Walking the walk with Penn’s VP of Business Services

If Michael Scales has a familiar face, it’s no accident: Scales spends ample time all around campus. 

Joining Penn in June of 2024 from Temple University, where he was associate vice president of business services and, before that, Drexel University, where he was director of campus housing. Scales is no stranger to Philadelphia campus life and the value of building community.

He places a premium on relationships—and walks the walk, literally. If you don’t catch him on Locust Walk, you’ll find him roaming the grounds of Morris Arboretum & Gardens, part of his portfolio in Business Services and where he spends time as a member.

“Face-to-face interaction with students in a nonscripted, nonmanaged way has been really important to me—to have authentic relationships with them,” Scales says. He has also gotten out to meet staff, he’s toured every College House; he’s gotten to know staff throughout the division; he’s met with the Undergraduate Assembly. “I really believe and breathe this,” he says.

The year ahead: Renovations, climate commitments, and AI innovations

Business Services encompasses a large portfolio at Penn: It includes 13 College Houses and 14 dining locations, the Penn Children’s Center, hotels, the Morris Arboretum, Penn Bookstore, PennCard services, and commuter transit, among other services. The division primarily focuses on providing a high-quality and consistent experience for members of the Penn community.

At present, Scales and his team are overseeing two active renovations of Penn hotels that primarily serve customers affiliated with Penn: the Sheraton University City, and the Hilton Inn at Penn. 1920 Commons, meanwhile, is in early design phases for a renovation to enhance students’ dining experience. And, of course, the Quad is undergoing its third and final phase of renovations that will ensure the College Houses’ quality for decades to come.

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Scales is also spearheading a series of strategic initiatives, including an environmental assessment of Penn Transit, part of Penn’s broader climate commitments under the Penn Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 4.0. The goal is to identify opportunities for improving transit service while reducing the University’s carbon footprint.

Another project is the creation of an AI Working Group that will be tasked with aligning Business Services goals with the University-wide exploration of AI. The team is looking at piloting AI tools to enhance the experiences of students, staff, and the broader community. “We have a large, diversified portfolio and really ambitious people,” says Scales. “We want to lead from the front—we don’t want to play catch-up.”

These projects, he says, reflect the division’s wide reach and its role in supporting the daily life of the Penn community.

This commitment to broad, meaningful impact also defines Scales’s approach to leadership. Because Business Services touches all corners of the University, he takes a collaborative approach when working with campus partners. “It’s not a matter of who owns [a project], but how we work together toward a common goal that benefits not only those entities, but the greater University,” he says.

A ‘genuine passion’ for campus environments

It’s no small feat to get to know a campus community as large as Penn’s. But it helps that Scales—a student of higher education management who is pursuing his doctorate at Temple—has a genuine passion for campus environments. 

“I make a point of visiting local campuses wherever I travel. The moment I step onto campus, I get butterflies—taking in the architecture, the landscaping, the residence halls, the dining spaces, and watching how students interact with their surroundings,” he says, adding that he became interested in the job after walking through Penn’s campus during the 2023 Move-In. Being embedded in the physical environment is part of the job, he says. “I think you have to be an anthropologist, to some degree, when you come into these environments: They’re organic and constantly changing,” he says.

As Scales describes it, he’s “never been one to run away from a challenge.” Penn piques his intellectual curiosity and is home to people who are committed to making sure campus is “hospitable and that our services are the most robust they can be in a financially responsible way.”