March 27, 2018 Volume 64 Issue 28

The following individuals will be honored at the upcoming reception:

Teaching Awards

Lindback—Non-Health:

Lindback—Health:

2018 Provost's Awards

For Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty:

For Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring:

Teaching Award Reception: April 25

All members of the University community are invited to a reception honoring the recipients of the 2017-2018 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Awards for Distinguished Teaching, the Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty and the Provost’s Award for Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 5-6:30 p.m., Room 200, College Hall. This year, like last year, the citations will not be released in advance of the event. 

The Baccalaureate speaker for Penn’s May 13 ceremony will be Andy Crouch, partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. His two most recent books—The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place and Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing—build on the compelling vision of faith, culture and the image of God laid out in his previous books Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.

Penn’s Baccalaureate Ceremony is a 50-minute interfaith program that includes music, readings, prayers and a guest speaker. There will be two ceremonies in Irvine Auditorium to accommodate everyone who would like to attend. Students whose last names begin with A through K are invited to attend at 1:30 p.m.; students whose last names begin with L through Z are invited to attend at 3 p.m. Tickets and academic regalia are not required.

Mr. Crouch serves on the governing boards of Fuller Theological Seminary and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. For more than 10 years he was an editor and producer at Christianity Today, including serving as executive editor from 2012 to 2016. He served the John Templeton Foundation in 2017 as senior strategist for communication. His work and writing have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing—and, received a shout-out in Lecrae’s 2014 single “Non-Fiction.”

From 1998 to 2003, he was the editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly, a magazine for an emerging generation of culturally-creative Christians. For 10 years he was a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard. He studied classics at Cornell and received an MDiv summa cum laude from Boston University School of Theology. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz and gospel, he has led musical worship for congregations from five to 20,000.

The Deans of the School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) are appointing two faculty leaders to the Penn Futures Project (PFP) in order to build upon and accelerate the successes of the program since its inception.

Penn Nursing’s Terri Lipman, the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition, professor of nursing of children, and the assistant dean for Community Engagement; and GSE’s Vivian Gasdsen, the William T. Carter Professor of Child Development & Education, the director of the National Center on Fathers and Families and the associate director of the National Center on Adult Literacy, will now head up PFP, a collaboration developed three years ago to improve the lives of Philadelphia youth and families.

“We all know deans can only take things so far,” said GSE Dean Pam Grossman. “It takes the faculty stepping in and providing intellectual leadership to take it to the next level.”

 “Drs. Lipman and Gasdsen are the right leaders at the right time to continue the growth of PFP. Their expertise and desire to promote social justice across professions will benefit vulnerable children throughout the city,” said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel.

During the past three years, PFP projects involving students and faculty from all three schools have changed how the city of Philadelphia uses big data to deliver social services; forged ground-breaking partnerships between teachers, counselors, social workers and nurses at a high school in the Kensington neighborhood; and developed better ways to serve LGBTQ students. PFP has grown to include five projects, as well as appointing three Calvin Bland Fellows who are also developing new initiatives to promote social justice.

“We are confident that we have appointed two very inspiring and innovative leaders who will undeniably–and thoughtfully–champion the continued expansion and impact of Penn Futures on all three Penn Schools and throughout the community for many years to come,” said SP2 Dean John L. Jackson, Jr.

The Vice Provost for Education, Beth Winkelstein, and the Center for Teaching and Learning invite faculty to submit proposals for course development grants to support the creation of Structured, Active, In-class Learning (SAIL) classes.

SAIL classes emphasize the active engagement of students in class through structured work, guided by the instructor. They build upon the premise that students benefit from learning by doing and that class time should be used to help students learn to work with material. To that end, class time is built around highly structured activities, in which students work to solve problems, interpret data or evidence, or otherwise engage in real practices in the discipline. This work is frequently done in groups, with instructors circulating and guiding the process. Although a SAIL class may include some mini-lectures or full-class discussion, the exercises that students engage with are at the heart of the class. In preparation for that in-class work, instructors usually provide out-of-class materials or assignments for students to process prior to class.

These grants provide support for faculty interested in transforming an existing course into a SAIL class or developing a new one. SAIL grants will provide faculty with a $5,000 research fund for their preparation time or for assistance in the process of developing in-class exercises, any out-of-class materials or assignments and assessments. Since a purpose of the SAIL grants is to aid faculty who are interested in successfully replacing lectures with active learning and practice in the discipline, proposals to reimagine courses that are often taught as lecture classes are particularly welcome, as are proposals for introductory level classes.

Proposals must include: the proposed course’s name, number and expected enrollment; faculty’s CV; either a current syllabus annotated with proposed changes or (for new courses) a preliminary syllabus; and department chair’s signature indicating approval. Successful proposals will explain how the course will make use of SAIL techniques, and include the following:

• Thoughts on why you want to teach this class as a SAIL class;
• Explanation of the in-class exercises to be developed and used;
• Discussion of how any other teaching methods–out-of-class materials or assignments, for instance–will contribute to the course aims;
• Estimate of the amount of class time that will be spent on structured activities and how much time will be devoted to other techniques, such as mini-lectures;
• Reflection on goals for what students should learn from this course;
• TA support for the course, both currently and in proposed version;
• Where the course fits into the curriculum of the department.

Proposals should not exceed three pages (not including CV and syllabus) and will be reviewed by a faculty committee.

Faculty are encouraged to consult with the Center for Teaching and Learning in developing their courses. See https://www.ctl.upenn.edu/structured-active-class-learning-sail-overview for more information. Additionally, CTL can provide training for TAs supporting SAIL classes.

Submit proposals to CTL’s Sara DeMucci at sdemucci@upenn.edu by April 20, 2018.

Bo Zhen has joined Penn Arts and Sciences as assistant professor of physics & astronomy and Elliman Faculty Fellow. A scholar of nanophotonics, non-Hermitian physics and topological photonics, Dr. Zhen earned his BS at Tsinghua University and his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a Presidential Fellowship and was a finalist for the American Physical Society’s Carl E. Anderson Division of Laser Science Dissertation Award. Before coming to Penn, he held a joint postdoctoral fellowship in the Physics Department at MIT and Technion, studying how to control light with nanoscopic structures and invent and design new optoelectronic devices for various applications. Dr. Zhen recently received a 2018 Air Force’s Young Investigator Program Award.

The Elliman Faculty Fellows are being funded by a generous gift from former Penn Arts and Sciences Overseer David D. Elliman, C’73, WG’77, and his wife, Dr. Andrea Branch, through the Bawd Foundation. Mr. Elliman, who has been an advisor to many of the School’s other innovative science initiatives, including the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, is greatly interested in energy and other areas of scientific research. A former biology major, he is the founding principal of the Elmrock Group of investment companies and is a board member of the Jackson Laboratory and Urban Electric Power, an early-stage energy storage company.

