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Syracuse University launched a new program Monday which aims to advance the university’s academic excellence by generating more resources to recruit and retain university faculty.

The Forever Orange Faculty Excellence Program, announced by SU Chancellor Kent Syverud during his winter message for the spring 2022 semester, will raise funds for new faculty research.

Syverud said the university’s Forever Orange Campaign, originally launched in 2018, passed the $1 billion mark this past summer. In the last six months, the university has raised more in cash than in any 12 month period in the university’s history, he said.

Syverud said the first two-thirds of the money raised in the Forever Orange Campaign was focused on student success. The university will turn the focus of the campaign toward supporting its faculty.

“The major objective of the Forever Orange Faculty Excellence Program is accelerating the creation of endowments for professorships, chairs and faculty support funds, all of which are critical to recruiting and sustaining a high achieving faculty,” the release reads.

The new program will provide incentives for donors and alumni to create endowments for professorships, chairs and faculty support funds. Such resources are important to secure an accomplished and diverse faculty cohort, Syverud said in his winter message.

The university will use endowment funds to leverage private donations. Those donations then would help establish permanent teaching and research positions, said Matt Ter Molen, the senior vice president and chief advancement officer, in the release.

Faculty scholarly and creative works, discovery and invention are crucial in raising the university’s institutional prestige, rankings and competitiveness for grant funding, said Gretchen Ritter, SU’s provost and chief academic officer. This program will accelerate the creation of prestigious professorships and chairs, she said.

SU will spend one-quarter to one-third of the funds required to create endowed chairs, professorships, visiting professorships, faculty fellowships and postdoctoral fellowships. Endowments can also be supported when funds are contributed to name existing, unnamed chairs and professorships or faculty fellowships, according to the release.

“Great universities change lives by preparing the next generation of experts, leaders, dreamers and doers,” Syverud said in his winter message. “And great universities are the source of world-changing discoveries and highly innovative solutions.”

Published on January 25, 2022 at 10:33 pm

Contact Francis: [email protected] | @francis_towne