UPDATED: May 27, 2018 at 1:56 p.m.

The judicial process for the students facing conduct violations related to the Theta Tau videos will end in the next few weeks, Syracuse University’s vice chancellor and provost said in a campus-wide email Thursday afternoon.

The university charged 18 students connected to the Theta Tau videos with conduct violations in April. Those videos, which Chancellor Kent Syverud at the time called “racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and hostile to people with disabilities,” eventually led to the fraternity’s expulsion.

Conduct hearings for most of those students began in May.

Michele Wheatly, SU’s vice chancellor and provost, also announced in the Thursday email that a university steering committee is developing a plan to improve first-year forums, seminars and courses for the fall 2018 semester. She added that the committee will then create a long-term plan for creating a “unified” first-year course for all SU students.

Damon Williams, leader of the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy, is set to work with SU to redesign the first-year experience, Wheatly said. Representatives from each school and college are serving on the steering committee, including a student representative.

The update included details about the new Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, which Wheatly said will help faculty integrate issues related to diversity, bias and cultural sensitivity into coursework and reading selections. An offer to the selected candidate for director of the center will be sent by June 5, she added.

Wheatly also outlined new personnel additions for both faculty and students. SU’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Resolution Services has hired Melanie Cuevas-Rodriguez as an equal opportunity investigator, per the email. Interviews for the second Title IX investigator are ongoing, she said.

The two new hires will investigate discrimination and harassment complaints, assist with employee relations issues and ensure compliance with equal opportunity policies.

The university is reorganizing its Division of Marketing and Communications to include a team that will communicate directly to the campus community, Wheatly said. A student advisory council, which will be established in September, will engage in conversations with SU’s chief communications officer.

Wheatly also detailed SU’s efforts to attract a more diverse graduate student body, which included stipend increases for graduate assistants, support for career and professional development and changes to health insurance coverage.

In April, the Graduate Student Organization voted to switch graduate students to a less expensive health insurance plan. Some students, including members of Syracuse Graduate Employee United, raised concerns that costs would actually increase for some students. SGEU, a group of students trying to create a union for SU’s graduate student employees, also objected to the lack of student input.

SU’s next summer update will be on June 14, Wheatly said.

CORRECTIONS: In a previous version of this post, the number of students facing conduct violations was misstated. Also, the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, & Resolution Services was misnamed. Also, Michele Wheatly was misnamed. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Published on May 24, 2018 at 6:42 pm

Contact Casey: casey@dailyorange.com | @caseydarnell_