Chancellor Nancy Cantor appointed Eric F. Spina to the position of full-time provost and vice chancellor of Syracuse University yesterday. Spina had been serving as interim provost and vice chancellor since July 2006, following the departure of Deborah Freund.

His appointment to the post on a permanent basis results from more than three months of procedures that culminated when a University Senate search committee gave Cantor a list on Jan. 8.

The only name on that list was Spina’s, according to Kevin Quinn, vice president for public affairs at SU.

‘I believe deeply in the importance of high quality teaching and research that creates new knowledge,’ Spina said last night. ‘If I do a good job as vice chancellor … we can advance this vision of ‘Scholarship in Action.”

Spina displayed leadership and has strongly advocated the university’s academic mission, Cantor said in a news release yesterday.

‘People from across campus and in the community know, respect and admire Eric – and that was strongly affirmed during the search process,’ she said.

According to USen bylaws, a search committee must be formed to interview and nominate candidates to become vice chancellor. The list is then submitted to the chancellor, who makes the final decision.

The search followed precedent by choosing a candidate from within SU. Freund was the only vice chancellor in recent memory hired from an external institution, Quinn said.

The search committee was chaired by Ian MacInnes, an assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, and also consisted of 13 members chosen from the schools and colleges of SU. While the committee did receive several nominations, only Spina’s name was passed to the chancellor, said Quinn.

Shortly after receiving the committee’s recommendation, Cantor chose Spina as vice chancellor. This made him the second most powerful academic figure at SU, subordinate only to the chancellor, Quinn said.

Spina spent the last six months in the interim role and was active in initiating programs both within and beyond the university. The move from interim to full-time provost will not even require Spina to move his office and his title change is effective immediately.

‘It will be a seamless transition,’ Quinn said. ‘He has been fully engaged since day one.’

Spina said he was encouraged by other administrators and the deans to do his best, regardless of the title, when he took over the vice chancellor’s duties on an interim basis.

‘I’ve tried to take the long view whenever I could,’ Spina said.

Before taking over for Freund, who left her position last spring to pursue new opportunities, Spina was dean of the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, a position he had held since late 2003.

Spina’s resume includes being the first academic dean named to the Chancellor’s Cabinet in 2004 and serving as the ECS associate dean from 2000 to 2003.

As provost, Spina will head the Office of Academic Affairs.

The office is responsible for all aspects of the academic mission of the university, ranging from the admission of students to the administration of the schools and colleges. It includes the undergraduate and graduate degree programs and the research activities of faculty members, according to the office’s Web site.

‘(It’s) the person who is ultimately responsible for academic progress and the environment of the university,’ associate provost Sandra Hurd said summarizing the provost position in an interview last fall.

Spina said he is excited to keep the university-wide perspective required of the provost as opposed to the single-school focus inherent in serving as dean of an individual college.

‘You get pretty focused at the one school,’ Spina said, ‘as vice chancellor you get to see the whole university.’

Published on January 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm