Council Coverage: October 5 Meeting |
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October 11, 2016, Volume 63, No. 09 |
Last Wednesday, at the first Council meeting of the academic year, Penn President Amy Gutmann asked for the consent of Council to name Terri Richmond as the moderator; Dr. Richmond was accepted to once again fill that role. Dr. Gutmann then announced the appointment of Lauren Steinfeld to once again be the parliamentarian.
Laura Perna, chair of the Council Steering Committee, presented the topics of the upcoming focus issues for the year. Increasing opportunities for student/faculty innovation/entrepreneurship: Pennovation Center and other campus resources, including PCI, Wharton, PennDesign, Weiss Tech House and Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation will be discussed on November 30; a discussion of academic and personal integrity at Penn will be the focus of the February 1 meeting; a discussion of online learning initiatives will take place on February 22; and a five-year update on Penn’s Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence will be discussed on March 22.
Dr. Perna also announced two upcoming meetings with an Open Forum component: November 30 and February 22.
There was a brief discussion about committee charges for the year and how they are established. One student on Council expressed concern that the charge of the Committee on Diversity and Equity does not include religious or spiritual students’ needs.
Provost Vincent Price mentioned that this is Penn’s 10th Theme Year (Year of Media) and the 26th year of the Penn Reading Project. David Fox, NSO director, said that this is the first year a movie was chosen in lieu of a book; Citizen Kane, which focuses on power, leadership and the importance of media in national politics, is relevant because of this year’s presidential election. Canvas was used to make the film available to incoming students and to provide resources as well as a way to get the students’ essays to the discussion leaders prior to the discussions. More activities are being planned on this theme. The grant program, www.yearofmedia.org is available for those who would like to suggest an event. Next year will be the Year of Innovation, with Walter Isaacson’s book, The Innovators, for PRP.
As New Business, the Council representative from UMOJA read a statement on behalf of black students, while dozens of black students silently entered Bodek Lounge to emphasize their stance.
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