Syracuse University’s Academic Strategic Plan may have seemed a bit abbreviated to some when it was released last week, but there’s a reason for that, said Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Elizabeth Liddy.

The purpose of releasing a condensed version of the Academic Strategic Plan for a comment period is because the draft is meant to only generally state Syracuse University’s goals, she said.

“This is intended as a high-level, very aspirational document to give a sense of the University’s goals,” Liddy said in an email. “The longer report with more details will evolve from this document and will provide additional context to the goals and recommendations.”

A draft of the Fast Forward Initiative’s Academic Strategic Plan was released to the public for comment on April 2 in a campus-wide email sent by Liddy. The draft is only a framework for a more comprehensive and specific plan to improve Syracuse University. The open comment period will end on April 10.

After the open comment period, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, which consists of a mix between faculty, staff and students, will review all of the feedback and make suggestions for an updated draft, Liddy said.

The Steering Committee has 22 members that include Student Association President Boris Gresely, Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, senior vice president for student affairs, Patrick Neary, president of the graduate student organization, and Liddy.

Chancellor Kent Syverud and the Board of Trustees will receive the final version of the Academic Strategic Plan at the end of April and in early May, respectively, Liddy added.

In response to THE General Body’s sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall last fall and the negotiations that followed, 12 additional members chosen by THE General Body, GSO and SA were added to the Steering Committee and to the seven working groups that drafted the plan.

A statement released by THE General Body, however, indicates that despite the open comment period and additional students, the Academic Strategic Plan still needs more student input and transparency.

“While the University has made an impressive effort to accord Fast Forward a veneer of transparency, on the whole the Academic Strategic Plan offers minimal concrete and substantive recommendations and reveals an alarming lack of concern for social justice issues at the university, community and society more broadly,” THE General Body said in the statement.

THE General Body also encouraged people to submit their own comments about the plan or to copy and paste a detailed list of critiques and suggestions that they provided.

Katie McDonald, an associate professor at the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and member of the Steering Committee, said the committee plans to review and consider any revisions that emerge from the open comment period.

Liddy said the Academic Strategic Plan is a “living” document and said there is an expectation that other ideas and opportunities may emerge from the open comment period. Following the comment period, the Steering Committee will review the feedback and make revisions before sending it to the chancellor for review.

Published on April 7, 2015 at 11:55 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu