Globalization team misses Dec. deadline

The deadline for one of University President Amy Gutmann's most important initiatives has come and gone.

The Task Force on Global Engagement -- created by Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels earlier this fall-- was supposed to deliver two or three major ideas to Gutmann and Daniels about advancing the University's globalization agenda.

The task force's report -- which Gutmann expected by December's end -- has been delayed at least one month. Committee members said they found their charge to be more difficult than they expected and needed the extra time to deliberate.

Daniels, who oversees the task force, said he has extended the deadline to early February at the latest.

"We can [then] start to implement parts of it so people can see it as a serious initiative," Daniels said.

The task force is designed to implement Gutmann's Penn Compact, her three-pronged plan for the University's future. Increasing Penn's global presence is one of her major goals, and the committee, she said, is a large part of putting that goal into action.

Committee members say Gutmann's charge required more than a semester of deliberation.

Alexis Ruby Howe, a College junior and student representative on the task force, said she believes the delay was due in part to a lack of candor among task force members and a lack of direction.

"Lots of people were trying to be politically correct, not saying 'I hate this idea,'" Ruby Howe said. "We have to re-evaluate what we want to achieve. I think we lost that along the way."

Committee Vice-Chairwoman JoAnn McCarthy said the task was a complex one.

"It was a pretty meaty topic," she said. "It took a little longer than expected to give it the attention that it deserved."

McCarthy said that she feels it is more important to do the best job possible when creating the recommendations rather than sacrificing quality to meet what she called "an arbitrary deadline."

Ruby Howe said that the ideas being considered could take the form of collaboration with universities around the world, humanitarian or educational aid for developing countries, the creation of academic programs abroad or more opportunities for international students to study at Penn.

McCarthy said that the task force's ideas will become "substantive projects that will move us forward with the Penn Compact."

Once the task force submits its initiatives, Gutmann and Daniels will evaluate them and decide the University's next step.

Ruby Howe said that Penn's projects must be extraordinary to stand out from those of other universities around the world.

"There are so many possibilities," she said. "Penn really has to step it up as an Ivy League institution ... or Penn will fall by the wayside."

The task force is chaired by Graduate School of Education Dean Susan Fuhrman and Wharton Dean Patrick Harker. Neither was available for comment.

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