Welcome Back from the President: A Dream Team
At the close of another busy summer of campus construction and beautification, I want to offer a special call out and big thank you to everyone who works to keep our Penn projects on time, on track and on budget. Guided by Penn Connects and Penn Connects 2.0, they have helped Penn add a total of five million square feet of new and renovated space to our University campus. That’s just under two Empire State Buildings’ worth in only a decade!
I especially want to thank Penn’s dream team of distinguished faculty and clinicians and our dedicated staff. Your teaching, research, clinical care, and institutional support and leadership are what bring our campus to life and bring purpose to all these new and improved spaces—a number of which we’ve completed just in time for the start of the fall semester.
To celebrate, I encourage you to save the date for two important campus-wide events this fall. On September 19th and 20th, we officially celebrate the opening of Penn’s new Perry World House, opposite 1920 Commons on Locust Walk. Featuring panel discussions with renowned experts and keynote lectures by distinguished global leaders, the festivities will also include tours of the new building and a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony on Locust Walk. You can learn more by visiting the Perry World House grand opening webpage, https://global.upenn.edu/pwh/opening
Among the exciting programs at Perry World House is the Global Innovation Institute, which recently welcomed its inaugural postdoctoral fellows and first visiting scholars. The Global Innovation Institute forms the research core at Perry World House, and the inaugural postdocs and visiting scholars will contribute to the intellectual life of the University through their own research as well as by maintaining an active presence at the House. The Global Innovation Institute is one of several new initiatives that are key to Perry World House’s mission of convening, connecting and catalyzing global engagement and interdisciplinary international policy research at Penn and beyond.
We celebrate another exciting Penn beginning with the dedication of the Pennovation Center on October 28th. The new home of Penn-fostered entrepreneurial ingenuity, the Center will showcase resident innovators, free food and entertainment, robotics demonstrations, tours and much more. Our festivities culminate in an insightful discussion with Wharton alums Neil Blumenthal and David Gilboa, co-founders of the smash business success, Warby Parker. You can learn more and watch a sneak peek video at the Pennovation Center dedication webpage, https://www.pennovation.upenn.edu/calendar/pennovation-center-dedication
Innovative thinking abounds west of the Schuylkill as well with the recent launch of the new Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology in the School of Arts & Sciences. Thanks to the vision and wonderful generosity of Roy and Diana Vagelos, this new Institute will galvanize the research efforts of our stellar faculty in SAS, the School of Engineering & Applied Science and across the University to explore alternative energy sources, new technologies for energy use and storage and sustainability. In close proximity to other important centers working on energy, including Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science & Technology is a perfect complement to the important work Penn undertakes to address one of the world’s great challenges—that of alternative energy sources.
In addition to new global and innovation hubs, Penn this summer has completed the next great chapter in the college house experience. As students return to campus for the fall semester, some will be the very first to live in the stunning New College House at 34th and Chestnut Streets. The very first new Penn construction that’s designed from stem to stern to augment our transformative college house experience, I encourage everyone to stroll by this freshly completed and fabulous center for living and learning and see it in person. You will also see that a complete renovation of historic Hill House is well underway, updating and beautifying this iconic fixture of Penn student life.
Penn is home to the finest team working anywhere in higher education today. I am proud and grateful to have such extraordinary colleagues and friends. Together, through path-breaking academic initiatives, dynamic campus facilities and stunning new spaces for living and learning, we will continue to advance and beautify this wonderful university we love. Welcome to another year of high-flying academic pursuits and world-class achievement at Penn.
Beth Simmons: Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor
President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced the appointment of Beth Simmons as the University of Pennsylvania’s eighteenth Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor, effective July 1, 2016.
A world-renowned authority on international relations and human rights, Dr. Simmons is the Andrea Mitchell University Professor, with joint faculty appointments in the Law School and the department of political science in the School of Arts & Sciences.
