Trustees wrap up winter meeting

The University Board of Trustees wrapped up its winter meetings on Friday morning with a stated meeting featuring committee updates, reports on the University's financial status and resolutions on campus-wide renovation projects.

Almost 60 of the University's 87 trustees were present at the series of meetings, which were held on Thursday and Friday at the Inn at Penn.

The unveiling of a draft of the University's new strategic plan -- the successor to the 1995 Agenda for Excellence -- was one of the focal points of the trustees' discussion.

On Thursday, University President Judith Rodin, Provost Robert Barchi and Executive Vice President John Fry presented the Board of Trustees with goals geared toward fostering an intellectually rich and financially stable community.

Board of Trustees Chairman James Riepe said the group discussed the financial backing and future implementation of the strategic plan at Thursday's trustee luncheon.

"I think clearly the direction of the plan is consistent with where the trustees want the University to be going," Riepe said. "What we will be spending the next few months looking at in more detail is focusing on its priorities and putting dollar signs on them."

The University's Health System's plans for further progress were also a major issue for the trustees.

After losing nearly $300 million between fiscal years 1998 and 1999, the Health System has been recovering gradually. Over the past six months alone, it has maintained an $8.8 million operating income, which is $10 million more than budget allocations.

The Health System's strategic plan, according to the system's Executive Vice President Arthur Rubenstein, will be similar to the University's.

"The financial progress continues to be positive, and we'll be using cautious optimism in the future," said Rubenstein, who is also the Medical School dean. "Coming out of these times allows us to embark upon a strategic planning process that we'll be coordinating with the University's to intersect in ways that will strengthen us."

The University's financial progress was also recapped during Friday's stated meeting. After suffering a 6 percent drop in the first quarter of FY 2002, the endowment saw a 1 percent return on investments during the second quarter.

In light of the endowment's slow progress in the late 1990s and the year 2000, which was a result of a conservative stock portfolio, Riepe was pleased with the turnout thus far.

"Although the absolute returns are not high, we've been outperforming our benchmarks substantially during this last two year period," Riepe said. "So basically, we feel we've gotten paid back a bit during this period for the excesses of those years in the market."

The Board of Trustees officially approved the Hamilton College House Renovation Project, a plan which will renovate both the inside and outside of the dormitory. The trustees gave their collective thumbs-up to the estimated $26.5 million project, which will begin this summer.

Penn is planning to renovate the other high rises following completion of the Hamilton project.

Riepe said that in contrast to previous proposals to improve the aesthetic and functional aspects of the high rises, the new plan is the most reasonable.

"We do not have the resources to implement the grander scheme that had been discussed in earlier years, but we feel there's a real necessity to begin to upgrade those towers," Riepe said. "I think that within two summers we will see very important renovations."

Friday's stated meeting gave the trustees the opportunity to officially welcome to the University community Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis and Vice President and Chief of Staff Pedro Ramos.

During her report to the trustees, Rodin said that she was pleased with Meleis' selection.

"This marks the successful completion of an international search to find a qualified person for this position," Rodin said of Meleis. "She will have the opportunity to bring even more prominence to the already recognized School of Nursing."

Rodin had similar words about Ramos' appointment.

"It was a great coup for the University to lure him away from [law firm] Ballard Spahr," Rodin said. "He's shown leadership under fire and is well-suited for the position. I know he'll do an extremely good job."

While not on the official agenda, finding a replacement for Executive Vice President John Fry, who was recently appointed as the president of Franklin and Marshall College, was discussed.

Riepe said that over the course of the current semester, the Trustees will be deliberating how to fill the vacancy in the upper administration.

"Dr. Rodin is working through what the options are, and I think we'll have a resolution within the next few months," Riepe said. "John has put together a very able team, so we have a lot of confidence that things will keep churning along here in this next interim period."

Riepe said that although the University community will feel Fry's loss, his advancement is a reflection of the high-caliber administration at Penn.

"The University has a reputation for decades of producing candidates for university presidencies," Riepe said. "I think it's a great honor to him, and I think it's a great honor to the University."

The Board of Trustees, the University's main decision-making body, holds meetings in the winter, spring and fall of each year.

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