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- Tuesday,
- April 28, 1998
Volume 44 Number 31
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'A Woman Warrior'
The Penn Reading Project selection for this fall will be Maxine Hong
Kingston's The Woman Warrior (subtitled "Memoirs of a Girlhood
Among Ghosts"), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for
the best book of nonfiction in 1976.
Over the summer, the paperback will be mailed to more than 2000 entering
freshmen, and some 200 faculty volunteers will prepare to lead small discussion
groups in the fall before the start of classes.
"The Woman Warrior is a memoir constructed as a series of
essays," said David Fox, associate director of Academic Programs and
Residence Life.
With The Woman Warrior, the Penn Reading Project enters its eighth
year of starting new students' college lives with a common experience. The
selection of a prize-winning work by a leading woman writer/scholar also
honors the 25th anniversary of the Penn Women's Studies Program, Mr. Fox
said. (Maxine Hong Kingston now teaches writing as a lecturer in English
at UC Berkeley).
The book was chosen by a committee led by Dr. Al Filreis of Van Pelt
House, with Professors James O'Donnell (Hill), Jan van der Spiegel (Ware),
Jorge Santiago-Aviles (King's Court/English), Philip Nichols (Stouffer)
as House members; Professors Julie Fairman of Nursing and Carol Deutsch
of Medicine; students Nicole Baker and Jasmine Park; and staff members Dr.
Kent Peterman of The College and Dr. Chris Dennis of Academic Programs in
Residence Life.
Faculty who wish to volunteer for discussion groups can obtain the book
and details of participation by calling Mr. Fox at 573-5636 or e-mailing
him at dfox@sas.upenn.edu.
Interim Vice President for Business
Services Marie Witt
Marie D. Witt, associate vice president for business services since July
1997, has been named Interim Vice President for Business Services, Executive
Vice President John Fry announced last week. Ms. Witt will fill the position
left vacant by the recent death of Steven D. Murray, who had served as Vice
President for Business Services since 1992.
A search for a permanent replacement will begin soon, Mr. Fry said.
"We are fortunate to have someone with Marie's breadth of service
and commitment to the University to step in at this difficult time,"
Mr. Fry said. "Marie worked closely with Steve over the years on numerous
key projects, and I have no doubt that the Division of Business Services
is in good hands under her direction." Among the special projects she
has handled are the campus food services study, planning for the new Bookstore,
and the Faculty Club/Inn at Penn proposals.
Ms. Witt took her B.A. from Penn in 1981 with an individualized major
in human resources and organizational psychology. She joined the staff that
year as a personnel specialist in Human Resources, moving to Business Services
in 1985 as a communications analyst for Telecommunications. Six years later
she was named director of support services for the unit, providing support
to the Penn's Children Center, Class of 1923 Ice Rink, Penntrex, and Computer
Connection, as well as for human resources and marketing within Business
Services.
From 1996-97, she served as chair of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly,
and was a member of the Benefits Redesign Committee.
Note on a Memorial: Preparations are being made for a campus memorial
service for Steve Murray. If the date set is prior to the publication of
the next Almanac, information will be posted on the web at www.upenn.edu/almanac/.
Posted there now is a note on the family's establishment of a foundation
in his name.
Distributed Learning in Action: 'Wharton Direct'
The University of Pennsylvania and Caliber Learning Network, Inc., Baltimore,
Md., have entered into an agreement that will offer a series of interactive
business courses through the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at
the Wharton School, according to Interim Provost Michael L. Wachter.
"Wharton Direct" will be delivered through Caliber Learning
Network centers throughout the country, he said, representing the first
time that a major business school has combined the effective elements of
live classroom experience with the most advanced on-line and satellite learning
technologies to create a highly-interactive, networked "classroom"
that spans the country. The courses will incorporate real-time interaction
between Wharton professors and students, as well as between students in
different locations, through the use of integrated satellite, video conferencing
and PC networking.
The first group of programs offered will be the "Working Knowledge
Series," a collection of applied foundational courses that will provide
mid-level managers and technical professionals with concrete business tools
needed to increase their effectiveness at work. The courses, which will
begin in September 1998, will integrate the essentials of strategy, finance
and marketing needed to develop an internal business plan as well as target
other essential business skills such as analyzing financial statements,
forecasting and understanding the drivers of competitive advantage.
Courses will combine live satellite instruction with team-based activities
and on-line interaction, as well as customized courseware and network applications
to provide a rich, learner-centered environment. Typically, courses will
be held in three-hour sessions, once-a-week, for five to eight weeks. Students
will be able to access the learning network between sessions to conduct
research, complete projects and confer with both their peers and the faculty.
"Wharton Direct" was developed for organizations and individuals
who face increasing demands for high-quality business knowledge, but cannot
afford the time and travel associated with traditional campus-based programs,
according to Wharton's Vice Dean for Executive Education and External Affairs
Robert E. Mittelstaedt. Students will be able to participate in the Wharton
executive development program and benefit from exposure to the ideas and
experiences of their peers around the country, without leaving their own
areas.
"Collaborating with Caliber allows us to reach high-potential managers
who do not have access to Wharton's on-campus offerings," said Vice
Dean Mittelstaedt. "The courses will combine the best features of traditional
education with the advantages of technological innovations."
A digital satellite network will deliver live Wharton instruction to
participants in Caliber centers across the country. Room-based video conferencing
systems will support real-time dialogue between Wharton faculty in Philadelphia
and remote individual students, and a wide area PC network will distribute
courseware to the desktop while connecting students to instructors and other
students via e-mail approach facilitated by advanced audio, video and computer
technology. Students will be able to speak and interact with Wharton faculty
in Philadelphia by clicking a button on their multi-media workstations;
a videoconferencing camera will focus on the student for face-to-face dialogue.
"Wharton Direct" is the first initiative announced since the
completion of the report on distributed learning (Almanac April 21) that
established policy and procedure for such ventures. Previous distance learning
initiatives at Penn have included courses, seminars and programs that range
from an advanced Latin course on the philosopher Augustine, in which more
than 300 students and scholars around the world participated, to a 16-month
master's program in nursing that leads to a certificate in nurse midwifery,
offered by the School of Nursing to practitioners throughout Pennsylvania
and using videoconferencing.
Faculty members in SEAS and the Dental School have also been involved
in innovative uses of computer technology to deliver coursework to students
and alumni, and Vice Provost James J. O'Donnell and Dr. Alan Filreis of
English are engaged this spring in a non-credit e-mail course with 32 students
who were accepted through the Early Decision process and have enrolled as
members of the class of 2002. The course has enrolled students from as far
away as Pakistan and Malaysia.
Almanac, Vol. 44, No. 31, April 28, 1998
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