Rodin discusses staff issues with University employees

As part of an ongoing effort to identify the professional concerns of Penn employees, University President Judith Rodin yesterday conducted the sixth in a series of seven meetings designed to evaluate employee interests. At the meeting in College Hall, Rodin stressed that she is sensitive to the needs of the professional staff while voicing her gratitude to the approximately 100 employees in attendance for their hard work. "It's hard to be in an environment where each of us feel sufficiently appreciated all the time," Rodin noted. She explained that she chose to hold meetings with the managerial staff "because these are people who themselves supervise," adding that hopefully the positive communication at the meetings will have a "ripple effect" among all staff members. Over the past year and a half, Rodin, Executive Vice President John Fry and Managing Director of the Center for Professional Development Annie McKee have examined the professional development and organization at Penn, hoping to create a more personal environment for employees with increased interaction between faculty, administrators and staff. Through these efforts, the officials invited around 1,200 people in high management positions to the seven meetings to discuss University issues. Director of Law School Media Services Gates Rhodes said that the meeting yesterday injected him with the drive to work. "Overall I'm going back to my office with new energy," he said. Other employees reacted positively to Rodin's efforts as well, saying that they enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the University's goals. Regional Director of Undergraduate Admissions Gwynne Lynch said that "it was nice to hear straight from Dr. Rodin what she saw as University-wide challenges and priorities." Rodin opened the meeting with a brief description of University priorities and outlined the major goals of her Agenda for Excellence. After discussing the many pressures the University currently faces -- such as increasing the roughly $3.04 billion endowment to assist programs like undergraduate financial aid -- Rodin opened up the floor for questions from the audience. Employees posed questions and offered comments focusing on the success of community outreach efforts, staff and faculty retention, communication between the administration and staff and the status of research funding at the University. The employees said they appreciated the opportunity to meet with the president and voice their concerns. Associate Director of the Center for Community Partnerships Winnie Smart-Mapp said that "staff are more compelled to talk about issues" in such a setting. Upon completion of all the meetings, Rodin, Fry and McKee will try to target the "big themes" brought up by the staff, said McKee, adding that the officials will report back to staff on their progress.

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