David Richmond Williams, professor emeritus of psychology at Penn, died at his home in West Philadelphia on March 16. He was 83 years old.

Dr. Williams was born in Orange, New Jersey. He spent his childhood in Garden City, New York, before attending boarding school in Connecticut. In 1956, he received his AB degree in psychology from Harvard, where he worked in the laboratory of B.F. Skinner. Upon completing his PhD at Yale, Dr. Williams joined Penn’s faculty in 1961.

Throughout his professional life, Dr. Williams advocated for bringing the study of human experience to the forefront in psychological research. In his early years at Penn, he emerged as a leading behaviorist and was well-known for his experimental work in learning theory. Confronting the limitations of prevailing scientific paradigms for understanding fundamental aspects of human experience, Dr. Williams subsequently trained as a clinical psychotherapist. He later served as director of clinical training in the department of psychology.

In his most recent work, Dr. Williams explored unexamined synergies between two influential branches of psychology: learning theory and the existential/humanistic strand of personality theory. Creatively harnessing the computational power of rapidly evolving technology, he developed software designed to, as he explained, “liberate people from needless self-imposed limitations” and empower individuals to live authentically.

Dr. Williams was a renowned presence in the classroom. He was a passionate lecturer who cultivated in his students a deep understanding of research in psychology while inspiring them to pursue further insight in academic settings and beyond. Committed to innovation not only in research but also in the classroom, Dr. Williams created a series of web-based Learning Modules to provide students with meaningful personal experiences related to core concepts in behavioral, existential and humanistic psychology.

Dr. Williams served as director of undergraduate studies in the department of psychology from 1984 to 1987. In 1985, he was appointed chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Education in the College of Arts and Sciences. Under his leadership, the College faculty ratified a landmark requirement to ensure that undergraduate training includes consideration of non-Western cultures and marginalized groups in the United States.

Dr. Williams is survived by his wife, Amy Sarner Williams, C’73; his four children, Juliet, Daniel, Matthew and Jessica; and eight grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Penn Wissahickon Hospice Friends Fund. Gifts may be made at here. Gifts may be made by check payable to “Penn Medicine” and mailed to: Kelly McBride, Penn Hospice Development, 3535 Market Street, Ste. 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on April 3, at Fleisher Art Memorial Sanctuary, 719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147.

From the Office of the University Secretary: University Council Meeting Agenda 

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 4 p.m.

Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall

I. Approval of the minutes of the February 21, 2018 University Council meeting. 1 minute

II. Follow up comments or questions on Status Reports. 5 minutes

III. Reports on Plans for the Next Academic Year. 30 minutes

IV. A discussion of the ways our faculty are using multidisciplinary approaches to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 50 minutes

V. New Business. 5 minutes

VI. Adjournment.

(Revised February 2018)

ARTICLE I—Purpose and Composition

A. Purpose of the Weekly Paid Professional Staff Assembly

1. The Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly, herein referred to as WPPSA, is the University of Pennsylvania’s representative body for all weekly-paid, full-time, non-union employees. It consists of WPPSA Leadership and General Members. WPPSA holds monthly General Membership meetings that are open to any weekly-paid, full-time, non-union employees at Penn.

B. Composition of the Weekly Paid Professional Staff Assembly

1. WPPSA Leadership represent all full-time, non-union, weekly-paid employees on the University’s main decision-making bodies, primarily University Council and its various committees. WPPSA Leadership consists of: the Executive Board; all other weekly-paid staff who have a seat on a University Council committee (University Council Committee Representatives); Volunteer Staff; and members who have previously served as Chairs (Former Chairs). These individuals are elected in accordance with the principles and procedures as stated in Article II of this Constitution and the purpose, principles and procedures by which it is governed are outlined in Article III.

   a. The Executive Board consists of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Past Chair, Secretary, and (2) Treasurers.

   b. University Council Committee Representatives fill designated WPPSA seats on University Council committees, which include: Committee on Academic and Related Affairs, Campus and Community Life, Diversity & Equity, Facilities, Personnel Benefits, Committee on Committees and other ad hoc committees.

   c. Volunteer Staff consists of an Outreach Manager, Listserv Manager, and Website Manager.

   d. Former Chairs include all previous Chairs of WPPSA who finished at least a 1-year term and are still weekly paid, full-time, non-union employees at Penn.

2. Members of the WPPSA consist of any weekly-paid employee who has signed up for the WPPSA listserv. All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union employees at Penn are eligible for general membership in WPPSA.

ARTICLE II—Principles and Procedures Governing Election of the Executive Board and WPPSA Leadership

A. Elections

1. Election for membership on the Executive Board will be held by May of each year for all upcoming vacant positions.

2. A call for nominations shall be constructed by the current Executive Board members and published for advertisement to all weekly-paid employees.

   a. The call for nominations shall be published in Almanac, The Daily Pennsylvanian and, with notice, sent to all individual weekly-paid employees by all available University vehicles of communication.

   b. This notice shall include the following items: an established deadline, the intended publication date of the list of nominees, contact information to which to send nominations and the rules of eligibility as outlined in Section 3.The intended deadline date should be within two weeks of the nomination deadline.

   c. Nominations are to be sent to the Secretary of the Executive Board and/or other designated Executive Board members by the established deadline.

   d. All nominations received and accepted by the nominee shall be published in Almanac on the intended issue date. This notice shall include the names, University affiliations and a brief biographical sketch of each of the nominees and shall also include the date, location and procedures of the election.

B. Eligibility

1. Eligibility for nomination and election to the Executive Board (positions are decided by elections that are open to all weekly-paid, full-time, non-union employees at Penn):

   a. Chair: All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to run for Chair of the Executive Board provided that they have attended at least 4 monthly meetings of the WPPSA in the previous 12 months.

   b. Chair-Elect: All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to run for Chair-Elect of the Executive Board given that they have attended at least three monthly meetings of the WPPSA in the previous 12 months.

   c. Secretary: All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to run for Secretary of the Executive Board given that they have attended at least two monthly meetings of the WPPSA in the previous 12 months.

   d. Treasurer: All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to run for one of the seats of Treasurer of the Executive Board given that they have attended at least two monthly meetings of the WPPSA in the past 12 months.

   e. Past-Chair: A Chair takes on this position after completing a one- or two- year term.

2. In the event that there are no weekly-paid employees interested in these positions that meet the meeting limit, the Executive Board can consider other instances of participation to count as a substitute (i.e. volunteering at the annual Employee Resource Fair).

3. All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to vote for elected membership on the Executive Board.

4. Elections will take place on the date and at the time and location stated in the published announcements. Voting will be conducted by secret ballot and coordinated by the current officers. In the case where the “call for nominations” does not yield enough nominees to fill all the vacant Executive Board membership positions, the nominees that have been nominated will automatically be declared elected to the Executive Board as unopposed candidates, providing they meet all the other eligibility requirements.

5. The results of the election with names and University affiliation of the newly elected Executive Board members shall be published in Almanac and other University vehicles of  communication within two weeks of the election day or in the next available issue.

C. Eligibility for non-Executive Board Leadership positions

1. University Council Committee Representatives

   a. All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to hold a seat on a University Council standing or ad-hoc committee given that they have attended at least one WPPSA monthly meeting in the previous 12 months.

   b. To confirm the nominee/candidate for the seat, a majority vote of approval is needed from those in attendance at the following General Membership meeting.

   c. In the event that there are no weekly-paid employees interested in these committee seats that meet the meeting limit, the Executive Board can consider other instances of participation to count as a substitute.

2. Volunteer Staff

   a. All weekly-paid, full-time, non-union University employees are eligible to apply for the volunteer positions.

   b. To confirm the nominee/applicant for the seat, a majority vote of approval is needed from those in attendance at the following General Membership meeting.

3. Former Chairs

   a. All previous Chairs of the WPPSA who have completed a one-year term or more are automatically in WPPSA Leadership if they remain a weekly paid, non-union employee at Penn.

   b. Former Chairs can opt-out or be voted out of WPPSA Leadership at any time.

ARTICLE III—Purpose, Principles and Procedures Governing the Executive Board

A. Nature and purpose of the Executive Board

1. The Executive Board shall be the elected official voice of the WPPSA. The Executive Board is the decision-making body representing the Assembly in University matters and will act in a manner that serves in accordance with the principles and procedures in this Constitution. The Executive Board will execute the mission of the Assembly with integrity while honoring the spirit of the Assembly. At least half of the elected Executive Board must be present at a General Membership meeting or the occasional meeting of just WPPSA Leadership (or just the Executive Board) before business can be conducted.

2. The Executive Board collaborates with the rest of WPPSA Leadership (University Council Committee Representatives, Former Chairs, and Volunteer Staff) to make decisions that tend to the current and future needs of weekly-paid employees at the University.

3. The Executive Board shall consist of six officers. These six positions are the Chair, the Chair- Elect, Past-Chair, the Secretary and (2) Treasurers. In the event of any vacancies of these officers, a replacement shall be elected to the Executive Board according to the succession plan outlined in Article IV, section 2.

4. The outgoing Chair will notify all new Executive Board members of their election and will  convene a meeting of the entire Executive Board for the purpose of electing new officers within two (2) weeks of the Executive Board’s election.

5. The sole authority and responsibility to revise and amend this Constitution is entrusted to the Executive Board. All proposed changes shall be made at a meeting called for this purpose at least three weeks prior, of which all weekly-paid employees are invited to attend. All such changes shall require a majority vote of everyone in attendance at the meeting.

6. Executive Board members serve for at least one year, and are generally expected to serve two consecutive years (can be in varying positions) with a maximum of five consecutive years of service.

B. The Office of Chair

1. The Chair is the WPPSA’s primary executive officer and principal representative who will speak on behalf of the Assembly. The Chair should be knowledgeable of the Penn community and able to speak on all aspects of Assembly issues.

2. The term of office for the Chair shall be one year with an option to serve, if nominated, for two years.

3. The Chair shall prepare the agenda and preside over the monthly General Membership meetings and any meetings of WPPSA Leadership. The Chair’s signature shall appear on all Assembly correspondence. The Chair holds a seat and is required to attend all meetings of University  Council and the University Council Steering Committee.

C. The Office of Chair-Elect

1. The Chair-Elect is the second executive officer of the WPPSA. The Chair-Elect shall be the primary advisor to the Chair in University matters.

2. The Chair-Elect serves as the primary administrative help for the Chair.

3. In the temporary absence of the Chair, the Chair-Elect shall assume all duties and responsibilities otherwise handled by the Chair.

4. The Chair-Elect will assume the role of Chair at the end of the one or two-year term allotted for the Chair.

5. The Chair-Elect has the option to assume the role of Interim Chair in the case that the Chair resigns before the end of his or her term.

D. Past Chair

1. The Past-Chair serves in an advisory role to the Executive Board the (1) year after he or she has successfully completed their one or two year term as Chair.

2. The Past Chair will remain an integral part of the organization and will at times be asked for their input in the decision-making process.

3. The Past Chair will serve alongside the current Chair as a mentor to WPPSA Leadership

4. The Past-Chair cannot sit in place of the current Chair or Chair-Elect at the University Council or Steering Committee meetings.

5. Should the Chair decide to resign, and the Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurers, and University Council Committee Representatives decline to fill the position, the Past-Chair has the option of accepting the role as Interim Chair. Should the Past-Chair assume the role of Interim Chair, he or she can then attend University Council and Steering Committee meetings.

E. The Office of the Secretary

1. The Secretary is the third executive officer of WPPSA. The Secretary is responsible for all routine correspondence of the Executive Board.

2. The Secretary shall be responsible for the recording and reporting of the WPPSA Leadership and General Membership meeting minutes. Such minutes should be available to any weekly-paid employee upon request.

3. The Secretary shall be responsible for notifying members of the date, time and location of all meetings and functions pertaining to WPPSA Leadership and General Membership in collaboration with the Chair.

4. The Secretary should be responsible for the publicity and dissemination of all correspondence.

F. Office of the Treasurer(s)

1. The Treasurer is the fourth executive officer of the WPPSA. The Treasurer shall be held accountable and responsible for handling the finances and maintaining all financial records of the Board. Such records should be made available for audit upon request from the Board.

2. The Office of the Treasurer will be held by two elected individuals who are in equal in authority.

ARTICLE IV—Resignations and Vacancies

1. Executive Board members shall tender their resignations, giving at least one month notice to the Executive Board, of such an intent, in writing.

2. In the event of resignation, the Executive Board will fill the position through the following  succession plan with an “Interim” designation until either the end of the term or a time deemed appropriate by the Executive Board:

   a. Chair Resignation—1st choice: Chair-Elect; 2nd choice: Secretary; 3rd choice: A Treasurer; 4th choice: University Council Committee Representative.

   b. Chair-Elect Resignation —1st choice: Secretary; 2nd choice: A Treasurer; 3rd choice: University Council Committee Representative; 4th choice: General Member.

   c. Secretary Resignation—1st choice: A Treasurer; 2nd choice: University Council Committee Representative; 3rd choice: General Member; 4th choice: Full-time, non-union weekly-paid employee at-large.

   d. A Treasurer Resignation­­—1st choice: University Council Committee Representative; 2nd choice: General Member; 3rd choice: Full-time, non-union weekly-paid employee at- large.

   e. Past-Chair Resignation­—Past-Chairs are unable to officially resign from the position since they are technically the past chair for the entire year after their term as Chair. However, they can notify the Executive Board of a need for a reduced or halted advisory role if necessary.

