U. Council to hear proposal for international center

In the final meeting of University Council this spring, University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi will report on the status of Penn's budget and academic priorities for next year and receive a report calling for a new International Center on Locust Walk. The session, which is open to all members of the Penn community, will begin today at 3 p.m. in McClelland Hall. In addition to the reports on the University's financial and academic plans, there will also be brief status reports by the leaders of many of Penn's other governing bodies, such as the University Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the A-3. Council will also be updated on the progress of four of its standing committees, with year-end reports by the Bookstore, Communications, International Programs and Personal Benefits committees. According to International Programs Committee chairman Eric Weinberg, the committee will recommend that the University create an International Center on Locust Walk. The center would house a number of internationally oriented campus groups, provide meeting areas for international scholars and students, house new interdisciplinary academic programs and alleviate the Office of International Programs' space crunch. "We had informal discussions with the provost's office and I know that they were considering this as one of the groups that would go into Locust Walk," said Weinberg, a Biology professor. But when Rodin and Barchi released their plans for the future of Locust Walk two weeks ago, the International Center was not on the list of programs to receive space, and Weinberg said he now wants to make it a priority. Weinberg said the International Center could be incorporated into existing plans for other campus groups such as the proposed graduate student center, which will be housed in the top floors of the Veranda. The International Programs Committee will also take issue with the lack of short-term housing on campus for visiting researchers and provide updates on the state of study abroad programs. The Bookstore Committee, chaired by Management Professor Daniel Raff, will make suggestions for improving the availability of textbooks and briefly discuss the state of independent bookstores and online booksellers on the textbook trade. Communications Committee Chairman Martin Pring said he will discuss the group's progress on a number of issues including PennTrex, the modem pool and the University Web site. "I don't expect to say much about electronic privacy, but there are a number of other issues that the committee addressed such as PennTrex, the modem pool," said Pring, who is the director of Residential Computing and Information Technology for the School of Medicine. Council's annual transitional meeting will be held next Wednesday, when a number of year-end committee reports will be given so that new Council members will be familiar with the issues they will face in the coming year. University Council is an advisory group comprised of 92 students, staff and faculty members that meets monthly to discuss issues of relevance to the Penn community.