March 13, 2018 Volume 64 Issue 26

Andrew Hoffman will be the next Gilbert S. Kahn Dean at Penn Veterinary Medicine, effective August 1, 2018.  The announcement  was made by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett. The selection follows a global search. Dr. Hoffman, who has served as director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory and Professor of Large Animal Internal Medicine at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine since 2012, is an acclaimed researcher, clinician, teacher and mentor. His career exemplifies the enormous potential of an integrated One Health approach to biomedicine: uniting clinicians and scientists from multiple professions and perspectives to increase knowledge and drive improvements in global public health, human and animal well-being, and environmental sustainability and resilience.

At Tufts, Dr. Hoffman contributed to all areas of veterinary research, teaching and clinical care. His leadership of regenerative medicine and stem cell research programs resulted in important contributions to both animal and human health, demonstrating the profoundly positive impact of veterinary research. He helped build and lead the first outpatient pulmonary function testing laboratory for equine and canine patients in the world, which provided world-class care for animal patients while also making important contributions in developing animal models of human pulmonary disease. The ongoing revolution in the treatment of severe human emphysema—increasing length and quality of life for patients and decreasing the morbidity and mortality of lung volume reduction treatment—traces in part to the work of Dr. Hoffman and his colleagues. Dr. Hoffman has regularly mentored faculty with an interest in clinical translational research and helped colleagues fully appreciate the career options available to them thanks to the versatile skills provided by a veterinary education.

From 2005 to 2012, Dr. Hoffman served as director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at Tufts. He has led the Tufts Lung Function Laboratory for more than 20 years and also served for five years as director of the Tufts Equine Sports Medicine Program. He has significant clinical experience in large animal (dairy-equine) practice and caring for and investigating animals as diverse as dogs, cats, horses, sheep, camelids, rodents, dolphins and wildlife. He has led and served on numerous school- and university-wide committees, including chairing the Cummings School’s Admissions Committee and the Tufts Retiree Health Benefits Committee of the Faculty Senate.

A Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, past president of the Veterinary Comparative Research Society and a member of the International Society of Stem Cell Research, Dr. Hoffman has received continuous funding from the NIH for nearly 20 years. He has authored more than 100 publications, including many in leading scientific and clinical journals. He earned his undergraduate degree with honors in biology from the University of Delaware, received his veterinary degree from Cornell and holds a Doctor of Veterinary Science from the University of Guelph (Canada).

Dr. Hoffman will be the  successor to Joan Hendricks, who is stepping down after serving as dean since 2006. She is extending her term one month–until July 31–to help ensure a smooth decanal transition. “We profoundly appreciate Joan’s superb service to Penn Vet and to Penn.  Joan was one of the first women to become dean of a veterinary school in the U.S. and has served on the Penn faculty for more than 30 years, where she garnered international acclaim for her work,” said President Gutmann.

Michael Jones-Correa has been named the President’s Distinguished Professor of Political Science. Dr. Jones-Correa came to Penn in 2016 from Cornell University, where he was Robert J. Katz Chair of the Department of Government. As a political scientist studying Latino politics and immigration to the United States, his research is focused on the political integration of new immigrant communities and their relations with the U.S.-born. He is director of Penn’s new Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race and Immigration.

Dr. Jones-Correa is the author or editor of five widely-acclaimed books, among them Between Two Nations: The Political Predicament of Latinos in New York City and Governing American Cities: Inter-Ethnic Coalitions, Competition, and Conflict, in addition to many other publications. He is a lead researcher on the 2006 Latino National Survey, the 2016 and 2012 Latino Immigrant National Election Study, and the ongoing Philadelphia-Atlanta Project. His research has received support from the Carnegie, Ford, MacArthur, Robert Wood Johnson, Russell Sage and National Science foundations.

The chair, which is designated to support a faculty member in Penn Arts and Sciences whose teaching and research is interdisciplinary in nature, was established anonymously in 2016.

The University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees approved a record $237 million financial aid budget, an increase of 5.25 percent and the largest financial aid budget in Penn’s history, along with a 3.8 percent tuition increase, the lowest in nine years.

Since Amy Gutmann became Penn’s president in 2004, raising the financial aid budget has been a top priority, with the University awarding more than $2 billion in undergraduate aid to nearly 18,000 students.

“My college experience forever changed my life and as the first in my family to attend college I understand the tremendous value and transformative impact that affordable access to high-quality higher education can have,” said President Gutmann. “It is the founding principle of Penn’s grant-based financial aid program for undergraduates established ten years ago.

“Today Penn is the largest U.S. university with need-blind admission and grant-based financial aid for undergraduates. One in eight Penn students from the Class of 2021 represent the first generation in their family to attend college, and students who are first-gen or high-financial-need are now more than a quarter of the class. We are committed to doing all we can to make Penn’s Ivy League education more accessible and affordable to students with the greatest promise from all backgrounds,” she said.

Penn bridges the gap between the cost of attendance and a family’s financial need by providing its students a financial aid package based on grants and work-study funding. These grants do not require repayment and are comprised of Penn’s own funds, endowments, federal and state grants, and work-study funding. This program is designed to ensure that a family’s financial circumstance does not prevent qualified students from attending. Currently, 46 percent of Penn’s undergraduate students receive grant-based financial aid packages, with an average grant of $47,275 and $50,348 when including work-study.      

To maintain Penn’s world-class academic programs, campus and student services, undergraduate student charges for 2018-2019 will increase by 3.8 percent and include $49,220 for tuition, $6,364 for fees, $10,200 for housing and $5,416 for dining.

“This announcement reaffirms Penn’s commitment to educational accessibility and affordability through our need-blind admission policy and grant-based financial aid program,” said MaryFrances McCourt, treasurer and vice president for finance “Penn’s financial aid program treats each student as an individual, taking into account personal and family finances, as well as any special circumstances. Penn continues to meet a student’s demonstrated financial need each year, increasing aid to reflect any increasing costs to the eligible student.”

Since establishing a grant-based financial aid program ten years ago, Penn has increased its financial aid budget by 134 percent, averaging an eight percent growth annually. Students whose combined family income and assets are less than $65,500 do not pay tuition, room or board because Penn’s combination of grants and work-study funding covers those costs.