“Beth Simmons’ award-winning scholarship spans international politics, law and human rights,” said President Gutmann. “She not only ranks at the top of her field as a scholar, she also is a universally admired teacher and mentor whose students have themselves gone on to illustrious careers. Her recruitment to Penn was clinched by a consummately collaborative, interdisciplinary team that spans multiple disciplines. Coupled with the opening of a stunning global hub on Penn’s central campus, Perry World House, her arrival as the Andrea Mitchell University Professor in law and political science catapults Penn forward in its capacity to tackle the most challenging issues in global affairs.
I speak on behalf of the deans and the entire university in thanking Andrea Mitchell for her visionary and far-reaching support. This is the latest example of how the Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professorship program—with a stellar cohort of preeminent professors that span Penn’s schools—is fueling the most innovative interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship and teaching in the world. My thanks to all the generous donors who have endowed PIK University professorships.”
Dr. Simmons comes to Penn from Harvard University, where she was Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs and served from 2006-2013 as director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is the former President of the International Studies Association and the author of two landmark books: Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy During the Interwar Years, 1924-1939 (Princeton University Press, 1994). Both books won the Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association as the best book of the year published in the United States on government, politics or international affairs, as well as additional major awards from the International Studies Association, the International Social Science Council and the American Society for International Law.
A co-editor of seven books and the author of dozens of influential articles and book chapters, Dr. Simmons worked at the International Monetary Fund from 1995-1996 and previously taught at the University of California-Berkeley and Duke University. She earned a PhD and MA in government from Harvard University, an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago and a BA summa cum laude in political science and philosophy from the University of Redlands.
“It is tremendously exciting to welcome to Penn one of the world’s leading scholars of global affairs and human rights,” said Provost Price. “Beth Simmons brings to us deep scholarly expertise and global engagement across multiple disciplines. She is certain to be an extraordinary catalyst for the Perry World House, for Penn’s engagement around the world, and for our vibrant intellectual life here on campus.”
The PIK program was launched by President Gutmann in 2005 as a University-wide initiative to recruit exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines and who are appointed in at least two Schools at Penn.
The Orphan Disease Center Funding Opportunities
The Orphan Disease Center (ODC) of the Perelman School of Medicine is requesting applications from Penn and CHOP faculty for seed funding of $100,000 per award to evaluate the feasibility of establishing new Programs of Excellence (POEs) for rare disease research.
The goal of this Request for Application (RFA) is to provide faculty with resources that can be used in whatever way is most useful to further develop a new POE concept including but not limited to: hosting a symposium, hiring consultants, conducting pilot research studies, progressing existing research to a value inflection point to enhance potential biopharma collaboration, creation of critical research tools, etc. It is hoped that work done under the auspices of these pilot programs will better inform ODC leadership about the creation of new POEs.
Interested faculty should submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to scharle@mail.med.upenn.edu by Wednesday, September 7, 2016. To learn more about this process and the LOI, visit http://www.med.upenn.edu/orphandisease/assets/user-content/documents/ODC%20POE%20RFA.pdf for details.
The Orphan Disease Center (ODC) also invites applicants to participate in the 2016 Million Dollar Bike Ride Pilot Grant Program. The program is now open and offering 28 different research grant opportunities focusing on 20 different rare diseases. This program provides a one-year grant to support research related to a rare disease represented in the 2016 Million Dollar Bike Ride. Number of awards and dollar amounts vary per disease based on fundraising totals by each disease team. This RFA is open to the international community. All individuals holding a faculty-level appointment at an academic institution or a senior scientific position at a non-profit institution or foundation are eligible to respond to this RFA.
For details about this grant program, rare disease focus areas and how to apply, please visit the ODC website at http://www.med.upenn.edu/orphandisease/rare-disease-overview.html
Letters of Intent (LOIs) are due no later than Friday, September 16, 2016 by 8 p.m.
Please contact Samantha Charleston at scharle@mail.med.upenn.edu or (215) 573-6822 with any questions.
Christopher Gruits: to Lead the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Provost Vincent Price and Vice Provost Anita Allen are pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher Gruits as executive and artistic director of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, effective September 26, 2016.
