Rodin nears 5 years

A marked increase in academic innovation has been a hallmark of President Judith Rodin's term. When Judith Rodin was tapped by a search committee to assume the role of University president in December 1993, she thought the position would be the perfect outlet for her "passion" for Penn and her desire to improve and develop the institution from which she graduated. "I had a vision for [Penn's] future," said Rodin, adding that she had "an enthusiasm as a leader willing to pull the institution further and further up." And now, five years later, the first permanent female president in the Ivy League has left her mark on Penn in -- among other fields -- the area of academic and strategic planning. This week, The Daily Pennsylvanian examines Rodin's first five years at the helm of the University, focusing on the status of her key initiatives and efforts as well as the woman behind the presidency. In 1995, Rodin launched the Agenda for Excellence, an ambitious strategic plan outlining nine goals and six academic priorities for academic enrichment and campus development, which University officials say has greatly benefitted Penn over the past four years. The plan -- which calls for Penn to be ranked among the top universities of the nation -- seeks to improve funded research opportunities, examine programs of continuing education and increase the use of technology at Penn. Additionally, the Agenda outlines a need for greater integration between Penn and the surrounding community and plans to secure funding in support of the many strategic goals. Four years later, officials point out the tangible changes made under Rodin's agenda -- which is set to expire in early 2001 -- including the development of new interdisciplinary programming, an increase in funded research projects and the creation of the college house system. Additionally, Rodin's fundraising efforts, as a result of the plan, have pushed the endowment to a new high of over $3 billion dollars. Few would dispute that the academic developments Rodin has implemented in her almost five years at the University have enhanced Penn's prestige throughout the nation. Penn has risen to No. 6 on the U.S. News & World Report ranking, and the Class of 2003 accepted just 26.6 percent of applicants, an all-time low. Provost Robert Barchi stressed that while Rodin may not be personally involved in each individual project on campus, she is the driving force behind all the academic and programmatic developments. "She's like a lithium battery backing up a computer," Barchi said. "It may not do all the thinking, but if it isn't there [the computer] doesn't work." Barchi said Rodin has provided Penn students with increased opportunities to pursue nontraditional learning and to "think outside the box" through the development of interdisciplinary study at Penn. Among the eight joint degree programs at Penn is the Management and Technology program, which offers degrees from both the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Wharton School, as well as the Nursing and Health Care Management program, which involves degrees from Wharton and the Nursing School. And prospective students this year will receive a brand new admissions booklet touting the vast array of joint- and dual-degree programs, sub-matriculation programs and cross-disciplinary programs that allow students to experience many facets of Penn's 12 graduate and undergraduate schools. "We do it best," Rodin asserted. "We're the only Ivy that has all of our schools and centers together on one campus [and] we really can create a strategic niche for ourselves that no one else can imitate." Under the Agenda, the University has also increased the number of cross-disciplinary majors, such as Digital Media Design and Molecular Life Sciences. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman said that through Rodin's promotion of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary study, she has "fostered an educational environment of cooperation." Wharton Undergraduate Dean Richard Herring added that Rodin's efforts have led to "a feeling, which is luckily contagious, that this is an institution going places." The commitment to academic development under the Agenda has spawned various new projects over the past few years, including the recently implemented Penn Humanities Forum -- a research center focusing on the humanities -- and the upcoming creation of a new $15 million computer science facility. Rodin has also pushed for academic development beyond the classroom in the creation of the college house system, which divided University residences this year into 12 integrated houses with increased staffing and support services. Director of College Houses and Academic Services David Brownlee praised the creation of the college house system, adding that Rodin's "chief academic contribution has been to improve the environment in which the intellectual work of the University takes place." Rodin says she spends very little time looking back over her career; instead, she said she focuses on the future of the educational system at Penn. And she can point out several areas of concern on the immediate horizon. One is the future of the School of Arts and Sciences. Rodin says she she is pleased with the new SAS strategic plan -- which will build several core departments -- and she wants to ensure that "resources are found to develop areas more fully." "There's a strong feeling that we could be even more interesting and exciting and cutting edge with what we're doing in the College," Rodin said. Another focus will be the use of technology at Penn, Rodin explained. Wharton and the College of General Studies have signed on to satellite learning programs that offer degrees from computer stations across the country. "The question of what we do on campus and what we offer off campus is, as never before, a really compelling question," Rodin said. Tomorrow: The woman behind the University presidency.

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