Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina announced in his annual address to the faculty Monday afternoon that Syracuse University will be the recipient of a $1 million dollar grant.

The award, from the John and Maureen Hendricks Charitable Foundation, honors Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s leadership. It will be combined with the $500,000 Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York given to Cantor during the summer. The two awards will be combined to create what Spina called Chancellor’s Leadership projects.

The Chancellor’s Leadership projects will divide the $1.5 million into 10 grants for faculty programs. The new grants require the projects to integrate student learning and outside experts, use the resources of at least two colleges and make an impact, Spina said.

Spina delivered the address at Hendricks Chapel to about 200 SU deans and faculty members. He also spoke about the university’s solid financial footing, the need to keep SU affordable for undergraduate students and the recent deaths of SU students.

He asked the audience at the beginning of his speech to join him in a moment of silence for the students.

‘As individual faculty and staff members, we invest our hopes, dreams and our professional lives in our students,’ Spina said. ‘This is a precious and intimate connection that defines us as a caring educational community and makes this a terribly sad semester for us all.’

After brief silence, Spina continued the discussion of the university’s finances. During the 35-minute speech, Spina said SU’s goal is to protect its schools and colleges financially.

‘We will all tighten our belts, but we will also continue to invest in our highest priorities,’ Spina said.

Spina said that despite SU’s financial losses, the university’s faculty must remain optimistic.

Despite having a diversified and well-managed financial portfolio, Spina said, SU was not spared as part of the national economic crisis. Some of SU’s endowments were invested in institutions that have been susceptible to the fluctuating market, Spina said.

George Langford, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said at a reception held after the event that he was pleased with Spina’s address.

‘It was upbeat in a time of financial crisis, and that’s what we want to hear from our leaders,’ Langford said.

If SU’s economic situation continues to worsen, Spina said, the university plans to re-evaluate the administration’s spending. The administration’s ultimate goal is to reduce administrative and support costs while maintaining a high level of academics.

For the 2010 fiscal year, energy costs will increase by several million dollars since a contract with the steam company that heats the campus will expire, Spina said. Increasing safety and security, upgrading the computing network and giving more financial support to students will also affect the budget, Spina said.

Gary Radke, a fine arts professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said Spina’s speech was encouraging. Radke, who was honored during Spina’s address, said, ‘It was a kind of vision that we have to invest in what really matters.’

kmimamur@syr.edu

Published on November 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm