Fac. Senate chair splits loyalties

Penn prof served as a Yale trustee During every sports matchup between Penn and Yale University, Medical School Professor William Kissick has divided loyalties. "When we play in Philadelphia, I sit on the Penn side," he said. "When I go to Yale, I sit on the Yale side." The George Seckel Pepper professor of public health and preventive medicine spent 12 years at Yale, completing his undergraduate work in 1953 and receiving his graduate degree in 1957. And even though he has now spent more than 25 years at Penn, Kissick, who has a wife and four children, still has very strong ties to Yale. He even served as one of Yale's trustees until this year. He ended his affiliation with Yale's Board of Trustees upon becoming the chairperson of the University's Faculty Senate, a position he will hold until the end of this academic year. As the University's faculty advisory organization, the Faculty Senate is made up of an executive committee, departmental representatives and at-large members. Three chairpeople are appointed to govern the Senate's activities -- a chairperson, a past-chairperson and a chair-elect. Kissick emphasized the collective leadership of the Senate, noting that the three leaders should have a "seamless relationship." He has a similar philosophy about the University, which he said should represent the "unity of campus." When he first came to the University in 1968, Kissick and others worked to create a solid partnership between the Wharton School and the Medical School. In that capacity, Kissick helped to develop Wharton's graduate program in Health Care Management, which was founded officially in 1970. And he has also worked in the University's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, which was founded the year before Kissick came to the University. He has taught in the Medical School, the Wharton School and the Nursing School -- although the Medical School is his primary area. Besides his work combining business with medicine, Kissick has also done a great deal of research into national health reform. He notes that if President Clinton's health reform plan had been enacted, "it would have been repealed in two years." Kissick is currently working on three different books, all on various aspects of health care reform and the field of medicine. In his work on the Senate, Kissick said he does not have any specific issues he hopes to pursue this year, Kissick mentioned the 21st Century Undergraduate Education Initiative as a program that will "challenge" the faculty because it will create major changes in the University. "If we're going to achieve the president's agenda, it's going to take a great deal of effort," he added. Advising and collegiate planning issues will also play a role on the Senate's agenda this year, Kissick said. And he said he sees the issue of tenure as a "red flag" -- one that the Faculty Senate will have to deal with in the upcoming year. "If you're going to attack higher education, tenure's the target," Kissick added. He said he favors the creation of multiple tenure tracks that would differentiate the faculty. The system would create a hierarchy but would also make tenure more "pluralistic." As Senate chairperson, Kissick will also chair University Council's steering committee. By attending both Council and Senate meetings, Kissick has developed an understanding of the value of both open sessions, like those of Council, and closed ones, like the ones of the Senate. "It's difficult to change your mind in public," he said, explaining the advantages to a closed meeting. But he added that to some extent, his reports to Council on the Senate's activities give him the chance to inform the public of what is occurring behind closed doors. After completing his year as Faculty Senate past-chairperson next year, Kissick plans to take a sabbatical to focus on his research and writing.