Mr. Gruits is the vice president and executive producer of Presentations, the programming and broadcasting division of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the world-renowned arts school and cultural center in Michigan. In this position, he produces more than 600 events each year with students, faculty and visiting artists, closely coordinating between public programs and the school’s curriculum, as well as live presentations and webcasts, music broadcasting on Interlochen Public Radio, and the Interlochen Arts Festival, one of the largest and most comprehensive summer arts festivals in the country. He has grown ticketing revenue to the highest level in the institution’s history, while introducing new thematic, multidisciplinary and community programs.
Before going to Interlochen in 2013, Mr. Gruits was the director of e-Strategy at Carnegie Hall in New York City, developing and implementing a highly successful strategic plan for Carnegie Hall’s virtual presence, including broadcasts, ecommerce, social media, original web content and Carnegie Hall’s first mobile app. He served for four years as an artistic projects manager at Carnegie Hall, overseeing a wide range of artists and performances as well as artistic operations for the opening of the Zankel Hall performance space, and earlier as director of dilettante music, the pioneering social media network for classical music, and in positions at the Seattle Symphony and the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival.
“Chris Gruits will be an exciting new leader for the Annenberg Center—and for the entire arts community at Penn and in Philadelphia,” said Provost Price. “He is an ideal choice to build on the legacy of Mike Rose, and we are fortunate to attract him to Penn at this pivotal moment for arts and culture on campus. I am grateful to the consultative committee, chaired by Vice Provost Anita Allen, whose invaluable work reviewing and interviewing many highly qualified candidates helped us arrive at this outstanding result.”
Mr. Gruits earned an MBA with distinction (2008) from the University of Edinburgh, focusing on digital strategies for the classical music industry, and a BA (1999) in interdisciplinary humanities and arts management from Michigan State University.
“Chris Gruits is deeply knowledgeable about arts programming and arts education,” said Vice Provost Allen. “The committee was especially impressed by his experience collaborating across disciplines and genres, connecting the arts to social and online media and working closely with his surrounding community. I am confident that, in the years ahead, he will be a wonderful partner across and beyond the Penn campus.”
Four NCI Cancer Centers: Landmark Research Consortium and Collaborations with Celgene
The Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced the establishment of a research consortium focused on accelerating the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics and diagnostics for the benefit of patients.
The consortium aligns four major academic institutions in a unified partnership with the shared goal of creating high-impact research programs to discover new treatments for cancer. The magnitude of the multi-institutional consortium and agreements between Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) and each institution will support the rapid delivery of disease-altering programs to the clinic that may ultimately benefit cancer patients, global healthcare systems and society.
Subsequent to establishing the consortium, Celgene entered into four public-private collaboration agreements in which it paid a total of $50 million, $12.5 million to each institution, for the option to enter into future agreements to develop and commercialize novel cancer therapeutics arising from the consortium’s efforts. Over the next ten years the institutions intend to present multiple high-impact research programs to Celgene with the goal of developing new life-saving therapeutics. Subject to Celgene’s decision to opt-in and license the resulting technologies, each program has the potential to be valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The four cancer center directors, Steven Burakoff of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Stephen G. Emerson of Columbia University, William Nelson of Johns Hopkins University and Chi Van Dang of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a shared statement, “The active and coordinated engagement, creative thinking and unique perspectives and expertise of each institution have made this collaboration a reality. Our shared vision and unified approach to biomedical research, discovery and development, combined with Celgene’s vast research, development and global commercial expertise, will enable us to accelerate the development and delivery of next-generation cancer therapies to patients worldwide.”
In addition to the benefits of long-standing professional relationships among the four cancer center directors, the depth and breadth of the institutions’ combined research and clinical infrastructures provide an exceptional foundation upon which to build this transformative collaboration. The four institutions collectively care for more than 30,000 new cancer patients each year, and have nearly 800 faculty members who are active in basic and clinical research and clinical care. “This is a paradigm-shifting collaboration that further strengthens our innovative ecosystem,” said Bob Hugin, executive chairman of Celgene Corporation. “We remain firmly committed to driving critical advances in cancer and believe the tremendous expertise of our collaboration partner institutions will be invaluable in identifying new therapies for cancer patients.”
The four consortium members are among the 69 institutions designated as Cancer Centers by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These 69 institutions serve as the backbone of NCI’s research in the war against cancer. The Cancer Trust, a non-profit organization, brought together the four institutions, thereby establishing the multi-institutional research consortium. T.R. Winston & Company, LLC served as the strategic advisor to The Cancer Trust and facilitated negotiations among The Cancer Trust, the institutions and Celgene. The commercialization offices of the four institutions, Columbia Technology Ventures, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners and the Penn Center for Innovation, subsequently collaborated with Celgene to accelerate this effort to discover and develop new therapies for the treatment of cancer.
“We are extremely proud of what we’ve collectively accomplished through establishing this collaboration and aligning all participants,” said Erik Lium, senior vice president of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with one another, our colleagues in research and clinical care, and now with Celgene to advance the discovery of new therapies that will dramatically improve the lives of patients worldwide.”
Mind Your Brain Conference: Call for Presentations by September 9
On March 24, 2017, during Brain Injury Awareness Month, Penn Medicine will be hosting the Mind Your Brain. For the third annual Mind Your Brain Conference, we are seeking participants to provide presentations for our “breakout sessions” that will enhance, through education, advocacy, support, and research, the quality of life for those affected by brain injury, including patients, survivors, families and caregivers. You can help make a contribution and impact your local community by sharing your knowledge/information. We hope you’ll consider being a part of this important day.
This conference is provided to the community as a complementary education conference for survivors and caregivers. Help make a difference in some of the 1.7 million people who sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually (CDC).
All affected by brain injury should, and can, have immediate and equal access to services and support to help lead full and meaningful lives. This program will focus on sharing research, insights, and therapies designed to address the personal and medical issues of those impacted by brain injury.
Please review the call for presentations, which are due by noon on September 9.
We are seeking participants to run breakout sessions (45 minutes in length) geared towards survivors of TBI (which could be focused on concussion or more severe TBI), or for TBI family members and caregivers.
Please include the following information:
- Speaker credentials and/or background
- 3-4 objectives for the session
- Target audience
- Abstract describing overall session (limit to 300 words)
- Multi-media needs and/or room requirements
- Disclosure of any potential conflict of interest
- Reference list as appropriate
Examples of past sessions: Yoga Recharge, Concussion Treatment Options, Strategize to Maximize, Fitness after TBI, Surviving and Thriving after Brain Injury, Evaluation and Treating Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury, Caring and Resilience Explored: Caregivers of Survivors of Brain Injury.
Send applications by email to LizLewis@mail.med.penn.edu
The Conference Committee consists of interdisciplinary professionals, clinical experts, researchers and brain injury survivors, who will review the proposals for submission. You will receive a response by October 1.
For more information about the Mind Your Brain Conference: http://www.med.upenn.edu/cbir/Mind-Your-Brain-Conference.html
—Penn’s Center for Brain Injury and Repair
Revision to Eligibility Service-Counting Rules for Penn’s Retirement Benefits
The University is revising it service-counting rules for the Health and Welfare Plan for Retirees and Disabled Employees. These rules determine when employees become eligible to receive medical and other retiree benefits under the “Rule of 75.” This change will provide more flexibility for employees who may wish to switch to a part-time schedule to support their work and life goals.
What’s Changing
Effective as of January 1, 2017, the service-counting rules in the University of Pennsylvania Health and Welfare Plan for Retirees and Disabled Employees Plan that determine eligibility for retirement benefits (including, but not limited to, medical, dental, life insurance and tuition benefits) are being amended to eliminate the requirement that service be both full-time and continuous to count toward plan eligibility. After the changes take effect, all of an employee’s full-time service will count toward eligibility requirements even if an employee has an intervening period of part-time service. Periods of full-time University service separated by a period of part-time service will be bridged to determine eligibility.
What is not changing is that all service must be continuous in order for the full-time service to be counted.
