Council to hear 'State of the U.' talk

Without the fanfare or network coverage of a presidential State of the Union address, University President Judith Rodin will quietly deliver her annual State of the University speech at today's University Council meeting in the Quadrangle's McClelland Hall. The college house system, high-speed computer wiring for Greek houses and Penn's new public school initiative will also be on the agenda of the staff-, faculty- and student-composed advisory body. The annual State of the University speeches, mandated by Council's by-laws, are customarily given by the president and the provost in October or November. "The whole purpose of the State of the University is to give people a sense of where we're going," University Secretary Rosemary McManus said. Rodin's address will focus first on the progress of the academic goals set forth in her Agenda for Excellence, the five-year strategic plan for campus improvement introduced in 1995. The bulk of her speech will concern Penn's activities in West Philadelphia, including its partnership with the city school district to bring a Penn-aided public elementary school to a site at 42nd and Spruce streets. Graduate School of Education Dean Susan Fuhrman and Steve Schutt, Rodin's chief of staff, will provide Council with more details and a progress report on the plan, which was first announced in June. Interim Provost Michael Wachter's speech will focus on the University's college house system, which became operational in September, Rodin said. Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee will brief Council members on the program during Wachter's presentation. Also at today's meeting, the Community Relations and Student Affairs committees will issue reports from the last academic year, while the Communications Committee will update the progress of GreekNet, the University's plan to add high-speed Ethernet capabilities to fraternity and sorority houses. Committee Chairperson Martin Pring said the University has finished wiring four houses, with four more in the planning stages. Pring, a Physiology professor, added that all houses should be completed over the next two summers. Cost estimates for the entire project, which is behind schedule, were not available. Also, members of Council's Steering Committee last week asked two of Council's committees to study the issue of minority permanence on campus, Faculty Senate Chairperson John Keene said. Minority permanence is not on tomorrow's agenda. September's Council meeting was marked by an impromptu discussion of the University's efforts on minority recruitment begun by the heads of the undergraduate student government and minority-umbrella groups. The Admissions and Financial Aid and Pluralism committees will study issues of minority representation. A report from the Pluralism Committee is expected at Council's November or December meeting.