Penn’s grant-based financial aid program is aligned with the inclusion goals outlined in the Penn Compact 2020 Presidential Initiatives, which include a comprehensive effort to raise additional funding for the endowment to support undergraduate financial aid as well as graduate and professional student aid.

Netter Center Faculty-Community Partnership Award: April 12

We are pleased to announce the Netter Center Faculty-Community Partnership Award. The annual award recognizes Faculty-Community Partnership Projects. One award of $2,500 is given to a faculty member and another $2,500 is given to the community partner who has worked with the faculty member  to develop and advance an existing partnership.

The purpose is to develop or enhance work with an existing community partner. Junior and senior faculty along with senior lecturers and associated faculty from any of Penn’s 12 schools are eligible for nomination. Please see below for the complete description and process of nomination. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this award, please direct them to Tia Yang, ABCS coordinator, at tiayang@sas.upenn.edu

Criteria for Selection

(1) Must be a faculty member whose work is affiliated with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships i.e., engaged with Academically Based Community Service (ABCS), Problem Solving Learning (PSL) or Participatory Action Research (PAR) style pedagogy and/or research.

(2) Can be assistant, associate or full professor, senior lecturer or associated faculty.

(3) Must demonstrate record of sustainable engagement.

Process of Nomination

(1) Nominators should submit a completed packet (see https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/about-center/advisory-boards/faculty-advisory-board/netter-center-faculty-community-partnership) by April 12 of the given academic year to the ABCS coordinator, who will submit applications to the faculty awards committee.

(2) The faculty committee will submit their recommendations by April 20 to Netter Center Director Ira Harkavy, who will make the final selection by April 27.

—Dennis DeTurck, Robert A. Fox; Leadership Professor; Professor of Mathematics, SAS; Faculty Fellow of Riepe College House; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—John Gearhart, James W. Effron University Professor and Emeritus Director, Institute for Regenerative Medicine;  Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Animal Biology, PSOM and School of Veterinary Medicine; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—John Jackson Jr., Dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice; Richard Perry University Professor of Communication,  Africana Studies, and Anthropology;  Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—Terri H. Lipman, Assistant Dean for Community Engagement; Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition; Professor of Nursing of Children, SON; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—Loretta Flanagan-Cato, Associate Professor of Psychology, SAS; Co-director, Biological Basis of Behavior Program; Netter Center Faculty Fellow

—Carol Muller, Professor of Music, SAS; Faculty Director, Urban Arts, Culture, Humanities, and Community Engagement; Chair of the Netter Center Faculty Community Partnership Award Nomination Process

—Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President; Founding Director, Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships

ABCS Course Development Grants: April 12

The Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships announces course development grants for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 to promote Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) courses that integrate research, teaching, learning and service. More than 150 courses from a wide range of disciplines and Penn schools have linked Penn undergraduate and graduate students to work in the community. The grants support University faculty to develop new courses or adapt existing courses that combine research with school and community projects.

To see a list of the ABCS courses, visit https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/what-we-do/courses

Grants will be for no more than $5,000 per project. These funds can be used to provide graduate and undergraduate support, course support and/or summer salary ($5,000 is inclusive of employee benefits if taken as salary).

Funded by the Netter Center, course development grants facilitate faculty in developing new and substantially restructured undergraduate and graduate level courses that engage students in real-world problem-solving projects in conjunction with schools and community organizations located in West Philadelphia.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:

1. Academic excellence

2. Integration of research, teaching and service

3. Partnership with schools, community groups, service agencies, etc.

4. Focus on Philadelphia, especially West Philadelphia

5. Evidence as to how the course activity will involve participation or interaction with the community as well as contribute to improving the community

6. Evidence as to how the course activity will engage undergraduate and/or graduate students in real-world problem-solving research opportunities

7. Potential for sustainability

Please format proposals as follows:

1. Cover page

1.1 Name, title, department, school, mailing address

1.2 Title of the proposal

1.3 Total amount of funding you would like

1.4 100-word abstract of the proposal (include a description of how the course will involve interaction with the community and benefit the community)

2. A one-page biographical sketch of applicant

3. A two- to-four-page mini-proposal

4. Budget detailing how you intend to use the requested funding

Proposals for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 courses should be submitted to the Netter Center for Community Partnerships by April 12.

Please contact Tia Yang, ABCS coordinator, at tiayang@sas.upenn.edu for more information or to submit proposals.

—Dennis DeTurck, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor; Professor of Mathematics, SAS; Faculty Fellow of Riepe College House; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—John Gearhart, James W. Effron University Professor and Emeritus Director, Institute for Regenerative Medicine; Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Animal Biology, PSOM and School of Veterinary Medicine; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—John Jackson Jr., Dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice; Richard Perry University Professor of Communication,  Africana Studies, and Anthropology;  Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—Terri H. Lipman, Assistant Dean for Community Engagement;  Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition; Professor of Nursing of Children, SON; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair

—Loretta Flanagan-Cato, Associate Professor of Psychology, SAS;  Co-director, Biological Basis of Behavior Program; Netter Center Faculty Fellow

—Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President; Founding Director, Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships

Keith L. Sachs, W’67, an emeritus member and former chair of PennDesign’s Board of Overseers and Penn benefactor, died March 5. He was 72.

“We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Keith Sachs. A Wharton graduate and business leader with a lifelong passion for art, Keith was a quintessential Penn alumnus and true Renaissance man, as well as a great friend of our University,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann.

“The Sachs’ philanthropy to Penn was transformational. Keith and his wife, Kathy, supported arts programming and established named chairs for faculty and curatorial positions. Penn will be forever grateful for their signature gift of $15 million gift to launch The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation (Almanac October 18, 2016), an arts hub that integrates creative expression into daily life at Penn,” President Gutmann said.

The couple also endowed a contemporary art professorship, a position of visiting professor of fine arts at PennDesign, a guest curator program at the ICA, and the Sachs Fine Arts Program Fund (Almanac November 8, 2005). Mr. Sachs was a 2008 Alumni Award of Merit winner.

Mr. Sachs was the former CEO of Saxco International, a principal distributor of packaging material to the producers of alcoholic beverages in North America.

“Mr. Sachs also shared his invaluable business acumen and insights as a member of PennDesign’s Board, which he previously chaired. Thanks to his keen advocacy and generosity, the arts will remain central to the Penn student experience as well as to the cultural life of our city and far beyond. There can be no more significant and meaningful legacy for a true art lover to leave for future generations,” President Gutmann said.

