U. Trustees easily approve appointments

and Jessica Toney University President Judith Rodin attended her first University Board of Trustees meeting Friday, and watched it wield its rubber-stamp. Each of the topics scheduled for discussion were met with immediate and unanimous approval from the Trustees. Their first Stated Meeting of the academic year only ran 45 minutes. The appointment of Vice President for Government and Community Relations Carol Scheman and interim Executive Vice President Jack Freeman were both submitted for final approval by Rodin, and were accepted without incident. In her remarks to the Trustees, Rodin said the beginning of her presidency has been "smooth and effective," with the exception of the murder of Al-Moez Alimohamed, a graduate student killed earlier this month. "The safety of all members of the Penn community is our absolutely foremost non-academic priority," Rodin said, adding that she hopes to develop a "broader and deeper strategy" and a comprehensive master plan in "the near future." Rodin also discussed the administration and cost containment evaluation being conducted by Coopers and Lybrand. She also noted the many personnel changes that have taken place recently. University Provost Stanley Chodorow also addressed the Trustees and said he planned to make undergraduate education his main focus this year. Chodorow said he planned to "look carefully" at the process of dean review, especially because four deans -- of the Dental, Law, Medical and Annenberg Schools -- will be up for review this year. He noted that the other main issues he will be dealing with are the Student Judicial Charter, the Code of Academic Integrity, ROTC, and the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education's proposed changes to the academic calendar. Earlier in the day, the Budget and Finance Committee met to discuss various acquisitions, purchases and insurance policies. As a result of that meeting, the Executive Committee passed resolutions to approve 16 different projects. In total, the Board of Trustees approved more than $13.6 million in expenditures. That figure includes the purchase of various off-campus buildings, the renovation of Eisenlohr Hall and the upgrade of several laboratories. The Board also approved the sale of a Philadelphia property which had been a gift to the University, valued at $150,000. The Trustees also voted for a plan geared toward placing more University staff and faculty on the University health care plan, PennCare. Currently less than half of the eligible University population is part of PennCare. Another issue discussed was the modernization of the University's accounting system. The present system is 20 years old, and a self-evaluation of the system has been in progress for several months. Departments in various schools within the University are each using different software to accomplish the same goals. The upgrading of the system will not only include new hardware but a standardization of software as well. The Trustees also heard financial and investment reports at the Stated Meeting.