UPDATED: May 11 2013, 2:58 p.m.

Plans for the Big East conference exit fee to be paid as a university-wide expense have been put on hold.

On Friday, The Board of Trustees’ Budget Committee held a meeting with several faculty members. After the meeting, the committee went into an executive session, and decided to hold off on having the exit fee paid as a university-wide expense, said Joanne Alper, chair of the Board of Trustees’ Budget Committee, in a letter to the Syracuse University faculty members.

“The critical concern is to find a solution going forward that reflects the integration of athletics into the University rather than pitting athletics and academics,” Alper said in the letter.

In April, university senators passed a resolution calling for SU Athletics, not the university as a whole, to pay the $7.5 million fee for switching to the Atlantic Coast Conference in July. The senators say the athletic department will make more money in the ACC — and like other areas of the university — should pay for the move. But the Board of Trustees and SU’s administration argue the move benefits the entire university, and should then be paid for by university, which is why SU Athletics shouldn’t be solely responsible for paying the fee.

Alper said the board continues to believe in its original decision to have the Big East conference exit fee as a university-wide expense. But she said the plans were put on hold to find “a solution that best represents the integration of athletics and academics at the University.”

Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Thompson and Chancellor Nancy Cantor were copied on the letter.

This was something Cantor suggested, Alper said. The Board of Trustees’ Budget Committee will allow Cantor and her administration to meet with faculty members in the next few weeks, she said.

Robert Van Gulick, a professor of philosophy who introduced the resolution in the senate, said it was very positive the trustees agreed to meet with faculty members to talk about the fee.

“I don’t want to underemphasize how important  it was that the senate and senate committee was able to have time to talk to them, Van Gulick said. “It’s not a common practice.”

Van Gulick said future meetings will likely talk about the financial relationship between SU Athletics and the university as a whole, but he is uncertain on when these meetings will happen.

He said he is also unaware of any proposals from the senate budget committee.

It’s possible the trustees could reaffirm their decision for the university to pay the fee, or larger changes with athletics could no longer make it an issue, Van Gulick said.

Published on May 10, 2013 at 10:47 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum