Chancellor Nancy Cantor is here to stay – at least until 2014.

This summer, Syracuse University’s first female chancellor accepted a contract extension that was unanimously agreed upon by two university committees.

“I was grateful to have the chance to renew my and my family’s commitment to the university and proud that the trustees recognized the work we are doing,” Cantor said.

The Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee and the Executive Committee were involved in the voting process. Students, professors and faculty members did not have input in the decision. Cantor’s current contract was set to expire in 2010.

With the contract extension, Cantor will lead SU for 10 years, a year and a half longer than the average American college president, according to a 2006 survey by the American Council on Education.

Cantor plans to increase faculty positions and create new undergraduate and graduate programs. Her goals include expanding student scholarships and financial aid, in addition to plans to upgrade Bird Library and the Schine Student Center, she said.

“I think she’s done a lot overall for the campus and the community,” said Jameson Fleming, a junior broadcast journalism major. “I think she should be in a position to continue to contribute to the community. This campus and community need someone with her vision, no matter what title she has.”

Projects encompassed by Cantor’s Scholarship in Action campaign include expansion of the SU Abroad program, an increase in financial aid available to students and development of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs.

Her other campaign is set to raise $1 billion, which she believes will be met by 2014. More than $560 million has already been raised after just eight months, according to the Syracuse Record.

Despite the previous tension between Boyce Watkins, an associate professor in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, and Cantor, Watkins seemed pleased with her extension.

“I am happy for Chancellor Cantor, and I consider her to be a good woman,” he said. “The university made a great decision by keeping her here, and she is going to be good for this campus. She brings a degree of intellectual sensitivity that makes our campus better.”

As for her thoughts on being the first female chancellor, Cantor said it should be looked at as a movement in a positive direction, rather than an individual success.

“I look at it in the context of history rather than as a personal achievement,” she said. “The fact that I am the first woman chancellor of SU is significant in that I am among a generation of women in positions like mine across American higher education.”

Cantor has won numerous awards while in office, including this summer’s Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award.

The award celebrates outstanding individuals committed to academic excellence and leadership in higher education. In addition, it includes a $500,000 grant, according to the Syracuse Record.

“Syracuse will always have more great ideas to pursue than we can accomplish in any one period,” Cantor said. “Being at a university like Syracuse for an extended period really gives you a unique opportunity to collaboratively shape the institution in ways that leverage its history and strengths, but remain true to its legacy.”

Cantor said she plans to accomplish her goals by the end of the new contract.

 

Published on August 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm