The Syracuse University Board of Trustees should not be the only deciding body in the future of the Carrier Dome.

Chancellor Kent Syverud said Monday that the SU Board of Trustees will be meeting in November to make a tentative decision regarding the future of the Dome. The board will be presented with several alternatives in addition to well-documented cost-benefits issues related to each.

The Carrier Dome is an icon on the SU campus and the university community deserves to have a say in its future. Although current students likely will not be on campus to feel the effects of any changes made to the Dome, their voices can offer insight into how changes to the Dome would affect student life, something that applies to all generations of SU students.

The university has been weighing three options for the Dome: replacing the current roof as is, installing a new roof structure while simultaneously making other improvements or building a different stadium off-site.

Once a decision is reached by the Board of Trustees, input from the campus community must carry weight in the final decision. However, because not everyone is aware of the specific details, outcomes and logistics of every option under the Campus Master Plan, a part of Syverud’s Fast Forward initiative, the popular opinion of the SU community should not be the ultimate deciding factor in Dome proceedings.

To gauge the popular opinion of the SU community, the university should consider sending out surveys, similar to the one it sent out in May of this year when seeking student input on the Dome in the early stages of the process.

SU should also look to hold a community forum in which members of the campus community would have the opportunity to voice any opinions they have on Dome proceedings. Although the university does hold forums about the Fast Forward initiative, creating a discussion environment specific to the Carrier Dome would be more beneficial in that people would be able to directly respond to the Board of Trustees’ preferred option for the Dome.

Syverud said in an interview with The Daily Orange that the university is “well teed up” for a decision this academic year. Although the Board of Trustees will have the ultimate say in the final decision, input from the campus community must be sought out and should carry some weight in the final plans for the Dome.

Published on October 20, 2015 at 12:41 am

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