Search process for new University president being planned
On the final day of a two-day retreat (Aug. 26), Penn State trustees discussed the pending search for a new University president to replace Rodney Erickson when he retires in less than two years. The search is expected to start in earnest in early 2013.
Erickson, who took over in November as Penn State’s 17th president, is expected to retire on or before June 30 2014, as was announced previously. Since the search for a university president is generally a lengthy process, plans for naming several special committees to outline procedures and establish criteria and qualifications of candidates will begin soon, according to Trustee James Broadhurst, chairman of the board’s Committee on Governance and Long-Range Planning.
Board chairman delivers remarks during Trustees’ special meeting
Chairman Karen Peetz delivered the following remarks during a special meeting of Penn State's Board of Trustees on Aug. 25.
University Trustees are participating in a series of special meetings this weekend at the Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel on the University Park campus; public sessions are being streamed live online. For more information about the meetings, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/60837.
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Levi named next director of Center for the Protection of Children
Benjamin H. Levi, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics and humanities at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine, has assumed the directorship of the Center for the Protection of Children at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. Dr. Levi, a practicing pediatrician and highly published expert in the area of mandated reporting of suspected child abuse, recently returned from a year-long sabbatical overseas examining how other countries protect children from abuse, including how abuse and neglect are reported to law enforcement.
Levi succeeds center inaugural director Andrea Taroli, M.D., who will focus on development of the Children’s Hospital’s clinical program for child protection—along with Kate Crowell, M.D., and Laura Duda, M.D., who are the founding members of this clinical team—a program integral to the center’s overall mission to improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of child abuse.
Penn State to Convene Experts for National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Aug. 15, 2012 – This fall, Penn State will convene some of the nation’s top experts in child sexual abuse and child trauma research, prevention, and treatment for a public forum on this nationwide problem. The Child Sexual Abuse Conference: Traumatic Impact, Prevention, and Intervention will take place at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on Oct. 29-30, 2012.
The two-day conference will feature discussions with Sugar Ray Leonard and Elizabeth Smart, both of whom suffered sexual abuse as children. Leonard, an American boxing icon and Olympic gold medalist, will deliver a keynote address and participate in a Q&A with attendees, while Smart will serve as the conference’s closing speaker. The event will also include nationally recognized experts in the field of child sexual abuse and child trauma from across academia, including:
Penn State’s accreditation remains intact
A recent warning from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education related to Penn State's accreditation does not involve the academic quality of Penn State or its programs. The University's accreditation remains intact and its leaders are confident they will satisfy the commission's concerns.
"This warning has no bearing on our educational programs or the integrity of those programs," said Penn State President Rodney Erickson. "What's being looked at are issues of governance, integrity and institutional resources related to the fallout from the child sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky."