SENATE From the Senate Office


The following statement is published in accordance with the Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Senate Chair Larry Gross or Executive Assistant Carolyn Burdon, Box 12 College Hall/6303, (215) 898-6943 or burdon@pobox.upenn.edu.

Actions Taken by the Senate Executive Committee

Wednesday, May 3, 2000

1. Chair's Report. Faculty Senate Chair Larry Gross noted that due to a crowded agenda the preliminary discussion on the Medical School Faculty 2000 Working Group Reports and Proposals originally planned for the meeting had been deferred to September (on-line at www.med.upenn.edu/senate).

Professor Gross announced that the Steering Committee of University Council approved a recommendation to conduct a faculty gender equity study to be followed by a faculty minority equity study. Each study will be carried out by the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Senate, co-chaired by Associate Provost Barbara Lowery and Professor Phoebe Leboy. A report on the gender equity study will be made in the fall and the minority equity study will begin in the spring.

2. Past Chair's Report on Academic Planning and Budget Committee and on Capital Council. Past Chair John Keene reported that the Academic Planning and Budget Committee has met twice since the last SEC meeting. Omar Blaik gave a comprehensive review of the University's draft capital plan for the year 2000 and Lee Stetson gave a preliminary report on this year's admissions. The College continues to improve its admissions statistics. It is too early to have information on actual matriculations.

The Capital Council met once and approved a number of relatively small projects involving such things as renovation, facade restoration and the installation of a public address system in the three high rise College Houses, and the two Sansom Place towers that can be used for safety reasons, such as reporting on the status of a fire.

Professor Keene noted this would be his final meeting as one of the chairs of the Faculty Senate and that it has been a privilege to serve. Professor Gross thanked Professor Keene for his service.

3. Report of the Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty. Committee Chair Erling Boe noted the support and cooperation of Provost Barchi and his office in providing data for the committee's review and analysis. Some of the data took longer to obtain, therefore the annual spring report of the committee will be submitted in the fall.

4. Graduate School of Fine Arts Proposal on Practice Faculty. Discussion continued from the previous meeting (see SEC Actions, Almanac April 11, 2000). Dean Gary Hack reviewed the proposed change requested by the school faculty. Following discussion the question was called. SEC unanimously approved the proposal. [For the Handbook text see the Faculty Senate Web page at www.upenn.edu/faculty_senate/. Click on Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions.]

At this point in the meeting incoming SEC members took office and outgoing members stepped down.

5. Appointment of Chair of the Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty. Current committee chair Erling Boe was unanimously reappointed as committee chair for one year.

6. Election of a Past Chair of the Faculty Senate. Professor Phoebe Leboy was unanimously elected as past chair to serve May 3, 2000, until May 2, 2001. Professor Leboy served as chair of the Faculty Senate in 1981-82 and has served the last two years as an at-large member on the Senate Executive Committee and a member of the Steering Committee of University Council.

7. Election of Four Senate Executive Committee Members to the Steering Committee of University Council. Nominations were made and a ballot was circulated. The following SEC members were elected to a one-year term: Arthur Dunham (biology), Sarah Kagan (nursing), Gregory Possehl (anthropology), and Edward Rubin (law). The Chair, Past Chair and Chair-elect of the Faculty Senate are ex- officio members of the Steering Committee. The Senate Chair serves as chair of the Steering Committee.

8. Optional June 7, 2000 SEC meeting. SEC voted unanimously not to hold the meeting.


Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 32, May 9, 2000

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