The Framework Goes to Work

As the person appointed by Interim President J. Larry Jameson to lead the implementation of Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice, Asch has spent the past two months meeting with people from schools and centers across campus. In his own words, “It’s like going back to college again. Maybe this should make me feel old, but I’ll tell you, it makes me feel young and energized.” He sat down with us to talk more about what Penn’s future might hold.

Before your appointment as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, you were part of the Red and Blue Advisory Committee, which solicited feedback from a historically wide range of University stakeholders. Can you describe the process of distilling that feedback into In Principle and Practice?

The work of the Red and Blue Advisory Committee was largely about listening. A direct result is that when I read In Principle and Practice, I see a university I want to be a part of. I’d really encourage everyone to read the framework. It’s short, but it says a lot about Penn’s values and ambitions. Penn is a diverse organization with a long history and a lot of running room, and this document helps frame elements that make Penn unique—for example, how well all of the Schools and Centers work together. It also helps define some of the world’s great challenges where Penn has a comparative advantage: climate, artificial intelligence, health, and democracy.

You were also one of the principal architects of Penn Medicine’s five-year strategic plan, Serving a Changing World. Can you describe how that experience will transfer into your new role?

I’ve kept that role and am still a part of the implementation process at Penn Medicine. And even if I weren’t, I’d encourage folks to read that document as well. Whether your connection to Penn is through a medical program or not, it’s instructive to see how the principles and practices of the University framework find their home in the plan of an individual school. I think people will see in the Penn Medicine plan the very elements that make the University so meaningful. It starts from a position of leading with humanity.

Where do you start when tackling such an impactful, broad-scope project? Where might Penn’s initiatives have the greatest impact?

Implementing the strategic framework and doing the work of the University are one and the same; the difference is that now we just have a clearer decision-making scaffold and language we can use to both achieve and express unity of purpose. It is the lens through which we see Penn. Yes, the plan charts us toward some new horizons, and we always want new horizons. Meanwhile, some of the great challenges of our time are timeless, like health, and others that have always been there—like democracy, trust, and truth—now carry fresh meaning and renewed urgency. Still others present novel and pressing imperatives: How do we protect the planet and its inhabitants? How do we steward the development and use of data and AI toward their most constructive purposes?

How important is the role of philanthropy in Penn’s ability to push the envelope in the priority areas of the strategic framework?

In Principle and Practice both grounds Penn and points toward its goals. Philanthropy is a critical way for people who love Penn and support its mission to participate in and accelerate its journey. The strategic framework was built around the question, “What does the world need from Penn?” Penn is positioned to make contributions other institutions just can’t. That position comes with obligations to the world, and we can’t meet those obligations without our friends and their support—financial support, leadership support, and the enthusiasm of our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and donors.

The University’s strategic framework is a guiding document for Penn’s initiatives now and in the future. Can you elaborate on how it will guide the interim presidency and future chapters of Penn’s leadership?

There is no disguising the fact that we just went through an abrupt leadership change. But we have a few things going for us: First, the skills and sensibilities Interim President Jameson has honed over decades are precisely the skills and sensibilities Penn needs now; people see in Dr. Jameson someone who can lead us forward while preserving the essential values that have defined Penn for so long. Second, we have In Principle and Practice, which positions him well for this task. He can test each decision, each step, to see if it is consistent with a framework that, while developed over a year, really reflects nearly 300 years. Yes, we unexpectedly have new leadership, but our strategic planning process has left us with a treasure map. In Principle and Practice is our treasure map.

Explore Penn’s Strategic Framework