While most rising seniors are thinking about what lies ahead, Kenna Cummings ’27 is thinking about what lies beneath—the ice sheet in Greenland and a supervolcano in New Zealand, to be specific. Cummings, a geology major in the ��(A&S) has been named a 2026-27 Astronaut Scholar by the (ASF).

Founded by the Mercury 7 astronauts, the foundation awards scholarships to students in their junior or senior year who are pursuing a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degree with intentions to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their degrees. Astronaut Scholars are among the best and brightest minds in STEM who show initiative, creativity and excellence in their chosen field.

The Astronaut Scholarship provides funding of up to $15,000 toward educational expenses, a paid trip to the ASF Innovators Week and Gala in Houston in August and lifelong mentoring and engagement opportunities with astronauts, Astronaut Scholar alumni, industry leaders and the ASF.

Tapping the Planet’s Hidden Heat

Cummings, who was also named a Goldwater Scholar earlier this year, is currently wrapping up her semester of research in the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) on New Zealand’s North Island. There, she utilizes microscopy and geochemistry to study the subsurface magma system that both feeds eruptions and heats deep geothermal fluids.

“The TVZ is an incredible example of how active geothermal systems can be used for energy production as well as numerous direct uses, such as timber drying and greenhouse heating,” she says.

Cummings considers herself lucky to be able to undertake research at points around the world, such as Iceland and NewZealand, where some of the most innovative developments in geothermal energy are happening. She has studied the Greenland ice sheet remotely through the lab of , assistant professor of seismology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In Greenland, Cummings studies what a system like the one in New Zealand looks like long after its heat source has moved on. Using seismology—mapping how seismic waves travel through the earth—she traces the path that ancient hotspot took and measures how much heat remains below the ice sheet.

“From this research, I’ve learned about the range of settings that can have heightened geothermal gradients without dramatic volcanic activity,” she says. “Understanding the many ways geothermal areas can be formed and studied will help me scale innovative solutions for settings across the U.S.”

Bridging Academia and Industry

Cummings’ long-term goal is to run a research lab inside an industry geothermal company.

“I am very passionate about clear communication between academia and industry, since academic research is only made applicable through commercial viability,” she says. “To me, the line between academic research and commercial application is done right when both sectors are working to their strengths, supporting each other and building toward the same end goal that will have positive impacts on the public at large.”

Cummings says that her selection as an Astronaut Scholar is an incredible honor that comes with life-changing financial support and academic and career opportunities.

“The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has a robust alumni network that provides opportunities to learn about various fields of science and industry,” she says. “I plan to take advantage of mentorship opportunities within the ASF alumni network as well as present my research at the Innovator’s Symposium. I know this scholarship will open doors for me in both grad school and career applications. I am grateful for the numerous ways becoming an Astronaut Scholar has already begun to change the trajectory of my future research career.”

Created in 1984, ASF awarded its first seven scholarships in honor of the Mercury 7 astronauts—Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. Seven students received $1,000 scholarships. Since its inception, the ASF has awarded more than $10 million to more than 950 college students.

As a university partner of the ASF, Syracuse University can nominate two students for the Astronaut Scholarship each year. Interested students should contact (CFSA) for information on the nomination process (cfsa@syr.edu; 315.443.2759). More information on the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation can be .

Two students whose ventures focus on accessible design and student well-being have been awarded Spring 2026 Intelligence++ Venture Grants through Syracuse University’s initiative, administered through .

The competitive funding program supports student innovators developing products, services and creative ventures that improve accessibility and quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities and neurodivergent communities.

This year’s recipients are Rudransh Rajput ’28 () and Cassia Soodak ’26 (). Both ventures emerged from the interdisciplinary Intelligence++ program, which combines accessible entrepreneurship, disability-centered design and innovation.

Rajput earned funding to advance development of RUDY AI, an AI-powered platform designed to help neurodivergent and socially vulnerable students build meaningful social connections and improve campus belonging.

A student in the and an 1870 Scholar, Rajput developed the idea after observing the growing problem of student isolation and disengagement on college campuses. The platform focuses on students who may struggle to navigate traditional social environments, including students with ADHD, autism, anxiety and related challenges.

“This grant means we can move from scrappy mode to building a prototype for discovery and validation,” Rajput says. “We know the problem is real because we’ve seen it firsthand on campus. This gives us the runway to get in front of more universities, refine the product with real student feedback and prove that you can measurably move the needle on retention and loneliness at the same time.”

Rajput will work closely with the Intelligence++ program and during the fall semester, focusing on user-centered product development and testing.

The second grant recipient, Soodak, is building a venture at the intersection of adaptive fashion, disability studies and nightlife culture. Her company, Ms. Spellled, creates sensory-friendly ravewear and club clothing designed specifically for neurodivergent individuals. The garments feature tactile and fidget-friendly elements intended to support sensory regulation while maintaining bold, expressive aesthetics.

Soodak, who previously served as an InclusiveU peer mentor and event planner, says the venture was inspired by her own experiences with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and sensory processing differences.

“Neurodivergent people shape rave culture, yet remain largely invisible within it,” Soodak says. “Ms. Spellled aims to redefine adaptive design as expressive, culturally relevant and empowering.”

The venture combines adaptive design with alternative fashion aesthetics through upcycled garments, tactile fabric manipulations, custom graphics and handmade pieces.

Soodak has already tested prototypes with neurodivergent users and models in both fashion-show and real-world rave settings, receiving strong feedback on both the sensory functionality and visual appeal of the designs. “With this funding, I will be able to transition Ms. Spellled from a thesis-based project into an actively developing fashion brand and business,” Soodak says.

She plans to use the grant to produce an initial collection of sensory-friendly garments, expand prototype testing and launch the brand through pop-up events and independent retail partnerships in New York City.

Soodak is a graduate of the Intelligence++ program and previously won a top student prize at the annual Intelligence++ Innovation Showcase, where student inventions are evaluated by industry experts and educators. Her work has also earned recognition within the University’s fashion program, including selection for a New York City design showcase and the Joan Rysitzky Prize for Excellence in Surface Design.

Her senior thesis collection, “DanceFloor Freaks,” explored Brooklyn techno clubs as safe spaces for neurodivergent and queer communities and became the creative foundation for Ms. Spellled. She has also participated in adaptive fashion networking events and developed relationships with organizations including Runway of Dreams and ARISE.

wrapped up participation in the 2025-26 academic year with the Student Library Advisory Board (SLAB), student representatives from across the University.

