Coverage of the Trustees Winter Stated Meeting |
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March 01, 2016, Volume 62, No. 25 |
The University of Pennsylvania Trustees held their winter stated meeting and numerous committee meetings last week.
The Trustees passed memorial resolutions for two recently deceased trustees: Arlin Adams (Almanac January 12, 2016) and Walter G. Arader (Almanac February 2, 2016).
The previously approved resolution to elect Julie Beren Platt as a Charter Trustee was revised, to change the start date to January 1, 2016, instead of February 26, 2016.
The appointment of MaryFrances McCourt as vice president for finance and treasurer was approved. Penn President Amy Gutmann said she is thrilled that Ms. McCourt will be joining Penn later this month (see page 1).
President Gutmann announced that after a comprehensive global search, the new dean for PennDesign has been named (see page 1): Fritz Steiner, a Penn alumnus who the President said will be an excellent advocate for the students.
The President also cited the recently released report on Penn’s economic impact (see page 8) that demonstrates what an important anchor institution the University is to the city, region and state. She noted that Penn has named its 17th PIK Professor (Almanac February 2, 2016), Aviv Nevo, an expert in econometrics who will have appointments in SAS and Wharton.
There has been a record-breaking number of applicants for the Class of 2020, with more than 38,700 students applying; they have exhibited quality and diversity.
Numerous awards and scholarships have been won recently by Penn students, including Rhodes (Almanac November 24, 2015 and December 8, 2015); Mitchell (Almanac December 15, 2015); Gates Cambridge (Almanac February 23, 2016); and the Thouron (see page 3).
This year’s Commencement Speaker—Lin-Manuel Miranda—was described by President Gutmann as someone who takes a groundbreaking approach to performance and history. She cited the breadth and depth of achievements of the honorary degree recipients (Almanac January 19, 2016).
Provost Vince Price said that a search led by Anita L. Allen, vice provost for faculty, is underway to find a successor to Michael Rose, the managing director of the Annenberg Center, who will be retiring this summer after 18 years here (Almanac January 19, 2016).
Provost Price announced that the seven faculty members in the latest cohort of the Penn Fellows (Almanac January 12, 2016) are from five of Penn’s schools.
EVP Craig Carnaroli’s financial report for the six months ending December 31, 2015, showed that for the Consolidated University, the total net assets were $14.4 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion over the prior December, driven largely by the integration of Lancaster General Health into the University’s Health System, and strong operating performance, but $483 million below budget, primarily due to the downturn in the financial markets, which affected investments. For the academic component, total contributions—pledges and new gifts, operating and non-operating—totaled $172 million, an increase of $20 million from the prior fiscal year’s first six months. Year-to-date capital expenditures were $184 million, an increase of $60 million over the prior December and $2 million over budget. Meanwhile, the Health System’s capital expenditures decreased from $233 million to $214 million, a $19 million decrease.
The Penn Medicine report highlighted how they have contributed to the community in the past year. In FY2015, Penn Medicine contributed more than $500 million in free medical care, health screenings, vaccinations, mentoring, tutoring, training, coaching and teaching about nutrition. For information about Penn Medicine’s community outreach, see www.PennMedicine.org/community
Resolutions were passed to authorize tuition, fees and other student charges for academic year 2016-2017 (see page 1) and to authorize purchase of a research administration portal, $6.4 million. Also, resolutions were passed to authorize the joinder of the Lancaster General Hospital and Lancaster General Health as members of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and to authorize the restructuring of certain indebtedness pertaining to these entities.
Andrea Mitchell was appointed chair and Michael J. Price was appointed as vice chair of the Board of Overseers of SAS. Andrea J. Pollack was appointed to the GSE Board of Overseers. Alexandra S. Cudby and Kimberly L. Hirschman were appointed to the Libraries’ Board. Susan Frier Danilow and Joel M. Greenblatt were appointed to the Penn Medicine Board; Richard J. Green and Richard W. Vague were reappointed as term members to that Board. Pamela S. Kurland was appointed to the SP2 Board. The Board of Trustees for the Wistar Institute was also confirmed by Penn’s Trustees.
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