Syracuse University announced plans Thursday to expand shuttles and safety escort services one month after students called for better late-night transportation options.

The Department of Public Safety will add two vans and drivers to Shuttle 44, the department’s late-night safety escort system, Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith Alford announced in a campus-wide email Thursday. Alford also said licensed, unarmed security staff will be placed at areas to the north and east of campus as an expansion of the university’s current safety escort patrol program.

At a campus safety forum on Feb. 18, students called on the university and DPS to increase the availability of late-night transportation options. Student Association and the Student African-American Society organized the forum after the Feb. 9 assault of three students of color on Ackerman Avenue. Alford and DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado said at the forum that they would look into improving late-night transportation.

The university’s Shuttle-U-Home service runs until about 3 a.m. on weekdays and weekends. Shuttle 44 runs anywhere between 5 to 6:30 a.m., depending on the day of week.  

In his Thursday email, Alford also said that the program’s security staff will have radio communication with DPS and will wear reflective outerwear with the words “DPS SAFETY ESCORT” on the front and back.

Alford also announced that SU has chosen consulting firm HirePotential to conduct an external review of the university’s disability services.

The Disability External Review Committee picked HirePotential for the review, Alford said. Chancellor Kent Syverud first announced the possibility of a disability services audit in December 2017, and the creation of the committee was announced that April.

HirePotential provides consultation for and implementation of programs that are inclusive of people with disabilities, Alford said. The company also provides guidance in the recruitment and hiring of people with disabilities, older populations and veterans.

Work on the review is expected to begin in April, Alford said.

Other updates, as given in the email:

• SU’s Disability Cultural Center and the Burton Blatt Institutes Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach will host the sixth “Cripping” the Comic Con symposium on April 13. The event will include a plenary session, workshops and vendors.

• Sexual Harassment Prevention training is available to all faculty and staff through the office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services. More than 1,000 people completed the training online and more than 400 people attended in-person sessions in the program’s first three weeks.

• The Office of the Interim Chief Diversity Officer will host an interactive teaching workshop to facilitate greater understanding and respect between indigenous and non-indigenous people. The event, Witness to Injustice: KAIROS Blanket Exercise, will be held on April 4.

• The LGBTQI Spirituality Series, in which participants discuss the role of spirituality in the lives of LGBTQ students, will be held in Hendricks Chapel on April 3 and 17.

Published on March 28, 2019 at 8:05 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu