After nearly four months on the job, Penn President Amy Gutmann finally has all the pieces of her leadership team in place.
Tuesday's appointment of Scott Douglass as treasurer and vice president for finance, as well as the naming of John Zeller as chief of fundraising last month, cap a long but necessary process in building the administration that will lead Penn into the future.
With that out of the way, it's time to get down to business.
Gutmann has already laid out an aggressive, not to mention capital-intensive, plan in her three-part Penn Compact. We recognize many of these objectives -- namely expanding the reach of financial aid and creating a more vibrant campus community -- as noble but difficult tasks.
Shortly after her inauguration, Gutmann extended financial assistance and created additional fellowships for graduate students. And she has already begun making the case for enhancements to undergraduate aid.
To make all of these aspirations a reality, a new capital campaign looms on the horizon, and nothing will be more important for Penn's long-term plans than seeing a successful fund drive come to fruition.
Penn may not be on the same financial footing as peer institutions Princeton and Harvard anytime soon, but this is a step in the right direction.
At the same time, it is important for Gutmann and her team to complete long-range segments of their campus plan as it pertains to the postal lands east of campus.
Having a concrete development plan in place for the coming years will serve to demonstrate the focus of the administration, but more importantly it will motivate potential donors.
Being able to tell contributors, "here is our plan, and this is what it will look like" could go a long way in drumming up support.
Creating a more cohesive connection between Penn and its neighbors to the east of the Schuylkill will only increase the University's stock as a city attraction.
This is just one of the many items on the agenda for the new administration, which has lofty goals for the future that will doubtless change the face of Penn as we know it. Their ideas are good, and it is time to take the next step and draw up the blueprints of how do achieve those goals.
Now the supporting cast is in place. It is time that the University shows all of us its plans for the future.
