Syracuse University Vice Chancellor Deborah Freund will update faculty, staff and students about the state of the university at her annual address this afternoon.

The address will take place in Grant Auditorium in the Law School and will begin at 4:15 p.m.

Each year Freund uses the event to recognize faculty who have had excellent performances during the past year and set the university’s academic tone, said Daniel Holliman, assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Holliman said that as vice chancellor of the university, Freund serves as the chief academic officer for SU. In this capacity she oversees all academic affairs and concerns at the university.

“She’s the person most responsible for the academic climate of the university and this is her time to share what she’s done,” Holliman said. “Sure we have athletics and all these other aspects of the university, but academics is the most important thing we do.”

Freund was not available for comment.

Last year Freund outlined an academic plan focusing the university on ensuring greater faculty and student success, greater graduate education and increasing the intellectual environment of the university through diversity, according to the SU Academic Plan Web site.

Holliman said SU Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw charged Freund with creating the plan when she first arrived at SU about three years ago and that she will use Tuesday’s address to show the university community what’s been accomplished.

“It’s really sort of the time where she’s getting full force into the plans she wants to work on with the university,” Holliman said. “Now it’s been one year out from the academic plan and it’s time to address the plan and how we’re been meeting the goals she set for us.”

Freund’s academic plan, called A Strategic Partnership for Innovative Research and Education, or A-SPIRE, contains goals and initiatives outlining the best ways to help SU become the leading student-centered research school in the country.

Holliman said Freund’s address is entitled “Tenure and the Academic Plan.”

“One of the things she really wants to do is reward great teachers at Syracuse University with tenure,” Holliman said. “She really wants us to be able to find great teachers and recognize them for the good things they do.”

Gerry Lobo, co-chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee at the School of Management, said Freund’s stance on tenure is a good one.

“It’s great that she’s devoted so much energy to the subject,” Lobo said. “Without tenure there’d be a revolving door with professors leaving all the time.”

Lobo said that while there’s both pros and cons to granting professors tenure, most professors at the School of Management see it as a good thing.

“They all understand that once you have it you see how beneficial it can be,” Lobo said.

Lobo said that among the benefits of tenure is that it gives professors a reason to take on long-term projects like writing books and developing new courses.

“If you don’t have tenure, you probably don’t have that commitment,” Lobo said.

Although Freund’s address is intended primarily for the faculty’s benefit, Holliman said Freund hopes students will want to attend the speech because of her dedication to their academic well-being.

“A great deal of what she talks about is what we do for SU students and to facilitate their academic career,” Holliman said. “She really has gone out of her way to meet with students to hear their concerns about the quality of their classes, advising and other academic aspects.”

Published on March 25, 2002 at 12:00 pm