Chancellor Kent Syverud met with Syracuse University students to discuss students’ concerns about off-campus housing, alumni networks and diversity on Monday afternoon.

The goal of the first “Coffee with the Chancellor” event at the Neporent Café in Dineen Hall was to allow the student body to question Syverud about the future of the university and its initiatives. Seven students came to the event.

Jeniffer Taylor, a student in the College of Law, said there is a lack of diversity in the faculty of her school. She added that a more diverse faculty would attract a more diverse student body.

“I know there’s a problem with diversity within the student body, but more so the faculty,” Taylor said.

Concerns regarding the lack of diversity persisted. Adam Carey, another student from the College of Law, noted that the law school needed a more diverse set of attorneys.

Syverud suggested that SU could implement short courses with diverse attorneys for law students.

As the chat went on, Syverud also asked for the students’ opinion on finding off-campus housing.

Carey said that despite attempts by the university and city to limit crime by installing cameras on city streets, he still hears of frequent crime near his home in the Westcott area. Syverud said crime rates around the university have improved despite issues with the city budget.

“There are some high-profile crimes that get a lot of attention,” Syverud said. “We have been more aggressively reporting crime as it occurs.”

Erika Simonson, also a student in the College of Law, then brought up affordability of off-campus housing. She said that despite the growing number of new housing developments cropping up around campus, they’re all similar in price. This all takes away from affordable housing, she said.

Syverud said the university launched a new website to help students find housing more easily. For a landlord to post listings on this website, they must meet certain criteria, he said. He noted that the housing prices are not entirely within the control of the university.

“There’s always students who want the least expensive housing possible,” said Syverud. “We need to be a little more transparent about the minimum standards.”

Late in the event, Simonson said law students were detached from the rest of the university in terms of career services. She said the College of Law does not make enough contact across schools, thus limiting their alumni network. She described the College of Law as “isolated” from the rest of the school.

In response, Syverud said that the alumni network is very wide counting students of SU’s extension programs.

“We say there’s 250,000 Syracuse alumni, but there’s more than 1 million,” Syverud said. “If approached in the right way, they’re willing to help anyone from Syracuse.”

Published on December 11, 2018 at 7:32 pm

Contact Natalie: nrrubiol@syr.edu