For many years, Mr. Sachs led Penn’s Class of 1967 Gift Committee, which he chaired during its 50th reunion year in 2017.

He is survived by his wife, emerita trustee Kathy, CW’69; his son, David; daughters, Deborah Rothman and Judy; and his brother, Herb.

Dr. Luis Schut, emeritus professor of pediatrics and neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, died in Laguna Woods, California, on January 31 from chronic ischemic heart disease. He was 85.

Dr. Schut was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He came to the United States in 1955, and after a rotating internship and one-year period of training as a psychiatric resident, he was accepted for neurosurgical residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania by Dr. Francis Grant one year prior to Dr. Grant’s retirement. He completed his training under the direction of Dr. Robert Groff.

In 1959, he became an assistant instructor of neurosurgery at Penn. In 1962, after his residency and following a period of training in neurosurgery at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, Dr. Schut returned to Penn, where he served as an instructor and then professor of neurosurgery until his retirement in 1996. In 1969 he was appointed chief of neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; he remained in that position until his retirement.

In the series of histories of CHOP written by Shirley Bonnem, she describes Dr. Schut as one of a handful of faculty members responsible for establishing CHOP as a landmark children’s hospital. He was also a pioneer in the treatment of congenital anomalies of the central nervous system, craniofacial anomalies, management of pediatric head trauma, hydrocephalus and brain tumors. He was a founding member of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. Dr. Schut was president of the Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery in 1977 and received the Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

Dr. Schut is survived by his wife Lydia (GM’58); sons Andrew (C’85, LPS’11), Edward and Henry; and eight grandchildren, including Rebecca Schut (C’16).

The University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees held their Winter Stated Meeting Friday, March 2, following a day of committee meetings. A Memorial Resolution for Sarah Wilder Fuller (CW’71, PAR’04, PAR’07) (Almanac November 14, 2017) as well as a Resolution of Appreciation for Denis Kinane, who had been the School of Dental Medicine’s dean 2009-2017, both passed.

President Amy Gutmann took a moment to recap recent notable events, including the opening of the Penn Biden Center (Almanac February 27, 2018), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s visit to Penn Law, and the appointment of John Jackson, current SP2 dean, as the new dean of the Annenberg School (Almanac February 13, 2018).

Provost Wendell Pritchett spoke to Penn’s wellness initiatives and the new website www.wellnessatpenn.com

In his financial report, EVP Craig Carnaroli noted that the total net assets for the Consolidated University were $17 billion as of December 31, 2017, an increase of $2 billion over the prior December. Total net assets were $612 million above budget. For the academic component, contributions totaled $207 million, an increase of $15 million above the prior year.   

In PSOM Dean Larry Jameson’s Penn Medicine Report, he noted the ongoing momentum, specifically the recent series of FDA approvals.

The Trustees approved the Penn Medicine Innovation Co-Investment Pilot Program and delegated authority for the investment of up to $45 million. Laura Alber, Alan David Schnitzer and Kenneth D. Moelis were reelected as Term Trustees.

The appointment of John H. Zeller as Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations was also approved.

The Board once again approved the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as Penn’s independent auditors for Fiscal Year 2018.

The 2018-2019 tuition, fees and other student charges for undergraduates were approved (see Penn's 2018-2019 Financial Aid Budget and Tuition). The total charges will be $71,200. For graduate and professional students, tuition will be determined administratively to reflect the budget requirements of the various schools. The financial aid budget will be $237 million.

Also approved were the Phase 1 Renovation of the Penn Museum’s Coxe/Harrison Wings (Almanac November 14, 2017) ($21.925 million); the New College House West Full Design and Utility Construction (Almanac November 7, 2017) (additional $8.5 million, total $17 million); a five-year lease of new space for the Gene Therapy Program at 3711 Market Street ($6.88 million); improvements to the HVAC and electrical infrastructure at 3401 Walnut Street ($6.45 million); the acquisition of properties in Lititz by Lancaster General Hospital for relocating approximately 400 employees of Lancaster General Health ($14 million); and the sale of Penn Center for Rehabilitation and Care, located at 3609 Chestnut Street.

The Trustees also approved the joinder of Princeton Healthcare System Holding, Inc. and its network of controlled affiliates; the modification or refinancing of its existing debt; and issuance of new Master Notes by The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to secure all or a portion of the existing PHCS debt.

The Trustees approved a fundraising campaign to begin on April 12, and conclude in 2021. The Trustee Campaign Development Committee endorsed the $4.1 billion goal for The Power of Penn Campaign: Advancing Knowledge for Good.

Numerous appointments and reappointments to Boards of Overseers were approved, including:

Jason M. Pantzer, Julie B. Platt, Richard D. Feintuch and David J. Katz to the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Board; David S. Pottruck as an emeritus member of the Athletic Board; Amrita Sen to the School of Design Board and Kevin S. Penn as Chair; Jolly B. Christman to the Graduate School of Education Board; Brett A. Sundheim to the Institute of Contemporary Art Board; Steven M. Cohen, Martez R. Moore and Patty Shwartz to the Law School Board; Laurie G. Gliklich, Jeffrey S. Lin and Mina T. Wattenberg to University Libraries Board; Kim Jensen Pimley, Conrad L. Druker, Louis A. Matis and Joseph R. Zebrowitz to Penn Medicine Board; Mr. Pimley to its Executive Committee; Neil D. Glat to the School of Social Policy and Practice Board.

Eduardo Azevedo, Wharton assistant professor of business economics and public policy, is one of the 126 recipients of a 2018 Sloan Research Fellowship from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Dr. Azevedo received an Excellence in Teaching Award from Wharton in 2014 (Almanac May 27, 2014).

Fellowships are open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields: chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics. Candidates must be nominated by their fellow scientists. Winning fellows are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars in their field on the basis of a candidate’s research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in his or her field. Winners receive a two-year, $65,000 fellowship to further their research.

Two faculty from Penn’s School of Nursing (SON), Patricia D’Antonio, the Carol E. Ware Professor in Mental Health Nursing; and Connie M. Ulrich, the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical and Surgical Nursing, will both be honored by Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) for their contributions to the nursing profession.

The STTI Hall of Fame was developed to recognize nurse researchers for their lifetime achievements in, and contributions to, research and to mentoring future nurse researchers. The induction ceremony will take place during the 29th annual International Nursing Research Congress in Melbourne, Australia in July.

Dr. D’Antonio, the chair of Penn Nursing’s department of family and community health; the director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing; and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, is an internationally recognized nursing historian whose research demonstrates nurses’ strong influence on public health and the development of health care norms.

Dr. Ulrich is a professor of nursing at Penn Nursing and a professor of bioethics at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. She was the first ever nurse accepted into the postdoctoral training program in the National Institutes of Health’s department of bioethics, and was the first nurse bioethicist at Penn.

Raymond Gorte, the Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, at Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Dr. Gorte’s current research focuses on electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), oxide supports for catalytic metals and catalysis for conversion of biomass to chemicals. With SOFC, his lab has developed a method to synthesize electrodes with unprecedented control over composition and nanostructure. With oxides for metal-catalyst supports, his group is developing ways to prepare functional supports to enhance catalytic properties. In biomass conversion, they are developing catalysts that are capable of performing selective alkylation and hydrogenation reactions.

Paul W. Meyer, the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of Morris Arboretum, is the 2018 recipient of the Scott Medal and Award. The Scott Medal and Award, established in 1929, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding national contributions to the science and art of gardening. The 2018 award of the Scott Medal, together with $14,000, is given as an acknowledgement of “…achievement of great merit, recognition of work in creating and developing a wider interest in gardening.”

Holly Shimizu, emeritus executive director of the U.S. Botanic Gardens, said, “Paul led the way with [the Morris Arboretum’s] LEED Platinum Certified Horticulture Center featuring geothermal wells, a green roof, solar energy, water cistern and recycled materials. While moving forward with so much innovation, Paul has also respected the rich history and past of the Morris Arboretum.”

Mr. Meyer has completed plant expeditions to China, Korea, Taiwan, Armenia and the Republic of Georgia. A founding member of the North America-China Plant Exploration Consortium, Mr. Meyer facilitated collaboration among American, Canadian and Chinese botanical organizations.

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, at Swarthmore College’s Lang Performing Arts Center, the public is invited to hear Mr. Meyer speak about his passion for horticulture, commitment to sustainability and exploration of the world in search of good garden plants.

Janine Remillard, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education, and her collaborators from Sweden, Flanders (Belgium), the U.S. and Finland, received an award of $970,000 by the Swedish Research Council (led by Malardalen University) for the project Teachers’ Use of Mathematics Curriculum Resources in the 21st Century: A Cross-Cultural Project. The study examines elementary teachers’ use of mathematics curriculum resources from a cross-cultural, 21st-century perspective. Using interviews, a survey, and a teacher log, the study will gather and analyze data on elementary mathematics teachers’ interpretations and use of print and digital curriculum resources in Sweden, Flanders (Belgium), the United States and Finland. The Penn portion of the project is $415,502.

Jamie Shuda, director of life science outreach for the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM) at Penn, has been named co-recipient of the 2018 Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence by the Genetics Society of America (GSA) for “extraordinary contributions to genetics education.” The prize will be presented to Dr. Shuda and her co-recipient, Dr. Steven Farber,  a principal investigator at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Baltimore, at the 59th Annual Drosophila Research Conference (a GSA-affiliated meeting), which will take place next month in Philadelphia.

Dr. Shuda and Dr. Farber have been recognized for establishing BioEYES, a K-12 science education program that provides classroom-based, hands-on lessons in basic scientific methods, biology and genetics using live zebrafish. The BioEYES program, in use in more than 100 schools, has been in operation in Philadelphia since 2002, and more than 115,000 students in the U.S and Australia have participated to date.

At IRM, Dr. Shuda develops and implements community outreach programs in the life sciences for K-12 students; teaches Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) undergraduate courses in biology and bioethics that partner with local high schools; supervises Penn student mentors to work with local teachers and students; provides professional development to dozens of teachers each year; and creates new curricula to enhance K-12 science. Dr. Shuda also collaborates with Penn faculty members university-wide to develop community outreach projects as part of their federal grant awards.

Knowledge is the lifeblood of the University. But in a time of a great burgeoning of knowledge we also face in the body politic a growing unease about epistemology, the provenance of information and the course of the Academy. Faced with these troubled times, Penn’s Faculty Senate has organized a pan-university Teach-In on the rigors of knowledge creation, the difficulties encountered in communicating knowledge in an era of social media and fake news and the positive and negatives impacts of knowledge in a time of instability and unrest. A half-century after the campus teach-ins during the social turmoil of the ’60s, it seems entirely appropriate that we recreate a community dialogue on knowledge and the Academy. What is the role of the University in the 21st century? And how best can we renew the Franklinian compact to place the advancement of knowledge in the service of the continuous betterment of the human condition?

The Teach-In will take place March 18-22, 2018. This is a truly collective enterprise, the first on this scale at Penn in half a century. With enthusiastic support from the President, Provost and Deans, faculty from across Penn’s schools, staff from the Library and the Museum, student representatives from SCUE, UA and GAPSA, and members of PPSA and WPPSA have banded together to initiate a dialogue, spanning disciplines, on pressing issues of the day. And we are inviting the civic community, schools, local organizations, and policy makers, both in Philadelphia and in our capitals, into our campus to be a part of this dialogue. All of the events are open and free to the community and the public.  

The schedule and the program of events can be found on the Teach-In website: http://www.upenn.edu/teachin The topics cover complex, frequently contentious, issues: artificial intelligence, firearm violence, vaccine denial, race, evolution, bioethics, immigration, history and archaeology, climate change, gender, education, fake news and fake imagery, data and knowledge, and political polarization. Two of the events will be moderated by hosts from WHYY; and there are several family-friendly and participatory events including the Museum’s How Do We Know? event, the Critical Engagement with Knowledge Library event, an AI-augmented reality scavenger hunt, a walk through time down Locust Walk (with robot companions), Data Refuge Stories, a Bioethics Film Festival on the promises and perils of technology and a screening of American Creed.

In support of this collective endeavor, we ask that faculty spend a little time in class discussing knowledge and the Academy in the 21st century, and consider exploring the rich and varied topics on view with their classes or giving time and room for students to explore them on their own. And we ask students and staff to explore as many of these topics as they have time and inclination for. The events will be archived on the Teach-In website; many of them will be live-streamed.

In a very large sense, in these troubled times the Teach-In asks us to ruminate collectively on the fundamental questions facing us—where are we and where would we like to go: Quo vadis? We hope to see you at the events.

Tri-Chairs of the Faculty Senate

—Jennifer Pinto-Martin, Chair Elect

—Santosh Venkatesh, Chair

—Laura Perna,  Past Chair

Schedule

Registration is encouraged; for more information, visit http://www.upenn.edu/teachin Update: also check website for rescheduling of canceled events (indicated below).

Sunday, March 18

How Do We Know?: An Afternoon of Learning and Fun in the Penn Museum; 1-5 p.m.; Penn Museum.

Monday, March 19

The Penn Libraries: Critical Engagement with Knowledge; 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Monument Lab Exhibition: Civic Studio on Public Space; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Addams Hall.

Teaching Race: A Roundtable; 10-11:30 a.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Vaccine Denial: A Worldwide Public Health Concern; noon-1:30 p.m.; Rubenstein Auditorium, Smilow Center for Translational Research.

A Walk through Time: Special Artistic Exhibit: The Evolution “Donut” Crawl; 1-5:30 p.m.; Locust Walk.

Firearm Violence: Science, Policy & Politics; 3-4:30 p.m.; Terrace Room, Claudia Cohen Hall.

Teach-In Opening Ceremony: Knowledge Production, Communication & Impact in the 21st Century; 5-6:30 p.m.; Fitts Auditorium, Golkin Hall, Penn Law.

Teach-In Opening Reception: for opening ceremony attendees; 6:30-7 p.m.; Fitts Auditorium, Golkin Hall, Penn Law.

Tuesday, March 20

[RE]ACTION: Empowering the Future Leaders in Design: PennDesign Women in Architecture; all day; Meyerson Hall and Morgan Building.

Monument Lab Exhibition: Civic Studio on Public Space; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Addams Hall.

The Future of Technology: Engineering Human Health; 10:30-11:15 a.m.; Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology.

The Future of Technology: Artificial Intelligence and Society: Stories from the Warren Center; 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology.

The Future of the Past: Lessons from History; 12:30-2 p.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

The Knowledge and Practice of Well-Being; 3-4:30 p.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Monument Lab Reception: Opening Ceremony; 4-6 p.m.; Addams Hall.

AI: Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt: A Public Event; 6-8 p.m.; Levine Hall.

[CANCELED] Nudging Women to Run: A Penn Lightbulb Cafe Event; 6-7 p.m.; Upstairs, World Café Live.

The Bride of Frankenstein: Bioethics Film Festival; 5:30-7:45 p.m.; Ibrahim Theater, International House.

Wednesday, March 21

[CANCELED] Monument Lab Exhibition: Civic Studio on Public Space; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Addams Hall.

[CANCELED] Data Refuge Stories: A Public Engagement Project of the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and Penn Libraries; noon-3 p.m.; multiple locations.

[CANCELED] Developing a Culture of Health: hosted by the Penn Professional Staff Assembly and the Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly; 1-2:30 p.m.; Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

[CANCELED] Thinking About Evolution: Science, History, Meaning: A Faculty Panel; 3-4:30 p.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

[CANCELED] 2018 Evan C Thompson Chair Lecture: Improving Decision Making; Katy Milkman, “Targeting Teaching and Learning”; 3-4:30 p.m.; Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

[CANCELED] Immigration Town Hall: The Role of the University in Responding to and Shaping Immigration Law and Policy; 5-6:30 p.m.; Fitts Auditorium, Golkin Hall, Penn Law.

[POSTPONED TO 4/4, time/location TBD] Post-Carbon Futures in a Fact-Challenged Present; 5-6:30 p.m.; Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Thursday, March 22

Monument Lab Exhibition: Civic Studio on Public Space; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Addams Hall.

Left, Right and Center: Can We Talk about Sexual Harassment?; 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Catalyst, GSE, 3440 Market St., 5th floor.

American Creed: Documentary Screening and Discussion; 4-6 p.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Purposes of a Penn Education: Student Perspectives; 4:30-5:15 p.m.; Hall of Flags, Houston Hall.

Finale: The University and the Community; 5:15-6 p.m.; Hall of Flags, Houston Hall.

Closing Reception; 6-6:30 p.m.; Hall of Flags, Houston Hall.

Blade Runner-Final Cut (2007): Bioethics Film Festival; 5:30-8:45 p.m.; Ibrahim Theater, International House.

Friday, March 23

Lies, Pixels and Video Fakes; 11 a.m.-12 p.m.; Class of 1955 Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

Young Frankenstein: Bioethics Film Festival; 5:30-8:30 p.m.; Ibrahim Theater, International House.

During the 2016 Zika virus outbreak, the Annenberg Public Policy Center surveyed tens of thousands of people over more than seven months to learn about the American public’s behavior, attitudes and knowledge about the virus as it spread to the United States. Yet over the same period, an even larger group of people were talking with each other about the virus in another venue entirely—on social media.

Now, a new analysis conducted jointly by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois finds a correlation between the Zika topics discussed on Twitter and the survey results. “Our results demonstrated that it is possible to uncover topics of discussion from Twitter communications that are associated with Zika-related attitudes, knowledge and behaviors of populations over time,” the researchers said.

The researchers, including Dolores Albarracín, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and co-author of the study, and co-principal investigator Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), wrote that “social media data can be used as a complementary source of information alongside traditional data sources to gauge patterns of attitudes, knowledge and behaviors of a population.”

The researchers used data from APPC’s Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey about Zika, conducted by landline and cell phone from February-August 2016. The 33 weeks of survey data included 33,193 respondents (about 1,000 per week) who were asked about their attitudes, behavior and knowledge of Zika.

The researchers found moderate to high correlations between Zika-related Twitter topics and survey responses. They found, for instance, that during times when the survey found greater knowledge about microcephaly, a birth defect that can be caused when a pregnant woman is infected by Zika, there was more Zika-related Twitter discussion on Zika protection and travel.

Dr. Albarracín said the study set out to determine whether the digital “traces of human behavior and communication online” could be a cost-effective way to predict responses to a national survey. She said the study also refutes a popular misconception.

“There’s a sector of the population, including members of the scientific community, who dismiss social media as biased. That is clearly not always the case,” she said. “Social media can be used to track important problems and therefore is also likely to be a great tool for informing the public. Whether or not the actual people who are tweeting are a representative sample of the U.S., the content overall ends up being representative of the concerns of the public as a whole.”

Dramatic calorie restriction—diets reduced by 40 percent of a normal calorie total—have long been known to extend health span, the duration of disease-free aging in animal studies and even to extend lifespan in most animal species examined. Further research has shown that animals fed restricted-calorie diets are also better able to regenerate numerous tissues after injury.

A lingering question has been how these benefits are mediated. A new study led by University of Pennsylvania researchers pinpoints the cell responsible for these improved regenerative abilities in the intestines. According to the scientists’ work, when a calorie-restricted mouse is subjected to radiation, a particular type of stem cell in the intestines, known as reserve stem cells, can survive and quickly rebuild intestinal tissues. The findings align with observations by oncologists that short-term fasting prior to chemotherapy can mitigate the severity of gastrointestinal destruction.

“The moral of the story is you definitely don’t want to be eating a bunch of cheeseburgers before you get chemotherapy or radiation,” said Christopher Lengner, an associate professor in Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine. “Our work is pointing to reserve stem cells as being the critical players in conferring the benefits of intestinal-tissue regeneration after these types of insults.”

Dr. Lengner collaborated on the work with lead author Maryam Yousefi, a graduate student in the cell and molecular biology program at Penn and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Fellow, and other colleagues from Penn and China Agricultural University. Their work appears in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

Years of research have demonstrated that existing on a calorie restricted diet, while seemingly unpleasant, can boost healthy lifespan, reducing the risk of heart attack, diabetes and other age-related conditions. Other, more recent work has shown that calorie-restricted animals regenerate tissue more effectively following injury.

In future work, the researchers hope to drill down deeper, looking beyond nutrient signaling to see what type of signaling molecules can modulate the activation of reserve stem cells.

Pressure-related skin injuries, a nurse-sensitive quality indicator in hospitals, are associated with increased morbidity and higher costs of care. There’s been much attention focused on hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) in the adult population. However, while preventable, immobility-related and medical device-related pressure injuries (MDPI) also occur in hospitalized infants and children.

Preventing pressure injury in infants and children requires that clinicians accurately identify at-risk patients and apply reliable prevention strategies for those patients. Often the Braden Q Scale is used to help identify pediatric patients at risk for developing these pressure-related skin injuries. Until recently, initial predictive validity testing of the Braden Q Scale only included immobility-related pressure injuries in critically ill pediatric patients aged two weeks to eight years.

In a study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), a new, simplified Braden QD Scale now describes combined immobility-related and MDPI risk in a broader, more diverse sample of pediatric patients typically cared for in acute care environments. The multicenter, prospective cohort study was published in the January issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

“The Braden QD Scale provides acute-care pediatric clinicians with one instrument to predict both immobility- and device-related pressure injuries across diverse age and clinical populations,” says lead author Martha A. Q. Curley, the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at Penn Nursing and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “This instrument may be helpful in preventing iatrogenic injury, in facilitating quality monitoring of care, and in helping to guide resource allocation in the prevention of HAPI in hospitalized infants and children.”

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated the feasibility of their “organ-on-a-chip” platform in studying how drugs are transported across the human placental barrier.

Some maternally-administered medications can enter the fetal bloodstream, but how the placenta determines which molecules can get through is still poorly understood. The ways of testing this process are limited. Animal models don’t capture important details of human physiology, most in vivo research can’t be ethically performed and placentas donated after birth are only viable for a few hours, making it difficult to properly conduct complicated transport experiments.

A small number of drugs have been tested via this “ex vivo placental perfusion” method, however. By comparing the results of transport experiments conducted on their placenta-on-a-chip, the Penn team demonstrated their benchtop system could be an effective stand-in for a living organ in such research.

The study was led by Dan Huh, Wilf Family Term Assistant Professor in Bioengineering in Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Cassidy Blundell, a graduate student in the Huh lab. Other lab members, Yoon-Suk Yi, Lin Ma, Emily Tess, Megan Farrell and Andrei Georgescu, contributed to the study. They collaborated with Lauren M. Aleksunes, an associate professor in Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

The Penn team’s placenta-on-a-chip is a small block of silicone that houses two microfluidic channels separated by a porous membrane. The researchers grow human trophoblast cells on one side of the membrane and endothelial cells on the other. The layers of those two cell types mimic the placental barrier, which determines what passes from the maternal to the fetal circulatory systems.

The placenta-on-a-chip aims to replicate the complicated, intertwined structures in the placental barrier. Their latest study was featured on the cover of Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Further research and validation studies will be necessary before the placenta-on-a-chip sufficiently replicates its in vivo counterpart for the purposes of clinical testing.

Beyond pharmaceuticals, the Penn team’s placenta-on-a-chip would be useful for better understanding the health impacts of a variety of things that could potentially cross into the fetal bloodstream.

Mugambi Jouet, the Thomas C. Grey Fellow at Stanford Law School, will present the Levin Family Dean’s Forum and will focus on Why Has Modern America Become So Polarized? at this year’s Forum on March 21, 4:30-6 p.m. (doors open at 4 p.m.) in the Zellerbach Theatre, at the Annenberg Center. This is free and open to the public.  To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/y9z8p4e9

Mr. Jouet’s 2017 book, Exceptional America: What Divides Americans From the World and From Each Other? connects social changes and increasing polarization to American exceptionalism—the idea that American society is an exception compared to other nations due to its history, politics, law, religious beliefs, economic attitudes and race relations. While exceptionalism was once a source of strength, it may also be an Achilles heel. Modern-day Americans are more likely than other Westerners to clash over a host of fundamental issues, from mass incarceration to universal health care, reproductive rights, climate change and beyond.

He has written for Slate, Salon, The New Republic, The Hill and Le Monde and has been interviewed for NPR. He served as a public defender in Manhattan and a judicial clerk at the U.N. war crimes tribunal for Yugoslavia. An expert on American government, politics and culture, his research dissects the comparative historical evolution of American democracy, in all of its peculiar and striking manifestations.

