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The Syracuse University Senate hosted a “special meeting” Tuesday morning to discuss SU’s renaming and restructuring of its David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, as well as changes to other academic programs on campus.

During the meeting, USen members voted to carry three motions making suggestions for how the university should move forward with the Falk College changes. The changes include ensuring “equitable” representation of faculty in the Human Dynamics Task Force, extending the timeline for the task force to provide recommendations and allowing the senate to vote on the suggestions once completed.

“It’s a good thing for universities to be dynamic and to reorganize and to change around allocations. I’m not saying this is bad,” said Crystal Bartolovich, one of the senators who petitioned for the special meeting. “I am saying that the faculty … especially the senate, should be far more involved in knowing about this process and participating actively in it.”

University administrators — Falk Dean Jeremy Jordan, SU Vice President for Research Duncan Brown and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Jamie Winders — delivered presentations about the changes to Falk College, the university’s increased investment in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and adjustments to teaching load recommendations, respectively. The special meeting petitioners then presented their concerns.

On April 15, SU announced it would change the name of Falk from the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics to David B. Falk College of Sport. Jordan said at a faculty-wide meeting that the college will be comprised of four departments: Sport Management, Nutrition and Exercise Science, Sport Analytics and Esports. The future of the Human Dynamics departments, which include Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, Human Development and Family Science and Public Health, will be determined by a task force.

Jordan presented a detailed composition of the proposed Human Dynamics Task Force. He said it will include one representative from each Human Dynamics department selected by its members.

One goal of the changes is to “differentiate the university” from other higher education institutions, Jordan said. He emphasized the multiple restructuring projects the college has seen over its 100-year history on SU’s campus.

“Since its inception, the college has gone through multiple evolutions that have changed the composition of the college,” Jordan said. “So while new, this current evolution that we’re going through … there’s a history of change for the college with demonstrated success.”

While the college is being restructured, Jordan said there will be “no changes” to faculty and staff positions, academic programs, operational support and policies, promotion procedures and tenure policies.

Falk faculty and staff were first told about the changes in an April 15 meeting. Bartolovich said she and her colleagues have felt “in the dark” regarding the future of Human Dynamics at SU.

Along with several other petitioners, she argued that the university has not adhered to the American Association of University Professors’ standards for “shared governance.” The AAUP defines the term as “the joint responsibility of faculty, administrations, and governing boards to govern colleges and universities,” according to its website.

Attendees also cited shared governance concerns in other recent university announcements, including the increased focus on ECS and altered school-by-school guidelines for teaching professors, which will be used in evaluations.

At the start of the meeting, members of the faculty council for SU’s School of Visual and Performing Arts distributed a letter outlining their concerns surrounding the changes to teaching staff guidelines. Under the new guidelines, teaching professors in VPA are recommended to adopt a 4/4 teaching load, the letter states.

“The increase in teaching loads reflects other recent troubling instances of lack of shared governance, faculty input, and lack of transparency such as the reorganization of Falk College, or the expansion of the Engineering School,” it reads.

The senate also expressed concerns regarding the university’s increased investment into ECS and how it may affect resources allocated toward other schools. SU’s emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math education coincided with the arrival of a multi-billion dollar Micron Technology plant in central New York.

During the Q&A session, Senator Margaret Thompson, who is affiliated with SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, said she was concerned about how the university’s increased investment in STEM and “vocational” education would impact other academics on campus. The petitioners, including Bartolovich, said it was unclear if the changes would affect enrollment, employment and other structures across the university.

The university’s Academic Strategic Plan states the investment in ECS will warrant “a new enrollment plan to reflect institutional priorities and adjust school and college budgets accordingly.”

Responding to these concerns, Smith said ECS’s internal strategic plan includes “great collaboration across schools.”

James Tapia, a petitioner and university senator representing VPA, said he believes the guiding principles were “rushed.” He also said the university did not adequately consider how the changes would impact each school’s faculty, namely VPA professors — who are expected to conduct artistic projects outside of their teaching workload.

Though Winders said the recommendations were flexible and not a “fixed policy,” Tapia said changes were “egregious and onerous” and may impact the onboarding of future teaching professors as many want to take on outside artistic endeavors along with their coursework.

“This special session … could’ve been avoided if communication in process and embracing the opportunity for administrative and faculty shared governance had been followed,” Tapia said.

During the Q&A session, several VPA senators echoed Tapia’s statement and said the changes were not conducive to accommodating their programs.

Attendees and other senators repeatedly emphasized the “lack of transparency” within university decisions and how the three most recent changes exemplify SU’s ongoing communication issues with the broader university community.

“I want to tell you I am, as are my colleagues in the College of Sport and Human Dynamics, somewhat outraged and devastated by what has happened in the college. I believe that we were ambushed,” said Diane Lyden Murphy, a former Falk dean.

Jordan Beasley, a member of USen’s undergraduate caucus, said he believes the university should “put a pause” on its reimagining plans until it collects adequate feedback from campus community members.

As a student of SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, he said he has seen multiple professors leave their positions, claiming that before they left the university to “(go) somewhere better.”

Now that the senate has carried the three motions, their suggestions will now be reviewed by its agenda committee. Once reviewed, they will later come to another vote within the senate.

“I’ve been here for three-and-a-half years, and I mean this with all due respect, but I’ve seen this administration as a whole make the exact same mistakes time and time again,” Beasley said. “The majority of the issues at this university could be solved by simple conversations, that y’all just don’t want to have because you’re in the wrong.”

Clarification: A previous version of this article referred to Beasley as a “member” of SU’s Student Association. While the Senate’s website lists Beasley as representing SA as part of its undergraduate student caucus, he is not an active member of the association. According to SA’s website, the association’s president appoints the undergraduate university senators.

Published on May 1, 2024 at 12:14 am

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu