BULLETINS
Tuition Assistance Program: Direct Grants
Scholarship checks will automatically be processed for the Winter/Spring term beginning November 15. The amount of the scholarship will remain the same as the amount received for the Fall term.
Please contact Tony DeLong at Human Resources-Benefits (215) 898-4812, e-mail: delong@hr.upenn.edu by November 10 if the student is changing schools, will not be enrolled for the Winter/Spring term, or if the tuition amount will be different. With this notice, we can assure a more timely and accurate scholarship check.
Please note that students who are attending Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) will need to submit a copy of the itemized tuition bill for the spring term. The billing system at CCP does not coincide with our payments which in the past has caused students to lose classes.
--Division of Human Resources
Snow Day Child Care
Once again, Snow Day Child Care is being offered by the Division of Human Resources for Penn faculty and staff children, from twelve weeks through twelve years of age. The program will run from December 4, 2000 through March 30, 2001. It will be available when the University is open but the Philadelphia schools are closed due to inclement weather. Children attending schools in other districts also are welcome.
Snow Day Child Care will operate between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at licensed day care centers in the University City Area. Pre-enrollment is required in order to participate. The enrollment packet request form is on our web site www.hr.upenn.edu/quality/worklife (click on the Snow Day link) and in brochures being distributed through intramural mail.
--Marilyn Kraut, Manager, Human Resources Quality of Worklife Programs
New Debit Card Program
Penn PennCard holders will have a new service in January transforming the PennCard into a comprehensive debit card with online features.
Using the magnetic stripe on the back of all PennCards, cardholders will be able to charge expenses directly to a PennCash debit account. This new system will replace the gold chip on PennCards and the chip cards issued for copier and other services.
"We are very excited about the upcoming changes to the PennCard and feel that they will deliver a world of additional service and convenience to students, faculty and staff at Penn," said Lynn Horner, Director of the PennCard Center.
In addition to offering the current services of the chip cards, the new system has several advantages, including:
- Cardholders can monitor their cash account and add money to it online.
- Parents will be able to add money to a student's cash account online.
- A lost card will not result in the loss of value on the card.
All of this can be done using existing PennCards; enhanced features will be added behind the scenes.
Meal Plans and Dining Dollars will not be affected.
Although a transfer process will take place, cardholders are asked not to add more value to their current chip cards than needed for the remainder of the Fall semester. Once the new debit card is phased in, the chip will no longer function.
Flu Vaccinations
The Division of Human Resources has arranged for free flu vaccinations for Penn's high-risk populations. Currently there is a national flu vaccine shortage and vaccination efforts are being focused on persons at high risk for complications associated with influenza disease and on health-care workers who care for these persons.
If you meet any of the following high risk criteria and would like to take advantage of the free flu vaccine, please go to:
- Division of Occupational Medicine
- Ground Floor Silverstein Bldg., HUP
- Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Please bring with you a valid PENNCard.
Individuals with high risk for complications from influenza:
a. Persons aged 65 years or older
b. Residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities that house persons of any age who have chronic medical conditions
c. Children and adults who have chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems, including asthma
d. Children and adults who have required regular medical follow-up or hospitalization during the preceding year because of chronic metabolic diseases (including diabetes mellitus), renal dysfunction, hemoglobinopathies, or immunosuppression (e.g., caused by medications or human immunodeficiency virus)
e. Persons aged 6 months-18 years who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and therefore might be at risk for developing Reye syndrome after influenza
f. Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the influenza season.
Shots are available now while supplies last. We are hopeful that by early December adequate flu vaccines will be available for our non-risk population. We are arranging now for space on campus so that we can act quickly as soon as there is broader availability of the vaccine. We will keep you updated.
--Marilyn Kraut, Manager, Quality of Worklife Programs, Division of Human Resources
All Aboard Express Almanac
Want to be apprised of late-breaking news and time-sensitive information that is published only on Almanac's website? We will inform you as soon as we post such items if you are on board Express Almanac. A free electronic service, Express Almanac is sent whenever we add something significant to our website: Between Issues news, the latest issue or At Penn calendar.
To register, send an e-mail message with "subscribe" as the Subject to almanac@pobox.upenn.edu and include your name, e-mail address, and mailing address.
--Ed.
Almanac, Vol. 47, No. 10, October 31, 2000