News

In its first round of funding for innovative summer program development, Summer@Syracuse has awarded financial support to 10 Syracuse University departments to develop creative summer courses. A request for proposals was sent to faculty in each school and college in January, encouraging them to apply for funding up to $20,000 each.

The innovative program development fund was created to promote creativity and experimentation in summer credit and non-credit courses, encourage innovative delivery of new and existing courses, attract new students and better serve the needs of the community and various constituencies.

The funding supports the development of innovative courses and program offerings in summer 2011 and 2012. The goal is to increase on-campus and online summer enrollment long term, as well as create unique programs and courses that support SU’s reputation of excellence.

The Rose, Jules R., and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (in collaboration with the Burton Blatt Institute), L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the School of Information Studies are a few of the schools/colleges that were awarded funding for course development.

“The recipients are representative of the priorities of the schools and colleges,” said University College Dean Bea González. “The proposals reflect a diverse range of disciplines and approaches representing multiple academic programs. We are pleased to have initiated this opportunity to advance the Chancellor’s Scholarship in Action initiative while serving the needs of our students.”

For more information, contact González at bgonzale@uc.syr.edu, or 443-3259, or Chris Cofer, director of Summer@Syracuse, at clcofer@uc.syr.edu, or 443-1988.

Catherine Bertini, professor of public administration and chair of the international relations program at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will speak this week at the Institute for Retired Professionals (IRP). Bertini will discuss the impact of hunger and poverty on national policies, and the importance of addressing these issues in U.S. government policy. The program is free and open to the public. IRP meets from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Syracuse, 5833 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville.

Following more than a decade of service to the United Nations, Bertini joined the faculty of the Maxwell School in 2005 as professor of public administration. She teaches courses in humanitarian action, UN management, girls’ education and post-conflict reconstruction, drawing on the vast experience she gained during her years of leadership in public sector management, international organizations, humanitarian relief, nutrition policy and agricultural development.

Bertini’s career spans public service at international, national, state and local levels and includes private sector and foundation experience. She was the driving force behind reform of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), where she was the chief executive for 10 years. During her tenure, WFP’s institutional changes in the area of efficiency, effectiveness and accountability were cited by the United States government and the 36-government board of WFP as a model of UN reform.

She has received honorary degrees from several universities worldwide. Bertini is the 2003 World Food Prize Laureate and was awarded the Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition in 2007. She is a member of two US AID advisory committees, a board member of the Stuart Family Foundation, a juror of the Hilton Foundation Humanitarian Prize, and serves on a number of advisory boards and foundations. Currently, she is co-chair of the Global Agriculture Development Initiative for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and chair of the council’s Girls in Rural Economies project.

For more information on this program, call University College of Syracuse University at (315) 443-4846.

The March 3 session of Thursday Morning Roundtable (TMR) will feature Paul Beyer, director of Smart Growth Planning at the New York State Department of State.

Various New York state agencies are involved with the Smart Growth initiative, which is committed to working with localities to use smart, sensible planning to create livable communities, protect our natural resources and promote economic growth. Smart Growth bolsters and complements the state’s overall sustainability agenda.

In his position as director, Beyer oversees the governor’s Smart Growth cabinet, a group of state agencies committed to promoting Smart Growth on the state and local levels in New York. His experience in land use and Smart Growth began when he worked in the New York State Assembly, where he focused on land use, environmental policy and public health policy. Beyer served on the planning board in the Town of Amherst for five years, where he helped develop the town’s comprehensive plan. He also served on the board of directors of Partners for a Livable Western New York, the premier Smart Growth advocacy group in the Buffalo area. Beyer has a law degree from the University at Buffalo.

TMR meets from 8:15-9:15 a.m. at Drumlins, 800 Nottingham Rd. For further information, contact Sandra Barrett, director of community programs, (315) 443-4846.

The Feb. 24 session of Thursday Morning Roundtable (TMR) will feature Miriam Elman, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and one of the faculty research directors of international and intra-state conflicts at the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Elman will present “Beyond the Jasmine Revolution and Tahrir Square: Egypt’s Regime Change and the Prospects for Democracy in the Middle East.”

Elman is also the director of the Project on Democracy in the Middle East (DIME) at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and a member of the advisory board and steering committees for the Judaic Studies Program, the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT) and the Middle Eastern Studies Program.

She received a bachelor’s degree in international relations and English literature, and a master’s degree in international relations from the Hebrew International University of Jerusalem. She also earned a master’s degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

TMR meets from 8:15-9:15 a.m. at Drumlins, 800 Nottingham Road. For further information, contact Sandra Barrett, director of community programs, (315) 443-4846 or visit http://www.yesu.syr.edu/community/tmr. The TMR program is broadcast on WCNY-FM, 91.3 on Sundays at 8 p.m. and at http://www.wcny.org/tmr.

For more information, contact Sandra Barrett, director of community programs, at (315) 443-4846 or visit http://www.yesu.syr.edu/community/tmr. The TMR program is broadcast on WCNY-FM 91.3 on Sundays at 7 p.m. and at http://www.wcny.org/tmr.