In September of 2003, 14 committees comprised of over 200 administrators, faculty members and students released a finalized copy of the University's most recent strategic plan -- "Building on Excellence."
The names Judith Rodin, Robert Barchi and Clifford Stanley -- former president, provost and executive vice president, respectively -- are still centered on the cover of the 15-page account of the University's past achievements and future goals, even as the document passes to a new generation of Penn administrators.
And though current University President Amy Gutmann's name does not appear alongside her predecessors', she is nonetheless determined to make her mark on the plan that aims to propel a top-ranked university to even greater heights.
"I'm not going to use ["Building on Excellence"] as a constraint, but rather as an opportunity to put my own twist on" the University's future, Gutmann said of the strategic plan she inherited upon arriving at Penn on July 1.
Because the document is so broad -- covering everything from undergraduate education and technology to the campus' urban setting and entrepreneurial activities -- Gutmann must choose specific sections to concentrate her energies on first.
"Anyone in my position ... would need to decide which of these priorities can we run with first, and how fast can we run with them?" Gutmann said, adding that although she has not formally selected the areas she would like to target, she has developed some initial goals.
"It needs more of a vision," she said, noting that she wants the priorities to be viewed from "a new perspective ... the perspective of what Penn has to contribute to higher education and society and the world."
As she continues to readjust the lens through which Penn defines and monitors its own progress, University officials must respond to her lead.
"No one who was associated with the process [of writing the strategic plan] anticipated that it was going to be carved in stone," Interim Provost Peter Conn said. As deputy provost under Rodin, Conn worked with Barchi to consolidate the various committee reports into one cohesive work.
"I think it will be a living process ... that just continues uninterruptedly as it did over the last 10 years, when we saw things get shaped and changed as time went on," Conn said of the evolution of "Building on Excellence."
He stressed the extreme relevance of the document to present University affairs, saying it "codifies current thinking among many faculty."
Gutmann "can treat it as a platform from which to move into her own areas of emphasis," he said.
Vice President for Audit and Compliance Rick Whitfield -- who co-chaired the Financial and Operational Capacity Committee during the planning process -- said he also anticipated that the document would be tweaked to suit the priorities of the incoming president.
"We felt that just by the nature of a leadership change, that any new president would want to take a look at the plan," he said, specifically highlighting the "Defining the Future of Education" and "Academic Priorities" sections as areas that would probably receive the majority of Gutmann's attention.
While acknowledging the impact that Gutmann's fresh ideas will have on the plan, Whitfield noted that many who contributed heavily to the creation of "Building on Excellence" are still members of the administration.
"There's definitely continuity" among many University officials, he said, citing Vice President for Human Resources Jack Heuer and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli -- who was recently promoted from University treasurer and senior vice president for finance -- as mainstays.
"The broad outline is there," Carnaroli said of the plan, which he is now charged with carrying out under Gutmann's lead. "I think Dr. Gutmann has to put her handprint on it."
Like Carnaroli, many of those who spent years laboring over the creation of "Building on Excellence" said that they are putting trust in their new leader.
"It would be silly to say "No, no she must adopt the priorities we made up,'" English professor and Kelly Writers House Faculty Director Al Filreis said. Filreis worked on issues of continuing education and arts and culture during the planning process.
Though Filreis described Gutmann as "the kind of person who's obviously going to respect what the faculty and staff and students have put into the" strategic plan, he simultaneously expressed a desire to see some of his own ideas put into action.
He said he hopes initiatives for "lifelong learning" and arts and culture resources will "survive in the strategic plan under a new administration." This article appeared as part of the "Amy Gutmann: Changing of the Guard" series.
