As the economy continues to sour, Syracuse University announced a new cutback Friday, this time to its service Recognition Program.

In the past, SU employees were given pins and a gift when they reached a certain point in their SU career, typically every five years. The pins and gifts will no longer be distributed after Feb. 18, according to a memo Human Resources sent to SU faculty and staff.

Employee reaction to the news was positive, and some said they were willing to give up the gifts. Bill Glavin, who just reached his 35th year at SU, said he’ll give up ordering himself a watch if it might mean helping a student.

‘I think many people thought it was a nice gesture on the part of the university, but from my own perspective now, I think there are far more important things for the university to spend its money on,’ said Glavin, a professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The memo did not mention how much money the university will save, and calls Monday to the SU Office of Human Resources were not returned.

Department and school recognition events and awards will continue, the memo said. The annual Salute to Service breakfast reception for professors reaching their 25th through 50th years will also be held.

In the past, employees chose between 12 gifts listed in an online catalog, and the gift varied depending on how long they had worked at SU, according to the Human Resources Web site.

Glavin received a clock once, which now sits in his office at home. He stores his pins in a dresser drawer, with the latest one sitting on top. Another time, he ordered a telescope to give to a child down the street.

For him, it’s never really been about the gifts and he said he rarely has the opportunity to wear the pins.

‘Certainly my reward for being at the university has more to do with my interaction with students and teaching than it does with pins,’ Glavin said. ‘At times like this, the university should do anything to divert money to keeping students here.’

One such measure is the Syracuse Responds initiative, which helped students who couldn’t afford to come back to SU by raising $830,000 dollars. The program ended January 31.

Patricia Longstaff, a professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, added, ‘I know the university has to cut something, and what we don’t want to cut is assistance to students to come,’ she said. ‘If I had to cut something, the pins and the stuff you get for recognition would have been high on my list.’

Longstaff, a 14-year employee, said she doesn’t need the ‘swag’ to feel she’s rewarded at her job, and lost the pen she ordered last time in a day.

Other faculty members declined to comment at length, but were positive about the cutback.

adbrow03@syr.edu

Published on February 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm