Several students and administrators laud 5-year plan

Although many have yet to read through the entire report, a wide cross section of student leaders and administrators praised the University's five-year plan yesterday, saying it provides an impressive list of goals for the University's future. The report, released yesterday for comment after two years of research, details almost 50 specific objectives for the University, ranging from constructing five new buildings on campus to bringing in an outside panel of experts to examine undergraduate education. The report is divided into seven sections and focuses on four major "challenges" facing the University in the future -- sustaining the school's preeminence in research, strenghthening teaching and learning, building a diverse community and educating and recruiting a new generation of faculty. Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman said last night that the report's section on the University's research capacity covers all the major concerns facing his office. "I think it [the report] is adequate if we follow through with it," Cooperman said. Among the proposals, the report states the University intends to build four new buildings devoted to research and will double the amount of money granted by the University's Research Foundation. Michael Goldstein, vice chairperson of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, praised the report's sections on graduate and professional education. Goldstein said he enthusiastically supported proposals to explore and develop intra-school programs. He added that since graduate and professional study increasingly crosses disciplines, the University could "charge ahead" utilizing the close proximity of numerous strong graduate schools. He also added, however, that the report failed to encourage new graduate school guidelines to "help students once they are here," but added that "on the whole, it's a very good document." She said some of the suggestions, including establishing telecommunications uplinks and downlinks to access foreign language broadcasts and to participate in international teleconferences, are already being persued.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.