3. Dual Seats: In the case of a vacancy of an Executive Board seat that cannot be filled, any sitting member of the Executive Board can hold dual seats until the end of the term or until the vacancy is filled.

ARTICLE V—Financial Contracts/Agreements

1. Any and all financial endeavors and /or contracts entered into on behalf of the WPPSA shall  require the approval of the Executive Board. Once approved, two persons of Executive Board, one being the Chair, must sign any contracts.

ARTICLE VI—University Council Committees

1. All University Council Committee seats are appointed in the beginning of the year and immediately as needed due to resignations, job promotions, or the creation of an ad-hoc committee by University Council.

2. To serve on a committee, a weekly-paid, full-time, non-union employee must have attended at least one WPPSA meeting in the previous 12 months and must be approved in a majority vote at a WPPSA General Membership meeting.

3. All WPPSA University Council Committee Representatives will be asked to give a brief report on the progress of the committee they are serving at the monthly WPPSA General Membership meeting.  This will allow WPPSA as a whole to exhibit the best representation and collective  voice on each University Council Committee.

4. In the event that a seat opens up on a University Council committee, the position will be made available at the following General Membership meeting for anyone who meets the eligibility requirements. Should no one at that meeting have interest, a call to fill the seat will be made public to the listserv, and interested candidates will be eligible for a vote at the following General Membership meeting.

5. The minimum term to serve on a particular committee is one year, while the maximum to serve on a particular committee is three years. Eligible members can hold more than one seat on a committee but are not recommended to hold more than three.

6. Committee members must give ample notice (before the start of the next term) that they intend to step down from a committee so that WPPSA Leadership can prepare to fill the seat.

ARTICLE VII—WPPSA Ad Hoc Committees

1. In the event of resignations, removal of committee seats, Bylaw amendment, and other special circumstances, the Executive Board, led by the Chair, will appoint an ad hoc committee that consist of no less than 4 active members of WPPSA Leadership and one Executive  Board member.

2. All findings and recommendations from the ad hoc committee will be brought to the attention of WPPSA Leadership and General Members for a vote at a General Membership meeting.

ARTICLE VIII—WPPSA Leadership Volunteer Staff

1. WPPSA Leadership Volunteer Staff help the Executive Board with administrative tasks to help publicize the Assembly and its initiatives.

   a. The Outreach Manager is primarily responsible for promoting WPPSA and its events to the University Community through physical and digital platforms.

   b. The Listserv Manager maintains the WPPSA listserv, making sure to add and remove contacts when appropriate. Also sends out general communication to the listserv as directed by the Chair.

   c. The Website Manager updates the WPPSA website with relevant and accurate information and multimedia.

It is one of our highest priorities at Penn to sustain a campus free of sexual violence, sexual harassment and all other forms of sexual misconduct, at which the members of our community can thrive in a safe and supportive environment. In this light, we have updated the University’s policy on Consensual Sexual Relations Between Faculty and Students, which was originally published in 1995. The new policy has been reviewed by the Academic Planning and Budget Committee, the Council of Deans, the Faculty Senate and the leaders of GAPSA and the UA. 

—Wendell Pritchett, Provost 

Consensual Sexual Relations Between Faculty and Students

The relationship between faculty1 and student is central to the academic mission of the University. No non-academic or personal ties should be allowed to interfere with the integrity of the faculty-student relationship. Consensual sexual relations between faculty and student can adversely affect the academic enterprise, distorting judgments, or appearing to do so to others, and providing incentives or disincentives for student-faculty contact that are inappropriate.

For these reasons, any sexual relations or dating relationships between a faculty member and an undergraduate student enrolled at the University are prohibited. The prohibition extends to all academic advisors and program directors, including those based in the College Houses and other University-owned or administered housing. The prohibition also extends to graduate, professional, or undergraduate student assistants, but, in their case, only with respect to those undergraduate students over whom they have academic responsibility.2

Although this policy does not categorically prohibit consensual sexual relations or dating relationships between faculty and graduate or professional students, the University strongly discourages all sexual relations or dating relationships between faculty and graduate or professional students.

Furthermore, sexual relations or dating relationships between a faculty member and a graduate or professional student during the period of the faculty/student relationship are prohibited. The prohibition extends to sexual relations or dating between a graduate or professional student and other students for whom they have some supervisory academic responsibility, between department chairs and students in that department, and between graduate group chairs and students in that graduate group. Likewise, sexual relations and dating relationships are prohibited between a graduate or professional student and academic advisors, program directors, and all others who have any supervisory responsibility for that student.

Faculty and academic supervisors who are or have been sexually involved with or dating students must decline to participate, either formally or informally, in any evaluative or supervisory academic activity with respect to those students.

The Provost, Deans, Department Chairs, and other administrators should respond to reports of prohibited sexual relations that are brought to them by investigating and, if warranted, initiating appropriate disciplinary action or remedial measures against the faculty member or supervisor involved. Violators of this policy will be subject to sanctions ranging from written reprimand to tenure revocation and/or termination of employment or expulsion.

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     1 For purposes of this policy, “faculty” includes (but is not limited to) standing faculty, clinical faculty, associated faculty, and academic support staff, as well as clinical or lab supervisors, postdoctoral fellows, house staff, residents, graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, and any other person providing instruction, academic advising, or academic oversight of an enrolled student in any school, course, or program, including summer and off-campus programs, irrespective of geographical location.

     2 “Academic responsibility” includes (but is not limited to) teaching, grading, mentoring, advising, or evaluating research or other academic activity, participating in decisions regarding funding or other resources, clinical supervision, and recommending for admissions, employment, fellowships, or awards. In this context, students include graduate and professional school students, postdoctoral scholars, and clinical residents or fellows.

This update supersedes the policy version that was previously published in Almanac.

Dario C. Altieri, president and CEO of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center, and John M. Maris, the Giulio D’Angio Professor of Pediatrics at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and CHOP, recently received Outstanding Investigator Awards (OIA) from the National Cancer Institute.

This award supports accomplished leaders in cancer research who are providing significant contributions toward understanding cancer and developing applications that may lead to a breakthrough in biomedical, behavioral or clinical cancer research. The OIA provides up to $600,000 in direct costs per year for seven years, allowing substantial time for funded investigators to take greater risks and be more adventurous in their research.

Dr. Maris’ lab seeks to discover the fundamental mechanisms that subvert normal neural development and orchestrate NB tumorigenesis, and then to translate this knowledge into patient-specific therapies that will be more effective and less toxic. 

