Meeting of the Trustees Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the Trustees met on May 15 and approved a resolution to establish procedures for proxy voting which supercede prior policies created in 1996 concerning proxy voting. The Trustees determined that it is appropriate for the President to create an advisory committee, the Penn Social Responsibility Advisory Committee, to provide advice to the Trustee Proxy Voting Subcommittee with respect to social and environmental issues.

President Judith Rodin introduced Ralph Muller, the new CEO of UPHS (Almanac April 22) who began in a transitional capacity on May 1, and also mentioned the incoming dean of the Annenberg School, Dr. Michael Delli Carpini (Almanac April 29), who will assume his duties on July 1 as Dean Kathleen Jamieson takes a year-long sabbatical before returning to Penn as the director of the Public Policy Center at the Annenberg School for Communication.

Provost Robert Barchi mentioned the appointment of Dr. Les Hudson as the Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives (Almanac April 29) and said Dr. Hudson will be formulating strategic planning. Dr. Barchi also noted the recent Arts Day when overseers spent the day on campus at the many arts venues.

EVP Clifford Stanley gave the University's financial report for the fiscal period that ended March 31, 2003. He said the total net assets decreased $156.9 million or 3% to $5 billion, while net assets from operations increased $1.8 million, and net assets from non-operating activities declined due to investment performance. For the Academic Component, the total net assets decreased by $133.7 million and net assets from operations increased $6.4 million. For the Health Services component, overall utilization remained strong at the four owned hospitals with adult inpatient admissions increasing 3.8%.

Dr. Arthur Rubenstein reported that Penn Medicine has more women than men in this year's class for the first time ever. He also noted that the School of Medicine came in second in the country in NIH grants (see Honors).

Dr. Rubenstein also announced that Peter DeAngelis, Jr., the Health System's chief financial officer, will leave next month to become the executive vice president and chief financial officer for Catholic Health East, a 14,000-bed, faith-based health system that includes 31 acute-care hospitals and 46 skilled nursing facilities in 11 eastern states from Maine to Florida. Mr. DeAngelis joined Penn in the summer of 1997 and according to the dean, "was one of the driving forces behind the Health System's remarkable financial recovery and stabilization."

The Trustees then approved five resolutions presented by the Budget and Finance Committee that had met earlier that morning. There was one to authorize the design and construction of the parking garage 7 repairs (on South Street east of the Museum) $2 million. Another resolution authorized the renovations of the 3rd floor C Wing at 3401 Walnut Street for the psychology department $1.175 million. The Trustees also authorized the renewal of the University's guarantee of a $1.6 million loan to Caring Center, Inc. by Citizens Bank which refinanced the loan. The School of Medicine, pulmonary division will enter into a lease agreement with CHOP to use space in the Abramson Medical Research Building with a 32-month lease, $2.6 million.

The full board of Trustees will meet next month. See Summer AT PENN.

  Almanac, Vol. 49, No. 34, May 27, 2003