SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The contract for Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud now extends to 2026. The Dec. 20 announcement from the Syracuse board of trustees follows a review of the chancellor’s performance, leadership, and “vision for the future of Syracuse University,” according to a university news release. As part of that review, the board collected […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The contract for Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud now extends to 2026.
The Dec. 20 announcement from the Syracuse board of trustees follows a review of the chancellor’s performance, leadership, and “vision for the future of Syracuse University,” according to a university news release. As part of that review, the board collected feedback from campus-community members, including deans, faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees, and administrators.
“Over the last nine years, Chancellor Syverud, along with the talented leadership team he has built, has worked tirelessly to advance academic and research excellence, elevate the student experience and create a campus community that is truly welcoming to all,” Kathy Walters, who chairs the Syracuse University board of trustees, contended. “He has done all this despite facing historic challenges, including a once-in-a-generation global pandemic. We are grateful for his leadership, calm under pressure and distinctive vision for the future of Syracuse University.”
In making this decision, the board also cited the chancellor’s “evolving and distinctive vision” for the university’s future, and the “positive momentum” he has built during his nine years at Syracuse. Sound management of the COVID-19 crisis, the university’s strong financial standing and the transformative physical changes on campus are among the accomplishments that the board recognized in extending Syverud’s contract.
Accomplishments
During Syverud’s tenure, Syracuse University says it has “built operating financial strength and stability” with the endowment doubled to more than $1.7 billion in 2022. Syracuse also launched the ongoing “Forever Orange” fundraising campaign, which has collected more than $1.24 billion.
Syracuse also “reimagined and redefined the student experience with significant physical changes to the University’s campus.” They include the opening of the Barnes Center at The Arch, a holistic student health and wellness facility; renovating the Schine Student Center to “better meet the needs” of today’s students; transforming and renaming the JMA Wireless Dome; and replacing a busy road with a “pedestrian-friendly” promenade, the Einhorn Family Walk, through the heart of campus.
Syracuse University also focused on academic excellence, including hiring nearly 500 new full-time faculty since 2018 across multiple disciplines, schools and colleges and through the Cluster, Signature and Diversity Hire Programs, which together “seek to advance interdisciplinary research, expand faculty diversity and strengthen the University’s global research reputation,” per Syracuse University’s announcement.
Syracuse also tripled enrollment of veterans and military-connected families since 2014, while simultaneously “advancing key priorities” in this area, including the expansion of Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the creation of the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building, a facility housing military-centered programming.
In addition, Syracuse University also hired the school’s inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer and commissioned the university’s first ever diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) strategic plan, the university says.