Endowment sees a loss for the quarter

Penn's endowment figures have fallen over the past quarter but have outperformed their benchmark, according to a report that will be discussed today by the University Board of Trustees.

"This was an unbelievable quarter," University President Judith Rodin said in an interview yesterday. "Nobody made any money. We're just going to make it up in the remaining quarter."

Although Penn's numbers were down, they remained relatively stable in comparison to those of the University's peer institutions. According to Rodin, this stability helps compensate for the endowment's poor performance -- compared to many peer universities -- during much of the last decade.

"Many of the gains in these peer institutions' endowments that had us shocked in the heyday of the late '90s have more than been taken back by the erratic performance of these same" investments, Rodin said at a University Council meeting yesterday. Penn "didn't participate broadly in the upswing, but then it is not being buffeted by the downturn nearly to the same extent."

The endowment is one of many issues on the agenda for the Trustees' annual fall meeting, which will wrap up tomorrow afternoon. More than 40 members of the board are scheduled to attend, according to Director of Trustee Affairs Molly Roth.

This morning's session will include individual meetings of the Facilities and Campus Planning Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity, both at Houston Hall. At noon, current and former trustees will meet for a luncheon and a discussion of the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response, a collaboration of research projects launched by the University last spring.

Throughout the afternoon, the Audit and Compliance, Neighborhood Initiatives, Student Life, Academic Policy, Budget and Finance and External Affairs committees will each meet separately at the Inn at Penn. A meeting of the alumni Trustees in Huntsman Hall will come at the close of the day.

On Friday, the full board, joined by former Trustees, will meet in Houston Hall at 11 a.m. Rodin, Board of Trustees Chairman James Riepe, Provost Robert Barchi, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Craig Carnaroli and Health System Executive Vice President Arthur Rubenstein will each deliver brief reports.

At the stated meeting, the Trustees are scheduled to approve several resolutions proposed by the Budget and Finance Committee, including the authorization of $50.7 million for a new teaching and research building for the School of Veterinary Medicine, up to $38 million for the design and construction of a new Engineering building, $2 million for lab renovations in the Medical School's Radiology Department and plans for redevelopment of 40th Street property.

The Trustees will also approve a series of appointments, including that of Clifford Stanley, who took over as Penn's executive vice president earlier this month.

The Board of Trustees -- the University's main governing body -- holds full meetings in the fall, winter and spring and four separate meetings of the Budget and Finance and Executive committees throughout the year.

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