Participants in SLAB shared their ideas and feedback with Libraries management on the Libraries’ services, resources, spaces and programming in a structured format across the semester. Members also served as ambassadors for the Libraries, gaining leadership and skills in information literacy, communication, civic responsibility, research and creative thinking. Those who completed the Spring 2026 semester received an Engaged Citizenship Digital Badge.

Students are eligible to participate for two semesters. Those who participated in both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters included:

• Jivishaa Pandit ’26, College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Andrea Jacob G’26, Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Delaney Hendrick ’26, A&S

For the Fall 2025 semester, SLAB students included:

• Min Paing Moe G’29, School of Education
• Phoebe Russell ’28, School of Information Studies
• Nafisa Jeilani ’26, Maxwell School
• Darika Djusupova ’28, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Students who participated in the Spring 2026 semester included:

• Olivia Wisner ’28, Whitman School of Management
• Nicole Balkissoon ’29, School of Information Studies
• Claudia Reto G’26, Maxwell School
• Zach Ehrenreich ’29, School of Architecture
• Mehmooda Shakoor ’27, School of Education
• Elizabeth Akeloko G’26, A&S

Some examples of input from SLAB members that resulted in Libraries improvements included:

• Improved signage around the self-check-out kiosk​s and printers in the library
• Navigation updates to the website​
• Information on size options for the plotter poster printer​
• Improved communication with international students​
• Increased number of hours to reserve some study rooms​

SLAB members shared their feedback on the experience, with one student saying, “Participating in SLAB this semester has been a great experience in professional collaboration and student advocacy. It provided a unique behind the scenes look at how the libraries function and gave me the platform to contribute to the campus culture in a tangible way.”​

Another student reflected, “… SLAB has been a really meaningful way to engage with the Libraries differently—less as a student researcher and more as a bridge between the institution and the people that it serves.”

The Libraries is currently soliciting members for the fall 2026 cohort. can be submitted online. Those with questions can contact libref@syr.edu. SLAB was funded in part through a grant from the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement�� (SOURCE).

Three Newhouse School students set out to tell stories often overlooked: a business owner surviving a wildfire’s economic fallout, a traveling veterinarian’s life serving rural communities and a man lifting others out of homelessness. What they filmed earned top honors from the White House News Photographers Association—and lessons about the privilege of sharing someone’s story.

The annually recognizes the best in visual journalism with its “The Eyes of History” contest, and its calls out emerging journalists for their storytelling with video and photography.

The three honorees—Jess Van ’26, a photography major in the visual communications department; Kaitlin Campbell ’26, a broadcast and digital journalism major; and Alex Fairchild ’29, an active duty Marine Corps sergeant in the program—each approached their stories with the aim of looking past the obvious narrative and shared conviction that the people in front of their cameras deserved to have their stories told.

Jess Van: ��

Van was awarded first place in the category of in-depth features and documentary for her film “After the Ashes” on the economic impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires to small business owners in Pacific Palisades. The 13-minute documentary, which served as Van’s capstone project, follows Ruby, a nail salon owner whose building miraculously survived the flames but was still severely disrupted by the disaster.

Van, who is from Cambodia, has a personal connection to the Palisades. When she first came to the U.S. for school, she connected with two mentors who lived in the area.

She visited in March 2025 during spring break, months after the destructive fires swept through the community. Both mentors lost their homes in the fire.

“I always felt like it’s my second home,” Van says. “It was heartbreaking to see the town and the people that lost their homes. It’s not just property, it’s about memories and the connection that you have.”

Van, who minored in geography, decided to make a film focused on the impact to those who worked, but didn’t live, in the affluent neighborhood.

“The backbone of the place, like the gardener, the nail salon owner, the restaurant worker, who also were impacted by this fire,” Van says.

Through one of her mentors, she connected with Ruby, a nail salon owner, whose business survived the fires, even though everything around it burned to the ground. Still, the impact to Ruby’s livelihood was severe as the community’s local economy ground to a halt following the fires.

“It’s a privilege for me to be let in to someone else’s life,” Van says. “It’s their story, and the fact that they feel like comfortable enough to share their vulnerability with me is a privilege.”

In all, she spent 14 months working on the documentary, which she plans to continue submitting to film festivals.

“Hearing what people say after they watch the film, ‘I never thought about this’ and ‘This angle is very rewarding,’ we all know the disaster affects everyone, regardless of their economic background,” Van says. “But to have the opportunity to capture [it] in a way that people don’t really think about is the most important part. That’s the goal of the film, and to have that accomplished, and hearing that feedback, just feel really good.”

Kaitlin Campbell:

Campbell was awarded first place for her story “” in the category of broadcast news storytelling. Campbell wanted to do a feature story to push herself outside of the daily headlines she typically worked on. Driving around upstate New York, she was struck by the farms she passed and began brainstorming stories.

She began to notice, as she looked up farms in the area, that even separated by hundreds of miles, they listed the same veterinarian: Melanie Parker.

Campbell filmed Parker over the course of a few days and then put together the three-and-a-half minute feature. The story ultimately aired on , Newhouse’s broadcast and digital news outlet.

The best part of working on the story was getting to know Parker, Campbell says. Parker is someone, she says, who “hypes up other people, but doesn’t hype up herself.”

Having her story recognized by the White House News Photographers Association affirms for Campbell that she’s “doing the right thing” with her career.

“It just makes me feel like, ‘OK, I’m where I’m supposed to be,’” she says. “I’m supposed to be producing stories like these. I’m supposed to be getting out in the community and pushing myself.”

Alex Fairchild:

Fairchild was awarded second place in the category of broadcast news storytelling for his story “Hire Ground: A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.”

Fairchild, an active duty sergeant in the Marine Corps, worked on the feature with classmates Dillon Buck and Devin Andrews as part of a broadcast journalism class with , associate professor and chair of broadcast and digital journalism at Newhouse. At the time, Fairchild was participating in the Advanced Military Visual Journalism program, but he is now pursuing an online .

The original goal, he says, was to do a story related to , a local nonprofit that hosts programs that help unhoused individuals in the Syracuse area.

“All of us had the mindset that the story is always more important than getting an assignment done,” he says.

The nonprofit connected Fairchild and his classmates to Kevin, a man who used to be unhoused but who now helps others through Hire Ground, a jobs program run by In My Father’s Kitchen. The story ended up airing on Spectrum News.

“The most rewarding part was actually being out there and participating in the work that In My Father’s Kitchen was doing,” Fairchild says. “Yes, we reached out to do a story on Kevin, but it ended up being an eye-opening experience for all of us and we met people that we’ll never forget.”

, director of research development for the arts and humanities in the and the (A&S), has been recognized with the 2026 Innovation Award from the (NORDP).

The award recognizes professionals who advance research development through partnerships, new tools and techniques or the creation and sharing of knowledge that produces demonstrable results. Workman and her NORDP colleague, Allison DeVries of Chapman University, received the award in recognition of the evolution of the (CASSH) affinity group, which they founded in 2022. The group, which has grown to more than 150 NORDP members across the country, helps them marshal and create collective resources and share best practices, case studies and challenges in support of faculty in the humanities, creative arts and social sciences areas.

“I’m honored to receive this award and proud to have had a part in bringing the CASSH group together four years ago when it seemed rare to have a designated arts and humanities research development staff member housed in an R1 institution,” Workman says. The group has gained momentum “because higher education recognizes the value of this support nationwide as integral to the national research landscape and vital to an individual institution’s research ecosystem,” she says.

Workman came to Syracuse in 2019 and built a dedicated arts and humanities research development infrastructure from scratch. She now connects with more than 200 faculty across eight schools and colleges and partners with and several University-affiliated arts organizations.

Beyond campus, she is part of the , an 11-university consortium for collaborative research, teaching and programming. She co-leads its HF4 Corridor Futures and Initiatives working group with program manager Aimee Germain to offer professional development opportunities for faculty.

Impact on Faculty and Funding

Prior to Workman’s arrival, scholars navigated grant funding alone or through informal networks, often missing critical opportunities, says , senior director of research development in the Office of Research, who co-nominated Workman for the award.

She says Workman has contributed to faculty winning prestigious awards, including summer stipends, a and a grant. Workman has also supported a fellowship, an digital justice grant and several successful applications.

In 2025, Workman supported 64 grant proposals seeking $44 million in funding. She recently helped nine arts faculty and five organizations secure awards, making Syracuse the only university in the state to receive multiple awards in that cycle, Chianese says.

, professor of women’s and gender studies and director of the Syracuse University Humanities Center and the Central New York Humanities Corridor, says Workman’s Corridor support has deepened scholarly community across the region and has had significant impact on Syracuse faculty success.

“Sarah has been instrumental in several prestigious Mellon awards, including our first and ensuing New Directions fellowships and many other highly competitive awards and grants,” says May, who co-nominated Workman for the award. “Many of these awards have been substantial enough to transform individual career trajectories and drive transformational work at the University and in�� wider communities locally and nationally.” May says faculty frequently remark about how much they enjoy collaborating with Workman and appreciate her support.

, assistant professor of music history and cultures in A&S, credits Workman with helping her secure a , a first for Syracuse among 200 competing institutions. “I am deeply grateful for her thoughtful engagement with my research and for helping make its relevance accessible to a broader interdisciplinary readership,” Peñate says.

, associate professor in women’s and gender studies in A&S, says Workman’s guidance “proved instrumental in shaping two grant proposals into competitive, fundable projects. Her careful feedback led to key revisions that directly contributed to securing a major award from a private funder. In a context of shrinking funding, Sarah’s leadership has been indispensable for the success of humanities’ interdisciplinary, social justice-centered research.”

While Workman focuses on the arts and humanities, the Office of Research supports faculty across disciplines through a broader research development team. Researchers across campus partner with team members on proposal development, funding searches, cohort writing programs for competitive federal awards and strategic guidance on funding opportunities. Faculty interested in support for their projects can learn more about .

Together, they took a corner bakery-grocery and turned it into a new cornerstone of a Syracuse Northside neighborhood.

The project for design students from Syracuse University’s (VPA) and construction management students from (SUNY ESF) was both an experiential learning opportunity and a chance for them to undertake engaged citizenship in the year they worked with community residents and organizers of , a community nonprofit.

Students redesigned an aging, two-story bakery and apartment structure at 601 Park Street owned by Northside Futures into a modern building serving expanded residential and commercial needs. Northside Futures is a collaborative project of the Northside Learning Center and Justice Capital that focuses on workforce training and small business development, housing, remediation and property management, and community wellness and safety for residents of Syracuse’s Northside neighborhood.

The project provided real-world professional experience through the VPA course DES 451 (also known as “Meaningful Partnership”).

The cross-institutional collaboration also involves SUNY ESF course CME 454, , along with Northside Futures and the University’s .

The Real Thing

“This is not a hypothetical,” says , assistant teaching professor in the School of Design and program coordinator. “It has real users, real challenges and real goals. Students engaged deeply with the community, developed real solutions for real stakeholders and came away with a genuine understanding of what it takes to bring a project to life.”

Founded in 2017 by , professor in ��VPA’s , the program became a formal service-learning initiative in 2022 through the Shaw Center. In addition to Dunham, , SUNY ESF associate professor in the Department of Sustainable Resources Management, is a co-teacher. ’84, transportation coordinator at the Shaw Center, ��handles logistics.

During its first six years, Meaningful Partnership operated as a three-way collaboration among designers, construction managers and community stakeholders. This year it expanded to four components—with members of the Northside Futures cohort joining as active participants. They learned hands-on construction and trade skills alongside the students while accumulating design literacy for future independent community development. That model is an authentic co-design process where residents are positioned as empowered decision-makers shaping the future of their neighborhood, Lee says.

Two-Semester Overview

In the project, students from both institutions work together for a full year. Last fall, 19 environmental and interior design (EDI) students examined the facility, conducted site visits and client meetings, developed construction blueprints and presented final designs.

In the spring, 17 construction management engineering (CME) students joined them. They used the construction documents to prepare estimates, construction schedules, decide phasing and logistics, suggest value engineering strategies and explore sustainable grants and programs for the project.

Community-Centered Project

Dunham says direct communication with clients is essential to the project’s success.

“During our site visit students were able to speak directly with building owner Northside Futures and the building’s occupants (a residential tenant, the bakery owner and neighbors) and continued to obtain feedback throughout the process,” she says. “That kind of direct engagement with the people who live and work in these spaces is invaluable and it is very much part of what makes this process real.”

In addition to the bakery redesign, students developed alternatives for using an adjacent lot where a dilapidated garage was due for demolition.

Community members suggested building a library, day care center and a community/gym workout space for that structure.��The client ultimately chose the idea of a laundromat, Dunham says, since it filled a real need, made sense financially as a revenue stream and was the right fit for the neighborhood.

Human Context

EDI student Ella Mchale says residents’ involvement expanded her understanding of the city and provided a true client experience.

“What we achieved goes so much deeper than just a design project,” she says. “Our community member Fatima helped ground us and gave us the real human context we needed to design with purpose. We took that seriously and created something accessible and meaningful while still bringing our own design concept to the table.”

EDI student and project manager Jolie Ramos says that despite language and cultural differences, “a bond was built based on the betterment of our shared community.”

“That exposure beyond our University bubble gave us the opportunity to not only engage with our community but to form intimate personal connections,” she says. “It was really beautiful to watch the relationships unfold and grow.”

Cultivating Community

“At its core, this project is about community, understanding and creating meaningful impact,” Dunham says. “The community representatives who came into our class shared their culture, needs and challenges and were a true voice for their neighborhood. The connections they formed with our students were genuine and those voices shaped everything. That deeply resonated with our students and it showed in everything they produced.”

Meaningful Partnership’s staying power results from an intentional and ongoing investment of time, interest and shared resources, says Lee.

“Community partnership is something that must be continuously cultivated and is grounded in relationship-building and trust,” she says. “It means sharing resources, lived experience, cultural knowledge and social awareness alongside academic expertise and a commitment to paying that knowledge forward.”

A strong foundation in human biology is essential for students pursuing careers in medicine, nursing, physician assistance (PA) and the health sciences. For those students, anatomy and physiology—the study of the body’s structures and how they function—is often among the most demanding and consequential courses of their undergraduate education, serving as both a prerequisite for graduate programs and a proving ground for the scientific thinking those programs require.

Students have an innovative opportunity to build that foundation in the two-semester anatomy and physiology sequence taught by Vera McIlvain, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Biology in the .

The course draws more than 200 students per lecture including biology majors and other allied health students. Intentionally demanding, the comprehensive course covers the systems, structures and physiological processes that form the basis of human health. But what sets it apart, students say, is how it is taught.

McIlvain’s students don’t walk into class to hear a lecture for the first time—because the lecture has already happened. In what educators call a flipped classroom, McIlvain has built a library of more than 170 original instructional videos that students work through before they arrive: short, focused lessons on a platform that pauses to test comprehension in real time.

By the time students are in the room, the basics are behind them. That frees every minute of class time for the harder work: clinical application, concept mapping, real-time polling that surfaces misconceptions on the spot and the kind of problem-solving that mirrors how healthcare professionals actually think.

For Niamh McGuinness ’26, a student planning to attend PA school after graduation, that approach has been transformative. “Dr. V has helped me learn what study strategies are most effective for this type of learning,” she says, “which is one of the most valuable takeaways from this course.”

That preparation extends to how students are tested. McIlvain’s exams use a select-all-that-apply format designed to reveal what students actually know rather than what they can eliminate.

The course also extends beyond at-home and in-person lectures. Lab sections meet weekly, where sessions include exercises such as students examining slides of microscopic tissues using equipment McIlvain says produces images of textbook quality. Students capture their own micrographs of each tissue type, building a personal image library they use throughout the course.

Before the incoming class of sport analytics students take their first class in the��, they receive a life lesson from , chair of the sport analytics department.

Paul, a sports economist, highlights how recent graduates are blazing a trail across the sports landscape. He then tells the newest sport analytics students that they, too, are destined to make a lasting impact as some of the best and brightest minds.

“It can be scary starting off at college, but when they think about all the wonderful things they are going to accomplish in their careers, it’s rewarding seeing how excited students get about their futures,” Paul says. “That’s what keeps me going.”

The message hit home for Gavin Stein ’26 and Jacob Kalamvokis ’26, who assembled the nomination that helped Paul receive the (SOURCE) Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring.

“He’s sharing how sport analytics graduates are taking over the world, and that you’re all going to continue that,” Stein says. “To an 18-year-old freshman who hadn’t even taken a class yet, Dr. Paul’s words left a lasting impression.”

“I was nervous after that speech, because I was just starting here, but I was ready to run through a brick wall. I knew I could do anything I wanted to,” Kalamvokis says.

An Investment in the Next Generation of Leaders

The annual SOURCE Award is based on student nominations, honoring faculty members who provide exceptional guidance to undergraduate researchers. During the ceremony, which was held on March 26, Kalamvokis and Stein presented the award to Paul, reading excerpts from their nominations to those in attendance.

Stein and Kalamvokis say Paul is passionate about supporting student-driven research, and that, through a willingness to lend a helping hand or offer constructive feedback, Paul exemplifies what it means to invest in the next generation of sport analytics leaders.

Paul views his role as part cheerleader, part coach: there to share his expertise and position the students in a place where they can succeed.

“As educators, our end goal is to help our students live out their dreams by working in this industry,” Paul says. “They put their faith in us to help them fulfill those dreams. We encourage them and set them up for success once they graduate.”

Wins on the National Stage

The confidence Paul instilled in them on day one has fueled their growth as researchers.

Competing head-to-head against teams of law school students from across the country, Stein and classmates Liam Roberts ’26 and Sam Otley ’26 became the first team of undergraduate researchers to Tulane Professional Basketball Negotiation Competition in February.

Stein and Kalamvokis have also presented their research at marquee events, including the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics Conference, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and the Arizona State NBA Trade Deadline competition.

“From freshman year, I’ve known I want to work in the NBA, but I truly couldn’t have imagined back then being in the position I am in now,” Stein says. “The trust and support that Dr. Paul showed in all of us from literally the second we stepped on campus is what has driven all of us to accomplish what we have at Syracuse.”

Kalamvokis and sport analytics Associate Professor presented “Statistical Accuracy of Sports Betting Markets and Their Efficiency” at the 2025 International Association of Sports Economists Conference in Las Vegas.

“Dr. Paul is a huge driving force for what the student researchers can do here. He’s such a special, unique leader,” says Kalamvokis, named an inaugural Class of 2026 Falk College Scholar. “He’s the beating heart of this program, the father of sport analytics on campus, and knowing he’s in your corner gives you freedom and the confidence to go out and pursue your dreams.”

“It’s amazing to see what our students are capable of,” Paul says. “Getting to watch our students grow and evolve, I’m blessed and lucky to be a part of that.”