Background on the “Rule of 75”
Employees are eligible to receive retirement benefits if they satisfy the “Rule of 75” eligibility requirements. The Rule of 75 is met when an individual is at least 55 years old, has at least 10 years of service, and the sum of that individual’s age and service equals 75. For example, an employee who is age 62 and has 15 years of service satisfies the Rule of 75 eligibility requirements, but a person age 52 with 25 years of service does not meet the rule because an individual must be at least 55 to qualify. Visit https://www.hr.upenn.edu/myhr/benefits/retiree/eligibility for details.
What Will Count Toward Eligibility
Under the new rules, effective January 1, 2017, an employee’s full-time service—both before and after a period of part-time service—will count under the Health and Welfare Plan for Retirees and Disabled Employee Plan. However, while a period of part-time service will no longer cause an employee to lose an earlier period of continuous full-time service, the part-time service itself will not count toward the Plan’s service requirements.
Also, the Plan’s service-counting rules continue to state that if there is an outright break in service in which a person is no longer a full- or part-time Penn employee, the service before the break will not be counted under the Plan. For example, if an employee leaves Penn to take a job with another organization and then later is rehired by the University, or if a full-time employee changes to temporary service, then returns to full-time employment, then the service before the break will not be counted.
More information about this change and the Health and Welfare Plan for Retirees and Disabled Employee Plan’s retirement service-counting rules can be found in the summary plan description (SPD), which can be accessed at https://www.hr.upenn.edu/myhr/benefits/spd
To request a written copy of the Plan’s SPD, contact the Division of Human Resources at (215) 898-6884.
Pay Timing in November and December
Dear Penn Faculty and Staff Members:
Prior to the electronic payment of compensation, pay was predominantly made by check and the checks were then manually distributed across campus. To ensure timely check distributions before Thanksgiving and the Special Winter Vacation, a special process was developed to issue checks earlier than the normal schedule. A recent review of this special process indicated that it often required substantial subsequent adjustments because the pay was estimated. This often created confusion for employees.
In our current process, the use of direct deposit and pay cards in lieu of checks has eliminated the risk of untimely payment distribution.
Moving forward, the University will follow the normal payment schedule in the weeks before Thanksgiving and the Special Winter Vacation.
Timing and Awareness
While the actual dates are a minimal change, we understand that any adjustment to the timing of your pay may impact you and your household. Penn is communicating this change now so you can plan in advance. For weekly paid staff, the Thanksgiving week and the fourth pay in December both move from Wednesday to Friday. For monthly paid faculty and staff, the pay moves from December 21 to December 30.
Additional Benefits of a Normal Compensation Payment Schedule
You will now receive regular, steady payments based on your actual work, week-to-week or month-to-month, regardless of the season. This payment schedule eliminates the two- or six-week gap in paycheck payments.
Late Fall and Winter Compensation Payment Schedule
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Weekly Paid Staff
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Monthly Paid Faculty and Staff
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November
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Thanksgiving week payment date: Friday, November 25, 2016, the day after Thanksgiving
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Payment date: November 30, 2016
The schedule change does not affect payments for this month.
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December
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Weekly payments throughout the month on Fridays, beginning December 2 and ending December 30, 2016
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Payment date: December 30, 2016
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January
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Weekly payments throughout the month, beginning January 6, 2017
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Payment date: January 31, 2017
The schedule change does not affect pay for this month.
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This change to the payment schedule is grounded in thorough research and attentive discussions with business administrators and others across the University schools and centers.
If you have any questions, contact the Payroll help desk at (215) 898-6301 or by email: dofpayroll@pobox.upenn.edu
—Jack Heuer, Vice President Human Resources
—MaryFrances McCourt, Vice President Finance and Treasurer
—Anita Allen, Vice Provost Faculty Affairs
PASEF Annual Report, 2015-2016
The mission of PASEF (the Penn Association for Senior and Emeritus Faculty) is to initiate and coordinate activities that enable retired faculty to easily maintain social and intellectual connections with the University. These activities include lectures, retirement planning sessions, special outings, training on computer techniques, written material on insurance information for new retirees and for spouses of deceased faculty, and, as a service to the Philadelphia community, the availability of retired faculty as speakers.