Dr. Altieri’s studies will dissect the cellular and molecular requirements of tumor plasticity as a novel hallmark of cancer, credential its relevance in xenograft and genetic mouse models of localized and metastatic disease and exploit emerging vulnerabilities of these pathways to aid new drug discovery.

Ryan Baker, associate professor in Penn’s Graduate School of Education and the director of the Penn Center for Learning Analytics, is a subcontractor for the $430,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, to Florida State University. The purpose of this project, Exploring Adaptive Cognitive and Affective Learning Support for Next Generation STEM Learning Games is to research how to design educational games that better support frustrated students in regulating their emotions in order to learn effectively. 

Dr. Baker was also awarded a $470,000 grant from American Institute for Research (Institute of Education Sciences) for the project Identifying Malleable Factors in Blended Learning Environments Using Automated Detectors of Engagement. The project aims to use data mining and machine learning methods to explore the relationship between effective and behavioral engagement with measures of student learning within an online adaptive mathematics learning system.

Jill M. Baren, professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and former department chair (Almanac October 25, 2011), was recently named an ACE Fellow by the American Council on Education. 

ACE Fellows spend time on another campus, working with the president and senior leadership team to observe firsthand how another institution and its senior administrators lead the institution and deal with change. Fellows are mentored by a team of experienced institutional leaders, usually the president and vice presidents. The ACE Fellows Program is the only national, individualized, long-term professional development program in higher education to provide on-the job learning. Fellows also take part in seminars and retreats with other leaders and experts in the field.

John W. Fantuzzo, Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations,  director of Penn Child Research Center and co-director of Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy in the Graduate School of Education’s Education Policy Division; Katie Barghaus, executive director of the Penn Child Research Center (PCRC) and a senior research investigator with the Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) Network; and the team at the Penn Child Research Center at GSE, have been awarded a grant from the William Penn Foundation for $268,400.

The grant, titled Building an evidence-based, sustainable, family-teacher engagement intervention to support kindergartners’ classroom engagement competencies, aims to enhance home-school partnership to promote young children’s engagement skills.

Iron Prof—the high-energy, interdepartmental Iron Chef for Wharton professors—returned this year with five contenders. The annual competition is hosted by the Wharton Graduate Association to showcase the broad range of faculty research. Participating professors get six minutes to present their slides and are allowed a brief Q&A before students and faculty vote for their favorite speaker of the night. This year, the most votes went to Peter Fader, the Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor, professor of marketing, for his presentation on customer-based corporate valuation. 

Dr. Fader demonstrated how a customer-based focus has helped him precisely forecast the valuation, or worth, of various companies. Under his guidance, using publicly available data and simple calculation methods, his students have even made predictions more accurate than Wall Street. After sharing his perspective on the decline of DISH Network and Wayfair, he concluded that the results are not the point—he hopes his experiments will encourage people to think about corporate valuation in new ways.

Shinjae Chung, an assistant professor of neuroscience, and Iain Mathieson, an assistant professor of genetics, both in the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn, have been awarded Sloan Research Fellowships. Recipients receive $65,000, which may be spent over a two-year period on expenses that support their research.

Dr. Chung, whose fellowship is in neuroscience, studies the neural circuits that underlie sleep and emotional brain function. Her goal is to identify the molecular and neural mechanisms controlling sleep and to understand how these are connected with the neural circuits regulating emotional states in health and disease. She employs a multi-disciplinary approach including optogenetics (the use of light to control neural activity in the brain), electrophysiology, microendoscopic calcium imaging, virus-mediated circuit mapping, and gene profiling. Dr. Chung has been first author of research published in Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Mathieson, whose fellowship is in computational and evolutionary molecular biology, is a population geneticist. His research aims to learn about human genetic structure and its relationship to history, evolution and disease. Using computational tools and genomic data from both ancient and present-day people, he investigates demographic history, the effects of natural selection and the interpretation of association studies. His most recent work used ancient DNA to investigate the genomic history of Europe and the effect of natural selection on the human genome during the transition from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural lifestyle.

Thomas A. Parham, who was an assistant professor at  Penn’s Graduate School of Education, 1982-1985, and a faculty fellow at DuBois College House, 1983-1985, has been named the new president of Cal State Dominguez Hills. He previously served as vice chancellor of student affairs at UC Irvine.

After Penn, he was hired by UC Irvine, where he spent more than 30 years working as an administrator and adjunct faculty member. He earned his doctorate in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recently announced that The University of Pennsylvania was a recipient of the CCCC Writing Program Certificate of Excellence. The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) is a constituent organization of the NCTE, the professional organization of educators of English and the language arts. Established in 2004, the award honors up to 20 writing programs a year. Penn was one of nine recipients this year.

The Critical Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania is an innovative independent writing in the disciplines program staffed by full-time lecturers who are extensively trained in rhetoric and writing pedagogy and hold PhDs or terminal degrees in a wide range of disciplines. 

To earn the award, writing programs must demonstrate best practices in writing instruction, exemplary professional development and treatment of faculty, creative response to student, instructor, institutional and local needs, attention to diversity, and administrative staff with academic credentials and publications in the field of writing studies. Other criteria can be found online at http://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/awards/writingprogramcert

The Committee pointed to the “many strengths” of Penn’s program, including its “focus on agency for students as readers, writers and speakers,” and a philosophy that promotes student agency “through various modes of program design, including development of a common vocabulary, curriculum that is grounded in threshold concepts, and assessment practices that engage and are transparent to students. The program also highlights innovative practices such as self-sponsored writing and best practices related to teaching genre and rhetoric—very current in the field (e.g. students write in genres that are “situated in real-world activity systems”). Indeed, the committee appreciates the curricular emphasis on “a curriculum that positions students as authentic participants in generative knowledge practices, using authentic genres and writing to real audiences.”

The Committee also remarked on the labor practices of the program, which “can be used as a model for other programs: they’ve moved to lecturer positions with a 5-year renewable contract and newly developed possibilities for advancing to senior lecturer. The program provides comprehensive and extensive offerings for professional development. Additionally, class sizes are excellent.”

Penn’s School of Nursing is the number one nursing school in the world according to a recent ranking by QS World University. The rankings highlight the world’s top universities in 48 different subject areas based on academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact. This is the third consecutive year that Penn Nursing has taken the top spot.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject are compiled using four sources: the first two are QS’s global surveys of academics and employers, which are used to assess institutions’ international reputation in each subject; the second two indicators assess research impact, based on research citations per paper and h-index (a way of measuring both the productivity and impact of the published work) in the relevant subject. In 2018, the QS World University Rankings by Subject were based on responses from more than 40,000 academics worldwide.

On March 16, the Women of Color at Penn 31st Annual Awards Luncheon drew more than 300 people to the Inn at Penn to honor women whose work has promoted education, cultural diversity and positive change on campus and in the world.