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When shots sounded at the , Ben Bascuk’s first instinct was to reach for his phone to start reporting.

Bascuk ’27, a broadcast and digital journalism major in the , was attending the event as a White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) scholar and was seated in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton. Recounting the events to Syracuse University Today, he says he heard a series of muffled pops.

At first he thought it was an issue with the music playing—or a tray being dropped or someone pounding on a table.

“Those noises were anything but gunshots,” Bascuk says. “When the music stopped, I sat there staring at the back of the room. The room fell into an unnerving quiet. Around me, students began ducking under tables as red wine seeped across white tablecloths.”

Soon Secret Service agents rushed past, shouting “shots fired, get down,” he says. The agents brushed against his chair as they moved toward the stage, where counter assault teams raised weapons toward the crowd from the podium.

Bascuk says he watched as Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was escorted out behind him.

With one hand gripping the back of his chair, Bascuk says his other hand held his phone, recording. He soon called his mom and began answering a flood of texts to let loved ones and friends know he was safe.

“Moments later, a CSPAN photographer told me the shots had been fired in the hotel lobby, not inside the reception room,” Bascuk says. “That was the relief I needed to start reporting.”

The man accused of attempting to storm the dinner early into the evening allegedly tried to run near the ballroom, exchanging gunfire with Secret Service agents. The man, later identified as Cole Tomas Allen, was tackled and taken into custody. He has been of President Donald Trump.

Once he knew the danger was not immediate, Bascuk, who has been interning for Spectrum News in Washington, D.C., made his way to his network colleagues in the banquet room. He began sending updates to , the University’s student-run television station, and his Spectrum colleagues.

In the hour following the shooting, Bascuk says he went fully to work in reporter mode “without fully processing what had happened.”

“I wouldn’t say I was ever scared or in fear of danger,” he says. “I was shocked and startled. Others, especially those closer to the back, experienced it differently. Some cried, some gasped and others . In that moment, there was confusion, but not chaos. My first priority was making sure my family knew I was OK.”

Even when focused on reporting, he says it was important to take a moment “to be human.”

“Journalists are some of the most loving, caring and kind people you will ever meet, and that was truly on display [that] night,” Bascuk says. “Reporting in crisis situations isn’t something you think about in the moment or even remember after. What I do remember are the conversations I had and the faces of those around me.”

Bascuk has been in Washington for the spring semester reporting for Spectrum News while studying away at . The dinner was his first time reporting on an active scene.

In those moments, he says he found, “instinct is everything.”

“Instinct comes from practice,” he says. “Before any reporting happens, you have to protect your own safety and the safety of others, mentally and physically. Every story, no matter how small, helps build the skills you’ll rely on when you least expect it. A live shot from a derby race, a feature of a local butcher shop or a story about Christmas lights—each one builds the instincts you’ll rely on when it counts.”

Newhouse Dean Mark Lodato was also in attendance that night, present as a guest of alumna Weija Jiang G’06, the current WHCA president and senior White House correspondent for CBS News. , Lodato pointed to Bascuk’s reporting during the unsettling circumstances.

“Ben, like so many other journalists in the room, jumped into action and reported for,’s student-run television studio,” Lodato wrote. “I want to note when the Newhouse team checked in on Ben, he immediately replied to let them know he was safe, so not only was he being a professional journalist, but he was also keeping the school informed.”

Bascuk, for his part, says he’s not sure he could have continued to report the events of the evening without the support of his fellow WHCA scholars and Spectrum colleagues.

“They were my crutch in the moment and in the days that followed,” he says. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have such a strong support system in Washington, D.C., Syracuse and back home in Ohio. I’m deeply grateful to my friends, family, professors, the WHCA and my mentors for their continued support and outreach after [that] night. The Newhouse community was spread throughout the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, and somehow, I was able to connect with so many of them before and after everything unfolded.”

Even with what he experienced, Bascuk says it was an honor to attend the dinner.

“Although the evening didn’t go as expected, it hasn’t discouraged me from reporting; in fact, it reinforced just how vital storytelling is to our democracy,” he says.

senior Abbey Fitzpatrick spent last summer doing archival research in Hollywood. This spring, she brought those findings to a lectern in the University’s at the 5th Annual CHRONOS Undergraduate History Conference.

Fitzpatrick’s research took her to Los Angeles, where history department funding supported archival work at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Warner Bros. archives. Her faculty advisor, professor of history Andrew Cohen, had encouraged her to find a topic with personal resonance and pointed her toward California history.

“It really complemented what I learned in CHRONOS in a real-world way,” Fitzpatrick says.

Hers was one of eight student presentations at the April 3 conference, which drew five Syracuse undergraduates alongside students from New York University, Columbia University and Rochester Institute of Technology—a reflection of the journal’s expanding reputation beyond Syracuse.

“CHRONOS had been thinking of opening our conference to students from other universities for a while,” says Junko Takeda, professor and chair of history and CHRONOS faculty advisor. “But this year, they were able to plan ahead of schedule, reach out to undergraduate directors at multiple universities across the eastern seaboard, send out calls for papers and select a number of external speakers.”

Now in its 21st year of publication, CHRONOS is one of just a few active student-run, undergraduate historical research journals in the country, and one of the only to host a conference. In addition to widening participation beyond Syracuse students, CHRONOS leaders also started to develop a new podcast series.

Fitzpatrick, a history and political science major from Pacific Grove, California, joined CHRONOS as a first-year student and remained deeply engaged for all four years.

That support is a hallmark of CHRONOS’s close ties to Maxwell’s history department.

“It’s so ingrained in the history department, and it allows us to connect with professors in a way that a lot of other clubs don’t have,” she says. “It’s a really awesome opportunity to be able to publish your research and get feedback from other students and professors.”

Fitzpatrick says her CHRONOS experience made her a stronger reader, writer and researcher.

At the conference, she moderated a panel discussion exploring the theme “Intersections: Gender, Sexuality and the Discipline of History,” featuring Albrecht Diem, Carol Faulkner, graduate student Victoria Vidler and undergraduate students Gillian Reed and Ella Burke. Diem is a professor of history who specializes in medieval history, while Faulkner, a professor who specializes in 19th-century American history, gender, women and social movements, is also senior associate dean for academic affairs at Maxwell.

