U. officials appoint new asst. provost

Nursing professor Loretta Sweet Jemmott will serve as the University's assistant provost for gender and minority equity issues, administrators announced yesterday.

Jemmott, who has done extensive research on HIV/AIDS, will officially begin the position on May 1.

"Her main responsibilities will be to deal with gender and minority issues relating to our faculty," University Provost Robert Barchi said, "specifically, retention and recruitment of faculty members, and any and all issues that have to do with that."

Jemmott will work in the office of Associate Provost Janice Bellace. Issues related to gender and minority equity are currently handled by the Office of the President but have been handled by the Provost's Office in the past as well.

"Right now in this setting, we felt that this was the most appropriate organizational approach in terms of how to get this particular job done," Barchi said.

Jemmott has already begun to coordinate with her co-workers and gather data to facilitate decision making once she takes office. She plans to continue to devote most of her time to teaching and research, though she anticipates that her new position will take up more time in the future.

"The mission at Penn is always teaching and scholarship, so I'm going to teach and continue my research," Jemmott said. "This is just a beginning process."

Barchi said that Jemmott's research on HIV/AIDS was one of the many credentials that made her stand out for the position.

"She has spent her life doing research that involves HIV/AIDS and at-risk populations that include and explicitly involve minorities, African Americans, Latino communities and women," Barchi said. "So she spent a great deal of time working with exactly the kinds of communities that are represented in our diversity here on campus."

"She's very sensitive to those issues and has a very high level of personal commitment to those issues," Barchi added.

Jemmott's work on HIV/AIDS risk reduction has brought her to South Africa -- where she served as a delegate for the National Institutes of Health -- and Capitol Hill, where she presented her research to Congress. In addition, she received the Congressional Merit Award and was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine in recognition of her research.

Jemmott explained that before she can make any plans as assistant provost, she must first compile equity data at Penn.

"My first role is to sit down and review all the documents and gather all the data and take the time to assess what's going on before deciding on a plan of action," Jemmott said. "I need to take the time to do a thorough exploration."

As part of her research for the position, Jemmott plans to meet with faculty and students to involve as many people as possible in the process.

Once Jemmott has completed her equity research, she will begin to tackle her ultimate responsibilities as assistant provost.

"We hope that everybody has a commitment to equity -- to gender equity on campus and to minority equity," Jemmott said. "If we can make that happen, then we've done a great thing."

Jemmott said that her personal background as well as her research experience will help her in her new position. As a female and a minority, Jemmott said she will be able to take advantage of her sensitivity to the issues she will confront each day on the job.

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