In a move that solidifies the fifth new dean in the administration of Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Bea Gonzalez became the dean of University College on July 1, removing the interim title she held since 2004.

The decision to make Gonzalez the long-term leader of Syracuse University’s school for continuing education and non-traditional students was announced by Vice Chancellor Eric Spina during the summer recess.

During Gonzalez’s service as interim dean, she earned the strong confidence of the UC staff, the university community and the broader community, he said. This made the call an easy choice.

For Gonzalez, removing the ‘interim’ from her title has not really changed her daily routine, but she finds herself getting more involved in parts of Cantor’s community engagement efforts.

‘Over the summer, I’ve gotten more involved in parts of the Near West Side Initiative,’ Gonzalez said. The initiative is a package of financial, energy and tax incentives that the university is spearheading to encourage growth in that downtown area.

As UC will naturally have more Syracuse-based students than the rest of the university, it tends to be involved in many of Cantor’s ‘scholarship in action’ programs, including the Connective Corridor and the School of Architecture’s move to The Warehouse.

‘Scholarship in action has actually given us an opportunity to do some things we might not have done,’ Gonzalez said.

It was partially Gonzalez’s experience and involvement with the broader Syracuse community that helped her secure the job of UC dean in the first place, said both Spina and Gonzalez.

‘UC, I think, should always have leadership engaged within the community,’ Gonzalez said.

She is currently the president of the Syracuse Common Council and formerly served as commissioner of the city school district and as an elector for the New York state Electoral College.

‘I like to think of UC as kind of being the glue that brings community resources to the university and vice versa,’ Gonzalez said.

Her appointment comes amidst a period of change for UC, as Spina has begun to focus on better connecting the part-time, non-traditional students with the other schools and colleges of SU. The effort hopes to match UC students with their full time counterparts in order to earn them the ‘same degrees and credentials,’ according to an SU News release.

The plan is for non-traditional students to receive the same access and services as members of the SU community. And not to be an afterthought, Gonzalez said.

‘We want to really integrate part-time students more deeply into the fabric of the university,’ Spina said. Gonzalez’s ability to work across the SU campus was a key reason she was chosen as dean, he said.

One way in which UC has worked to avoid the ‘separateness’ stereotype was physically moving closer to the university campus. In 1998, UC moved its headquarters to its current location, a block from Marshall Street.

Two of Gonzalez’s long-term goals reflect this effort to be more streamlined with the rest of SU. One is for UC students to have the option of using the services at either UC headquarters or Steele Hall. The other is to have part-time students considered more in decisions made at the other SU schools and colleges.

Gonzalez’s rise to dean follows a path up the ranks of the SU totem pole. In 1984, she was an academic counselor in the Office of Opportunity Education and Research. From there, Gonzalez became the executive director of both the Higher Education Opportunity Program and the UC’s community and public services division. She held these posts from 1991 to 2004, when she became the interim dean following the retirement of Dean Charles K. Barletta, who had been at the helm for 20 years.

Gonzalez holds a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and a master’s degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SU.

Published on August 27, 2007 at 12:00 pm