U. Council convenes for first meeting of new year

Use of video-monitoring on campus,faculty consultation and Penn's charitable contributions top today's agenda. Resolutions on the University's video-monitoring policy, consultation practices and charitable contribution policies will headline the first University Council meeting of the new year today in the Quadrangle's McClelland Hall. As Council members convene from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for their monthly meeting, they will hear presentations from four Council committees. The Committee on Open Expression and the Committee on Safety and Security will co-present recommendations for how the University would use video cameras around campus to increase security. Anesthesia Professor Sean Kennedy, who chairs the Safety and Security Committee, said the policy focuses on monitoring public areas on campus. "It sets limits on what should be monitored on campus for safety and security reasons," Kennedy said. Psychology Professor Dennis Culhane, chairperson of the Committee on Open Expression, said his committee debated which campus-wide public areas "might have potential open expression issues" and infringe on the privacy rights of the University community. Council will hold a discussion session following the presentation to pinpoint which facilities should be monitored, since some -- like the Women's Center, where students often go with confidential or sensitive concerns -- raise issues of privacy. Council will also hear Faculty Senate Chairperson John Keene -- a City and Regional Planning professor -- present the Faculty Senate Executive Committee's policy on consultation. The policy, which was approved by the Faculty Senate December 2, is "designed to make clear that there be consultation between the administration and faculty? and clarify the conditions under which consultation takes place," Keene said. Finally, Biochemistry Professor Phoebe Leboy will make a presentation on the status of the University's charitable donations. Leboy explained that the University's donations to charities have dropped over the past 10 years. She attributed the drop to Penn's affiliation with United Way, the agency which organizes donations to a certain group of preferred charities. Leboy added that such a program makes it increasingly difficult for the University's employees to donate to charities of their choice. The University adopted a charitable program separate from United Way in 1991, but decided to abolish it in 1996. The goal of the current campaign is for University employees to be able to choose a "broader range of opportunity" among charities, according to Leboy. University Secretary Rosemary McManus described the three issues on the agenda for today's meeting as "very important to the community as a whole." Council, which is composed of about 92 faculty, students and staff, meets monthly to advise the president and provost on major issues facing the University.