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$1.25 Million Gift to Establish Witte-Sakamoto Family Prize and Award in City and Regional Planning

caption: William Witte and Keiko Sakamoto. Photo by Drew Altizer Photography.The University of Pennsylvania School of Design has received a $1.25 million gift from William Witte (C’73, MCP’75) and his wife, Keiko Sakamoto, Esq., to establish an annual prize for an outstanding planning student at PennDesign, along with a professional award for innovation and impact in planning.

The Witte-Sakamoto Family Prize in City and Regional Planning carries a $50,000 fellowship and will be awarded to a student entering his or her final year in the Master of City and Regional Planning program.

“We’re deeply grateful to Bill and Keiko for their commitment to the next generation of planners,” said Frederick Steiner, dean and Paley Professor at PennDesign.

In conjunction with the prize, the School will present an annual award to a firm, team or professional for an exemplary plan that advances plan-making in at least four of the following areas: social equity, environmental quality, design, public health, mobility, housing affordability and economic development.

“It’s incumbent on those of us who work on cities to make sure that we not only practice responsible development, but that it’s holistic and we deal with all these different issues,” said Mr. Witte, a PennDesign alumnus and member of the School’s Board of Overseers, who has had a lifelong interest in cities. “I want to encourage students to think big, think in a multi-disciplinary way and make a difference in a community.”

Lisa Servon, professor and chair of city and regional planning, said, “The Witte-Sakamoto Family Prize will help one of our exceptional students pursue his or her dream without worrying as much about financial obligations.” Dr.  Servon is the author of The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives and conducts research in the areas of urban poverty, community development, economic development and issues of gender and race.

The inaugural winners will be announced in the spring of 2019.

Mr. Witte is chairman and CEO of Related California, a subsidiary of the New York–based international real estate development firm. He founded Related California in 1989 and oversees Related’s multi-family and mixed-use development activity in California. He served as deputy mayor for Housing and Neighborhoods under San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, a position in which he oversaw housing, development and redevelopment activities for San Francisco. He was director of Housing and Economic Development under San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and served as an appointed commissioner of the San Francisco Housing Authority. Mr. Witte earned a BA from Penn in 1973 and a Master in City Planning in 1975.

Rhodes Scholar: Penn Senior Anea Moore

caption: Anea MooreUniversity of Pennsylvania senior Anea Moore has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Considered one of the most prestigious academic honors, the Rhodes is highly competitive. 

According to the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, this year more than 2,500 American students sought endorsements. The 32 American Rhodes Scholars were then selected from 880 students endorsed by 281 colleges and universities nationwide.

“All of us at Penn are incredibly proud of our newest Rhodes Scholar, Anea Moore,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Anea’s commitment to advocacy on behalf of first-generation, high-need students advances our Penn Compact 2020’s inclusion principle to the next level by creating programs to strengthen academic success and retention. She shows a passion for engagement and embodies the finest attributes of Penn scholars who are working to make a profound difference in the world. Anea is truly deserving of this preeminent recognition.” 

Ms. Moore is majoring in sociology and urban studies with a concentration in law and a minor in Africana studies. A first-generation, low-income (FGLI) student, she has become an advocate for the Penn First community, creating a student-focused program housed at the Greenfield Intercultural Center that provides additional resources to more than 1,000 FGLI students. 

Ms. Moore serves as co-president of the Collective Success Network at Penn, chair of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships student advisory board, the student government representative for Penn First, and the co-chair of the national 2018 1vyG Conference at Penn. A Truman Scholar, Ms. Moore is also a Philadelphia Mayor’s Scholar, Penn’s 2017 Newman Civic Fellow, the recipient of the 2017 Penn Undergraduate Women of Color Award, and a 2018 QuestBridge Global Leadership Fellow at Oxford.

At Oxford, Ms. Moore will pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation. Upon returning to the US, she plans to pursue a law degree and engage in public service in Philadelphia.

Ms. Moore applied for the Rhodes Scholarship with assistance from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The 2019 award brings the number of Penn Rhodes Scholars to 27. See Almanac December 5, 2017 for the list of the prior recipients from Penn.

Tamara L. Greenfield King: Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs

caption: Tamara KingTamara L. Greenfield King has been named Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs in the Division of the Vice Provost for University Life. Ms. King comes to Penn from Washington University in St. Louis, where she serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Support and Wellness for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. She will start at Penn in January 2019.

Ms. King will supervise six departments: Career Services, Civic House, NROTC, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Office of Student Affairs and Platt Student Performing Arts House. She will report to the Vice Provost for University Life, Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, and be a member of the division’s Central Resource Management Team.

“I am delighted to welcome Tamara King to Penn,” Dr. Cade said. “She brings a wealth of experience to this position and I know she will develop important and engaged relationships with our students, faculty, staff, families and alumni.”

