Business Services Update	Print Issue
July 12, 2011, Volume 58, No. 01

Penn’s Business Services Division (BSD) provides the leadership, business practices, facilities, and services needed to develop and maintain a hospitable, fiscally responsible, customer-friendly campus environment. Our mission is to provide high-quality service in a fiscally-responsible manner and our vision is to continually set the standard within each of our operating units. Please take note of the following updates to some of our services as well as promotions benefiting the Penn community in the upcoming year.

—Marie Witt, Vice President, Business Services

Parking Rates for 2011-2012

Effective September 1, 2011, the following rates are available to faculty and staff of the University and Health System. Parking fees include the City of Philadelphia’s 20% parking lot tax and cover the continuing rising costs of garage and surface lot improvements and other deferred maintenance. University permit rates remain lower than comparable lots and garages located in University City. Regular Campus Parking rates average $7.43 per working day. University and Health System faculty and staff have the option to pay their parking fees through automatic payroll deduction on a pre-tax basis (up to $230 per month). Daily parking rates in Penn’s lots or garages are at variable rates. Visit www.upenn.edu/parking and click on the “visitor” tab.

Please keep your parking profile updated by visiting Penn Parking Online at www.upenn.edu/parking. All communications with information directly affecting your lot or garage will be sent to your email address in Penn Parking Online. For campus traffic advisories, subscribe on the Public Safety website, www.publicsafety.upenn.edu

¹ Pennsylvania Law and the Philadelphia Traffic Code prohibit motor vehicles from driving or parking on sidewalks (See www.dmv.state.pa.us/vehicle_code/index.shtml and § 12-913. Prohibitions in Specified Places. 35). Penn’s Division of Public Safety reminds drivers that not only is this behavior illegal, it poses a safety hazard to those working within the buildings as well as to pedestrians using sidewalks.

Event Parking Arrangements

If you plan to host an event on campus and will need parking for your guests, please send an email to the Parking Office, parking@exchange.upenn.edu to make arrangements in advance to ensure that parking will be available.

Parking: New Policy

We would like to make you aware of a policy change that will affect all parkers in Penn facilities. Over the years Penn Parking Services has received feedback regarding the need for mechanisms other than towing to serve as a means of enforcing Penn’s parking policies. In response, later this summer, Parking Services will begin issuing tickets to vehicles as an intermediate means of addressing instances of policy non-compliance. Examples of parking violations that would result in the issuance of a ticket include:

•  Not having a valid permit for the location in which you parked

•  Parking in a handicapped space without a handicapped tag

•  Parking in a low emission vehicle space before 10 a.m. with an unqualified vehicle

•  Taking up two parking spaces

•  Parking in an unauthorized parking spot

The ticketing program provides the campus community with an effective alternative to the current towing practices. Historically, the only option exercised was to tow the offending car from the facility which, given the cost in time and fees, is not the optimum response for some infractions. The ticket fee will be $35 and recipients will be able to pay their tickets by credit card online.  After three tickets for the same offense, a vehicle will be subject to towing.

In preparation of the launch of our ticketing policy, warning tickets are currently being issued which do not require the recipient to make a payment. This replaces the former enforcement practice of issuing orange warning stickers on the windows of infringing vehicles. The warning ticket will indicate which parking rule was violated to allow patrons to modify their parking decisions in the future to avoid getting a ticket or potentially being towed. 

Warning tickets will be issued throughout the summer. We will notify all our patrons two weeks prior to the official start of ticketing.  If you have questions or concerns about this new initiative, please contact parking@exchange.upenn.edu

Penn Transportation and Parking: New Vanpool Program

As part of Penn’s Sustainable Transportation Initiative, Penn Transportation and Parking has joined with VPSI, a national leader in vanpooling and sustainable transportation, to expand vanpooling options to Penn faculty and staff.  The vans which operate throughout the region, including New Jersey and Delaware, offer a reliable, affordable and sustainable way to commute to campus. Depending on where you live and the number of riders the average monthly cost of participating in a Vanpool is between $100 and $150, which can be a pre-tax deduction from your paycheck.  Riders generally meet at a convenient spot near their residences such as a church or shopping mall parking lot and are brought directly to campus.

Vanpooling offers benefits to the commuters, the University and the planet. Riders can avoid the high cost of gasoline and the hassle of driving in rush hour traffic. Vanpooling helps ease traffic congestion in and around campus and supports Penn’s Climate Action Plan by lowering the University’s carbon footprint.

Penn currently has three vanpools in operation. For more information or to join a vanpool, call VPSI at 1-800-VAN-RIDE or visit www.vanride.com

Emergency Ride Home (ERH)

If you are reluctant to join a vanpool because there may be times when you have a child care or other emergency and have to leave campus early, then you may be pleased to know that Penn has joined with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to offer members of the University community the services of The Emergency Ride Home (ERH) Program. This service provides a “safety net” for commuters working in southeastern Pennsylvania who carpool, vanpool or use public transportation on a regular basis. In the event of an unexpected personal or family emergency or illness, unscheduled overtime, or if the regular ride home is not available for certain reasons, registered commuters are provided with a free ride to home, their car or to the place of the emergency.  For details on this program, visit the Penn Parking website at www.upenn.edu/parking

Penn’s Children’s Center

Penn Children’s Center (PCC) accepts applications year-round for infants, toddlers and children of preschool age. Enrollment for all ages is subject to space availability. 

PCC, located in the Left Bank complex at 3160 Chestnut Street, serves children ages 12 weeks through five years. PCC has been re-accredited with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and has earned the highest quality rating of 4-STARS under the State’s Keystone Stars Child Care Quality Initiative. Assisted rates are available to regular University employees who meet eligibility requirements, subject to space availability and funding. (These rates are not available to UPHS employees.)  Part-time slots and sibling discounts are also available. Please contact Penn Children’s Center at (215) 898-5268 for additional information or to arrange a tour. You can also visit the Center’s website at www.upenn.edu/childcare

PCC Rates for 2011-2012

Effective Monday, July 4, 2011

New Website for Print and Interactive Communications

The new Print and Interactive Communications website launched on June 30, 2011. The website is designed to be a valuable source for members of the Penn community to find designers, printers, lettershop and media specialists for all their communication projects. The information and resources that had formerly been facilitated by Penn Publication Services are now available through an easy-to-use online venue.

The site provides access to Penn’s preferred and strategic providers who can assist with everything needed to create brochures, annual reports, magazines, newsletters, websites and more including Penn’s new media planning and placement provider, Singularity.   

 In addition, the website provides:

• Options of prequalified providers with dedicated Penn account reps

• A wide selection of professionally produced campus photographs - free of charge

• Environmentally friendly paper and printing options 

• Easy access to information about the Penn logo or printing Penn business cards and stationery

Visit the website at: www.upenn.edu/purchasing/publications

Penn Hotel Rates for FY 2012

The Penn Rate as of July 1, 2011 is as follows:

• Hilton Inn at Penn: $223

• Sheraton Philadelphia University City Hotel: $189

Computer Connection Sale

Penn faculty, staff and students are eligible to take advantage of significant educational discounts on Apple, Dell, Adobe, Lenovo and Microsoft products during Penn Computer Connection’s Back-to-School Sale, happening throughout the summer. Details of the sale can be found in the sale brochure mailed to the Penn community in early June. For more information, visit the Computer Connection showroom at 3610 Sansom Street or view the online catalog at www.upenn.edu/computerstore