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COUNCIL

Section IV.3(c) of the Council Bylaws provides that a University Council meeting "shall incorporate an open forum to which all members of the University community are invited and during which any member of the University community can direct questions to the Council."

All members of the University community are invited to bring their concerns to the

University Council Open Forum

Wednesday, January 28, 1998 4-6 p.m.

Mc Clelland Hall, The Quad

(Penn ID required for entry)

Persons who wish to speak at Council must inform the Office of the Secretary (898-7005) by Wednesday, January 21, 1998.

Topics may include issues such as the following: Admissions & Financial Aid, Bookstore, Communications, Community Relations, Facilities, International Programs, the Library, Pluralism concerns, Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics, Safety and Security, Student Affairs, Open Expression, Etc.

Please see the format given below. Questions may be directed to the Office of the Secretary at 898-7005.

-- Office of the Secretary

Format for Council's Open Forum

The University Council will devote a substantial portion of its January 28, 1998 meeting to a public forum, in accordance with the terms of the University Council Bylaws (Almanac March 21, 1995). The purpose of the Open Forum is to inform Council of issues important to the University's general welfare and of the range of views held by members of the University. The forum is open to all members of the University community under the conditions set by the Bylaws, following guidelines established by the Steering Committee of Council:

  1. Any member of the University Community who wishes to do so may attend the Council meeting. Persons who wish to speak to Council, however, must inform the Office of the Secretary (898-7005) by January 21, 1998 indicating briefly the subject of their remarks. Those who have not so informed the Office of the Secretary will be permitted to speak only at the discretion of the moderator of University Council and in the event that time remains after the scheduled speakers.
  2. Speakers should expect to be limited to three minutes with the possibility of additional time in cases where members of Council engage the speakers with follow-up questions or remarks. The moderator may restrict repetition of views. Speakers are encouraged to provide Council with supporting materials and/or written extensions of their statements before, during, or after the Council meeting.
  3. Following the deadline for speakers to sign up in the Office of the Secretary, the chair of Steering and the moderator of Council will structure the Open Forum session in terms of subject matter themes, speakers, and times. In the event that there is not enough time available at the meeting to provide for all those who have requested to speak, the two officers may make selections which accommodate the broadest array of issues having important implications for Council's work and represent the breadth of Council's constituencies. The resulting order of the Open Forum of University Council will be made available no later than the Tuesday before the meeting, to be published in the Daily Pennsylvanian, and posted on Penn Web on that day and, if possible under publication deadlines, in Almanac the week of the meeting.
  4. Speakers' statements should be framed in terms of policy issues and directed to University Council as a body through the moderator. The moderator will have discretion to interrupt statements that are directed against persons and otherwise to maintain the decorum of the meeting, as provided for in the Bylaws. In cases where questions or positions can be appropriately addressed by members of Council, or where a colloquy would seem to be productive given the time constraints of the meeting, the moderator may recognize members of Council to respond to speakers' statements, with opportunities for follow-up by the speakers.


Return to:Almanac, University of Pennsylvania, January 13, 1998, Volume 44, Number 17