The University Board of Trustees will convene today and tomorrow for the first of three sets of meetings scheduled for this year.
Over the two-day period, the Board of Trustees' 10 different committees will each hold individual meetings at the Inn at Penn, six of which will be open to the public.
Among the issues on the various agendas, the Facilities and Campus Planning Committee will discuss further development of the 40th Street corridor.
Since so many changes have been made between Walnut and Locust streets with major dining and retail options, efforts are now focusing on placing smaller, community businesses in the area between Market and Walnut streets.
The trustees will also discuss the conversion of a University-owned office building at 42nd and Pine streets into condominiums. Construction for the project -- which will be aimed at accommodating small families -- will begin in the spring.
"It's a big part of Penn's overall strategy for engaging in West Philadelphia," Molly Roth, director of trustee affairs, said of the project.
At the Academic Policy Committee meeting, the group will be briefed on how Advanced Placement credit works at the University.
Also, University Chaplain William Gipson, along with student leaders of various religious groups on campus, will present to the Student Life Committee.
It is "a chance for the Trustees to hear about the range of religious diversity on campus," Roth said.
Additionally, the External Affairs Committee will discuss a new strategic communication plan -- an extension of recent efforts to streamline Penn's marketing and branding efforts.
The trustees will also formally approve some recent appointments -- Rebecca Bushnell to School of Arts and Sciences dean, John Zeller to vice president for development and alumni relations and Scott Douglass to vice president for finance and treasurer -- and authorize various budget items.
Trustee meetings are held in the fall, winter, and spring each year.
The October 2004 meetings were scheduled to coincide with Gutmann's inauguration, so "in a sense, this is the first full set of meetings that will occur under her leadership," University Secretary Leslie Kruhly said.
These meetings also mark the one-year anniversary of the trustees' decision to elect Gutmann as Penn's eighth president.
