Editorial : Increased ties to LA offer model for future programs
Since 2001, Syracuse University has increased its ties with and presence in Los Angeles by fostering a more active alumni community and, more recently, beginning a semester-long program for a few dozen SU students.
SU’s expansion in LA underscores a promising example of how the university can increase its competitiveness by providing strong niche programs in other parts of the country.
Though the administration promotes academic and professional growth by interacting and working in the Syracuse community, the area’s professional opportunities have limits. An aspiring movie producer would build far stronger connections and relevant experience in an entertainment hub like LA than in Central New York; just as a future leader in the music industry could build significant connections in Nashville, Tenn., or New York City; or a student hoping to enter politics would find a semester in the capital very practical.
Such expansion into these professional-geographic niches around the United States —where students can get experience unmatched or completely unattainable in Syracuse — is the most exciting arm of Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s call for Scholarship in Action. Even Emerson College, which houses one of the nation’s leading film programs, recognizes LA offers vital opportunities for its students than its base in Boston — though a thriving city in its own right — and houses a program similar to SU’s in LA.
This Rustbelt city, though fighting hard to regain economic viability, does not present the most attractive option for prospective students wishing to jump-start their education in the same metropolis where they’ll work one day. But immersion programs throughout the United States would allow SU to compete for these driven students. Such niche, semester-away programs in LA and Washington, D.C., provide a model for future expansion into other U.S. regions, where resources for professional and academic development abound.
