Trustees' Winter Meeting:
New Deans, Treasurer and Campus Construction
At the Trustees' Stated Meeting last Friday, President Judith Rodin presented resolutions on several appointments that were unanimously passed: Craig Carnaroli as Vice President for Finance and Treasurer; Eduardo Glandt as Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science; Patrick Harker as Dean of the Wharton School; Peter Traber as Interim Dean of the School of Medicine and CEO of the Medical Center and the Health System. The Trustees also passed a Resolution of Appreciation for Ian McHarg, founder of Penn's landscape architecture and regional planning, who recently received the prestigious Japan Prize for his pioneering work in ecological planning.
Adele Schaeffer, chair of the Annenberg Center Board of Advisors, was elected an Emeritus Trustee and Charles Heimbold, Jr., chair of the Law School's Board of Overseers, was reappointed as a term trustee.
University City Associates, Inc. and OAP, Inc., both formerly for-profit subsidiaries of the University have recently been converted to not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporations with Penn as their sole member. The Trustees approved the appointment of the EVP or his designate as a representative of the University.
Provost Robert Barchi joined the President in welcoming the new deans and said it was a privilege to welcome Peter Traber, who along with David Hunter and Arthur Asbury will "provide strong leadership." Dr. Barchi referred to Penn's response to the FDA and said that Jesse Gelsinger's death was "simply not foreseeable."
Executive Vice President John Fry reported that the University's net assets totaled $4.3 billion as of December 31, 1999. Overall, net assets decreased $17.9 million since the beginning of FY 2000. This is due to unfavorable market conditions over the first six months of FY 2000 which led to a 2.9% decrease in the fair value of the University's investments.
After noting that he had only been "on the job for 46 hours" Dr. Traber said he and his colleagues "will work together to turn the Health System around."
Vice President and General Counsel Peter Erichsen, announced that Wendy White, the deputy general counsel for the University, will distribute the Guidelines on Cooperative Exchanges of Certain University Information annually (Almanac October 26, 1999).
PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed as independent accounts for FY 2000.
The Budget and Finance Committee presented six resolutions which were all approved including four related to construction. The Division of Facilities Services and Mail Services will be relocated to the basement level of the former GE Building after that area is renovated to provide a functional work environment. The project is expected to cost $6 million and will be partially funded by Dranoff Properties and an internal loan. The Jon Huntsman Hall construction can proceed now that the site has been excavated; the $139.9 million project cost is the result of "a competitive bid and value engineering." The renovations to the Graduate School of Education, estimated to cost $8.5 million and which will be entirely paid for by GSE, are to include a new Walnut Street entrance. The University Museum's Mainwaring Collections Storage Wing is estimated to cost $15 million and is to be funded through grants and gifts.
They also approved acceptance of an $8.5 million interest-free loan from the Pew Memorial Trust to expand three initiatives: cognitive neuroscience and genomics; the Fontaine Fellowship program and community outreach. The Committee will continue to monitor the Health System, said Lawrence Weinbach, chair of Budget and Finance.
William Mack, chair of Facilities and Campus Planning, briefly described the Life Sciences Quad that the Provost had reported to the commitee on the previous day. The facility would be constructed just west of the BioPond, adjacent to the Goddard Building. It is intended to encourage collaboration among disciplines such as biology and psychology and would be built in two phases. He also discussed the Quad renovation/restoration, projected to be a $75 million project; the first phase of which was completed last summer to upgrade the infrastructure. Although Penn's buildings already exceed the Fire Codes, more sprinklers will be added to the buildings.
Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 22, February 22, 2000