“We can be very proud of everything that has been accomplished at Penn and beyond in the years since WOCAP began,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said in a welcome message published in the program. “Yet, the struggle for equity and empowerment continues. We have our champions in the ongoing effort, among whose number we most certainly count today’s honorees. Penn could not be the preeminent university it is today without their talent, leadership and passionate dedication to working toward an ever- better future for people here and everywhere.”

The Undergraduate Student Award went to Kai Kornegay, a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences, for her “strong campus leadership” and work within the LGBT community. The Graduate Student honoree, Akudo Ijeoma Ejelonu, was cited for her community service toward tackling social justice issues. She is pursuing a dual master’s degree in public health at the Perelman School of Medicine and in environmental studies in Penn Arts and Sciences.

The Community Award recipient, Vernoca L. Michael, was cited as a “pillar in the West Philadelphia community.” Amelia Michelle Carter, assistant director of the South Asia Center, received the Faculty/Staff Award for her work in intersectional programming on issues of access and equality.

This year, the Joann Mitchell Outstanding Legacy Award, named for the senior vice president for institutional affairs and chief diversity officer at Penn, honored Michelle Ray Dorman, who for 17 years worked in various positions in the Department of Residential Living, and the late Tiffany Anderson-Purvy, who worked at Greenfield Intercultural Center as an administrative assistant from 1996 until her death in 2004. Accepting the award on her behalf were her mother and son, Martha Anderson and Caelan Isaiah Purvy.

As the fourth Nor’easter of March was set to blanket the entire region last week, Penn suspended normal operations for Wednesday, March 21, due to the extreme weather conditions. While classes were cancelled—as well as many events and activities—Ben Franklin and a few snowpeople awaited the real arrival of spring.

Photographs by Jackson Betz

Penn’s new brand, SHOP PENN,  showcases all University-affiliated retail offerings on and around campus.

SHOP PENN is the University of Pennsylvania’s new marketing brand designed to promote the 75+ restaurants, shops, service providers and entertainment venues affiliated with the University to shoppers in Greater Philadelphia, tourists, West Philadelphia neighbors and the University and Penn Medicine communities.

Spanning ten city blocks, from 30th to 40th Streets and from Spruce north to Chestnut Street, SHOP PENN offers an inspired, contemporary shopping and dining experience, open to all.

“Our diverse and carefully curated collection of retail offerings—including national brands and independent shops—provides the highest quality option at every price point for the Penn community, surrounding neighborhoods, and beyond,” said Ed Datz, executive director of real estate, in Penn’s Division of Facilities & Real Estate Services.

At the center of SHOP PENN is a new website, shopsatpenn.com, which offers descriptions and an interactive map of all Penn-affiliated retailers. A special feature of the site is a list of suggested itineraries, found under the Explore tab, that assemble a series of activities for those looking for Sunday brunch or a day built around a Penn athletic event or arts show. Itineraries will be updated seasonally, bringing the best of the Penn calendar and shopping, dining and entertainment offerings to the University’s neighbors as well as those looking for a new city-focused experience.

SHOP PENN Day kicked off the new focus on the retail district. Brand Ambassadors were located across campus with giveaways and many Penn retailers offered special deals or discounts.

Learn more at shopsatpenn.com, and follow @shopsatpenn on Twitter and Instagram, and SHOP PENN on Facebook.

Download the April AT PENN calendar as a PDF or visit the online version at https://almanac.upenn.edu/at-penn-calendar/april-at-penn-2018

Life During Wartime: Penn at Home and Abroad During the Great War will be on exhibit April 2-August 3 in the Kamin Gallery on the first floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

The exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the armistice ending the hostilities of World War I. It explores the varied experiences, both positive and negative, of University of Pennsylvania students, faculty and alumni during the years of the war, 1914 through 1918.

As an institution of higher learning and a stronghold of the Republican eastern establishment, Penn’s leadership demonstrated a strong sense of loyalty to historical class structures and free market economics. It was a time of personal courage for men and women, of active dedication to strongly held beliefs and a community will to succeed.

But it was also a difficult time, perhaps not unique in our country, to be in favor of peace—that is to resist the calls to demonstrate patriotism through taking up arms, to advocate for alternative political or economic structures or to exist outside of the established white majority population. These local and national contexts illuminate the significance of the artifacts presented in this exhibit and reflect movements in contemporary material culture, the political and governmental response to war and changes taking place within society.

The exhibit will open with a brief symposium on Thursday, April 5 featuring presentations relevant to the exhibit’s content and themes. Alisa Chiles, Penn PhD candidate in the history of art, will speak about the late Paul Philippe Cret—Penn professor, architect and French citizen; John Ditunno, professor of rehabilitation medicine at Jefferson Medical College, will discuss R. Tait McKenzie—sculptor and physical therapist—who pioneered many important innovations for rehabilitation of the wounded; Mark Frazier Lloyd, University archivist, will talk about the University and the war; and Vanessa Williams, PhD candidate in musicology, will speak on the performance and circulation of music during the war on both sides of the Atlantic.

The symposium will take place April 5, starting at 3 p.m. in the Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion in Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, on the sixth floor, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library. The reception will follow in the Kamin Gallery. Visit https://www.alumni.upenn.edu/wartime to register to attend the symposium and reception.

Special Events

28   Purchasing Services Research Supplier Show; more than 30 research-related suppliers will provide the latest information on their products and services; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Smilow Commons, Smilow Center for Translational Research; details and registation: https://cms.business-services.upenn.edu/purchasing/about/purchasing-events/550-special-event.html (Penn Purchasing Services).

29   Penn President Amy Gutmann and Former Vice President Joe Biden in Conversation; an open discussion, touching on global affairs and other topical subjects concluding with an audience Q&A. The event in Irvine Auditorium is sold out but will be live streamed, 3-4:30 p.m.; https://president.upenn.edu/bidenevent-3-29-18

Talks

28   China and Africa in the Xi Jinping Era; David H. Shinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso; 3:30 p.m.; Silverstein Forum, Stiteler Hall (The Lauder Institute, Department of History, Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics).

      Forum on Afterlives: Environmental Science and the Post-Apocalyptic Novel; Lydia Millet, novelist and conservationist; 5 p.m., Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum; register: https://tinyurl.com/y7gndpzh (Wolf Humanities Center, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, Department of English).

AT PENN Deadlines

The April AT PENN calendar is now online. The deadline for the May AT PENN calendar is April 10.

