Quick, name as many Penn trustees as you can in 30 seconds. We'll spot you Jon Huntsman and David Pottruck since they have their names on prominent campus buildings.
Still stumped? Don't feel bad. Not that many undergraduates know that much about the University's "ultimate decision-making body" either.
That's too bad, since these are the people who get to decide which new buildings get built, what University policy will be on any number of issues and, most importantly, how money will be spent.
Although the Board of Trustees' on-campus meetings often draw a disappointingly small amount of student interest, the problem here is not that the Trustees are not visible. Rather, students are less informed about the actions of the trustees because they are not involved.
This is why a recent proposal from the Penn Alumni Board is interesting. While the plan -- which would add two recent graduates to the Alumni Board -- does little to impact the interaction between students and trustees, the issue it raises is much more intriguing.
Trustees should be listening to the concerns of students, and many are undoubtedly eager to hear what undergraduates have to say, but there is not currently a sufficient line of communication between the two parties.
As it stands now, a handful of students picked by the Nominations and Elections Committee get to sit in and offer some input to six trustee committees. While this may be valuable to an extent, it is not enough. These members do not have unfettered access to trustee meetings and have no formal vote -- much like delegates to the U.S. Congress.
What Penn ought to do is create a handful of full-fledged trustee positions for current upperclassmen. Juniors, for example, could be elected to two-year terms. Not only would this create more interest among students since they would have actual power at trustee meetings, but it would also foster a more collegial relationship between students and trustees.
Further, the NEC should be more active in promoting these positions to potential applicants since the current selection process -- an e-mail invitation -- often goes unnoticed.
Bringing together students and trustees will create a healthy dialogue about Penn's future.
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