Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw opened up the floor for questions during an open forum meeting Wednesday, but when no one had any more questions regarding issues beside the possible closing of the School of Nursing, he knew where the meeting was headed.

The meeting, held at 4:15 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium, focused on the closing with few interruptions.

Shaw said when Vice Chancellor Deborah Freund made her recommendation to close the nursing school, he did “not dissuade her.” He explained that until the academic committee studies the issue and gives its opinion to him, he “should keep an open mind.”

The closing of the School of Nursing was recommended eleven years ago when he started his administration, Shaw said. The college almost closed in 1998, but the Senate decided to give teachers new guidelines and “see how they did,” he added. The University Affairs Office was not ready to make another recommendation until last summer.

Several audience members didn’t understand why the school would close when the program still receives funds, graduates easily pass tests, and this year’s class is larger than the previous.

Shaw responded that these positive aspects of the school may not suffice to keep the school open, and that the key issues to consider instead are institutional priorities and cost factors.

“If we have programs that are not way above average, should we continue them?” he said.

Katherine Kaby Anselmi, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and a family nurse practitioner, stated she did not think people had thought enough about the consequences of closing the school, and the process behind the recommendation had “many discrepancies.” She wondered if the nursing school could have had more notification before the recommendation was made.

“People are making decisions about nursing that know nothing about nursing,” she said. “The university would have been wise to come to Nursing and say, ‘We have these problems, and we need you to achieve these benchmarks.’ Instead, they have devised ways to close the school, not keep it open.”

Kristin Schweizer, a senior nursing major, agreed with Anselmi’s claim, saying if the administration was interested in keeping the school open, it would have explored other options. These options include exploring the Nurse Reinvestment Act, a bill passed in Congress that allocated $30 million to increase the number of students in the nursing field, Schweizer said.

“I feel that there has been a systematic effort to avoid the voices of opposition,” she said. “The people who spoke today need to speak directly to the Senators.”

Shaw explained that it would have been impractical for Freund to obtain people’s opinions on such an issue, and generally a recommendation is made first, and one goes from there. Otherwise, no decisions would occur.

Shaw said several steps must occur before officially determining the school’s fate. The University Senate will meet next Wednesday to make its decision to support or reject the recommendation to close the School of Nursing. After the Senate recommendation, the Board of Affairs will make its decision, followed by Shaw. On Dec. 6, the Executive Board of Trustees in New York City will make the final decision.

Current students in the School of Nursing would continue in a Nursing program. However, no new students will arrive for the fall of 2003, Shaw added.

Anselmi also explained that the School of Nursing has a 30 percent minority enrollment, the largest student minority ratio of all campus schools. Closing this school would close the door on these minority students, she said.

“I thought diversity was a core value of Syracuse University. What happened to it?” she stated. “We exemplify the core values of the university. We do research, we practice, and we care. We do great things with our minorities.”

Another issue that an audience member introduced was whether the current building for the nursing school is adequate. Shaw said he did not know if the school could move into the current School of Management building when the new management building is complete. He also questioned whether it is worth the cost.

“Does the university want to spend money on that, or on Newhouse III?” Shaw said. “Should we give out our resources out equally? As one of our premiers, (Newhouse) needs to be supported.”

Schweizer said the idea of putting the majority of the university’s funds into certain schools proves the administration’s interest in solely making maximum profit.

“I would really question, are we going to eliminate all the programs except Newhouse and Maxwell? Nursing should be a priority,” she said. “It’s a program that fills a huge public need, and for the university to not fill a huge social need is like a slap in the face to the public.”

Anselmi believes SU would be making a mistake to close the school, explaining that it is bad public policy and contributes to the community’s belief that SU is “an elitist” institution.

“I think it is to their detriment. We need nurses who are highly educated,” she said. “Nursing delivers health. Without nursing, you do not receive health.”

Published on November 6, 2002 at 12:00 pm