Susan Snyder, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Monday, February 25, 2013, 3:01 AM

Universities nationally are grappling with ways to establish a global presence: Some are building campuses abroad. Some are opening centers for alumni interaction and faculty research. Others are fostering study-abroad programs and international enrollment. And some are trying a combination.

Over the last 17 months, Ezekiel Emanuel, the University of Pennsylvania's first vice provost for global initiatives, has been studying the landscape and plotting a coordinated, cohesive course for the Ivy League campus.

At a board of trustees meeting this week, Penn will announce a series of substantial financial gifts to launch its new vision, developed by Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethicist used to working in the global arena who was one of the principal architects of President Obama's health-care reform act.

The university plans to build a "world house" on campus in which to concentrate global activities. It will include a "global solutions program," in which world leaders and faculty experts will take on a new problem every year - such as access to clean water - and develop solutions. That house, location to be determined, will open in 2015.

The plan also calls for a center in China to be used for training, faculty research, interviews of prospective students, and other collaborations.

And Penn will bring on two global educators, one a professor and another to head the world house. Though the university has many experts in particular geographical areas, it needs more faculty with global expertise, Emanuel said.

"It's a pretty serious commitment out of the block," said Emanuel, who has traveled to Africa, India, and Singapore to meet with alumni, government officials, and others.

But one thing Penn does not plan to do is build a branch campus abroad.

"That's a crazy idea," Emanuel said during an interview in his office last week. "We're in the education business. We're not in the real estate business."

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University of Pennsylvania plans centers in Philadelphia and China