The Levin Family Dean’s Forum is a celebration of the arts and sciences. Initiated in 1984, the Forum presents leading intellectual figures who exemplify the richness of the liberal arts. It also recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students for their academic achievement and intellectual promise. The Forum is made possible by a generous gift from Stephen A. Levin, C’67, in honor of his sons Eric T. Levin, C’92, and Andrew Levin, C’14.

A discussion on Urban Preparation: Young Black Men Moving from Chicago’s South Side to Success in Higher Education will take place on Wednesday, March 21, from noon-1:30 p.m. in The ARCH. It is sponsored by the Office of Affirmative Action-Equal Opportunity (OAAEOP).

Chezare A. Warren, a career educator, Chicago native and a former Penn post-doc in GSE, brings fresh perspectives to conversations of race and equity in American public education. A founding teacher at Urban Prep, Dr. Warren offers a detailed exploration of what this single-sex public high school on the South Side of Chicago has managed to accomplish amid profoundly challenging circumstances. He is an assistant professor in the department of teacher education at Michigan State University.

Update: This event has been canceled due to inclement weather. It will be rescheduled. Women in STEM: Celebrating and Raising Awareness, in celebration of Women’s History Month, will take place on Wednesday, March 21,  from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall. Laura Stubbs, director of diversity and inclusion at SEAS, will give the keynote address. A discussion will be moderated by Rashmi Kumar, specialist in STEM learning, at the Weingarten Center, with students, staff and faculty sharing their voices. This is sponsored by the OAAEOP Office along with the VPUL. 

To register for either of these two programs, visit http://www.upenn.edu/affirm-action/offerings.html The Diversity Lecture Series is intended to give insight and understanding of multicultural issues to the University of Pennsylvania. The series is designed to introduce an essential component of education in helping to encourage civil debate, broaden the basis for critical thought and promote cultural understanding.

Conferences

15    Imagining the Raced Space of Freedom: A Symposium in Honor of Thadious M. Davis; 6 p.m.; Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library; info: https://www.english.upenn.edu/conferences/2018/thadious-davis-symposium Register: https://tinyurl.com/ya9m7f4k (Center for Africana Studies, English Department, Office of the President, the Provost’s Interdisciplinary Arts Fund, and Wolf Humanities Center). Through March 16.

16    Using the Self to Imagine the World: Conversations on Ree Morton; artists, curators, and scholars present and discuss the legacy of artist Ree Morton; 6:30 p.m.; Institute of Contemporary Art; free; register: https://tinyurl.com/yb46aqo6 (ICA). Through March 17.

Special Events

16    Women of Color at Penn 31st Annual Awards Luncheon; noon; Woodlands Ballroom, The Inn at Penn; to purchase tickets, email Valerie Allen at wocaptix@gmail.com

Talks

20    Load, Structure and Signaling for Cartilage Regeneration; Riccardo Gottardi, University of Pittsburgh; 2-3 p.m.; rm. 1412, Penn Biomedical Research Building.

AT PENN Deadlines

The March AT PENN calendar is now online. The deadline for the April AT PENN calendar is Tuesday, March 13.

A reception will be held on Friday, March 23 in the Burrison Gallery from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for the current show featuring photographs of African Journeys. The Burrison Gallery is located in the University Club at Penn on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn. It is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Clemson Smith Muñiz, who was raised in Puerto Rico, is a 1979 graduate of Penn. He’s also the past president and a current board member of Penn’s Association of Latino Alumni. Mr. Smith Muñiz an internet entrepreneur and sports broadcaster who dabbles in poetry, creole cooking and wine. He loves photography, cycling and travel with a passion. Since 1997, he has made seven trips to Africa, most recently in 2017 to Tanzania and Kenya, pulled back by the continent’s enormous size and cultural diversity but also by its promise and pain.

He takes photographs to capture moments in the fleeting light and time. He is particularly drawn to animals. Encountering a mountain gorilla face to face in the bamboo forest and gazing into its eyes, he realizes that we humans are simply one of many creatures blessed to walk on this earth.

For the past 15 months, Mr. Smith Muñiz has been executive editor of La Vida Baseball (www.lavidabaseball.com), a digital platform produced in association with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that celebrates the past, present and future of Latino baseball. He’s also starting his 10th season as the Spanish-language play-by-play announcer for MLB Network and has been the radio voice of Los Jets en español for 18 years.

Six teams of researchers based at Indiana University Bloomington have reimagined science, and the results are on display in an exhibit at the Esther Klein Gallery. [RE]Imagining Science runs through March 24. A closing reception will be held on Thursday, March 22, 5-7:30 p.m. at the gallery.

[RE]Imagining Science showcases researchers’ work in the fields of visual and sound arts, design, sciences and social sciences. The exhibit features large-scale sculptural objects, photographs, installations, video works, interactive environments, microscopy images and sound works. The artwork illustrates various scientific principles, building new ways to understand science, and potentially creating new science as an outcome.

The University of Pennsylvania Police Department Community Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for February 26-March 4, 2018. View prior weeks' reports. —Ed.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes all criminal incidents reported and made known to the University Police Department between the dates of February 26-March 4, 2018. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore Ave and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd St in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police. In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call the Division of Public Safety at (215) 898-4482.

02/27/18.     1:33 PM.         3600 Sansom St.     Unsecured jacket taken

02/28/18.     11:22 AM.       3925 Walnut St        Failure to appear/Arrest

02/28/18       1:17 PM.        3535 Market St.       Unsecured laptop taken from desk

02/28/18       3:38 PM         214 41st St               Unsecured passport taken

02/28/18       5:34 PM         3939 Chestnut St     Secured bike taken

02/28/18       5:47 PM         4043 Baltimore Ave  Complainant and ex-girlfriend struggled over property

02/28/18      10:00 PM        4217 Chestnut St     Unauthorized charges attempted on credit card

02/28/18       11:10 PM       3417 Spruce St        Unsecured backpack taken

03/01/18       11:57 PM       3800 Locust Walk    Currency taken from jacket

03/02/18       10:53 AM       300 S 36th St           Confidential offense

03/03/18        8:58 AM         240 S 31st St          Unsecured currency taken from wallet on bench

03/03/18        10:37 AM       4000 Irving St          Laptop taken from unlocked vehicle

03/03/18        11:37 PM       3925 Walnut St        Unsecured handbag taken from bar

03/04/18          2:59 AM       3400 Market St        Complainant assaulted by offender

03/04/18          6:36 PM        4006 Spruce St       Unsecured currency taken from wallet

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 5 incidents (1 robbery, 2 domestic assaults and 2 assaults) with 1 arrest were reported between February 26-March 4, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Ave.

