New provost forges ahead with plans

For Ronald Daniels, the past two weeks have been a lesson in learning on the job.

Having arrived on campus July 5, Daniels is now settling in to his new role as provost -- the chief academic officer of the University.

"People ... are being incredibly patient with me as I ask questions about policy or where you find soda," quipped Daniels, who was dean of the University of Toronto's law school before coming to Penn.

Despite having been at the University for only two weeks, Daniels has been able to identify some preliminary goals for his inaugural year while aiming to stay true to the existing mission of the University.

"I really have a great sense of care about wanting to make sure I don't walk into an institution and start trying to develop priorities that aren't congruent with where the institution is and where it wants to be," Daniels said, "so I'm doing a lot of listening."

Among Daniels' priorities for the coming year are increasing opportunities for undergraduate research, enhancing financial aid, improving campus climate and promoting internationalization.

Coming from one research-intensive university to another, Daniels says undergraduate research opportunities are at the forefront of his agenda.

"Do enough of our undergraduates really have that moment when they get to work closely with a faculty member ... on a research issue that's of interest to them and really get swept into the frontiers of discovery?" Daniels asked.

In order to answer this question, Daniels will begin working with the 12 school deans in the fall to gauge the research opportunities currently open to undergraduates and possibilities for the future.

Daniels says his tenure at Toronto also affirmed his commitment to making financial aid accessible.

Daniels, who became Toronto law dean in 1995, made increasing the availability of financial aid at the school one of his major emphases.

Increasing access to aid is one part of University President Amy Gutmann's three-pronged plan for the University, the Penn Compact.

But Daniels intends to reach out to a somewhat untapped sector of the student population -- first-generation college-goers.

"We often think about the challenges to recruitment as being regional, racial, ethnic and financial, but in my mind there's a significant group of students in the country who don't have the role models" of parents or guardians who have graduated from college, Daniels said.

In addition to making getting to Penn easier for accepted students, Daniels believes that similar care should be taken to maintain a welcoming campus environment when they arrive.

"So much of the accessibility focus is on 'What's our outreach? What's our recruitment? Let's get 'em here,'" Daniels said.

One primary facet of campus climate that Daniels intends to tackle is race relations.

Having reviewed some of the history of the University, Daniels noted that after moments of racial unrest, there is often a formulaic response which includes the formation of a committee to propose suggestions for change.

Daniels feels that such efforts should be ongoing. For this reason, he and Gutmann's chief of staff, Joann Mitchell, are compiling a working group of students, faculty, administration and staff so that they can "work in a sustained way to improve campus climate and not find ourselves in a situation that the ... principal moments in which we're dealing with these issues is in the context of a crisis," Daniels said.

Another goal of Daniels also in line with the Penn Compact is the internationalization of the University.

He is currently working to develop a strategic plan with Assistant Provost for International Affairs Joann McCarthy.

In the interim, a task force headed by Graduate School of Education Dean Susan Fuhrman and Wharton School Dean Patrick Harker will identify preliminary initiatives.

While Daniels visited the University a number of times after his appointment in April, he said, "I'm still at a very early stage in my learning curve, and there's a lot for me to understand so that I can be effective in my role going forward, but I'm hoping that the students will be patient with me."

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