PASEF membership is extended to the retired and senior (age 55 and over) standing faculty in all of Penn’s Schools. The Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (ASEF-PSOM) is an analogous organization in the Perelman School of Medicine. There are several activities that the two organizations hold jointly each year. The Executive Council of PASEF met nine times this year in the Hourglass Room University Club at the of the Inn at Penn. (Appendix A lists the 2015-2016 members of the Executive Council.)
Activities of The Year
Lectures: The Program Committee, chaired by Jerry Porter, organized eight lectures that took place in the Club’s Hourglass Room at the Inn at Penn at noon, and two special lectures—one at the 25 Year Club celebration, and the other in Irvine Auditorium. (Appendix B lists the speakers and speech titles for the year.)
Attendance varied widely—from 15 to 56. Lunch was available for the regular lectures; wine and buffet food were served after the special lectures. PASEF provided the speaker for the University’s 25 Year Club annual gathering—Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center, who spoke on The Future of the U.S. Constitution.
Guest Speakers at PASEF Council Meetings: Anita Allen, vice provost for faculty affairs, spoke at the March Executive Council meeting. She spoke about (1) the concept of insuring more representation of all the Schools in PASEF; (2) the desirability of more involvement of all the Schools with PASEF: the possibility of a PASEF representative giving a brief talk at one faculty meeting in each School and/or some budget contribution from each School as symbols of interest; and (3) the importance, in all activities, in recognizing that we are one university.
Reed Pyeritz, chair of the Faculty Senate, spoke at the April Executive Council meeting. He spoke about (1) the increased concentration of non-standing faculty and the appropriateness of their representation; (2) the training that 70 faculty will receive to respond to signals of mental health problems and (3) the possible involvement of retired faculty on SEC committees.
Spring Outing: In April, PASEF organized an excursion to the special exhibit at the Brandywine Museum of Art—The Poetry of Nature: A Golden Age of American Landscape Painting. There were 30 participants. Three docents each took a group around, after which lunch was served in the museum restaurant at the edge of the Brandywine River.
Retirement Recognition and Planning: For senior (not yet retired) faculty, PASEF provides a reception and a number of informational resources:
Reception for newly emeritus faculty. Each fall PASEF and ASEF-PSOM jointly organize a reception to honor faculty who have retired in the previous year. This year’s reception on November 4 was held in the Sweeten Alumni Center. There were 17 honorees and 29 guests. Verbal recognition of each was given, Dr. Pyeritz addressed the group and a buffet supper was provided.
PASEF personal contacts. Every three months a personal letter (not email) was sent to standing faculty who announced retirement, and to spouses of faculty who were deceased in the previous three months. The letters describe the access to PASEF and have an attached list of the insurance and benefit issues to think about, and the names, phone numbers and email addresses of the appropriate staff to help with information and advice.
Road to Retirement programs. PASEF sponsors two programs annually: (1) Four retired faculty spoke personally about their decisions to retire, and their experiences in and with retirement. (2) Two of Penn’s experts on retirement and benefits—Vicki Mulhern and Hilary Lopez—explained every aspect of the retirement options, and fielded a large number of questions. About 90 people attended these programs.
Hitchhiker’s Guide. The ninth edition of the annual Hitchhiker’s Guide to Faculty Retirement was issued in early 2016, edited by Martin Pring. Copies were distributed at the Road to Retirement programs, and are available on PASEF’s website.
Library Tech Tools Workshops: Vivian Seltzer, chair of the PASEF Library Committee, has developed a program of small, sometimes single person, training sessions for retired faculty. Anu Vedantham, of the Penn Libraries, is instrumental in providing the programs. Topics include items such as Google tools, PowerPoint, iPad and iPhone usage.
Speakers’ Bureau: The Speakers’ Bureau Committee, chaired by Jack Nagel, was embarked in the late spring. Letters were sent to retirement communities, churches and synagogues, civic organizations and some high schools. They contained a list of names of retired faculty who could be invited to deliver a lecture, their contact information, their areas of expertise and some specific topics they could present. The community organizations can then directly contact a speaker they regard as appropriate. All arrangements are made between the two parties. Several contacts have been made. The information in the letters is also posted on PASEF’s website.