The Range of Research Presented

Student research presented at the conference ranged from a deep dive into the life of Mary Queen of Scots to the politics of abortion in late Cold War Brazil. Several presentations reflected a similar focus on primary-source and archival research—work that students credited in large part to their access to Maxwell faculty with deep experience in those areas.

Jorge A. Morales, a senior studying history and anthropology and a CHRONOS editorial board member, presented findings drawn from slave registries and municipal documents from Caguas, Puerto Rico, in the years before the island abolished slavery in 1873. Morales shared that his family ties to Puerto Rico have made his work deeply personal.

“Growing up in the continental U.S. but still spending a good amount of time visiting family on the island, has made me increasingly interested in understanding how Puerto Rico’s national and cultural identity formed,” he says. “The roles of slavery and enslaved individuals have often been overlooked.”

Morales says interior regions like Caguas have received less scholarly attention than other parts of Puerto Rico. His research aims to help fill that gap.

Like Fitzpatrick, Morales says CHRONOS provided research and editorial experience as well as a strong network of peers.

“I found a community of people who were just as passionate and curious as I was, and I felt like I finally belonged somewhere on campus,” he says, adding, “Every CHRONOS publication is special because it represents not just the work of authors and editors, but of peers and colleagues who come together to learn and to connect that knowledge with the public in a way that fosters curiosity.”

Andrew Cole, a senior studying history and philosophy, presented his research on a foundational monastic text. His work analyzed John Cassian’s “Institutes” through a lens closer to literary criticism—an approach he developed after taking a class with Diem.

Cole was among the students who helped revive CHRONOS after the pandemic.

“At the time, CHRONOS had been in hibernation since before COVID; it was a lot of work to get it up and running but well worth the effort,” he says. “The editorial board is a close-knit community. CHRONOS is unique in that it offers an excellent learning opportunity for both editors and writers—we are dedicated to turning good research papers into excellent, approachable essays.”

The conference presentations included PowerPoint demonstrations and lively question-and-answer sessions in which students praised one another for their research and asked in-depth questions about their research findings. History faculty watched on, clearly gratified.

Takeda provided closing remarks, reflecting on what the students had accomplished.

“I can say without a doubt that my weekly interactions with the CHRONOS board have shown how much our students have developed important critical leadership skills,” she says. “As writers, researchers and presenters, you have told difficult stories. …You’ve explained complexity.”

The conference was held at a moment of transition for CHRONOS. Several members of the current editorial board are graduating seniors—among them Fitzpatrick, Morales and Cole—each preparing to carry the habits of mind CHRONOS instilled into whatever comes next.

Morales says his time with the journal has shaped what he hopes to build in the future.

“My work on CHRONOS has definitely shown me the value of intellectual community,” he says. “It has made me committed to trying to build up a similar sense of academic community between undergraduate and graduate students and faculty at the institutions that I end up studying and hopefully working at in the future.”

Story by Mikayla Melo

Not everyone interested in pursuing a law degree lives in a large metropolitan area or near a bustling college town. In fact, many students enrolled in the College of Law’s hybrid online (JDi) program are located in faraway places, whether a small Alaskan city, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or rural areas throughout the U.S.

For many of them, remaining in their communities is not just practical but purposeful due to personal obligations or a long-held desire to serve their communities.

Meet four recent graduates from out-of-the-way places who have successfully joined the legal profession through the JDi program.

Dawnelle Forsythe L’26, Oahu, Hawaii

As a native of Hawaii, Dawnelle Forsythe lives in a small city of 44,000 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Back in the early 2000s, she wanted to become a lawyer, but the only law school in Hawaii was on Oahu, and the travel and expense was prohibitive.

Instead, she went to work for the County of Hawaii Office of Housing and later the State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Home Lands under the , which helps provide affordable housing to qualified native Hawaiians.

However, in 2019, two pivotal events made Forsythe reconsider law school. She says the first was “fate” when she saw an article about a newly established hybrid JDi program that could enable her to earn a law degree without leaving home.

Around the same time, she accompanied her husband to observe a protest centering around the construction of a massive at the top of Mauna Kea, the Big Island’s highest mountain and an area considered sacred by the native people.

When they arrived, more than 100 protestors had formed a protective human wall in front of the kūpunas (revered elders). The kūpunas had sought to halt the construction of the 18-story telescope atop Mauna Kea and were blocking the road from construction vehicles, while the crowd chanted in support of preserving land put in trust for the Hawaiian people to ensure the continuation of their culture. As Forsythe watched, state troopers began removing those blocking the road.

“Some of the troopers were related to the aunties and uncles they were arresting, and many on both sides were crying together,” Forsythe says. “It was such a somber event, and it made a lasting impact on me. I decided then that I had to go to law school to be an advocate for my ‘Ohana’ (family), the people of my community.”

She quit her job at a hospital to focus on the JDi program.��“Not only would it allow me to stay at home, but I was drawn to its trial advocacy program that would help me become an attorney ready to go into court and advocate for people,” she says.

Forsythe is now thrilled she found “her New York Ohana” made up of the “geniuses in her cohort,” as well as faculty she admires, including Distinguished Professor of Law Nina Kohn and Associate Dean for Academic Programs Shannon Gardner.

Forsythe is committed to soon using her law degree pro bono to help Hawaiian residents, particularly those facing land rights cases who lack money for legal representation.

“It isn’t about making money; it’s about something that will totally fulfill my heart,” she says. “I’m excited to finally reach my goal of becoming a lawyer, and I know that it would not have been possible without Syracuse Law’s JDi program.”

Sarah Frank Roberts L’22, Kenai, Alaska

There are no law schools in Alaska, so when Sarah Frank Roberts decided to pursue a law degree, she knew her options were limited. A mother of six, Roberts lives with her husband and family in Kenai, Alaska, a town of about 5,000 people, most of whom work in the fishing or oil and gas industries.

When Roberts discovered the JDi program, it seemed to be a solution. She could take classes and get her work done after her children went to sleep, and the four-hour time difference between Alaska and New York was manageable. She was accepted into the program’s second cohort since its founding in 2019.

“The experience was rigorous,” Roberts says. “There was no hiding in the back of the room when professors like����could see your face up close on the screen. I certainly got the same high level of education that those in an on-campus program received.”

According to Roberts, there is a huge need for lawyers, particularly public defenders and district attorneys, in Alaska, but with no law schools, people tend to leave to go to school and never return. Roberts was able to stay because of the JDi program, and today she is an assistant public advocate and conflict counselor for the state of Alaska, focusing on family issues like custody and guardianship.

