Penn’s Faculty Senate published its annual reports on July 15, analyzing discrepancies in faculty pay and representation, student admissions and disciplinary actions, and the University’s standing relative to other institutions of higher education.
The 20-page report — jointly published by various committees, including the Senate Committees on Faculty and the Academic Mission and Faculty Development, Diversity, and Equity — includes recommendations to improve the experiences of Penn students and faculty.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Faculty Senate chair Kathleen Brown described the reports as an opportunity "to put faculty research skills and talents to use [by] investigating issues that are emerging concerns" for all members of the Penn community. She emphasized that each committee drafts a list of charges relevant to their specialty by conducting internal research and "consulting with other entities on campus."
At the end of the summer, members of each committee will meet with the University's central administration, including Penn President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson Jr. Brown noted her hope of maintaining the visibility of the reports during the "baton pass" to administrators — while also "distill[ing] the content ... so that it can be more effectively communicated."
"One of the things we're trying to do this year is really make sure that the work that the faculty put in[to] these committees doesn't just disappear," Brown added. "We try to make sure the faculty themselves know that their colleagues have done this work."
Here are four key takeaways from the 2024-25 Faculty Senate Reports.
Reforming Penn's model of shared governance
The reports began by acknowledging the "limitations" of Penn's "current model of faculty governance," which excludes non-standing faculty — including full and part-time instructors across departments, along with academic support staff — as voting members.
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According to the reports, the goals of the senate's committees are “encumbered” by their limited focus on issues facing standing faculty members, despite many topics "pervasively and seriously" impacting non-standing members, such as "gender or racial pay inequities, wage stagnation and loss of real wages, and lack of retirement contributions."
As such, the reports deliberated options for the "reform of [Penn's] faculty governance structure." The Faculty Senate drew inspiration from “alternative models used by peer institutions.” They proposed three models that include non-standing faculty as voting members, including a “single governing body with proportional representation” of all faculty members, introducing “two separate faculty councils” to “discuss issues specific to their ranks,” and the total “inclusion of non-standing faculty as members and even chairs” of senate and University committees.
Although the reports acknowledge the uncertainty around which groups are “entitled to representation” and how representation is “allotted,” these models aim to “at least give non-standing faculty an active role in governance.” Brown also noted that while the models are not "settled," they seek to answer many questions among faculty members, namely the "diminishing percentage of tenured faculty."
Gendered and racial pay discrepancies among faculty
Despite efforts to decrease gender and racial pay inequity, the Senate Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty reported that “overall, women are paid significantly less than men at Penn.” The discrepancy based on rank has a gap at 9.7% for full professors and 2.4% for associate professors, the report found.
A “substantial portion of the actual, unweighted wage disparity stems from differences in gender ratios in faculty across the different schools.”
These pay discrepancies also extend to factors of race and rank. In a regression analysis that “includes all academic ranks,” the committee found that "without adjustment for field, rank, or time in rank," underrepresented minority faculty have a 2.2% lower base salary than the "predominantly white" control group.
Asian faculty members, however, "start with a base salary that is 9.3% lower than in the control group." Relative to their peers, a male Asian faculty member earns 0.1% less and a female Asian faculty member earns a 0.8% premium. On average, an Asian male can “expect to earn 2.4% less, while the expected shortfall of an Asian female is 5.0%.”
Given these structural pay inequities, the Senate hopes to “ensure appropriate compensation distribution” for Penn faculty, especially through a time of "unprecedented upheaval for elite higher education institutions" that is "certain" to bring "challenges and opportunities in recruiting and retaining the highest caliber faculty." They also recommend a "base salary increase to compensate" for a higher cost of living due to inflation.
Finalizing Penn's Open Expression Guidelines
In the months since 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump took office, federal scrutiny of higher education has intensified, shifting the ways in which colleges interact with the government. Penn's campus has seen rallies against federal actions, pro-Palestinian protests near Penn Hillel, and demonstrations accusing the University of complicity in ICE raids and ‘Palestinian genocide.’
In light of recent action, the report emphasizes that Penn’s Open Expression Guidelines are "undergoing final updates" to provide further “clarity regarding disciplinary actions related to … use of social media, on campus or off campus” and “use of proxies by Penn members in demonstrations.”
Brown similarly highlighted that "the old guidelines actually didn't have to deal with social media," which has prompted a renewed examination of Penn's disciplinary approaches.
The report also notes that "undergraduate students have a limited understanding of what actions violate the Code of Student Conduct and what consequences could result from such violations," and therefore recommends a "preventative or proactive approach."
While transparency has "greatly improved" since fall 2024 according to report, the Faculty Senate highlighted a "need for transparent reporting" and expanded “access to legal resources and advisors for students.” Many of these measures, the report said, can be tackled during New Student Orientation.
Although Brown acknowledged the quality of the research conducted by the Senate Committee on Students and Educational Policy — which drafted the report on Penn's disciplinary system — she noted that the committee is not "formally part of the task force that came up with the new guidelines."
University's changing admissions policies
Following the Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling to overturn affirmative action, the Penn community reacted with concern and confusion about its implications for future admissions cycles. The Faculty Senate Committee on Students and Educational Policy focused on “examin[ing] Penn’s current admissions policies” to “ensure the university continues to admit a student body that is heterogeneous across categories of race, color, religion, sex, disability, and more, where appropriate.”
The report noted that changes in the University's "holistic consideration of applicants” started in 2021, including the introduction of the thank-you letter supplemental essay and changes in requirements for "reference letters." These modifications “resulted in steady numbers of applicants from varied circumstances over a number of years, well before the Supreme Court Decisions, and this pattern of applicants has continued in this past year.”
At the graduate level, Penn’s Biomedical Graduate Studies program “anticipated” the ruling and undertook changes to its application process several years ago, focusing on “lab work, communication skills, and leadership skills” — along with implicit bias training for faculty interviewers.
The committee expects that as “policies continue to evolve in response to external events,” the University will remain committed to a “flexible approach in reaching the best and brightest high school students.”
In the 2024-25 admissions cycle, 3,530 of the 72,544 students who applied to Penn were accepted — marking an acceptance rate of 4.9%, the most selective on record. The Class of 2029 consists of 2,420 students from 49 states and 95 countries, with 15.1% from Pennsylvania. 13.6% are legacy students.
This year’s application cycle was the final one to include the test-optional policy that Penn first implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also the final year with alumni admissions conversations, which had pivoted from interviews to non-evaluative conversations by the 2023-24 admissions cycle.
