How Excellent?
Take nine strategic goals, six academic priorities, 12 schools, five years, and close to a billion dollars, and what do you get?
The Pennsylvania Gazette
September/October, 2001
If you visit the Web site of the University's journal of record, Almanac, at www.upenn.edu/almanac and scroll down the right hand side of the page, you can access the documentary history of the University's just-concluded strategic plan, The Agenda for Excellence. It begins with the plan itself, dated November 21, 1995 and the product of many months of discussion and debate going back to the earliest days of the administration of Dr. Judith Rodin CW'66. This document outlines the Agenda's nine strategic goals-from the overarching ("The University will solidify and advance its position as one of the premier research and teaching universities in the nation and in the world") to the down-to-earth ("The University will identify and secure the funds required to support its strategic goals.").
Next comes Six University Academic Priorities, posted September 24, 1996, which sets out a half-dozen broad areas for special attention: Life Science, Technology and Policy; American and Comprehensive Democratic and Legal Institutions; Management, Leadership and Organization; The Humanities-Meaning in the 21st Century; The Urban Agenda; and Information Science, Technology and Society. This was followed by the strategic plans of the University's 12 schools and centers, posted on January 21, 1997.
Finally, dated May 1, 2001, is Agenda for Excellence, 1995-2000, which reports, in considerable detail-and very small print-on the results of the plan. The prose does not exactly sing, but what the closely packed columns of type add up to is a half-decade of impressive and varied activity that has affected virtually every aspect of the University. For those wishing to avoid eyestrain, here are some selected highlights from the report:
To put the last goal first, about $952 million was raised for the priorities outlined in the Agenda, out of a total of $1.5 billion raised during the period. This included about $300 million for financial aid and other student needs and $543 million for faculty and academic programs.
By the available measures, Penn is certainly more in demand today than it was five years ago. The University has moved up 10 notches in the rankings published in U.S. News and World Report, going from 16th in 1994 to sixth in the most recent edition. Also, the number of students applying here has gone up, their quality is higher, and Penn is doing a better job at convincing them to attend once they've been accepted. The number of applicants went from 13,700 to 19,000 for the Class of 2005, and the yield-the percentage of accepted students who choose to matriculate at Penn-was 55.5 percent in 2000 vs. 47 percent in 1994. Meanwhile, average SAT scores continue to climb, from 1378 to 1412. As the report puts it, "Penn has clearly accomplished the goal of being considered a school of choice for the ablest undergraduates in the nation and the world."
Making the experience of undergraduates at Penn more fulfilling was a major focus of the Agenda, through expanded academic options, increased opportunities for original research, an enhanced living/learning environment, and more funding for student financial aid.
According to the report, Penn offers more joint and dual-degree programs and opportunities for cross-disciplinary study than any other institution in America-thanks to continuing development of Penn's traditional strength in this area. Eight new joint and dual-degree programs have been started since 1995, and the "numerous" cross-disciplinary programs include Molecular Life Sciences, designed for undergraduates seeking careers in the biological sciences, and Digital Media Design, a collaboration between the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Annenberg School for Communication, and the Graduate School of Fine Arts.
To provide more research opportunities for undergraduates, in Fall 2000, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) was established to serve as a clearinghouse for undergraduates interested in participating in research while at Penn or in applying for post-baccalaureate fellowships. And the University offers more than 75 academic service-learning courses, making it one of the nation's leaders in these types of courses, which combine coursework with related real-world community service.
The creation of the College House system in 1999 was another signature development relating to undergraduate life. Each of the 12 College Houses, which accommodate a total of 5,400 undergraduates, has a live-in faculty master, house dean, and advisers. Through a program known as the Wheel, students have around-the-clock access to in-person and online advising in math, writing, library research, foreign languages, computer science and engineering, and career services. Each house also has its own computer lab, with staff that can provide quick help for hardware and software problems whenever they occur.
In addition to the 12 residences, two "hubs" for special interests established themselves on campus during this period. The first, Kelly Writers House, has become ground zero for all things literary on campus, while Civic House is headquarters for community-service activities. Other hubs are in the planning stages-for example, in science and technology and performing arts.
Some $138 million has been raised for undergraduate financial aid, and $75 million for graduate and professional students. Nearly 400 new scholarship funds have been established. Recruiting and retaining top-flight faculty is key both to educating students and to extending Penn's standing as a leading research institution. The 1995-2000 period has seen significant growth in the number of endowed professorships established at Penn. University faculty have also been able to attract a growing share of funding for sponsored research.
Penn has added 57 new endowed professorships during the Agenda-key bargaining chips in attracting the best and brightest academics. Formerly on the faculty at Princeton, Dr. John DiIulio C'80 G'80 was named a Fox Leadership Professor, for example. DiIulio, who recently resigned a head of President Bush's office of faith-based programs, is one of several new faculty in political science-a department singled out in the Agenda as both central to Penn's academic priorities and in need of rebuilding. Other new faculty include Dr. Lawrence Sherman, one of the world's leading criminologists, who came to Penn to direct the Fels Center of Government ["A Passion for Evidence," March/April 2000].
Growth in external funding for research by Penn faculty has accelerated from 2 percent annual growth in 1995 to 11 percent annually over the last five years, and jumped by 13 percent in FY2000. That year, the University received nearly $540 million in external funding, up from $322 million in FY95.
New research centers established during the Agenda include the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute; the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, focusing on studies of the mind, brain, and behavior; the Center for Bioinformatics, designed to link biomedical researchers, computer scientists, and mathematicians working on computationally intensive research; and the University-wide Genomics Institute ["Gazetteer," May/June].
Perhaps the most concrete (and brick, and steel, and glass) evidence of change over the last five years has been the explosion of construction activity on and around the campus, which has included an array of both commercial and academic space.
Falling into the category of major campus amenities are Sansom Common and the Perelman Quadrangle. Sansom Common, completed in 1999, transformed a surface parking lot at 36th and Walnut into a major crossroads of the University, anchored by the Penn Bookstore and the Inn at Penn, and including several restaurants and retail establishments. Perelman Quad, completed in fall 2000, combined extensive renovations of four of Penn's most historic structures (College Hall, Houston Hall, Logan Hall, and Irvine Auditorium) and one 1960s-era building, Williams Hall, with construction of a new central plaza, Wynn Commons, to create a new hub of undergraduate life.
New academic facilities include the Biological Research Building II/III and the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories, both completed early in the Agenda period. Buildings currently under construction include Huntsman Hall for the Wharton School; Melvin J. and Clair Levine Hall, which will double the space for Computer Science-where the University is also investing in 10 new faculty chairs; the dental school's new building, the Schattner Center; and the Mainwaring wing of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which will provide state-of-the-art storage for the Museum's collections. In the planning stages are a new life-sciences building to house the departments of biology and psychology and another building for bioengineering.
Facilities that were renovated included the Annenberg School for Communication; the former faculty club, Skinner Hall, which was converted into the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall; the Library; the Graduate School of Education's building; Logan Hall; and the Law School's Silverman Hall.
With the University's acquisition of the former Christian Association at 36th and Locust Walk, the building has become the Arts, Research and Culture House (ARCH), a center for student cultural and performing arts organizations. Also new to Locust Walk is a Graduate Student Center, scheduled to open this fall.
New athletic facilities include the Pottruck Center, currently under construction, which will make for a renovated and expanded Gimbel Gymnasium, plus renovations to the Palestra and improvements to Murphy and Bower fields, among other projects.
At 40th Street, the multi-story Freshgrocer foodmarket and parking garage has been completed. Across Walnut Street, the planned multi-screen movie theater, delayed and somewhat altered as the result of the financial troubles of General Cinemas (the backer of Penn's original partner in the deal, Robert Redford's Sundance Cinema) will eventually add to the street's vitality. (At this writing, the University is negotiating with another partner, National Amusements.)
To the east, a former industrial building at 31st and Chestnut owned by the University has been turned into a luxury-apartment complex called the Left Bank-an outpost in a planned future Penn expansion toward Center City (see story on page 19).
Under the Agenda, the University has also made a major investment in West Philadelphia to make the streets cleaner and safer, has increased mortgage guarantees and other incentives to Penn people to buy homes in the area, and has committed to construct and support a new pre-K-8 public school in the neighborhood. Though the process has at times been stormy, the school is scheduled to open this month for kindergarten and first grade. Besides committing $700,000 annually for at least 10 years to the new school, the University has also pledged help to more disadvantaged schools nearby.
"Happily, Penn's progress has been remarkable over the past five years," say the authors of the report. In a Gazette interview that begins on the following page, President Rodin offers this assessment: "We are where we should be, but we can't rest on our laurels... I think we can stop for a moment and really enjoy where we've gotten through the Agenda for Excellence, but we need to continue to be nimble and to think strategically because that's in part what got us there."
Speaking specifically of the progress made on the six academic priorities, Rodin says, "Can I claim victory? Not 100 percent, but in the low 90s."
Which is still pretty good-excellent, even.