The University Senate will hold an open forum today for campus groups to discuss Syracuse University issues and programs. The meeting will be held in a question and answer format in the Maxwell Auditorium at 4:15 p.m.

University Senate, the governing body of SU, will hear concerns from its 17 committees, including Academic Affairs, Budget and Fiscal Affairs and Women’s Concerns. Chancellor Nancy Cantor will be in attendance as well.

Katherine Vetter, assistant recorder for USen, said most concerns raised during the meeting will be budget-related, because of the economic crisis.

Recently, SU has made employment cuts at E.S. Bird Library, and is downsizing departmental spending. Syracuse Responds, an emergency fundraising initiative for scholarship money, was put into place to help current students with spring semester tuition, Vetter said.

‘While the forum is open for all to come and discuss their concerns, usually those in attendance are the senators, rather than university committee members,’ she said.

Andrew Clark, a senator on the library committee, said he plans to attend the open meeting. Although he didn’t go to the previous meeting in January, he remembers last year’s forum was small and relatively short.

At the last USen meeting, held Jan.14, the Committee on Curricula, the Senate Agenda Committee and the Committee of Budget and Fiscal Affairs gave reports.

The Committee on Curricula submitted several changes to courses to be approved by the Senate, including a new prefix for Women’s Studies courses, now WGS (women and gender studies), changing the required laboratory component for BIO 123: General Biology II to be optional, and the addition of a real estate program and minor, which will all be effective Fall 2009.

Vetter said she isn’t sure which topics will be discussed at the meeting.

This is the second meeting of the year, and the only open forum for 2009 where all members of the SU community can attend. Meetings are held monthly between September and April, on Wednesdays at 4:15 p.m.

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Published on February 3, 2009 at 12:00 pm