Trustees approve U.'s appointments

Eduardo Glandt, Patrick Harker and Peter Traber were officially welcomed. University President Judith Rodin was scheduled to introduce Penn's two newest academic leaders to the Board of Trustees -- with resolutions to officially approve the appointments of Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt and Wharton Dean Patrick Harker -- on the stated agenda of last Friday's meeting. But she wound up adding a third name to her welcome list. "It gives me great pleasure to introduce Dr. Peter Traber, who will now be serving as interim CEO of the Health System and Dean of the Medical School," Rodin said. In a move that overshadowed much of the Trustee's public discussion of the University's technology strategy at last week's meetings, Rodin and Trustees Chairman James Riepe asked William Kelley to step down as head of the financially troubled University of Pennsylvania Health System on Wednesday night. The Trustees still managed to get down to business as they passed 26 resolutions, held eight standing committee meetings and attended a number of seminars where Penn administrators, faculty and students discussed the impact of high-technology on higher education. However, the primary concerns of most Trustees were financially oriented, as they heard reports on the disappointing performance of Penn's endowment and UPHS's fiscal woes. According to Trustee Investment Committee Chairman Richard Worley, the endowment declined 0.8 percent over the past six months to $3.19 billion. "There was a growth explosion in the second half of last year and we were bystanders to that," Worley said. Despite the University's poor market performance, the Alumni Development Committee reported that contributions to the endowment currently sit at $62.7 million, ahead of last year's record-setting pace. At Friday morning's Budget and Finance meeting, the committee focused on ways by which Penn could more effectively collect third-party insurance payments, which UPHS administrators have long cited as a cause of their financial crisis. UPHS has lost almost $300 million in the past two years and plans to eliminate 20 percent of the system's workforce have already begun to be implemented. "We are talking about a health system that is bleeding and I don't know how to put the stitches in," Budget Committee Chairman Lawrence Weinbach said. The Trustees approved a series of Budget and Finance resolutions including a $9 million increase in the budgeted construction expenditure for Huntsman Hall, which brings the pricetag of the business education complex to almost $140 million. They voted in favor of an $8 million renovation of the Graduate School of Education Building, the $15 million construction of the University Museum Mainwaring Collections Storage Wing and agreed to sell a UPHS clinic for $325,000. The Trustees also accepted an $8.5 million interest-free loan from the Pew Memorial Trust to support genomic programs, the Fountaine Minority Fellowship Program and community outreach initiatives. In addition to hearing reports from the Audit and Compliance, Student Life and Academic Policy committees, the Trustees listened to Provost Robert Barchi give updates on plans for New Student Orientation, Locust Walk development and the on-going investigation into the University's involvement with gene therapy research. The Trustees also voted on Friday to officially name Craig Carnaroli as vice president for finance and treasurer, Glandt as dean of the Engineering School and Harker as dean of the Wharton School.