Council Coverage |
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May 6, 2014, Volume 60, No. 33 |
On April 30—at the last University Council meeting for the academic year—the chairs of the University Council Committees presented summaries of their reports (Almanac April 29, 2014).
Tom Baker, chair of Personnel Benefits, said that they discussed Penn’s Maternity Leave Policy for staff. He said the Committee recommends that this topic should be merged into a new charge regarding disability policies.
Stephanie Weirich, chair of Facilities, said that they discussed classrooms in the central pool as well as the bicycle policy (Almanac April 22, 2014).
Joe Libonati, chair of Diversity & Equity, discussed the Diversity Search Advisors’ (DSA) role and responsibilities and suggested that they should all be tenured faculty as originally planned. They also recommend increasing funding for religious groups on campus, noting that there are more than 40 such groups.
Kent Bream, chair of Campus & Community Life, discussed the situation with public schools in the area surrounding the University and the Committee’s view that Penn should develop a seven-year plan to address the shifting priorities in supporting public elementary education. The Committee discussed topics around political discourse and national engagement; it supports discourse that encourages an exchange of ideas.
Steven Kimbrough, chair of Academic & Related Affairs, described the Committee’s proposal to institute supervised internships that would provide a record of an undergraduate student’s involvement in research projects. He also discussed the evolving role of the reorganized Penn Bookstore.
Claire Finkelstein, chair of the Committee on Committees, enumerated the seven recommendations for next year’s Committees to be effective in fulfilling their roles of reviewing and monitoring areas of interest, as well as making recommendations for revisions to policies that are relevant.
Dwight Jaggard, chair of the Steering Committee, noted that there are typically four focus topics addressed by Council each year. The President, Provost and Tri-Chairs determine which will be the focus issues in their Summer Consultation meeting.
Suggestions for next year’s consideration include: a review of the findings of the Middle States Reaccreditation self study, with a focus on undergraduate research; local school engagement; overview of Pennovation Center at the South Bank, activities of the Penn Wharton China Center; findings of the Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare, and political life at Penn.
Related: Committee on Committees Report on the Functioning of Council Committees during Academic Year 2013-2014 |