“I get to help people, many of whom have made a lot of mistakes but still deserve representation,” Roberts says.

Megan Poole L’23, Cortland, New York

Megan Poole grew up on a dairy farm in Cortland County, New York, but, knowing the challenges of farming, her parents encouraged her to pursue a different career.

After earning an undergraduate degree in criminology, Poole wanted to be a probation officer but didn’t get the position she originally intended. Instead, she says, “Rejection is divine redirection,” and decided to take the LSAT and pursue law school.

In the meantime, she was offered a job in the Cortland County Department of Social Services (DSS) as a case worker handling foster care, child protective services and adoption cases. She still wanted to go to law school, but she was “too heartbroken to leave” the difficult job of helping families in need. However, when she found the JDi program, she realized she could pursue a law degree while continuing her job with DSS and helping on the family farm.

“The JDi program was certainly just as difficult as an on-campus program,” says Poole, who enjoyed the required in-person residencies, where she was able to interact with fellow students and faculty both on-campus and in various other cities.

After completing the JDi program, she continued to work at the DSS in Cortland. About a year later, the Hon. A.L. Beth O’Connor, a family court judge in the 6^th Judicial District of New York, which includes Cortland County, reached out to Poole about being her court attorney.

“I see both the terrible and the good, but that’s part of the job,” she says. “I think I’m making a big difference in my community, particularly for people who don’t have the resources for good legal counsel, and the JDi program was a big part of making that possible.”

An added bonus of becoming a lawyer was the opportunity for Poole, her mother and sister to turn the family farm into Spring Valley Views, a woman-owned LLC, with plans to expand it into a venue and campground.

Tania Rivera Bullard L’25, Houston County, Georgia

Tania Rivera Bullard earned an undergraduate degree in psychology, figuring she would be a social worker like her mother. Instead, Rivera Bullard decided to pursue a path offered to military spouses to become a paralegal. As she studied for her paralegal certification, she started to think, “Why can’t I be a lawyer?”

Interested in being a public defender or a civil rights attorney, she was accepted into a JD at an on-campus law school that required a four-hour round-trip commute from her home in rural Georgia. However, a complicated pregnancy made it impossible, and she was forced to defer her start. Rivera Bullard began looking for alternatives and found the JDi program, which would allow her to remain with her family while pursuing a law degree.

Not long after, Rivera Bullard, then the mother of a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old, began the JDi program��and found it manageable. “I became a night owl,” she explains. “After the kids went to sleep, I would concentrate on asynchronous work and getting my reading done, and I spent long hours on the phone with my dear friend Nathan McKay L’26, my study partner, who made such a difference for me. It certainly was a careful balancing act, but if you’re willing to find the time, you can make it happen.”

After finishing her law degree and passing the Alabama bar exam, she went to work as an assistant public defender for the Houston County (GA) Public Defenders’ Office.

“As a public defender, you handle felony cases that nobody else wants, and, arguably, you’re experiencing the toughest, scariest times of people’s lives. I get to help them through a system that, to many, feels like it is set up to fail them,” Rivera Bullard says. “At the end of the day, I go home and feel good about the work I’ve done in my community. The Syracuse JDi program really made it possible for me to achieve my goals.”

From partnering with students in the classroom to building cross-campus collaboration that led to real-time improvements, the University’s commitment to meaningful assessment took center stage at the seventh annual One University Assessment Celebration on April 10. The event, hosted by Academic Affairs and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE), included awards and poster presentations.

In her opening remarks, Julie Hasenwinkel, associate provost for academic programs, highlighted the importance of celebrating the many ways faculty, staff and students engaged in assessment across the University over the past year.

Awards were given in five categories.

• Institutional Effectiveness Champions: This award honors campus community members who champion meaningful assessment and who have made outstanding contributions to the University’s culture of improvement. The recipients were:
  • Academic programs: Xiyuan Liu, associate teaching professor, Dean’s Faculty Fellow for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Co-curricular programs: Emily Dittman, director, Syracuse University Art Museum
  • Course feedback: Magdelín Montenegro, part-time instructor, Spanish, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Shared competencies: ‘Cuse Works
  • Shared competencies student champion: Fetch Collective magazine
• Outstanding Assessment: This award recognizes a distinguished academic, co-curricular and functional area for overall robust assessment. The recipients were:
  • Academic: Library and information science master’s degree program, School of Information Studies
  • Co-curricular: Disability Cultural Center
  • Functional: Office of Pre-College Programs
• Best Engagement Strategies: This award recognizes the engagement of faculty, staff and students in the assessment process. The recipients were:
  • Faculty engagement: Ash Heim and Vera McIlvain, the biology department, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Staff engagement: Arts at SU
  • Student engagement: Linguistic studies master’s degree program, College of Arts and Sciences
• Best Use of Results: This award recognizes an academic, co-curricular and functional area for how assessment results are used in making decisions. The recipients were:
  • Academic: Bachelor’s of biomedical engineering degree program, College of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Co-curricular: LGBTQ+ Resource Center
  • Functional: Syracuse University Libraries
• Collaborative Inquiry and Action: This award recognizes a partnership that extends beyond a single school, college, division or unit and uses strong assessment methods and data as a catalyst for improvement. The recipient was:
  • First Year Seminar

Following the awards, 2025 poster presenters were acknowledged for their efforts to collaborate, experiment, reflect and innovate in their areas over this academic year. Assessment Leadership Institute faculty participants included:

• Ben Akih Kumgeh, Xiyuan Liu, Karen Martinez Soto, Anupam Pandey and Mehmet Sarimurat, mechanical and aerospace engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• Alex Méndez Giner, film and media arts, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Ash Heim and Vera McIlvain, biology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Jane Read, geography and the environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Nancy Rindfuss, nutrition and food studies, Falk College of Sport

Recipients of the 2025-26 “Student Engagement in Assessment” grant included:

• Civil and environmental engineering: Yilei Shi
• Civil and environmental engineering: Svetoslava Todorova
• Communication sciences and disorders: Charles Nudelman
• Environment, sustainability and policy: Jane Read
• Nutrition science: Claire Cooney, Nikki Beckwith
• Setnor School of Music: Klark Johnson
• School of Social Work: Nadaya Brantley
• The Writing Center: Collie Fulford

Closing the event, Laura Harrington, director of institutional effectiveness, reflected on the deeper meaning of the work: “At its root, the word ‘assess’ comes from Latin, meaning ‘to sit beside.’ This is what it asks of us: to sit beside our work, take stock of what we see, and take action… Assessment isn’t a requirement. It’s a practice,” Harrington said.

