideas from peer institutions see middle
states page 7