Special Annual Events

Models of Excellence Award Ceremony; April 4; 4-5 p.m.; Irvine Auditorium; free. The entire Penn Community is invited to join the 19th annual Models of Excellence Award celebration. This year, the Models of Excellence Program will recognize 97 outstanding staff members who have made remarkable contributions to the University’s standing as a global leader in education, research and public service. President Amy Gutmann, Provost Wendell Pritchett, Executive Vice President Craig R. Carnaroli and Vice President of Human Resources Jack Heuer will present staff members from schools and centers across the University with awards for their exemplary service at a festive ceremony in Irvine Auditorium. Please RSVP at www.hr.upenn.edu/modelsrsvp

Benefits Open Enrollment Presentations; April 3, 4 and 10; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; April 11; noon -2 p.m.; free. At these sessions, University faculty and staff can learn details and ask questions about their healthcare options. Presentations will run for 45 minutes and there will be a Q&A that follows. The sessions will also include detailed information about family-friendly benefits such as the advanced reproductive benefit.

Wellness Fair; April 24; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Houston Hall, Hall of Flags; free.

Open Enrollment and Wellness Fair; April 26; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; New Bolton Center; free.

At these fairs, representatives from Penn’s healthcare providers and administrators will share information. Faculty and staff can learn about medical plans, prescription drug coverage, dental plans, vision coverage, flexible spending accounts and the Penn Benefits Center. There will also be free health screenings and other wellness activities.

Professional and Personal Development Programs

Open to faculty and staff. Register at http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu/

Creating and Maintaining Your LinkedIn Profile; April 3; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free.  Penn Recruitment & Staffing professionals will review tips on creating a great LinkedIn profile that will get you noticed by recruiters and industry professionals.

Leading with Emotional Intelligence; April 5; 9 a.m.-noon; $75. Learn what emotional intelligence is and how it factors in at work and discover concrete techniques for raising your own emotional quotient (EQ). This includes perceiving yourself accurately, exercising emotional self-control, practicing resilience and developing empathy. Then turn those lessons around to build your awareness of others and learn to inspire helpful communication and manage conflict As a prerequisite to this course we highly recommend completing the Lynda.com course, Leading with Emotional Intelligence. This will serve as a primer for what will be covered in the session.

How to Make Yourself Indispensable; April 10; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Learn how to: take ownership of your responsibilities and results, take initiative to go above and beyond what is expected of you, expand your sphere of influence, perform well under pressure, adapt to changing situations, be someone others want to work with, help others improve their performance and avoid being “irreplaceable”—locked into your role and unwilling to share your knowledge.

The Gift of Feedback; April 12; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Feedback can be an amazing gift when given well. In this session you will learn how to give and receive feedback so that it is viewed as a gift.

TED Talk Tuesday: Seth Godin, The Tribes We Lead; April 17; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. In this TED Talk video screening, Seth Godin argues that the internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.

Worklife Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration

Gentle Yoga; April 3; also April 17; noon-1 p.m.; free. Let your body reward itself with movement! Join this Gentle Yoga session and explore the natural movements of the spine with slow and fluid moving bends and soft twists. During this session, you will flow into modified sun salutations that loosen those tightened muscles and joints of the lower back, neck, shoulders and wrists. And as an added bonus, you’ll get a workout in the process. Mats and props will be provided.

Let’s Talk About Breastfeeding; April 3; noon-1 p.m.; free. This interactive conversation is led by Diane Spatz, director of the Lactation Program at CHOP, professor of perinatal nursing and the Helen M. Shearer Professor of Nutrition. This is a great opportunity for expecting, new and experienced parents to get help with breastfeeding challenges, ensure a smooth transition back to work and academics while sharing helpful tips with one another. If you are currently breastfeeding, pumping and/or bottle-feeding, pregnant, formula-feeding or just curious about breastfeeding, come join us. This is co-sponsored by Family Resource Center, HR and the Penn Women’s Center and is open to Penn staff, faculty, student, post docs and their partners. Lunch will be provided.

Guided Meditation: Take a Breath and Relax; April 6; also April 17; noon-1 p.m.; free. Practice mindful breathing that focuses your attention on the present moment with kindness, compassion and awareness. Self-massage and gentle mindful movements that promote relaxation and reduce stress may also be included in the workshop. No experience necessary.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia—Caregiving Challenges and Strategies; April 10; 12:30-1:30 p.m. and 5-6 p.m.; free. There are more than 5 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and more than 15 million family caregivers who help them in the U.S. Within the next 10 years, that number is projected to increase by 40 percent. This seminar will review the different forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, and signs your loved one may have the disease. Despite the devastating nature of Alzheimer’s disease, there is support out there that can make a difference and help you continue to connect with relative. Learn about caregiving strategies and types of care that can improve the quality of life for both you and your parent.

Spin Class; April 11; 11:30-12:15 p.m.; free. Pedal your way to a fantastic workout indoors! With the use of stationary cycles, each class is led on a “virtual” outdoor road, complete with a variety of exercises. This class will give you an energizing, calorie-burning, fun workout and it is great for all fitness levels because you will always ride at a self-directed pace.

Managing Work and Family Stress; April 19; 12:30-1:30 p.m.; free. Gain the skills to identify, manage and use job stress to improve performance and prevent burnout. You should leave the workshop feeling confident in your ability to accurately identify sources of workplace stressors, measure the effects of stress on your performance, reframe stress and manage stress for positive results.

Webinar: Quality Time for the Time-Pressed Family; April 25; noon-1 p.m.; free. Family meetings provide opportunities for parents and children to come together to share experiences and to plan family activities. The family meeting promotes harmony, cooperation and leadership by providing time to establish rules, make decisions and recognize positive aspects of family life. Come to this seminar to discuss the many advantages and all the dynamics that come into play when making time for regular family meetings.

2018 Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day; April 26; 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; free. Penn understands the importance of providing children with positive, productive experiences in their formative years. That’s why we host the annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, an event that encourages and inspires youngsters, and introduces them to the workplace. Penn provides an exciting array of activities on campus for children ages 9-15. Please note, all participants must have supervisory approval and must accompany their young guests to all activities. Limited and unlimited registration activities will be published at www.hr.upenn.edu and registration will open at 9 a.m. on Monday, April 9.

Penn Healthy You Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration

Get to Know What Is Healthy in Houston Market Tour; April 10; 12:30-1p.m.; free. Join Dan Connolly, Bon Appétit’s registered dietitian and nutritionist, on an interesting tour of the many delicious, healthy options in Houston Market. You will meet Dan at Houston Hall’s Information Desk, where he will give a brief history of Bon Appétit and explain the elements of a healthy meal. Then, you’ll follow Dan downstairs to Houston Market, where he’ll walk you through the various food stations and explain how you too can eat healthy at Houston Market!

April Wellness Walk; April 13; noon-1 p.m.; free. Join us for our first OUTDOOR wellness walk of 2018. This is a perfect opportunity to participate in the Million Steps Challenge sponsored by StayWell and part of the Be in the Know campaign. Track your steps on StayWell’s portal through device integration or manual upload. Points are earned when you complete 1,000,000 steps. Meet the Center for Public Health Initiatives Staff inside the Palestra and walk a one-mile or two-mile route while chatting about nutrition and how you can develop a mindful eating pattern that includes nutritious and flavorful foods. We hope you will be able to join us. Bring your water bottle and don’t forget your sneakers!

—Division of Human Resources

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 March 12-18, 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 March 12-18, 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.

03/13/18         3:34 PM           231 S 34th St                Unsecured computers taken from room

03/13/18         5:56 PM           3340 Walnut St             Unsecured wallet and bags taken from office

03/14/18         3:29 AM           3101 Walnut St             Property taken/Arrest

03/14/18         8:01 PM           231 S 34th St               Items taken from locker

03/15/18         1:46 AM           3600 Chestnut St         Probation violations/Arrest

03/15/18         10:35 AM         4104 Spruce St            Secured bike taken from rack

03/15/18         2:25 PM           3400 Spruce St            Threats made to complainant in person and via Facebook

03/16/18         1:42 AM           4200 Sansom St          Male wanted on warrant/Arrest

03/17/18         2:46 PM           243 41st St                  Underage drinking/Arrest

03/17/18         2:49 PM           3929 Sansom St          Disorderly conduct, defiant trespass/Arrest

03/17/18         3:32 PM           3400 Spruce St            Aggravated assault/Arrest

03/17/18         4:21 PM           3400 Spruce St            Male causing disturbance

03/17/18         9:18 PM           300 S 38th St               Driver intoxicated/Arrest

03/18/18         11:35 AM         210 S 40th St               iPhone taken

03/18/18         12:24 PM         3400 Spruce St            Unauthorized male in area/Arrest

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 incidents (3 assaults, 2 domestic assaults, and 1 robbery) with 2 arrests were reported between March 12-18, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Ave.

03/12/18         6:00 PM           4731 Upland St           Domestic Assault

03/14/18         12:45 PM         200 Hanson St             Assault

03/14/18         7:57 PM           4819 Woodland Ave     Assault

03/17/18         4:28 AM           4436 Ionic St                Domestic Assault/Arrest

03/17/18         5:00 PM           3400 Spruce St            Assault/Arrest

03/18/18         11:57 AM         48th & Baltimore Ave    Robbery

What are you and the students getting out of class. Heads up! It’s time for WHOOPPEE!

I’m passionate about predictive analytics; and I want my students to learn to be equally passionate about learning quantitative tools and using them to think about problems in the real world. I’m not teaching so that I can give my students grades or so that I can look at the tops of their heads (or the backs of their laptops) while they take notes. I teach because I care about data and statistics, and I want my students to feel that these tools/problems are inherently interesting, instead of serving as “boxes to be checked” as they proceed towards their degrees.

I think other faculty feel the same way. But that’s not what we do. We grade and we lecture to students who take notes.

I thought there had to be a better way. So I’ve made two major changes to my classes so I can spend more time conveying my excitement and so that my students really learn this stuff. These are particularly useful in MKTG/STAT 476/776, which has earned a reputation as a difficult, quantitative class. This is a class where students learn about probability models –theory, methods and applications. I want them to think–a lot–about the models they’re building and what these “stories” tell them. To get them to think in the ways I want them to, I needed new ways of interacting in class and evaluating their work.

First, I tell my students to keep their heads up. Don’t even take notes in class. Listen, ask questions when you need to and think about what you are seeing and hearing. The material is new to most of the students and they need to get the main points first before they can manage the rest. Keeping their heads up means that they focus on what’s happening in class (not what they need to write down to pass the exam). I record the lectures, slides, spreadsheets, and everything I write using the multimedia Panopto software, which students can access through Canvas. By keeping their heads up, they find the cognitive pegs that will allow them to later organize and understand the rest. The students then watch the recordings (which include a rich display of all the media I’ve presented) after class and create their own set of notes. Even better, I encourage them to watch the video from a different section (I teach three of them), so they can experience a different angle (and different Q&A) on the same content. It is that second time through when the learning really occurs–and the note-taking is far more effective.

Second, I get my students involved in class and engaged in their own learning using a well-calibrated peer review process. I want my students to encounter challenging issues and think deeply about the questions in ways that aren’t friendly to multiple-choice questions. Grading the types of assignments that challenge students in the ways I want to challenge them is very time consuming and, undoubtedly, my least favorite part of teaching. I tried helping students by posting the best answers to every assignment online so they could see what they needed to do. But one of my students told me “that’s very depressing–don’t just post the best papers.” He suggested posting average papers or just some random set of papers. I thought that might be a good start–letting students see the range of papers. But then I thought it would be better if they got to see those papers and then had to interact with what they were seeing. This train of thought led me to develop a peer review system called WHOOPPEE (“Wharton Online Ordinal Peer Performance Evaluation Engine”). 

The TAs and I still grade some papers to set a “gold standard” against which other raters are compared, but I don’t have to grade all of them. In terms of my goals for doing more of the stuff I like to do, adding peer review has made a huge difference. But peer review also has clear advantages for my students.  First, because the students get grades based on both their paper and their review of others, even before they complete the assignment, they know what I’m looking for. I also motivate them to do a good job with the peer review by including the peer review as part of their grade. Students get their grades much sooner­—in days (rather than weeks). Reading other students’ papers helps students internalize the analytical skills they need and gives them a sense of how to improve in ways my comments can’t. Students also get to see a wide array of different kinds of responses to the prompt. Initial student response to this system was that 93% felt they understood the course material better. Beyond the immediate advantages, there’s a long-term advantage: being able to give and receive this type of feedback, questioning and critique is part of a healthy work environment and will give my students a leg up in the world of work.

Students aren’t always as fully happy with the system as I am. While many learn more from this approach, some students see it is a black box and think that there could be some “game-playing” in the collaborative system that wouldn’t exist in the usual TA-driven grading process. This is understandable, but I’m convinced this system gives a more accurate grade than any grade given by an individual. Thus, I’ve had to work to help them understand the system and make it more transparent. I’ve also given students clearer messages about why I think it works and why it’s ultimately better for them (both from a grading and learning standpoint). I’m very optimistic about the future of WHOOPPEE, particularly as we roll out a new interface that will make everything much clearer and more engaging.

I’m glad that students enjoy my course for the usual content-oriented reasons, but it’s great to see that these technology angles play a big part as well. There is no substitute for a good lecture or a challenging writing assignment–technology will never take those things away. But it can enhance students’ ability to learn from the content that they’re hearing and reading, and have it stay with them long after they graduate.

Pete Fader is the Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and the recipient of the 2018 Iron Professor.

This essay continues the series that began in the fall of 1994 as the joint creation of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Lindback Society for Distinguished Teaching. See https://almanac.upenn.edu/talk-about-teaching-and-learning-archive for previous essays.