“I am excited to join the Penn family and return to my home state,” Ms. King added. “After meeting with students during my interview process, I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with and support such intelligent and committed future thought leaders.”

At Washington University, Ms. King oversees the Habif Health and Wellness Center, which provides medical, mental and pharmaceutical services as well as outreach and prevention programming; the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center; and the WashUCares and Students of Concern Team. She also directs services to first-generation and low-income students, addressing needs related to food, shelter and health insurance.

Ms. King has spent almost two decades at Washington University, previously serving as Associate Dean of Students, Deputy Title IX Coordinator and Director of Student Conduct.

She was National President of the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA).

Ms. King teaches Civil Pretrial Practice & Procedure at Washington University’s St. Louis School of Law. She also serves as an academic and pre-law advisor for undergraduates.

Prior to transitioning to higher education, Ms. King served as the first African American Assistant District Attorney in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, majoring in political science and minoring in sociology and Black diaspora studies. She received her law degree from New York University.

Deaths

Robert P. Levy, Emeritus Trustee

caption: Robert P. LevyRobert P. Levy (C’52), Emeritus Trustee and a decorated Philadelphia sportsman who spent decades mentoring young people at Penn and beyond through athletics, died on November 7. He was 87.

Mr. Levy was born in Philadelphia (his father, Leon (D’15, HON’73), was a devoted Penn alum), and he went to William Penn Charter School before attending Penn and obtaining a degree in sociology. A tennis standout, he was later inducted into Penn’s Tennis and Athletics Halls of Fame. The year after he graduated, he founded the Little Quakers, an all-star youth football team for boys in the Philadelphia region that still exists today and plays at least one game each season at Franklin Field. He served in the US Army Reserve Medical Corps during the Korean War.

Mr. Levy was chair of DRT Industries, a Philadelphia-based conglomerate with industrial holdings in the Delaware Valley. He first became involved in horse racing in the 1940s with his parents. He went on to become extensively involved in Thoroughbred racing, operating the Robert P. Levy Stable and serving as chair of the Atlantic City Racing Association, a director and past president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association of North America and a member of the Board of Directors of Penn National Gaming Inc.

Mr. Levy joined University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees in 1971 and became a member of the Student Life Committee. He also brought great insight to his role on the Board of Overseers of the School of Veterinary Medicine, where he helped advance sports medicine for racehorses such as his own 1987 Belmont Stakes-winner, Bet Twice. He was also a longtime member of the Athletics Overseer Board and volunteered as an assistant coach for the women’s tennis team. He also served as chair of the Board of Overseers for the School of Dental Medicine. In 2003, Mr. Levy received the Alumni Award of Merit.

Mr. Levy and his family made possible the Robert P. Levy Tennis Pavilion, the Dental School’s Levy Research Building (now the Levy Center for Oral Health Research), the Paley Professorship for the Dean of the School of Design, and Blanche P. Levy Park in the center of campus.

Mr. Levy was a committed Philadelphian, serving on the City’s Fairmount Park Commission and the Philadelphia Art Commission. As chair of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, he brought many high-profile sporting events to the city; the Philadelphia Sports Congress created the Robert P. Levy Community Service Award in his honor.

On the national level, Mr. Levy was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, served on the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports and chaired the US tennis teams at the World Maccabiah Games in the 1970s and 1980s. Memorialized in the halls of fame of Pennsylvania Sports, the Police Athletic League, Philadelphia Sports and Philadelphia Jewish Sports, he was a former Philadelphia Police Athletic League’s Man of the Year and the recipient of awards from the John B. Kelly Foundation, the National Football Foundation, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) Coaches Hall of Fame and the Pop Warner Little Scholars for his remarkable service to youth sports.

He is survived by his wife, Rochelle “Cissie” Feldman, former Overseer of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies; children, Kathryn (GGS’09), Wendy, Robert, Angela (C’87) and Michael (C’90); and grandchildren, Alexander (C’05, GAR’08, GFA’08), Peter (C’07), Caroline, Emma, William, Andrew, Henry, Lily, Ryder (C’13), Tyler, Sam, Evan and Grayson.

Governance

From the Senate Office: SEC Agenda

The following agenda is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Any member of the standing faculty may attend SEC meetings and observe. Questions may be directed to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

3-5 p.m.

Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology, 3205 Walnut St., 3rd Floor

1. Update from the Office of the President (45 minutes)
    Discussion with President Amy Gutmann

2. Approval of the Minutes of October 31, 2018 (1 minute)

3. Chair’s Report (10 minutes)

4. Past-Chair’s Report (4 minutes)

5. Update from the Office of the Executive Vice President (45 minutes)

Discussion with Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, Vice President for Budget and Management Analysis Trevor Lewis and Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Anne Papageorge

6. New Business (5 minutes)

University Council Meeting Agenda

From the Office of the Secretary: University Council Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, December  5, 2018

4 p.m.

Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall

I.     Approval of the Minutes of October 24, 2018.  (1 minute) 

II.     Follow Up Questions on Status Reports.  (4 minutes)

III.    New Directions in the Arts: Annenberg Live! and the Sachs Arts Innovation Program. (35 minutes)

IV.     Open Forum. (70 minutes)

 V.     New Business.  (5 minutes)

VI.    Adjournment.

State of the University: Strategic Framework for Global Initiatives, 2018-2023

At the University Council meeting on October 24, the annual State of the University presentations were made. The President’s portion was introduced by President Amy Gutmann and then given by John Zeller, senior vice president of Development and Alumni Relations, who spoke about the current Power of Penn Campaign; see Almanac October 30, 2018. The Provost’s portion was introduced by Provost Wendell Pritchett and given by Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, who talked about Three Pillars for Global Engagement. His portion is below.

Ezekiel (Zeke) Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives

Soon after I became Vice Provost for Global Initiatives in September 2011, we did two things. One was to take an assessment of what the University was doing globally. There was a lot of information about global activities in different pots as well as a lot of places where we simply didn’t have information about our global reach but wished we did. After that collection process, we talked to the community and developed the three pillars of our initial, five-year Strategic Plan: preparing students for a globalized society, strengthening Penn as a global agenda setter and promoting healthy and inspiring productive lives.

That plan was intended to guide us through 2018 and so, as it approached the end of its five-year length, we reassessed where we were and have worked with the community and talked to many of you around the table about where we should go. The result is a new Strategic Framework for Global Initiatives, which has three new pillars. The first is educating global citizens; the second is catalyzing transformative ideas; and the third is bringing the world to Penn and Penn to the world.

I want to talk about each one of these pillars in a little more detail. What we have done in this Strategic Plan that is a little different from the previous one is to identify priority areas for achieving each of the goals, and we have also identified some stretch goals.

Pillar #1: To understand the first pillar, we have a bold statement: Penn is committed to providing a meaningful global experience to every single Penn student. I think this is a pretty ambitious goal, and we really intend to do it. Now, that global experience does not necessarily have to be overseas—there are a lot of things you can do in the global sphere right here in Philadelphia. But we would like to have all Penn students who leave the University be comfortable in the world; competent to engage people, cultures and ideas from around the globe; and be curious. Because we all know that four years of Penn is a great education, but what it really prepares you for is a life of learning. The key to that life of learning is being curious about the rest of the world and people in other parts of the world. Those would be the three “C’s” to guide our mission.

One particular goal we have is to offer a full complement of semester- and year-long study abroad opportunities. One way of seeing what we want here in terms of this first pillar is that from the moment you get the Penn admissions packet to long after you graduate, we have global experiences available for you as students. One of the things we learned through our first five-year Strategic Plan is that we needed to add study abroad opportunities beyond the conventional semester and year-long study-abroad opportunities because for a lot of students—if they are involved in sports, the newspaper, theater, or lots of other programs—it’s hard to get away for a whole semester or year.

Another goal is to expand and diversify our Penn Global Seminars. These are courses that have a global component built into a regular semester-long course here at Penn. We are up to 12 this year—but we really want to expand that number. Beyond that, we are strengthening and expanding our Global Research and Internship Program by supplementing our existing summer internship placements at non-profits abroad with placements at for-profit companies and research institutions around the globe. We have long had a major initiative through the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships to get students to do research with our own faculty, but with so many great research institutes around the globe, we are eager to send students to the likes of the Pasteur Institute, the Karolinska and the Weizmann. We want to provide students with research experience and a global experience at once, particularly by developing May-term and summer programs so that more students can go overseas during their tenure at Penn. So those are our priority areas and I am happy to say we are firing on all cylinders for those programs.

Then we also have ambitions to support innovative global projects in post-graduate opportunities. There is obviously the President’s Engagement Prize, which has been quite successful in the global space. There are competitive fellowship programs, and we want to encourage more students to apply to these fellowships. We want to support school-based short-term abroad programs. Schools that have very rigid course requirements like Engineering have been talking to us about how to integrate global experiences right into their curriculum so that their students—even though they have a pre-specified four years—can have those available. The last goal is to explore gap-year programs and begin developing more services for students who take gap years.

We also have a number of curricular and extracurricular programs that we are trying to enhance. Perry World House, as the Provost mentioned, has opened and is thriving. It has a full range of programs and we hope to enhance and expand those programs. That includes the World House student fellowship programs, initially begun at the undergraduate level and expanded to the graduate level. We also have a goal to roster courses to be taught by Perry World House faculty, visiting scholars and policymakers. This expands the opportunities students have to learn with people who are actually engaged in the world, setting policy and pushing the world in various ways. We also want to develop undergraduate academic programs, partnerships with schools and departments, certificates, minors and other activities, as well as thinking about additional add-on campus activities. We already have Penn Global Week, but we are thinking about ways to expand that kind of programming beyond a single week.