Explore photos, award highlights and full poster presentations on the .

Story by A’yla James

Professor has developed an artificial intelligence bot that uses curated, course-specific materials to assist students in mastering the applicable legal rules and their application. These digital “coaches” are available 24/7 to assist students in understanding challenging concepts and then to quiz students on their application, providing immediate feedback in a variety of question and answer formats. Thus far, Graves has deployed the concept in his evidence and contracts courses.

Graves uses OpenAI’s private custom GPT feature, which allows him to provide students with an interactive experience that is narrowly tailored to his specific course. Graves accomplishes this with a comprehensive set of instructions (i.e., prompts) telling the custom coach exactly what to do—providing guardrails to keep it focused on the objective of assisting students in this course—and uploading copies of the course text and other key instructional materials that facilitate Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). This domain-specific RAG layer increases the accuracy of the coach’s responses in the context of this specific course and dramatically reduces the potential for errors, as compared to a generic Large Language Model (LLM) trained on generic data of varying quality.

This “walled garden” of course-specific material addresses the common issue with LLM AI platforms that indiscriminately draw from all information on the internet.

“The LLMs pick up a good deal of erroneous information from unreliable sources, and they miss a lot of really good information that’s behind firewalls,” Graves says. “The bot has been instructed to respond to students when they ask for answers by walking them through in a Socratic-style dialog much as I might in class or office hours. When assisting students, the coach relies first and foremost on the information uploaded in its RAG layer, not only helping to explain and quiz the students on accurate course doctrine, but pointing students directly to appropriate sources within the course text itself.”

Of course, the key to this approach is a collaborative relationship between Graves and the publisher of his course textbooks. While Graves is a co-author of his contracts textbook, the copyright is held by West Academic (the publisher of both the Learning Evidence and Learning Contracts textbooks used by Graves).�� Graves worked closely with West Academic in developing an approach that would appropriately protect all copyrighted material uploaded to the coach’s RAG layer, and his use of both Learning Evidence and Learning Contracts is done under license from West Academic.

The use of the primary course text within the RAG layer effectively expands the value of the text far beyond the initially assigned readings. At the core of the coach’s domain-specific content, the textbook continues to anchor the coach’s role in assisting and quizzing students as they better learn to apply that content.

Supplementing the Teacher’s Role

Graves says, “the teacher’s role is not being outsourced to the coach—it is being supplemented in new ways for which narrowly tailored AI is uniquely suited.”

“The Coach does not replace basic course prep or attendance,” he says. “It is purely a supplement to these traditional teaching and learning tools—albeit a very effective one, arguably far more effective than traditional generic study aids or generic LLMs often used by students today. Perhaps most valuable is the coach’s ability to provide students with unlimited opportunities to apply the course material in a variety of assessment formats, all of which are subject to immediate feedback. At the end of the day, this is often the single most effective teaching and learning tool for law students, and the coach provides this tool in a manner that is always available and fully aligned with course content and course outcomes.”

Students access the coach through a dedicated course link, which provides for private interaction between student and coach, unless the student voluntarily decides to share the unique link generated by a specific conversation. The initial privacy of the conversation encourages students to ask questions they might otherwise be uncomfortable raising (the proverbial “dumb question,” which is often anything but).

It also allows students to use the coach in collaborative study sessions or to forward a conversation to Graves for further exploration. This latter feature is particularly useful in terms of quality control of both student prompts and responses by the coach.

“During the past two semesters, I’ve seen a few responses from the coach that could be improved and one blatant error,” Grave says. “However, the vast majority of interactive challenges arose from imperfect student prompts.”

Thus, the students get two additional benefits from using the coach: they learn the importance of effective inputs (prompts) and they learn the importance of verifying outputs.

Continuing to Fine-Tune the Tool

While the evidence and contract coaches have proven very accurate (Graves directly tests them regularly himself, in addition to frequent student feedback), AI remains imperfect, and the professor has continued to “fine-tune” his bots by uploading additional course-specific material based on his own testing and observations of student/coach interactions.

Graves teaches exclusively in the College of Law’s , so the 24/7 availability of his coaches is particularly important to a body of students located around the world.

“This has allowed me to be more efficient and effective with my time while giving our global students a uniquely tailored experience that will help them master course material, while being available at any time that is convenient to them,” he says.

Orange Success 2.0, an upgraded student success platform that will give Syracuse University faculty, staff and advisors a more powerful, intuitive set of tools to help students thrive, is set to launch Monday, May 18. The platform is powered by , a prominent higher education student success management system.

“Orange Success 2.0 is a key part of Syracuse University’s ongoing investment in the infrastructure, people and culture that make student success possible,” says Tommy Powell, assistant provost for academic programs in the Office of Academic Affairs.

What Is Orange Success 2.0?

The current has long served as a cornerstone of the University’s student support infrastructure. Building on that foundation, Orange Success 2.0 leverages the Navigate360 platform to offer stronger advising tools, improved early alert capabilities and clearer visibility into student engagement and progress. It integrates student data and advising workflows into a single, unified experience and allows faculty and advisors to coordinate support across academic and student service offices.

The rollout is coordinated through the (CSE), housed at 100 Sims Drive, which consolidates 14 student-facing departments under one unified structure serving more than 14,000 students.

Comprehensive, on-site training for Orange Success 2.0 was offered this semester, with more than 200 faculty and staff members participating. The sessions were tailored to meet the needs of different campus audiences, including academic advisors, faculty members and frontline student support staff, and covered platform features, advising best practices and strategies for using data to support students more effectively, among other topics.

“The breadth of participation across schools, colleges and departments reflects how seriously our community takes its responsibility to every student on campus,” ��Powell says. “We are set for a strong launch on May 18.”

Over the coming month, CSE will continue to onboard users, gather feedback from early participants and refine the configuration of Orange Success 2.0 to meet the evolving needs of the campus community.

Following the launch, users will continue to access the platform through MySlice. A knowledge base featuring step-by-step guides, instructional videos and FAQs will also be available to support users throughout the transition, and additional training sessions will be held in the fall.

For more information about Orange Success 2.0., call 315.443.2005 or email orangesuccess@syr.edu.