Chancellor Nancy Cantor and a professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs are set to be part of governor-elect Andrew Cuomo’s transition committee in the upcoming month and half before Cuomo officially enters the governor’s mansion in January.

Cantor and public administration professor Walter Broadnax were notified Nov. 15 and have accepted their positions on the transition committee. Cantor will serve on the education transition committee, and Broadnax will serve on the state and local government reform transition committee. Onondaga County executive Joanie Mahoney serves as a transition co-chair.

Cantor received notice of her selection to be part of the education committee just before the official announcement was made and ‘was happy to accept,’ said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president of public affairs.

‘If you look at who the governor-elect chose to be on his transitions teams, it is a large array of leaders throughout the state,’ Quinn said. ‘He chose the chancellor as one of those leaders.’

Broadnax, the former president of the New York State Civil Service Commission, was picked as a member of the state and local government reform committee.

The job of both Cantor and Broadnax is to recruit, review and recommend talented candidates for key positions, according to a press release from Cuomo’s website.

The administration will further work to improve New York state, Cuomo said in the press release.

‘The challenges ahead require talented individuals who believe in state government and are passionate about doing the work of the people of New York,’ Cuomo said in the press release.

Additionally, he said he knows all the transition committees will come up with the best candidates for state service.

The education committee is made up of talented and knowledgeable people who could be a great resource for the governor, said Jeffrey Leeds, a member of the education committee who has known Cuomo for about 20 years.

In the coming weeks before Cuomo’s inauguration ceremony on New Year’s Day, each committee will conference together, either by phone or in person. Cantor is expected to be in New York City within the next month to meet and discuss with other members of the committee, which includes additional college presidents, Quinn said.

The decision as to who would be the best people to include on the committee is bounded by time because the transition committee has until Jan. 1 to choose the best members, political science professor Grant Reeher said. The decisions the committee, which he described as an advisory one, makes are important, he said.

‘When you shape the administration in terms of personnel, you are shaping the direction of policy,’ Reeher said. ‘These are important questions, and being named to these transition teams can lead to significant roles in our life.’

Douglas Biklen, dean of the School of Education, said he hopes Cantor and the rest of the people on the transition committee address the biggest problem throughout New York school systems: inequity among funding depending on the school and location.

‘There are many suburban communities that tend to be wealthier, and yet they receive proportionally more money than some of the poorer school districts,’ Biklen said. ‘The big cities should need to receive more, and that’s not happening.’

Although Cantor and Broadnax will face the challenge of recommending the most talented people for positions in the Cuomo administration, the responsibility should not burden their everyday work within the university.

Broadnax said even though he is scrambling with the end of the semester nearing, he finds the extra work on the committee to not be too overwhelming.

Quinn also said Cantor will multitask while working on the transition committee, as Cantor was already scheduled to visit New York City this month as part of her SU obligations. This isn’t the first time she is involved with the state government. Back in 2007, under former governor Eliot Spitzer’s administration, Cantor was part of the commission on higher education.

Although the decision to select Cantor and Broadnax to their respective committees has no connection to the university, Broadnax said it makes SU look good.

‘That’s what people pay attention to,’ he said. ‘They say, ‘Oh, there are a lot of good people at Syracuse.’ And how do you know that? Well, the governor talks to people there about problems and issues and concerns.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on November 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm