A Syracuse University official on Tuesday, at the third and final Invest Syracuse forum, said $6.25 million has already been raised in support of the plan.

Invest Syracuse is a $100 million fundraising goal that aims to support Chancellor Kent Syverud’s Academic Strategic Plan. It includes a $3,300 tuition hike that will affect incoming students next fall.

Daniel D’Aniello, a University Life Trustee, donated $500,000 to SU for “Giving Day,” SU’s first 24-hour push to increase university donations, said Matt Ter Molen, chief advancement officer.

Molen spoke at the third and final Invest Syracuse forum Tuesday. Other high-ranking officials, including Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly, also answered questions from campus community members. About 30 people attended the event.

D’Aniello’s gift will be used as a challenge to increase giving from alumni, parents and other individuals, Molen said. As part of Giving Day, SU officials hope 1,870 donors contribute money to the university, per an SU News release.

Giving Day will be on Oct. 17. Money raised will support multiple initiatives, including Invest Syracuse, Molen said. The university has already raised $6.25 million for Invest Syracuse, he said.

“We’re pleased so far with the response of alumni,” Molen said.

Officials also said the university will hire 100 new faculty members, as well as additional support staff, as part of Invest Syracuse.

“In a given year, we probably replace 70, 80, 90 faculty members. People leave, people retire,” Wheatly said. The university will hire 100 new faculty members in addition to the faculty that must be replaced over a five-year time frame, she said.

Susan Nash, director of administration in the dean’s office at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, asked officials in which disciplines, if any, the university would hire new faculty.

SU has not made any executive decision on what disciplines to hire in, Wheatly replied, but the university would have to invest in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines to maintain the school’s Carnegie Classification, she said.

Under Invest Syracuse’s primary goals, Wheatly said administrators want to make funds available for interdisciplinary research, not only STEM.

“We need to be excellent across the board,” Wheatly said.

SU also has no plans to build or renovate any buildings to accommodate the new hires, said Chief Financial Officer Amir Rahnamay-Azar. Space is costly, both in construction and renovation, he said, encouraging schools and colleges to utilize existing spaces in an efficient way.

Invest Syracuse also includes a $30 million cut in “administrative costs.” The university has already identified $20 million of that $30 million by eliminating vacant, non-academic administrative positions, Rahnamay-Azar said.

Several university community members have asked if Invest Syracuse will include layoffs, the chief financial officer said. Layoffs were not considered as part of the plan to cut administrative costs, Rahnamay-Azar said, but SU is still looking to reduce the duplication of services to identify more efficient ways of working.

“We cannot cut our way to excellence,” Rahnamay-Azar said.

When asked how the plan, and its $3,300 tuition premium, would expand access to SU for students across the economic spectrum, Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience, said the tuition premium would increase grant and scholarship aid opportunities while reducing loans.

About 75 percent of SU students received some form of financial aid in the 2016-17 academic year, according to the university’s financial aid office.

Published on October 3, 2017 at 10:17 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001