We also want to integrate travel components with globally oriented majors and minors. In the Penn Global Seminars, we include travel components into courses, and now, whether it’s international relations or political science or history or literature, we can imagine travel components to those majors and try to get them to be more integral. Then we want to develop global competency programs with the humanities and language programs—there are Penn programs like the Huntsman program that have language requirements and get students overseas. We think those kinds of very positive experiences should be expanded to other majors and not limited to the Huntsman Program.

Some of our ambitions are to create a campus-wide global citizenship curriculum, integrated with the Penn Reading Project and other things that Penn already uses, as well as support programs to connect immigrant populations in Philadelphia with more Penn students.

Pillar #2: The second pillar is to catalyze transformative ideas. We have created a series of institutions in the time that I have been here—the Penn Wharton China Center, the Biden Center and the Perry World House. We really need to begin to utilize all of them to develop the next generation of transformative ideas on the global stage. So we have this idea that will bring leading global scholars and practitioners to engage in the University community and generate transformative ideas on the major global challenges. This includes convening theme-specific networks led by Penn scholars and experts to generate academic knowledge and catalyze, debate and develop innovative, well-vetted proposals on critical global challenges.

In the realm of transformative ideas, we want to be very future-
oriented. We want Penn to become a leading institution on the future of China in the world, for example, through the combined efforts of the Perry World House with our Penn Wharton China Center and other centers on campus. We must also consider the future of the global order—global institutions such as the European Union and the World Trade Organization face big challenges. How will they meet them and how can we help define that future?

We also want to build Penn’s institutions that engage internal and external thought leaders. We want Perry World House to become a unique incubator for ideas: the place where global thought leaders come to develop their ideas in conjunction with our faculty.

Additionally, we want to strengthen connections between the Penn Biden Center and campus to disseminate our ideas to policymakers in Washington and beyond. It’s a critical bridge. The Biden Center is a beautiful space, a great convening space and it has links to Washington-based global policymakers.

We also need to provide support for school-based, faculty-led research initiatives around the world. We’ve got focuses in China and India. In both cases, we’ve created research and engagement funds where the Provost Office supports faculty doing projects. We’ve really expanded those and are using them to catalyze some great ideas. With other countries, we have a global engagement fund to support faculty doing novel research.

Pillar #3: The third pillar is to bring the world to Penn and Penn to the world. Currently, 15% of our undergraduate student body comes from countries outside the United States. We really are bringing the world to Penn. When we send our students overseas, we are bringing Penn to the world. We want to further this. We want to educate the leading international students, enhance institutional services both for students and faculty engaged in global activities, and elevate our presence by strengthening the constellation of centers and institutes that engage in global work. We want to ensure international student success and opportunities for global engagement. A few years ago, we began doing much more to integrate global students into the Penn community. Your job is to help us think through how we can do this.

Part of it is, when students arrive here from other countries, we must help get them more integrated. We now have a full set of sessions at orientation for them. Part of the campaign is to raise additional money for scholarships for students when they come from overseas so we ensure diversity in the international student population. We want to enhance the services for all students once they’re at Penn by creating one-stop global services center for Penn faculty, students and post-doctoral scholars to facilitate all their global activities. People shouldn’t have to figure out how to navigate the maze that is Penn. We want to help people so that they have one number to call, whether it’s related to visas, scholarship opportunities, grant funding or the security situation in a country.

We want to provide guidance and support for faculty on global fellowships, where they can actually get support for their work and develop tools and resources to assist schools who want to link up with other schools and develop new educational or research-related programs. There’s a whole series of activities and our ambitions are to develop more of our programs and take them to the next level, so that they really are the best-in-category programs in the entire country.

Lastly, we want to better engage other educational institutions, corporations, governments and non-governmental organizations. We want to make sure that ideas generated at Penn and people at Penn can connect more broadly and have greater impact and influence on the global stage. We have a number of metrics we’re going to be looking at for success, and I’m sure these metrics will evolve as our understanding of these programs deepens. So, that’s the program. We have a few questions, but I’d mostly be interested in answering your questions.

Supplements

Policies

Rules Governing Final Examinations

1. No instructor may hold a final examination nor require the submission of a take-home final exam except during the period in which final examinations are scheduled; when necessary, exceptions to this policy may be granted for postponed examinations (see 3 and 4 below). No final examinations may be scheduled during the last week of classes or on reading days.

2. No student may be required to take more than two final examinations on any calendar day during the period in which final examinations are scheduled. If more than two are scheduled, the student may postpone the middle exam. If a take-home final exam is due on a day when two final examinations are scheduled, the take-home exam shall be postponed by one day.

