The need to unify departments and programs across campus was one of the central points discussed at the final Fast Forward Syracuse forum on Monday morning.

The forum was part of the ongoing Fast Forward Syracuse initiative and was held in Crouse-Hinds Hall at 11:30 a.m. Monday. The forum focused on taking audience suggestions and feedback on what the university’s strengths and weaknesses are in terms of its academic reputation.

The forum was moderated by Andria Costello Staniec, an associate professor and associate provost for academic programs, and Cristina Marchetti, associate director of the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute in the physics department. Staniec and Marchetti informed the audience that they were unable to directly address individual questions, but rather would facilitate audience feedback on the initiative.

An overarching theme throughout the forum was the lack of unification across the SU campus. Different audience members expressed concern over the silo-based system in which parts of campus are divided into sections, which makes it difficult to unify the university.

Sharon Alestalo, program director for Women in Science and Engineering, said she has worked across multiple academic, support and administrative departments during her time at SU and said the university at large remains very divided.

“I find silos everywhere,” Alestalo said. “When we’re dealing with silos I think some of it is we’ve all gotten very used to working in our own offices instead of reaching out across and I think as we look at that issue we have to look at the entire university.”

More than just across academic and administrative boundaries, Alestalo said she feels like diversity needs to be promoted within the student and faculty body.

“We seem to be treating diversity as separate from the seven key plans,” she said. “If you want to have an excellent student body, you need a diverse student. You want to be global, you need to have a diverse student body and a diverse faculty body. If you want to be strong and be the best, you need diverse ideas.”

Jake Tanksley, director of recruitment and retention, stressed the importance of articulating the values of the university and finding a common identity that it can promote.

He added that if SU is able to articulate its values, it will help drive the rest of the university’s mission.

One audience member in attendance said that if one of the issues that SU faces is problems maintaining and sharing resources across silos, SU should consider if it has too many silos and sub-silos.

“We have a number of silos here at all different academic levels,” he said. “Are there too many silos and within those silos, are there too many sub-silos? We need to figure out which ones are at high standards of excellence now, and which ones just aren’t. Trying to grow ones that aren’t seems to be putting money and resources into places that are just breaking up what we’re already famous for.”

Other problems and solutions that audience members proposed include:

— Better promotion of these forums around campus

— Concentration on student and faculty research experiences through the development of research data policy and infrastructure on campus

— SU going through zero-based budgeting

— Systematic consideration of infrastructure

— Careful promotion of quality undergraduate experience from the beginning

— Have a systematic inventory of our assets

Although Monday was the last scheduled open forum, students, faculty and staff members can still voice their opinions regarding the Fast Forward initiative. SU community members can fill out a “Share Your Idea” form on the Fast Forward website through the end of October.

The Fast Forward initiative will continue as different groups work to take into consideration the suggestions and comments given in the forums.

Published on October 7, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Madysan: mgfoltz@syr.edu | @madysangabriele