On October 1, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania held meetings in the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. The Executive Committee approved the minutes of their August 5 meeting that had been called to pass a resolution related to the change of ownership of  the School of Nursing’s LIFE (Living Independently for Elders) Program (Almanac May 8, 2007) and academic affiliation agreement.

Penn President Amy Gutmann reported that the gala celebration and the Silfen Forum last month in Beijing honoring the new Penn Wharton China Center (Almanac September 22, 2015) was a wonderful milestone for Penn’s global engagement.

EVP Craig Carnaroli reported that Penn had a very strong investment performance last year leading to total net assets for the Consolidated University of $13.5 billion as of June 30, 2015, an increase of $519 million over the prior June and $620 million over budget. The AIF return of 7.4% was above the budgeted return of 6.5% and below the prior FY return of 17.5%. While capital expenditures were below budget, there was still an increase from $234 million in FY 14 to $266 million in FY 15.

At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, inpatient admissions were slightly lower in FY 15 than budget but outpatient activity in high intensity services was mixed.

At last week’s meeting, a resolution was passed to change the start date of Michael J. Price’s term as a term trustee from February 24, 2016 to November 6, 2015.

Another resolution amended the Bylaws of Penn Medicine to include Lancaster General Health and Lancaster General Hospital as clinical components in the Penn Medicine governance, effective August 1, 2015, and to establish a regional planning committee.

The audited financial statements for FY 15 were approved as submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers to the Trustee Committee on Audit and Compliance.

The Budget and Finance Committee presented four resolutions, of which the first three were Century Bond projects: the Trustees authorized the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital’s HVAC system upgrades ($23.9 million); the Leidy Laboratory HVAC and lighting upgrades ($21 million); and the School of Veterinary Medicine’s HVAC upgrades for the Rosenthal Building ($20.8 million).

The final resolution authorized the acquisition by WXPN-FM of a non-commercial broadcast radio license and related assets including a broadcast tower and real estate in New Jersey ($1.4 million loan) to reach listeners in Northeastern Pennsylvania and Northwestern New Jersey, areas that are contiguous with the current broadcast signal reach of WXPN.

Stephanie Kramer was appointed to the board of overseers of the Annenberg Center; Tom R. Millon and Cindy S. Moelis to the external advisory board of the Penn Institute for Urban Research; Joanne B. Ladley and Philip  R. Wenger to the Penn Medicine Board as term members; James S. Riepe to the Penn Medicine Board as a Charter Member; C. Clair McCormick (chair of board at Lancaster General) to the Penn Medicine Board and the Penn Medicine Executive Committee, ex-officio; Allison Weiss Brady and Avis H. Richards to the board of overseers of the School of Social Policy & Practice; and Wendy C. Holman to the board of overseers of the University Libraries; Warren N. Lieberfarb was reappointed to the same board.