Ad Hoc Committee on Facilities: This Committee was chaired by Joan Goodman. Its objectives, initially, were to obtain information on the facilities available to retired faculty at other peer urban universities, and the range of the activities. The Committee found that there was no clear, one type of organization that emerged. Harvard and Yale clearly had the most elaborate facilities and activities. There were a few major findings: (1) There was a wide range of activities and facilities associated with standing faculty and alumni. (2) There was a wide range of activities involving extensive volunteer work (e.g. Harvard’s and Stanford’s lifelong learning programs are open to the public). (3) Almost all had their retiree organization include more groups than standing faculty, administrators, adjunct professors, etc. (4) Almost all had membership dues. The PASEF Executive Council voted against membership dues, asked for a detailed breakdown of non-standing faculty by school and category, and will have focus groups in the fall to explore retired faculty preferences on the issues raised by the Committee.
Ideas Ahead
At the last Executive Council meeting of the year, some plans for the next academic year were discussed: (1) It was agreed that PASEF will hold focus groups in the fall to get a reading on the type of PASEF lectures that would be regarded as particularly interesting. (2) Detailed information on categories and numbers of faculty in every category in each School will be obtained, in order to inform a discussion on membership criteria for PASEF. (3) The possibility of a semi-annual PASEF newsletter will be considered. (4) Efforts will be made to expand the number of involved PASEF members.
—Anita A. Summers, President (2015-2016)
Appendix A: PASEF Council Members, 2015-2016
Roger M.A. Allen, Professor Emeritus, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations (SAS)
David P. Balamuth, Professor Emeritus, Physics (SAS), Representative to the University Council on Personnel Benefits
Janice R. Bellace, Professor, Legal Studies & Business Ethics (Wharton), Chair, Nominating Committee
Lois Evans, Professor Emerita, Nursing (Nursing)
Joan F. Goodman, Professor Emerita (GSE), Chair, Ad Hoc Facilities Committee
Howard I. Hurtig, Professor Emeritus, Neurology (PSOM)
Lynn Hollen Lees, Professor Emerita, History (SAS)
Roberto S. Mariano, Professor Emeritus, Economics (SAS)
E. Ann Matter, Professor Emerita, Religious Studies (SAS)
Jeanne C. Myers, Professor Emerita, Biochemistry and Biophysics (PSOM), President of ASEF-PSOM
Jack H. Nagel, Professor Emeritus, Political Science (SAS), Past President, Chair of Speakers’ Bureau Committee
David P. Pope, Professor Emeritus, Materials Science & Engineering (SEAS) Secretary
Gerald J. Porter, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics (SAS), Chair, Program Committee
Martin Pring, Professor Emeritus, Physiology (PSOM), Representative to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee
Vivian C. Seltzer, Professor Emerita, Human Development& Behavior (SPP), Chair, Library Committee
Paul Shaman, Professor Emeritus, Statistics (SAS and Wharton), President-elect, Chair, Retirement Programs Committee
Anita A. Summers, Professor Emerita, Business Economics & Public Policy (Wharton), President
Past Presidents: Rob Roy MacGregor, Vivian Seltzer, Benjamin Shen, Neville E. Strumpf and Ross A. Webber
Appendix B: PASEF Lectures, 2015-2016
Joseph Turow, The Transformation of Retailing in the Digital Age
Jeffrey Rosen, The Future of the U.S. Constitution (25 Year Club Lecture)
Charles L. Nelson, Future Prospects of Hip and Knee Surgery
Guthrie Ramsey, The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History and The Challenge of Bebop
Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods and Unequal Adulthoods
James H. Lytle, Philadelphia as the Epicenter for K-12 School Reform
Paul Offit, The Philadelphia Measles Epidemic of 1991: Lessons From The Past
Jeremy Siegel, The Economy and The Markets—What’s Next?
Charles L. Howard and Brian Peterson, Charleston, Freddie Gray and Black Lives Matter
Roger Allen, The Islamic State: Background and Implications