At the University Council meeting on Wednesday, April 27, the chairs of the University Council committees presented their report highlights during a virtual meeting on BlueJeans Events. Reports included the following committees:

• Committee on Academic and Related Affairs
• Committee on Campus and Community Life
• Committee on Diversity and Equity
• Committee on Facilities
• Committee on Personnel Benefits

Accomplishments made toward this year’s goals as well as future charges for each committee were discussed. See the 2021-2022 Year-End Reports supplement to read the full reports.

Faculty Senate Chair Bill Braham was welcomed by Lizann Boyle Rode, associate vice president in the Office of the University Secretary, to discuss the University Council focus issues for the 2022-2023 school year.

Proposed topics emerged from a variety of sources, including Faculty Senate and work conducted by the University Council committees. Other suggestions for topical issues to be discussed are welcomed.

Patrick Walsh, PPSA Chair, said the PPSA Executive Board and its representatives to University Council committees recommend the following issues be considered as focus issues for the 2022-2023 year:

• Penn’s impact on the City of Philadelphia, including but not limited to:
  1. Its support and engagement with city public schools
  2. Its economic and non-economic impacts on Philadelphia and how a shift to hybrid work has affected those impacts
• Strategies Penn uses to attract and nurture its human capital, such as talent retention efforts and ways in which faculty and staff are supported, nurtured, and valued.
• An update featuring heritage and memory institutions at Penn, including but not limited to the University Archives, Penn Museum, and the ICA.
• Update on campus-wide renovation and construction plans/projects for the next decade, especially as they relate to campus accessibility efforts.

This was the last University Council meeting of the semester. The next University Council meeting will take place in September. For more information, visit https://secretary.upenn.edu/univ-council.