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Just over a year after Syracuse University introduced the early stages of a new Academic Strategic Plan, university community members gathered for the first annual symposium to discuss the plan’s academic goals that the university aims to achieve by 2028.

Approximately 450 SU students, faculty and staff attended Tuesday morning’s symposium both in-person and via Zoom to learn more about “Leading with Distinction,” a finalized iteration of the ASP that strives to hone SU’s long-term academic excellence. Goals in the ASP include expanding study abroad, investing in STEM education connected to Micron Technology and improving SU’s rankings among peer institutions.

Gretchen Ritter, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer for SU, said that the university’s goal moving forward will shift from planning to implementation over the next five years.

“This year, next year and the year after that are all about implementation, execution and building,” Ritter said. “Now is the time to shift gears from imagining to doing the big bets we have laid out here that are ambitious and transformative.”

Academic goals outlined in the ASP include urging and equipping the “vast majority” of undergraduate students to participate in study abroad programs and mandating curriculum on democracy and civil discourse for all undergraduates. Another primary benchmark is continuing the university’s commitment to military-connected students and faculty.

Sophie Creager-Roberts, an SU senior dual majoring in environment, sustainability and policy and history, said studying abroad opened up career opportunities through internships and gave her a better understanding of other parts of the world.

“No matter how far or for how long the program or trip may be, it has the potential to have a measurable impact on students as present and future selves,” Creager-Roberts said.

The ASP will open up study abroad opportunities for all undergraduates, specifically targeting student-athletes and students with campus jobs or military connections that would traditionally hinder study abroad, Creager-Roberts said.

In ASP feedback forums this spring, logistical concerns were raised regarding how to execute this goal. SU currently sits with the 10th-best study abroad program out of all colleges and universities in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report. Approximately 46% of SU’s students are involved in international study abroad programs.

The new ASP also intends to capitalize on Micron’s $100 billion investment for a new semiconductor facility in Clay. SU says it will increase undergraduate enrollment in the College of Engineering and Computer Science by at least 50% and add 50 new faculty members in preparation for the new facility, per the ASP.

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Duncan Brown, SU’s vice president for research and Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics, said the university’s goals to expand STEM programming include increased investment in teaching, more students in STEM courses and improved on-campus research facilities.

Joe Nehme, Micron’s senior manager of external affairs, said the company tapped SU to be its main academic partner to help educate and train a new workforce.

“Micron feels confident in the partnership and the primary academic partnership that we have with Syracuse University, (and) that we’re going to be able to fill our workforce and really make sure this project is successful,” Nehme said.

With these goals in motion, SU hopes to ascend to top 20 standing among university rankings in terms of academic offerings, research output and student experience, according to the ASP.

“Our academic strategic plan serves as a guide to this next stage of our work to achieve Syracuse University’s mission and to distinguish the university from our peers,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said. “The plan outlines a path to stretch our aspirational goals to produce tomorrow’s leaders and engaged global citizens and to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.”

SU first launched its efforts to design a new plan in September 2022 and began revising the first draft after its release in February.

Ritter highlighted the feedback sessions that she and other university officials hosted throughout the last academic year to gather student and faculty feedback on the original ASP draft, as integral to its current state. She said thousands of participants were involved in the feedback process, with 65 total ASP events held in the fall 2022 semester alone.

Although Ritter acknowledged the updated ASP contains “big bets,” she said SU can succeed in its goals with the same effort university members used to draft the original plan.

“It’s incredibly important that people not take their foot off the gas at this stage because there’s a lot of hard work to do,” Ritter said. “I think if we can have some of those same principles that we use in developing the plans, we’ll do it well.”

Published on September 26, 2023 at 11:41 pm

Contact Dominic: [email protected] | @DominicChiappo2