02/28/18.     12:47 AM         552 S 48th St.            Robbery

02/28/18.      5:48 PM          4043 Baltimore Ave   Domestic Assault

03/03/18       10:23 AM        3962 Market St          Domestic Assault/Arrest

03/03/18        1:46 PM         4224 Ludlow St         Assault

03/04/18          3:30 AM       3440 Market St          Assault

As part of SEPTA’s plan to retire the use of tokens across its system, the campus token machines located in Houston Hall and at the SEPTA Travel Center @Penn in the Penn Bookstore have been removed from service as of Friday, March 2.

SEPTA’s new fare system is the reusable and reloadable SEPTA Key Card, which can be obtained at the SEPTA Travel Center @Penn in the Penn Bookstore during its hours of operation, Monday-Friday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. These cards are available for $10, the cost of five fares at the token rate.

Information on additional hours and locations for SEPTA Key sales in the area can be found by visiting www.septa.org/sales/locations/philawest.html

More SEPTA Key sales outlets will be announced by SEPTA in the spring. Additional information about the SEPTA Key Card program may be found at www.septa.org

Many Thanks: The following pantries benefitted from the University’s Annual Food Drive: People’s Emergency Shelter, Project Home, Baring House Crisis Nursery and Southwest Philadelphia Family Service.

Thank you to the entire University community for donating more than 1,200 gifts and toys during the holiday season. We can honestly say we made a difference in the lives of many during the holiday season by providing food, clothing, gifts and toys, to name a few.  There are no words to adequately describe your generosity. Many continue to benefit from your willingness to give.

—Isabel Sampson-Mapp, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships

Change Drive Now Through March 19: This is a non-tuition scholarship donation given to graduating high school students accepted at an accredited college or university. The program has been in existence for more than 20 years and has made a difference in many students’ lives; the program name was changed to the Marie K. Bogle Scholarship in 2017.  Students have been able to use the funds to buy books and the many other items needed to make a home away from home.

The following sites are available for your convenience to make your donation:

Contact Isabel Sampson-Mapp at sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu for additional info.

Office                                         Location                                            Contact                            Phone

President’s Office                      100 College Hall                                 Brenda Gonzalez               898-0447

Provost Office 353B                  3401 Walnut Street                             Susan Curran                    898-6841

Human Resources                     600 Franklin Bldg.                              Syreeta Gary                     898-6018

Netter Center                             2nd floor, 111 S. 38th Street              Isabel Sampson-Mapp     898-2020

Wharton                                     1000 Steinberg Hall-Deitrich Hall       Jennifer O’Keefe               898-1092

ISC                                             203A Sansom West                            Kathie Ritchie                   573-3561

Research Services                     5th floor, Franklin Bldg.                      Lauren Oshana                 573-6710

Comptroller’s Office                   312 Franklin Bldg.                              Celestine Silverman          898-7593

FRES                                          3101 Walnut Street                            Carole Mercaldo               573-8795

AFCRI-CBIO                              508 Biomedical Research Bldg II-III   Joanne Gorman               746-5550

Physics & Astronomy                 2E5 David Rittenhouse Laboratory     Michelle Last                   898-5954

Nursing                                       Room 439 Fagin Hall                          Pat Adams                       573-1630

African American Res. Center    3643 Locust Walk                               Colleen Winn                    898-0104

Please donate them to Penn VIPS. We will put them to great use by donating them to community members, many of the students we work with, and we will also use them to say thank you to our many volunteers. Contact Isabel Sampson-Mapp at sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu

Reorganizing?  Do you have furniture no longer needed by your department? Local non-profits are in need of your items! Do you have any computers to donate? Had a conference?  Do you have left-over bags, tee-shirts, or tchotchkes? Need to empty out your storage space?

Support our Book Drive Now through March 31: to benefit children attending The Haverford Learning Center and Baring House Crisis Nursery. Penn will be collecting books to donate for classroom libraries and for students to take home. The Haverford Learning Center provides free pre-kindergarten and early education support to low income families in West Philadelphia and the Baring House Crisis Nursery is the only emergency day care program in the Philadelphia area. Our goal is to make sure every little one has a library of his or her own. Join us in our efforts. Host a drop box location for co-workers, classmates and friends or make a donation today. We are aiming to have several drop off locations with your help. “Sixty one percent  of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for their children,” according to Reading Literacy in the United States: Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study. The Haverford Learning Center and Baring House Crisis Nursery are requesting new and used books, as well as gift cards for children ages 1-6 years old. Pick-ups can also be arranged if necessary. Assistance is needed with collecting, sorting, distributing and dropping off books as well as visiting the locations for story time.

Campus drop-off location: Netter Center, 111 South 38th Street, 2nd floor

Contact Isabel Mapp to donate your items or Maurice Hayman (267) 474-1383.

Join Penn VIPS Drives Committee: Penn volunteers provide a drop off location to collect the many donated items we receive during our annual drives. A variety of drives are conducted during the course of the year to partner with and help support local schools, families and agencies. Dropsite volunteers are located throughout campus. Volunteers post the events, set up collection sites and help select the recipients for the donations. They also participate in an annual thank you luncheon.

Drives are held during the following times: School Supplies Drive: August; Food Drive: November; Gift/Toy Drive: December; Coat Drive: December; Change Drive: March.

Become a Mentor: Penn’s WorkPlace Mentoring Program has been in existence since 1993.  The program is designed to bring 7th graders from area middle schools to the University of Pennsylvania campus, where they interact with faculty and staff. The goal of the program is to expose mentees to a college campus and to help the mentees set goals for their future. Mentors form positive relationships with their mentees and talk to them about the importance of an education, how to set goals, and they also talk to students about how attending college can make a difference in their lives. Mentors provide resources. The mentors share information about their career and they provide information on what is necessary for the mentee to achieve their goal.  They direct mentee to searches on the web or looking up information in books or they set up interviews with persons who may be able to provide resources/information to the mentee. A mentor in Penn’s WorkPlace Mentoring program is a friend. Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu for additional info.