Here are three Syracuse news stories you may have missed this week.

SU endorses “community grid”

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud announced his support for the “community grid” option for the Interstate 81 viaduct in a campus-wide email on Friday.

SU had not publicly endorsed a solution to the city’s aging viaduct prior to Syverud’s email. A letter signed by 160 SU community members was sent to Syverud in December 2018, urging the chancellor to endorse the community grid.

“We were reluctant to endorse a specific replacement option because efforts to study and assess the implications of the various options—by New York State and numerous other stakeholder groups—were still in progress,” Syverud said Friday.

The New York State Department of Transportation is working on a draft environmental impact statement to provide recommendations on how different replacement options — the grid, a rebuilding of the viaduct or a new hybrid tunnel — will affect Syracuse. The report was initially expected to be released in January.

Amy Falkner appointed Newhouse’s interim dean

Amy Falkner will serve as interim dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, following the death of Dean Lorraine Branham earlier this month. Falkner’s appointment was announced Thursday.

Falkner is currently the school’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, a position she has held for seven years. She has served as the school’s acting dean since August 2018.

In her position of acting dean, Falkner oversaw changes to the foundational courses for Newhouse majors. As associate dean for academic affairs, she helped design Newhouse’s online digital communications master’s program.

Branham served as Newhouse dean for 11 years before her death on April 2. A search committee is being created to find Branham’s replacement.

New York state official to speak at SUNY-ESF

Dale Bryk, New York state’s deputy secretary for energy and environment, will speak about the Green New Deal at SUNY-ESF on Tuesday, according to Syracuse.com.

Bryk supervises the state’s environmental and energy agenda and manages the creation of environment-centered policies and initiatives. Her talk is part of the college’s week-long Earth Day celebration.

The Green New Deal is a set of proposed legislation that aims to create an environmentally sustainable economy and to tackle climate change by completely switching to renewable energy by 2030.

Published on April 21, 2019 at 8:27 pm

Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu