SENATE: From the Senate Office

The following statement is published in accordance with the Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Executive Assistant Carolyn Burdon, Box 12 College Hall/6303, (215) 898-6943 or burdon@pobox.upenn.edu.

Actions Taken by the Senate Executive Committee

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

1. Chair's Report. Professor David Hackney announced that the request to consider creation of a subcommittee to monitor faculty salaries had been referred to the Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty.

2. Past Chair's Report on Academic Planning and Budget Committee and Capital Council. The Academic Planning and Budget Committee met once since the last SEC meeting. At that meeting we were briefed by Michael Masch on tuition and fees for the next academic year and by Omar Blaik on the Cinema project. In addition, we reviewed a draft of the new strategic plan. All of this information is now public.

Capital Council met on April 2 and approved plans, to be submitted to the Trustees, for the relocation of the Office of International Programs to International House. Discussion continued on the design and construction of the University Museum Infrastructure Upgrade.

3. Information discussion with President Rodin and Provost Barchi. Discussion centered on academic priorities in the Strategic Plan (Almanac April 2, 2002).

4. Cost of research. Provost Barchi introduced a presentation requested by SEC at the last meeting. He thanked Bonnie Gibson, Barney Lentz and Dan Katzenberg for their summer-long effort in preparing the report and noted that the report is a work in progress that will help identify problems. Among the topics raised was cost recovery of research, grants offsetting faculty salaries, building depreciation and facilities costs of existing and new buildings.

5. Committee on Administration Report on Proposed Revision of the Policy for Postdoctoral Fellows. Committee Chair, Professor Dennis Yao, noted that the revised policy extends to all postdoctoral fellows the setting of minimum compensation levels and the addition of guidelines for mentoring and training. A SEC member stated that, as currently written, the policy did not cover non-science postdoctoral fellows. SEC voted to return the policy to committee to explore the applicability of the proposed revised Policy for Postdoctoral Fellows to non-science postdoctral fellows.