The University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees held their Winter Stated Meeting last Friday, February 17, following a day of numerous committee meetings. The Trustees passed a Resolution of Appreciation for Andrea Mitchell and designation as an Emerita Trustee after having served her alma mater as a Trustee for 20 years. The Trustees also resolved to reelect James G. Dinan as a Term Trustee for a five-year term.

The reappointment of J. Larry Jameson as Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and as Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, along with the appointment of Gregory S. Rost as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff were also approved.

President Amy Gutmann took a moment to congratulate University Chaplain Charles (Chaz) Howard for his new book, Pond River Ocean Rain, which she called a “beautiful meditation.” He will be doing a signing/reading at Penn’s Bookstore tonight, February 21; proceeds are being donated to support World Vision’s Clean Water Fund.

President Gutmann said that Penn is honored to welcome former Vice President Joe Biden to join Penn as a Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor (Almanac February 14, 2017). She also mentioned the appointment of Jay Gottfried (Almanac January 17, 2017) as the 18th PIK Professor. President Gutmann said that Penn’s Commencement Speaker US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) (Almanac January 31, 2017) “has a compelling life story.”

Provost Vincent Price described the recently opened hub in the library devoted to teaching and learning (Almanac January 24, 2017) bringing together three resources at the heart of campus.

EVP Craig Carnaroli gave the financial report for the University for the six months ended December 31, 2016. He noted that for the Consolidated University the total net assets were $15 billion, an increase of $590 million over the prior December, driven largely by strong investment performance and strong operating performance at the Health System. For the Academic Component, new contributions, totaled $192 million, an increase of $20 million, or nearly 12% over the prior year.

PSOM Dean J. Larry Jameson reported that Penn Medicine gave back to the community in many ways again last year, providing nearly $400 million of care and services including charity and underfunded care, physician training support, research support and community health improvement services.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was once again approved to audit the University’s financial statements for Fiscal Year 2017.

The Trustees approved the 2017-2018 tuition, fees and other student charges for Penn undergraduates; the total charges will be $68,600 (see here). For graduate and professional students, tuition will be determined administratively to reflect the budget requirements of the various schools. The financial aid budget will total $224 million.

Also approved were resolutions to authorize Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall first floor classroom renovations ($7.72 million); Van Pelt-Dietrich Library’s HVAC upgrades ($18 million); the Dental School’s Evans Building Main Clinic renovation and Schattner Center addition ($21.13 million) and Richards Building A & B Tower renovations and elevator modernization ($33.15 million).

Numerous appointments to Penn Medicine, overseers and other boards were approved, including the following:'

Anilesh Ahuja, Richard M. Horowitz, Henry D. Jackson, Sheryl D. Kaye, and Rich S. Ross to the Board of Overseers of SAS; Gary D. Rose and Paul Williams as emeritus members.

Benjamin A. Breier and T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. to the Athletics Board.

Dirk Brunner to the Board of Overseers of the School of Dental Medicine.

Patricia P. Udell to the Board of Overseers of the School of Design, Keith L. Sachs as an emeritus member, Kevin S. Penn as its chair.

Candice Wang Willoughby to the Libraries Board of Overseers.

David J. Adelman and Melissa Neubauer Anderson to the Penn Medicine Board.

Mason Haupt and MaryFrances McCourt to the Board of PennPraxis.

Jeremy Nowak and Ari M. Shalam to the Penn Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board.

Christopher B. Cowen to the Board of Overseers of the School of Veterinary Medicine.