Student Association submits feedback to SU on latest Academic Strategic Plan draft

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Following the final student association meeting of the fall semester, Jamie Winders, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, gave a presentation on the updated draft of Syracuse University’s Academic Strategic Plan, released February 17 for SA during Monday night’s meeting.

The first draft of the ASP, a five-year plan outlining the university’s academic plans, was released on February 17 after gathering feedback from faculty and students. Members of ASP previously solicited SA feedback in November 2022 when members discussed issues including global engagement, enrollment strategy, budget resources and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

Winders stressed the importance of SA’s work and contributions Monday, saying the plan will impact students’ academic experience and the culture at SU.

“We want to commit to truly aligning the curriculum and our academic programs to foster a stronger sense of belonging for all of our students and to help them find ways to work with us to provide equitable and transparent access for all of our students guarantee on all of our offerings,” Winders said.

After Winders’ presentation, SA members gathered ideas and feedback for possible next steps to submit to the plan in groups with faculty members involved in the ASP committees.

Last week SA President David Bruen traveled to Washington, DC with fellow student leaders to attend the National Pathways Summit, an event promoting major US education reform.

The summit discussed alternative avenues for K-12 students, Bruen said, which included ways to get rid of social and cultural expectations that students attend four-year colleges and universities after high school. They suggested placing more emphasis on trade schools and community colleges, Bruen said, noting that these are more financially attainable post-secondary education options for many Americans.

Bruen emphasized that he hopes to continue working on projects outside of SU and urged other SA members to do the same.

“I think the extent of our advocacy shouldn’t be limited by the boundaries of this campus and not bound by the fact that we’re just in college now,” Bruen said.

SA also passed its law during the meeting, which dealt with the main Syracuse crisis. With this bill, Bruen said he hopes to move forward in SA’s leading crisis initiative by communicating SA’s concerns with city leaders.

“As far as I remember, there was a question about what the next steps would be and what the mission of this bill is,” Bruen said. “And it’s really just about getting a coherent and consistent view of the organization so that we as leaders can move forward to write letters and engage with community partners on this issue.”

Electoral Committee Chairman Otto Sutton announced an ongoing investigation into an Assembly Member’s alleged violation in the electoral process. Election candidates Elliot Salas and Brendan Murty were accused of voting incorrectly, in which a person was on their ballot when they didn’t want to be. They were fined $10 and suspended from SA activities for the next two days. Sutton told the gathering that the investigation documents were available, but said he could not discuss further details related to the investigation.

Other business:

SA will host a Spring Festival on Friday from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the Goldstein Auditorium, planned and hosted in partnership with Orange After Dark.

Syracuse Graduate Employees United Hosts “Prep for the Polls Party!” Wednesday at the Shaw Quadrangle from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm SGEU will provide free donuts and coffee in celebration of the April 3rd and 4th formal union building vote.

The assembly passed the Sustainability Peer-to-Peer Funding Act, which establishes an event for students to discuss sustainability on campus and work towards building a more sustainable lifestyle. SA will sponsor food and beverages for the event.