Following his visit to the University of Louisville last weekend, Student Association President Boris Gresely started a discussion about how Syracuse University can best compete with other schools.

SA, Gresely said, should be “rooting for, fighting for, and always being very active” in facilitating change for the university across the board.

“Our mindsets should be focused on students,” Gresely added.

At Tuesday’s SA meeting in Maxwell Auditorium, assembly members discussed Chancellor Kent Syverud’s master plan for the university, a strategic plan for SU, operational excellence and how to raise student awareness about the plans being formulated for the future of SU.

The purpose of the master plan is to identify the flaws of the university and implement policies that will correct them.  SU is working closely with Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, to develop the plan.

In April 2014, the firm published a diagnostic report detailing its mission to “identify opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness” at SU.  The goals of the plan are to improve student life on campus, help SU compete more fiercely with other private universities and attract potential future students to the school.

When Gresely asked the assembly what SU is doing wrong, members made recommendations for “tangible change” such as remodeling outdated buildings and making student services more readily accessible.

The implementation of a strategic plan for SU, an aspect of the chancellor’s master plan, is necessary in order to help the university move forward and progress, assembly members discussed. Seven working groups are exchanging ideas for improvement in order to create a succinct strategic plan.

Gresely is a member of the Undergraduate Excellence workgroup, which focuses on undergraduate academics, and while he did not give the assembly information about the other groups, he did describe a major goal he has for improving undergraduate education:  giving teaching assistants more training time.

Gresley said the academic relationship between students and TAs is often underestimated.  He pointed out that since many students rely on their TAs for help, TAs should have more than three days of orientation time before the start of the semester.

Operational excellence is one of the chancellor’s goals in improving the university as a whole.  Increasing effectiveness and efficiency within SU’s many individual departments is vital to “[keeping] the university going as a successful institution,” Gresely said, especially since “some people believe SU is not living up to the standard it has in the past.”

Ultimately, a major assembly concern is raising awareness about the master plan and how students outside of SA can get involved in the conversation.

SA adviser Kerry Foxx said, “It’s the assembly members’ duty to put the information out there in ways that are accessible to students.”

Published on September 2, 2014 at 11:54 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu