Institutional Overview
When James Roscoe Day became Syracuse University’s fourth Chancellor in 1893, he said, “I see in my mind’s eye a great university on the Hill. Instead of three colleges, I see a dozen colleges. Instead of several buildings, I see a score of buildings.” Spurred by Day’s compelling vision, the University launched a building boom that substantially reshaped both the physical and the intellectual landscape of the institution. The developments that began during Chancellor Day’s tenure marked the start of Syracuse University’s transformation from a regional college into a major higher education institution whose defining vision today is to be “a pre-eminent and inclusive student-focused research university, preparing engaged citizens, scholars, and leaders for participation in a changing global society.”
From the 19th century to the present day, key strategic decisions have kept the University keenly attuned to the emerging needs of students, communities, the workplace, and the world—as well as to changing expectations about the role and mission of higher education. Syracuse University, like the region that it calls home, has a long legacy of innovation in response to the times. From founding the first degree-granting College of Fine Arts to establishing the first disability studies program in the nation, the University has evolved in ways that expand its reach and magnify its impact. The propensity for reinvention continues today, spurring development of cross-disciplinary collaborations that enhance and expand traditional teaching and scholarship.
In this historical context, the current mission statement of the University (as approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2015) reads as follows:
As a university with the capacity to attract and engage the best scholars from around the world, yet small enough to support a personalized and academically rigorous student experience, Syracuse University faculty and staff support student success by:
- Encouraging global study, experiential learning, interdisciplinary scholarship, creativity, and entrepreneurial endeavors
- Balancing professional studies with an intensive liberal arts education
- Fostering a richly diverse and inclusive community of learning and opportunity
- Promoting a culture of innovation and discovery
- Supporting faculty, staff, and student collaboration in creative activity and research that address emerging opportunities and societal needs
- Maintaining pride in our location and history as a place of access, engagement, innovation, and impact
We are continuing our commitment to ensuring that all students receive a rigorous education that gives them the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to both adapt and succeed in a rapidly evolving marketplace and world. In pursuit of this mission, Syracuse University encompasses 11 academic schools and colleges spanning the liberal arts, sciences, engineering, and professional education. Several of the schools and colleges are nationally recognized as among the best in their field. The University has earned national distinction for a number of its programs, such as entrepreneurship, an area of burgeoning interest to students and employers. The broad spectrum of disciplines, programs, and fields of study across the schools and colleges energizes our teaching and creative work.
Access and opportunity for talented students from all walks of life have been hallmarks of the Syracuse University tradition since the University first opened its doors in 1870 to all people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or culture. Chancellor Tolley resolved in 1944 to welcome any veteran who wanted a chance at a college education; in so doing, he nearly tripled the University’s enrollment overnight. The “GI Bulge” after World War II underscored our commitment to military veterans, and we continue to build on that commitment today, with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) leading the way. Launched in 2011, the IVMF is the first university-based institute in the U.S. focused on the social, economic, educational, and policy needs of veterans and their families. Syracuse’s programmatic infrastructure targeting the needs of veterans presents great potential at a time when the number of returning servicemen and servicewomen continues to grow.
Syracuse University also became an early leader in advancing global education opportunities, with one of the oldest study abroad programs in the nation. Today the University maintains eight study abroad centers on three continents and sponsors a wide range of additional opportunities through its 60+ World Partner programs (from field-based experiences to direct enrollment in partner universities across the globe), its 35+ faculty-led programs, and its featured program in Central Europe. Nearly half of Syracuse University students participate in some type of international study experience. While we continue to expand our global footprint into new corners of the world, we are simultaneously committed to sustaining a thriving international campus community at home. The demographic makeup of students in recent years includes approximately 19 percent international undergraduate and graduate students from more than 120 countries. Our strong study abroad infrastructure and international profile present significant assets at a time when students increasingly view global experience as a critical part of the academic experience. We have the potential to distinguish ourselves even more by building upon these strengths in a way that not only expands opportunities for global scholarship but also promotes global engagement from the moment students arrive on campus.
Syracuse University’s commitment to access, opportunity, and inclusion is rooted in the belief that an education informed by multiple points of view, life experiences, ethnicities, cultures, and belief systems, undergirded by a shared commitment to excellence, benefits all students and the world they are preparing to enter. As the nation’s demographics shift toward greater diversity along multiple indices—ethnic, socioeconomic, and disability, among others—our capacity to attract, support, and retain outstanding students of all walks of life will be a significant advantage.
Trajectory to Excellence: The Strategic Planning Process
Syracuse University’s chancellors have guided the University for more than 145 years, developing it from a single building to a vibrant campus that today is the second largest employer in the Central New York region. The Board of Trustees of Syracuse University provides support and advises each Chancellor in administering the University’s affairs.
The University Senate recognized the need to assess the University and to make recommendations to help maintain and enhance the University’s quality and reputation; therefore, in 2013 the University hired Bain & Company to review its structure and approach to budget and planning, and identify areas for improvement (IV.6.001.Bain_Innovation_Opps_Slides). Bain’s report, titled “Innovation and Opportunities Assessment Report,” contained recommendations pertaining to academic, co-curricular, and functional units at the University. Many of these recommendations became embedded in subsequent planning steps as noted in Table 2.1. When the University’s 11th Chancellor, Nancy Cantor, decided not to renew her contract, the Board of Trustees began its search for the next Chancellor, who would have the Bain report as a major strength assessment and strategic planning tool. Table 2.1 provides an overview of the timeline of these events.
Table 2.1: Timeline of Planning and Assessment
| 2012-2013 | Periodic Review Report submitted to Middle States; accreditation reaffirmed by the Commission |
| 2013 | Innovation and Opportunities Assessment Report produced by Bain |
| 2014 | Chancellor Syverud appointed; Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment established; academic strategic planning process launched with priorities from the Innovation and Opportunities Report |
| 2015 | New mission and vision approved by Board of Trustees; strategic planning working groups in progress |
| 2016 | Provost Wheatly appointed; academic strategic plan approved by Board of Trustees |
| 2017 | All academic schools and colleges develop strategic plans that align with the priorities of Trajectory to Excellence |
In January 2014, Kent Syverud arrived as Syracuse University’s 12th Chancellor. During the same time period, the campus community began a process to evaluate the University in light of emerging challenges, needs, and opportunities, and to identify the overarching goals and priorities that would continue to advance our progress as a pre-eminent and inclusive student-focused research university. In summer of 2014, Chancellor Syverud launched a broad, multi-pronged initiative to begin strategic planning.
The academic strategic plan, Trajectory to Excellence, was the centerpiece of the planning process and was designed to drive strategic priorities across the whole institution. The Campus Framework (facilities planning initiative) provided a blueprint for the future of the campus as a physical location and a set of facilities. Finally, an institutional effectiveness process undergirded these planning efforts by launching several projects to help power the academic strategic plan and the Campus Framework.
A 27-member academic strategic plan Steering Committee including faculty, staff, administrators, and students structured and guided the planning and fact-finding process, assessed preliminary findings, elicited campus input, formulated final recommendations and goals, and ultimately drafted the plan. New institution vision and mission statements, as referenced above, were developed through a collaborative campus effort guided by the Steering Committee. Hundreds of comments from the campus community were received during two open comment periods, and these were used to guide revisions. The Steering Committee arrived at the final version of the vision and mission in April 2015, and these were ratified by the Board of Trustees.
In addition to encompassing new vision and mission statements, the academic strategic plan reflected the findings of several working groups, comprising 93 faculty, staff, and student representatives. During 2014 and 2015, each working group focused on a single thematic area of progress for the institution, such as “undergraduate excellence,” and elicited input from hundreds more students, faculty, staff, alumni, University trustees, and supporters. The working groups collected data through multiple channels—including open forums, surveys, focus groups, and interviews—and reported their findings.
Based on those reports, the Steering Committee analyzed findings, identified overarching themes, and prioritized a set of preliminary recommendations, which were shared with the Board of Trustees, the University Senate, and other campus constituencies. Findings were also shared with the entire campus community during a “Day of Conversation,” during which participants were invited to offer suggestions and feedback. In all, more than 1,300 distinct pieces of feedback were received and processed during this public review.
Following publication of the academic strategic plan in June 2015, working groups continued with the development and prioritization of initiatives associated with each of the six thematic areas of the plan. During the 2015-2016 academic year, an academic strategic plan Implementation Oversight Committee organized these proposed initiatives for presentation to newly arrived Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele G. Wheatly. From May 2016 to the present, Provost Wheatly has worked collaboratively with the deans, faculty, and staff of the University’s schools and colleges to implement priority initiatives in the six thematic areas around which the academic strategic plan is structured. These six areas are summarized below:
The Six Thematic Areas of the Academic Strategic Plan
THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE: Provide all students with a world-class learning experience that prepares them for future success
Syracuse University is committed to providing all students with an excellent and highly distinctive educational experience that prepares them for academic, personal, and professional success in an increasingly complex, diverse, and interconnected world. We will do that by instilling in them a capacity to think deeply and analytically; to listen and learn from diverse life experiences, cultures, and points of view; to act with ethical and academic integrity; and to engage in ways that enrich scholarship and enhance our communities and world. Drawing on our strengths in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional schools, and building on our historic commitment to access, opportunity, and global engagement, we will cultivate in students those distinct skills, competencies, and experiences that exemplify Syracuse as a place of excellence in higher education.
We also recognize that true undergraduate excellence can only be achieved when attention is paid to the “whole student.” We will do that by working collaboratively to address campus culture and nurture the personal, professional, and social development of all students, and to create the conditions that support excellent teaching, learning, retention, and success.
DISCOVERY: Promote creativity and discovery attuned to important challenges and emerging needs
Creative activities and research are fundamentally coupled to our educational mission. Research and creative activities nourish the intellectual and physical well-being of society and drive a prosperous and diverse high-tech economy. We seek to advance research excellence in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary endeavors by supporting a wide range of scholarship, including activities poised to address pressing global needs, basic research that advances fundamental understanding, and curiosity-driven inquiry. To maintain a strong culture of research across the campus, we will provide high-quality, centralized, and coordinated support and facilities. We celebrate and reward those who excel in research and creative endeavors and ask them to provide leadership, mentoring, and guidance as we advance scholarly work as an institution. We seek to elevate signature areas of inquiry where our strengths coincide with areas of external opportunity.
As we generate knowledge, we simultaneously inform teaching and learning, offer experiential learning opportunities for students, and establish a conduit for interactions with broader communities. Collectively, these activities provide a platform to enhance the impact of our creative endeavors around the globe. Strong doctoral programs play a key role in our research enterprise. Rigorous doctoral training and experience are essential in the development of new generations of scholars and researchers, and they enhance the intellectual vitality of the University and beyond. Our research operation functions as an interconnected academic pipeline from new undergraduate scholars to established senior faculty. We will continue to engage and encourage students at all levels in scholarship through robust and dedicated support structures, planting seeds for a culture of inquiry that will accompany them in all their future endeavors.
INTERNATIONALIZATION: Enter the Campus, Engage with the World
Syracuse University, grounded in a tradition of international scholarship and engagement, is dedicated to fostering and sustaining an internationalized community of scholars that prepares all students—domestic and international—to thrive in a globally connected world. We do that not only by advancing global study, research, and internship opportunities—a signature of the Syracuse academic experience—but also by developing and expanding internationalized curriculum, programming, and opportunities so that students engage with the world and its complex issues and challenges from the moment they arrive on campus until the day they graduate. We will leverage our substantive strengths in global regional studies, international institutional partnerships, internationalized curriculum, and growing multinational body (students/faculty/alumni) to truly internationalize Syracuse University.
We will make internationalization a key strategic priority for the University, recognizing that students and their families value global study and cross-cultural experiences as distinguishing features of an outstanding education, and that employers seek students with the skills to innovate within and navigate through the economic, cultural, and political systems of the world.
COMMITMENT TO VETERANS & MILITARY-CONNECTED COMMUNITIES: Distinguish Syracuse as the premier university for veterans, military-connected students, and families
Syracuse University has a distinguished legacy of leadership in addressing the needs of our nation’s veterans and military-connected communities, and of responsiveness to the needs of the day. Data suggests that post- 9/11 veterans and their families are taking advantage of the GI Bill program at an increasing rate. We anticipate that those needs and educational aspirations will continue to grow, and with that in mind, we are committed to being the premier university for veterans and military students. Building on our faculty and staff expertise, programmatic infrastructure, and institutional resources, we also are uniquely positioned to serve as a thought leader in areas relating to the social, economic, and wellness concerns of the nation’s veterans and military-connected communities.
Syracuse today is already home to several ground-breaking veteran and military-connected initiatives, including the nationally recognized Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, the Defense Comptrollership Program, the Military Visual Journalism Program, and the V-WISE entrepreneurship program for women veterans. Building on this, we will ensure that veterans and individuals associated with the military are accommodated and integrated fully into the campus community, and that our recruitment, academic offerings, and support services are aligned with the needs and aspirations of this richly diverse population. In turn, we must leverage cross-University academic expertise to develop and enhance interdisciplinary research in critical areas related to veterans, military affairs, and national security.
Ensuring that those who have served our nation in uniform receive a rigorous education and the supports they need to thrive not only meets a critical national need; it also makes the University and our entire student population better. Veterans and military-connected students bring tremendous assets to academic life, including strong leadership and teamwork skills, an entrepreneurial spirit, an astute world view, and a desire to get the most out of their education. The growing need for programming and research in veteran and military-related areas and for promoting the wellbeing of veterans and their families provides opportunities to illuminate Syracuse’s outstanding reputation in veteran and military affairs—and to have a meaningful impact on the world.
INNOVATION: Nurture an entrepreneurial culture
Against the backdrop of significant external forces that will affect higher education over the next 25 years, at Syracuse University we will define our own path of change and institutional renewal, one distinguished by its unique past and guided by its virtues. We have a long record of trailblazing innovation and creativity, including veterans’ programs, entrepreneurial activity, the arts, disability studies, campus-community engagement, and industry partnerships, to name a few. We will strive to ensure that our culture, structures, and mechanisms continue to fuel productive change and empower us to respond nimbly to emerging needs and opportunities. We will work to cultivate an enterprising mindset characterized by visionary thinking and creative problem-solving, and the capacity to channel ideas into actions. Such an environment will attract the best and brightest students, faculty, and staff and incite external partnerships with those on the cutting edge.
Respecting and retaining the culture and expertise that have defined Syracuse for more than a century, we will nurture an entrepreneurial mindset in a way that embraces new models of discovery in every corner of our campus. From pedagogy and student services to administrative processes and technology, we will establish a culture of boldness, empowering those closest to the core to make decisions that create new, more dynamic models for success. We will view multifaceted societal challenges as opportunities to coalesce disciplinary and interdisciplinary teams to seek creative and impactful solutions, energizing students, faculty, staff, and alumni around a mission that resonates with their desire to make a difference in the world.
ONE UNIVERSITY: Galvanize institution-wide excellence
As One University, Syracuse supports progress toward our mission by consistently pursuing excellence in all areas of University operations. We achieve this by providing all those engaged in reaching our mission a workplace that proactively supports their personal and professional needs, challenges them to grow, respects diverse points of view, and recognizes and celebrates excellence. Administrative and support staff, both on campus and at satellite locations—many of whom are the first line of contact for students seeking assistance—play a crucial role in advancing the goals of this plan and assuring the success of our students. We aim to be recognized as a model employer, targeting recruitment and support for those groups less traditionally represented among higher education professionals. We must ensure that in every capacity, our operations are efficient and effective, and that employees at every level own their role in advancing our mission and sustaining a thriving, supportive campus community for all.