Provost dines with students

Provost Stanley Chodorow sat down to dinner with students before spring break to discuss issues of particular concern. "I love to eat with students," Chodorow said. "They eat three times as much as I do." Sixteen students and faculty members gathered in the private dining room of English House to dine and talk with the provost. Engineering freshman Harvey Chapman asked about the exact definition of Chodorow's position. Chodorow responded that he is the chief academic officer at the University, "the person to whom all academic programs report." He is also responsible for student life activities. "I happen to love it," Chodorow said. "I am having a ball, the issues are tough." Gillian Silver, who graduated from the College in December, began the discussion by voicing her concern about the lack of applicants for the collegiate planning pilot programs and Living and Learning Programs. "I hope enough students will participate," Chodorow said. "But if students are not interested, then that tells us something." One student suggested making the academic residential programs count for credit or as minors. Chodorow mentioned that it would take time to develop the new residential programs associated with the 21st Century Project fully. "Penn has relatively recently become a residential institution," Chodorow said. "Life of a university is measured in centuries." "In general, I think collegiate planning is going just fine," he added. Electrical Engineering Professor Jorge Santiago-Aviles, who serves as faculty master of Kings Court/English House, discussed the University's sense of community, focusing on the differences in identity of students in the four undergraduate schools and their affiliation with the University as a whole. Chodorow said the combination of academics and the residences would allow physical proximity to serve as a unifying factor between the schools. Financial support would also allow for increased programming between the schools. "Students will create things to keep things happening," Chodorow added. "Colleges can hold workshops and forums on critical current moral issues," he said, stressing that "students are the ones who will make it." Chodorow also commented on the large number of Penn students interested in leadership. "I haven't met a Penn student who didn't want to be president of something," he said. Chodorow admitted that when some people think of the University, they think of the Wharton School of Business or the School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Penn seems much less focused as a campus," he said. Chodorow said he hopes the 21st Century Project will create a sense of community and will reevaluate the way in which the University is presented. "On a deeper level, we need to create a sense of what Penn is," he added. The 21st Century Project also examines the way in which the University communicates with everyone from incoming freshmen to veteran students, Chodorow said. "We need to tell students from the very start what kind of place this is," Chodorow said. "This is a research community." In reference to the University's emphasis on graduate and professional programming, Chodorow commented that "Penn is an odd Ivy," noting that he believes the future of the Ivy League will be based on the model of an institution like Penn. Chodorow also addressed the issue of interaction between faculty and students. "We need to make a special effort to get people to spend time together," Chodorow said, but admitted that "faculty culture" is hard to change. As the hour and a half discussion came to a close, Engineering freshman Stuart Eichert said he was pleased Chodorow participated in the informal discussion. "I was impressed he was willing to spend so much time with us and was willing to address any issue we brought up," Eichert added. Chapman noted that Chodorow's answer to his question finally taught him the provost's responsibilities. "He was just here for dinner and to talk about Penn and how to make it better," Chapman added.