Trustees Meeting CoverageAt last Thursday's stated meeting of the Executive Committee of the Trustees, President Judith Rodin mentioned several recent accomplishments including the formal opening of the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall --"a world-class facility" and a living memorial to the late artist who studied at Penn and was inspired by its Victorian architecture. Dr. Rodin also noted that Dr. Roger Smith, a specialist in constitutional law and American political thought, will leave Yale to become Penn's Christopher Browne Professor of Political Science. She also commended Penn's Grammy award-winning professor George Crumb and the women's basketball team for their Ivy championship. She also noted that in the NSF rankings--recently published in the Chronicle of Higher Education--for federal research and development expenditures, Penn came in #7, ahead of all the other Ivies. Provost Robert Barchi said that there were 19,152 applicants for the incoming class, which is up 1.5% from last year's applicant pool. Early decision applicants accounted for 2,851 this year. Dr. Barchi noted the improvements in graduate student funding (CLICK HERE for more). He also mentioned that because the scrutiny of faculty teaching is important, he has established--along with the Faculty Senate --a committee to evaluate the mechanisms used in assessing teaching (CLICK HERE for more). In the University's financial report--for the period July 1, 2000 to January 31, 2001--EVP John Fry reported that Penn recorded an increase in its net assets from its operating activities of $11.7 million. The fair value of the Penn's endowment was $2.820 billion and has increased approximately $165 million from a year ago. The Health Services component of the Health System had an overall excess of revenue over expenses of $40.5 million. Year-to-date operating revenue was favorable to budget by $8.6 million and higher than the comparable prior year by $4.7 million. Dr. Robert Martin said that UPHS was in second place overall in the NIH rankings and that the recent hospital accreditation process went well with a preliminary score above 90. The Trustees approved half a dozen resolutions, including the annual resolution on tuition, fees and other student charges for the coming academic year. "For Academic Year 2001-2002, total undergraduate charges will be $34,614, including tuition of $23,998, a general fee of $2,144, a technology fee of $488, an average room rate in the residence halls of $4,850, and an average meal plan charge of $3,134; tuition and fees for graduate students will total $27,362, including tuition of $25,750 and a general fee of $1,612; professional school tuition will be determined administratively to reflect the budget requirements of the various schools and the general fee for professional school students will be $1,272; and part-time tuition and fee rates will be determined administratively and will increase proportionately." The Trustees passed a resolution on a revised scope and budget for the design and construction of the David S. Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, which is estimated to cost $3.8 million more than the previously-approved budget of $20 million. This additional amount is attributable to extended duration of construction and temporary measures to enable Gimbel Gymnasium to remain operational throughout the academic year during construction. On behalf of the investment board, Mr. Christopher Browne said it was "finally a pleasure to report" with the AIF performance up 5% fiscal year to date, with a 9.3% return for 1 year, as of February 28. He also noted the gains of 10.8% in Global Developed Equity for Penn's investments fiscal YTD. Stephen G. Smith, C '71, editor of U.S. News & World Report, was appointed to the Athletics Advisory Board. New appointees to the Advisory Board of the Annenberg Center are: Diane Dalto, a Philadelphia Eisenhower Fellow; Scott "Keith" Duncan, GR'92, president and CEO of DCANet; and Christopher M. Goodrich, of Goodrich Advertising. Roger A. Shiffman, CEO and co-founder of Tiger Electronics, was appointed to the Board of Overseers of SEAS.
FY 2001 General Operating Budget Revenue Sources(Excluding Health Services and Designated Funds)Total = $884 MillionAlmanac, Vol. 47, No. 27, March 27, 2001 |