González named dean of University College

By: Sharon Clott

Posted: 12/1/04

The spring semester will bring not only new students to University College, but a dean with a new perspective and hopes to connect the campus with the community.

Bethaida Gonzalez was appointed interim dean of UC, replacing Dean Charles K. Barletta as he retires next semester after 20 years of service. Deborah Freund, the vice chancellor and provost for the university, announced his departure on Nov. 19, citing personal reasons.

Gonzalez will officially replace Barletta for March of 2005. During the upcoming months, the university will conduct a search for the final dean selection for UC.

"Bea is a fantastic, highly competent and well-known member of the Syracuse community," Freund said. "She commands tremendous respect from so many people."

Gonzalez said she is excited to bring her skills and experiences dealing with connecting the city and the university to her new position. At UC there is a strong emphasis on community engagement and building upon that, she said.

"I can bring a great set of skills and experiences," Gonzalez said.

Barletta helped maintain UC's standard of incorporating many humanistic elements in the community aspect of education, said Suzanne Barch, senior administrator to the vice chancellor.

UC serves more than 8,000 part-time and summer students each year, according to its Web site. The school aims to serve academic needs of continuing education students pursuing degrees part time, as well as offer both workforce training and community service programs.

"This is important - people associate UC with keeping the community in touch with education," Barch said.

Gonzalez said she looks forward to her advancement where she hopes to bring the university into a community that found difficulty with collaboration in the past.

"I see this as a great opportunity to blend two things that I really love: serving the community and serving Syracuse University," she said.

Gonzalez is currently the director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program for both UC and SU. It is part of her job to oversee the single part-time university left in New York state, and she said it makes her very proud to be significantly involved.

One of Gonzalez's goals includes incorporating Chancellor Nancy Cantor's charge of connecting SU more with the city of Syracuse to improve the community together.

"We have a lot of projects in the works," Gonzalez said. "We want to keep them going while at the same time understanding the agenda that Chancellor Cantor has set forth - that we have a commitment to community engagement."

Gonzalez is heavily involved in many facets of Syracuse aside from her time at UC. As a member of The Rosamond Gifford Foundation she said she helped change the focus from bricks and mortar to human needs.

She also contributes a great deal of time to public service as president of the Syracuse Common Council, the Alternative Education Committee, the Thursday Morning Roundtable, the Onondaga Citizens League and founding member of the Onondaga Latino Caucus.

"It is important to remember that my role in public service is part time - and I know fairly good time management," she said.

Gonzalez earned her bachelor's degree in political science from Binghamton University and her master's in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SU. She is married and has a son who will graduate in May from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Gonzalez will immediately begin shadowing Barletta for the next few months, learning how to continue the programs already in place and begin developments for the future of UC.

"I have a great team and a great support system," Gonzalez said. "I am really excited to do more of the work I have loved for so many years."