Penn Trustees Fall Meeting Coverage |
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November 10, 2015, Volume 62, No. 13 |
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania held their fall meetings last Thursday and Friday, in advance of Homecoming Weekend and the Alumni Award of Merit Gala. At Friday’s Stated Meeting, Chair David L. Cohen described the committee meetings as active and substantive.
The Trustees passed three memorial resolutions for Trustees who have passed away recently: Carolyn Hoff Lynch (Almanac October 13, 2015); Yotaro (Tony) Kobayashi (Almanac September 22, 2015) and F. Stanton Moyer (Almanac October 27, 2015). They also approved amendments to the Penn Medicine bylaws to modify the financial capital approval process.
Resolutions of appreciation were passed for three Trustees who have served Penn in many capacities for a number of years: Susan F. Danilow, Carol Elizabeth Ware and Ehsan (Nanou) El-Tahry Zayan.
Charles (Chuck) B. Leitner was elected for a second time as a Term Trustee; Scott L. Bok was elected as a Term Trustee and Julie Beren Platt was elected as a Charter Trustee.
Penn President Amy Gutmann presented a resolution of appreciation, which was passed, in recognition of Stephen D. Golding’s vision and leadership as vice president of finance and treasurer, which Dr. Gutmann characterized as ‘careful, understated oversight.’ Mr. Golding has announced his plans to retire by the end of the year.
Dr. Gutmann also forwarded the resolution the Trustees approved to reappoint Denis F. Kinane as the Morton Amsterdam Dean of the School of Dental Medicine for a second term, through June 2021 (Almanac July 14, 2015).
Provost Vincent Price noted that the Campaign for Community (C4C), launched last semester, is continuing to support dialogues that strive to understand and address topics through constructive conversations. He also noted that Penn frequently has interdisciplinary conferences and this week there was one focusing on sustainable urbanization worldwide, co-sponsored by Penn Institute for Urban Research and the Perry World House, even though it is not yet built.
EVP Craig Carnaroli gave the financial report, giving highlights for the three months ended September 30, 2015. He said that Penn’s total net assets were $14.1 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion over the prior September, driven largely by the integration of Lancaster General Health into the UPHS and strong operating experience. On the Academic side, total contributions totaled $63 million, an increase of $13 million from the prior fiscal year’s first quarter. The Health System’s operating margin totaled $77 million, $21 million above the budget and $4 million below the prior year-to-date.
Dean Larry Jameson’s Penn Medicine report noted the recently inducted Penn faculty members into the National Academy of Medicine (Almanac October 27, 2015). He also noted that the new Class of 2019 at the Perelman School of Medicine had the highest MCAT scores in the country (38).
The Academic Policy Committee reported that it heard from Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Anita Allen at its meeting, where she spoke about the newly established Provost’s Arts Advisory Council and how after a three-year Arts and Culture Initiative, the arts are thriving. Dean of Admissions Eric Furda told the Committee that the number of applicants grew from 31,000 to more than 37,000 between 2011 and 2015 and Penn’s alumni interview program is robust, having interviewed nearly all applicants last year.
The Budget & Finance Committee (B&F) reported that they heard from Dr. Jameson how well positioned Penn Medicine is with HUP on the Top Ten Hospitals list and CHOP ranked #1 among pediatric hospitals. Both the Richards and Stemmler buildings are being renovated.
The Facilities Committee heard a presentation from Michael Mills, the architect who will be renovating Hill College House, the 1960 iconic residence hall designed by Eero Saarinen. Dr. Gutmann said that these long-overdue renovations will transform the building inside and out. They also heard about many of Penn’s educational components to the Sustainability Plan.
The B&F Committee presented six resolutions that were pertaining to renovations, restorations and leases: 1) Hill College House renovation for an additional $74.5 million (revised total budget $80.5 million); 2) new 20-year lease for 96,780 square feet of new space in the FMC Tower on the first through fourth floors, currently under construction at 30th and Walnut Streets ($59.7 million inclusive of $18.6 million of capital); 3) expansion of existing lease for UPHS in the Centre Square building at 1500 Market Street for an ambulatory care access center and an integrated call center ($23.4 million); 4) Towne Building first floor HVAC replacement and renovation ($6.2 million); 5) Franklin Field concrete restoration phase 1 ($6.1 million).
The Student Life Committee focused its meeting on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct. Dr. Gutmann said that while the survey’s results were not surprising, they were still troubling. She said there will be more efforts for prevention, education and dealing with the misconduct, which must be brought into the light. |