3. Examinations that are postponed because of conflicts with other examinations, or because more than two examinations are scheduled on the same day, may be taken at another time during the final examinations period if the faculty member and student can agree on that time. Otherwise, they must be taken during the official period for postponed examinations.

4. Examinations that are postponed because of illness, a death in the family, for religious observance or some other unusual event may be taken only during the official periods: the first week of the spring and fall semesters. Students must obtain permission from their Dean’s office to take a postponed exam. Instructors in all courses must be willing to offer a make-up examination to all students who are excused from the final examination.

5. No instructor may change the time or date of a final exam without permission from the appropriate Dean.

6. No instructor may increase the time allowed for a final exam beyond the scheduled two hours without permission from the appropriate Dean.

7. No classes or required class activities may be held during the reading period.

8. The first examination of the day begins at 9 a.m. and the last examination concludes by 8 p.m. There will be one hour between exam time blocks.

9. All students must be allowed to see their final examination. Exams should be available as soon as possible after being graded with access ensured for a period of at least one regular semester after the exam has been given. To help protect student privacy, a student should have access only to his or her own exam and not the exams of other students. Therefore, for example, it is not permissible to leave student exams (or grades or papers) in publicly accessible areas.

10. Students may not be asked for their Social Security numbers. Instructors may not publicly display a student’s Penn ID or any portion of the Social Security number, nor use names, initials or any personally identifiable information to post grades. Even when an identifier is masked or absent, grades may not be posted in alphabetical order, to protect student privacy.

11. Final exams for College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS) courses must be given on the regular class meeting night during the week of final examinations. No change in scheduling is permitted without unanimous consent of all students in the class and the director of LPS. LPS final exams may not be administered during the last week of class or on a reading day.

In all matters relating to final exams, students with questions should first consult with their Dean’s offices. Faculty wishing to seek exceptions to the rules also should consult with their Dean’s offices. Finally, the Council of Undergraduate Deans and Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE) urge instructors to see that all examinations are actively proctored.

—Wendell Pritchett, Provost

Honors

Penn’s 2018 Alumni Award of Merit Gala Awards

The University of Pennsylvania honored six distinguished alumni at the 2018 Alumni Award of Merit Gala on Friday, November 9.

caption: Lisa ScottolineAward-winning, best-selling novelist Lisa Scottoline received the 2018 Creative Spirit Award for her lifelong commitment to and excellence in the arts. A member of the undergraduate Class of 1976 and a 1981 graduate of Penn Law, Ms. Scottoline began her career as a litigator and later picked up her pen full time.

To date, her body of work includes 31 novels, a series of humorous memoirs, as well as a weekly Philadelphia Inquirer column. She won mystery fiction’s highest honor, the Edgar Award, with her second novel, Final Appeal. A writer with a witty edge, she was recognized as a Fun Fearless Female by Cosmopolitan and a PW Innovator by Publisher’s Weekly.

Lending her talents to teach a course on Justice and Fiction at Penn Law, she was honored with 2009 Adjunct Teaching Award and with an Alumni Award of Merit, as well as a Paving the Way Award from Penn Women in Business. She has also served as a Law School Reunion committee member and Law School Overseer.  

Sharing the spotlight with Ms. Scottoline were Allan C. Bell, Mitchell J. Blutt, Louis Kozloff and Cindy Shmerler Levy, who all received the Alumni Award of Merit; Austin L. Lavin, who accepted the Young Alumni Award; and John L. Jackson, Jr., outgoing SP2 dean and incoming dean of the Annenberg School, who accepted the Faculty Award of Merit.

caption: Allan BellAllan C. Bell, Class of 1981, is a Penn basketball fan alongside his family members and fellow alumni: wife Dale Borenstein Bell, daughter Brittany and son Brandon. Active on a number of boards at Penn, he served on the committees on Student Life and Local, National and Global Engagement as a member of the Board of Trustees (2013-2017); as a member of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors and the Basketball Board; the Penn Fund Executive Committee; and, with his wife, the Penn Hillel Board of Overseers. He has inspired philanthropy and alumni engagement through leadership roles as the co-chair of the Class of 1981 Gift Committee, as a member and president of the Alumni Class Leadership Council and currently as chair of the Alumni Engagement Committee of The Power of Penn Campaign. He and Dale marked their 25th class reunion by creating the Allan & Dale B. Bell Family Endowment Scholarship in memory of his father, Harold Bell.

caption: Mitchell BluttMitchell J. Blutt holds three degrees from Penn. As a member of the Class of 1978, he designed his own multidisciplinary undergraduate major that combined psychology, biology, anthropology and statistics. He then went on to earn an MD from the Perelman School of Medicine and an MBA from the Wharton School, becoming one of the Penn’s first physicians to develop a hybrid career with a prominent role on Wall Street. He has provided leadership serving on Penn’s Board of Trustees, on the School of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Overseers and as a member of the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees. His philanthropy includes scholarships at the School of Arts and Sciences, the Mitchell J. Blutt Visiting Professorship in Entrepreneurism and Medicine and the endowment of the Perelman School’s first MD/MBA scholarship fund. He has also endowed Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professorships at the School of Arts and Sciences, Perelman and Wharton. Following a passion for music, he also made gifts supporting the Blutt College House Music Program, the Blutt Band Slam Homecoming event and the Blutt Singer Songwriter Symposium.

caption: Louis KozloffLouis Kozloff, a member of the Class of 1965 and a 1969 alumnus of the Perelman School of Medicine, has deep roots at Penn. He has 40 Penn alumni in the family, including wife Rene Chalfin Kozloff, daughter Laurie and son Howard. A basketball player and swimming standout at Penn, he and his father, Henry Kozloff, also an alumnus of the College and School of Medicine, share the distinction of being one of only two father-son pairings in the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame. He has taken part in his medical school reunion committees since 1979, and in 1990 he joined the Medical Alumni Advisory Council, chairing it from 2012 to 2015. As a major benefactor of the Class of 1969 Scholarship Fund, and as a leader in establishing the Edward T. Anderson, C’65, M’69 –Louis Kozloff, C’65, M’69 Scholarship Fund and the Anderson Kozloff Thompson Classroom in the Jordan Medical Education Center, he received the School of Medicine Alumni Service Award in 2011. He also serves on the Swimming Sports Board and helped support the Kozloff Family Room in the Tse Ping-Cheng Cheung Ling Sports Center. 

caption: Cindy LevyCindy Shmerler Levy, Class of 1981, also has deep Quaker family ties. The daughter of the late alumnus Edwin Shmerler, she is married to alumnus Ford Levy and the mother of alumni Kristen Levy and Maxwell Levy. Her time at Penn, as an English major and a member of the Varsity Tennis and Squash teams, laid the foundation for her life as a tennis journalist and television commentator. Her work has appeared in such outlets as The New York TimesThe Boston Globe and on ESPN. For more than 20 years, she has helped transform the Penn Club of Westchester & Rockland Counties, serving as president for a decade and vice president previously. She is also active on the Penn Alumni Board of Directors and in the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women on the Committee for Athletics and the Communications Committee. Her support to Penn includes a gift establishing the Paula Shmerler Endowed Fund for Alzheimer’s Research, honoring her mother.

caption: Austin LavinThe Class of 2006’s Austin Leo Lavin began his career as an entrepreneur and connector in Philadelphia, where he launched the start-up myfirstpaycheck.com During that time, he also helped to lead the Philadephia Metro Regional Alumni Club to win the 2009 Penn Alumni Award of Merit. After moving to New Orleans with his wife, fellow alum Beth Shapiro Lavin, he founded WorkNOLA.com, a non-profit that highlights opportunities for local employment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, he has continued his active involvement in Alumni Club activities as sponsor of club events, hosted Penn Club of Louisiana Student Send-Offs and served as an alumni interviewer. As a reunion leader, he has helped the Class of 2006 surpass fundraising milestones and supports Penn as a Penn Fund Ivy Stone Society member.

In addition to the individual alumni awards, the Class Award of Merit went to the Class of 1993, while the Class of 1968 received the David N. Tyre Award for Excellence in Class Communications.

Faculty Award of Merit

caption: John Jackson, Jr.This year’s Faculty Award of Merit went to Dean John Jackson, Jr., of the School of Social Policy & Practice. Dean Jackson is the Richard Perry University Professor, with appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication, School of Arts & Sciences and School of Social Policy & Practice. His research involves ethnographic methods in media analysis, the impact of mass media on urban life, mediamaking as a form of community-building and proselytizing among religious organizations, globalization and the remaking of ethnic/racial diasporas, visual studies and theories of reality,and racialization and media technology. On January 1, he will assume his new role as dean of the Annenberg School for Communication.

AT PENN

Events

Third Annual Celebration of Innovation

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

4:30 p.m. Reception, 5 p.m. Program

Hall of Flags, Houston Hall

Join the Penn Center for Innovation to honor all Penn’s patent awardees for FY 2018. Special awards will also be presented to inventor of the year, startup of the year, newcomer of the year, device of the year, deal of the year and partner of the year. Geoff Garrett, dean of The Wharton School, will be the keynote speaker.

Register at https://tinyurl.com/y77o9p6d

Update: November AT PENN

Special Events

27    Sip and Discover: Ancient Spices in Cocktails Workshop; discover how to use spices and herbs from your kitchen to infuse cocktails; 7 p.m.; Penn Museum; tickets: $40; register (Museum).

Talks

27    Reports from the Field; Simon Martin, Chantel White and Megan Kassabaum, Penn Museum scholars; 6 p.m.; Penn Museum; free (Museum).

AT PENN Deadlines

The December AT PENN is online. There is no issue on November 27 due to the Thanksgiving Break. The deadline for the January AT PENN is December 3.

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

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 November 5-11, 2018View 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 for the dates of November 5-11, 2018. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore 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.

11/6/2018       3:27 AM          3400 Spruce St              Unauthorized male in building/Arrest

11/6/2018       12:53 PM         3340 Walnut St             Laptop taken while unattended

11/6/2018       2:02 PM           205 S 34th St                Backpack and contents taken.

11/6/2018       4:01 PM           3400 Spruce St              Unauthorized male in building/Arrest

11/6/2018       4:28 PM           4001 Walnut St              Merchandise taken without payment/Arrest made

11/6/2018       8:31 PM           4001 Walnut St              Unauthorized male in building/Arrest

11/7/2018       12:21 AM        4000 Walnut St               Male shone laser pen at officer.

11/7/2018       4:31 PM           3901 Walnut St              Items taken from bike.

11/7/2018       5:02 PM           3565 Sansom St            Complainant threatened by patient.

11/7/2018       6:09 PM           3601 Walnut St              Property removed from bag.

11/7/2018       10:48 PM         200 S 40th St                 Intoxicated driver arrested.

11/8/2018       8:00 AM          3000 Ludlow St               Auto taken from Highway.

11/8/2018       11:09 AM        4053 Ludlow St               Unsecured package taken from porch.

11/8/2018       1:13 PM           3340 Smith Walk            Unsecured laptops (3) taken.

11/8/2018       4:04 PM           200 S 40th St                 Complainant threatened by male.

11/8/2018       4:46 PM           3400 Civic Center Blvd  Watch and headphones taken.

11/8/2018       10:20 PM         2930 Chestnut St           Unknown person received funds from complainant.

11/9/2018       9:53 AM          231 S 34th St                  Unsecured backpack and contents taken from room.

11/9/2018       10:36 AM        3819 Chestnut St            Unsecured IPhone and computer taken from room.

11/9/2018       11:39 AM        3620 Hamilton Walk        Unsecured cell phone taken.

11/9/2018       4:35 PM           3400 Civic Center Blvd  Offender pointed a gun at Complainant.

11/9/2018       6:09 PM           231 S 34th St                 Backpack and contents taken.

11/10/2018     7:53 AM          3900 Filbert St                 Unknown person keyed vehicle.

11/10/2018     9:08 AM          3400 Spruce St               Complainant threatened by patient.

11/10/2018     11:06 AM        3900 Chestnut St            Unsecured laptop taken.

11/10/2018     11:30 PM         4045 Walnut St               Property taken from foyer.

11/11/2018     12:11 AM        124 S 39th St                   Complainant choked by male.

11/11/2018     8:21 AM          451 University Avenue     Complainant punched in face by known female.

11/11/2018     2:52 PM           210 S 40th St                  Iphone taken.

11/11/2018     3:45 PM           4039 Walnut St               Backpack taken from basement.

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 10 incidents (1 robbery, 1 rape, 1 domestic assault, 2 aggravated assaults and 5 assaults) were reported between November 5-11, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

11/6/2018       1:02 AM          4601 Walnut St               Robbery

11/7/2018       2:10 AM          40th & Locust Sts           Assault

11/7/2018       4:59 PM           4209 Spruce St              Assault

11/8/2018       2:01 PM           48th & Baltimore Ave     Assault

11/9/2018       2:58 PM           200 S 47th St                 Rape

11/9/2018       4:35 PM           3400 Civic Center Blvd  Aggravated Assault

11/10/2018     1:51 AM          4600 Walnut St               Aggravated Assault

11/10/2018     7:50 PM           4636 Walnut St              Domestic Assault

11/10/2018     10:35 PM         4009 Chestnut St           Assault

11/11/2018     1:19 AM          1234 S 39th St                Assault

Bulletins

Fall, Winter and Spring Holidays Reminder

To help you plan for the end of the calendar year and the 2019 Spring Term, here’s a reminder of Penn’s upcoming holiday observances.

Holidays

Thanksgiving, Thursday and Friday, November 22 & 23, 2018

Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25, 2018

New Year’s Day, Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Monday, January 21, 2019

Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2019

Special Winter Vacation

Each year, the President, Provost and EVP assess the feasibility of observing Penn’s traditional Special Winter Vacation. Based on this assessment, the Special Winter Vacation granted to faculty and staff will be December 24, 26, 27, 28 and 31, 2018.

For a complete list of this fiscal year’s recognized holidays and details on policies regarding work over Special Winter Vacation, see Almanac May 22, 2018.

Suspension of Normal Operations

Although Penn normally never stops operating, emergencies such as severe weather conditions may sometimes result in the cancellation of classes and/or the full or partial closure of certain areas of the University. Decisions affecting work schedules and class cancellation are made by the Executive Vice President in consultation with the Provost. The University will announce a closing or other modification of work schedules through the following means:

  • the University’s emergency information number: (215) 898-6358 (MELT)
  • communications from the Division of Public Safety
  • KYW News Radio (1060 AM)
  • the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System (for University-related incidents and crises)

The University’s emergency radio identification code numbers (KYW News Radio) are “102” for day classes and schools/centers, and “2102” for evening classes. The message that accompanies the code number will provide the operating status of the University. Be sure to keep this information in a place you can easily access.

Even when Penn is officially closed due to an emergency, there are some essential services that must still be provided, such as Public Safety, Facilities or Penn Dining. Staff members in essential positions are still required to work as normally scheduled under these circumstances.

For more information on suspension of normal operations, visit https://www.hr.upenn.edu/policies-and-procedures/policy-manual/other-policies/suspension-of-normal-operations

—Division of Human Resources

Snow Day Child Care

Snow Day Child Care provides all-day care for children of Penn faculty and staff members when the University is open but Philadelphia public schools are closed due to inclement weather. Children ages 12 weeks to 12 years are eligible for the program, whether they attend a Philadelphia district school or not.

Snow Day Child Care is available:

  • Generally between December and March. Official Snow Day Child Care dates for 2018-2019 are December 3 to March 29.
  • On weekdays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., when the Philadelphia County Public Schools are closed due to inclement weather and the University is open. (You can register children in schools outside the Philadelphia district, but the program is only available when Philadelphia public schools are closed for inclement weather.)
  • As space is available. Child-care space, projected from the previous year’s needs, is limited and requests are met on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Care is provided at the Penn Children's Center, the University of Pennsylvania's licensed day care center in the Left Bank Commons, Suite 100, at 3160 Chestnut Street.

The University covers most of the cost for Snow Day Child Care. Your contribution is based on your Penn salary, the age of your child(ren), and the number of children you place in care.

    Salary:                            Under $60,000              $60,000 or Greater

    School-Age Children:    $15 per child per day     $25 per child per day

    Preschoolers*:               $20 per child per day     $35 per child per day

*Higher preschool costs are due to the smaller ratio of children to caregivers for younger children.

You must register for Snow Day Child Care before there’s a snow day. Complete the online application: http://cms.business-services.upenn.edu/childcare/temporary-childcare/snow-day-care.html and return it to the Penn Children's Center. If you need assistance, contact the Center at (215) 898-5268.

  • All registrations must be completed before you can use Snow Day Child Care.

Registration forms will not be accepted on the day that care is needed.

  • A new registration is required each year.

When you register, the Penn Children's Center will explain what to do when you need the service. Space on a snow day is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so it's important to know how to request it in advance.

Questions? Contact Human Resources: (215) 573-2471.

Penn's Way Grand Prize Drawing and Week Six Winners

Grand Prize Drawing November 27, 2018

Visit www.upenn.edu/pennsway for more information about the raffle and making a pledge. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on the prior Friday for inclusion in a given week’s drawing. Therefore, the deadline for the Grand Prize drawing is Friday, November 23 by 5 p.m.

You can give in several ways: payroll deduction (which will begin in January 2019); credit card (which would be charged immediately); or by writing a check.

Penn’s Way Grand Prize Valued at $2,500

Penn Medicine Philadelphia Phillies Suite: You and 15 friends are invited to attend a 2019 Philadelphia Phillies game as special guests of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Citizens Bank Park Suites have comfortable seating, amazing sightlines of the action below, and plenty of room to socialize both indoors and outdoors. There is no doubt that a day at the ball park in a Suite will give the winner and their guests a day to remember while they enjoy a Phillies game!

  • Single-game, all-inclusive private Suite
  • Food and beverage will be provided
  • Complimentary parking passes
  • Game choices will depend on availability
  • All guests do not need to be employees

Penn’s Way 2019 Raffle Prize Listing Week Six Winners

Philip Rosenau Co., Inc.: Walmart gift card ($50); Sinéad Hellings, HUP

Fisher Scientific: Fandango gift cards ($45); Jeffrey Millstein, Clinical Care Associates

Fisher Scientific: Restaurant gift card ($50); Veronica Fobbs, CPUP

Airgas Healthcare: Body Shop gift set ($26) and Day by Day: gift card ($20); Joyce Richardson, HUP

Longwood Gardens:  Complimentary tickets ($30); Annika Holmberg, School of Nursing

Soulcycle: Three classes ($100); Jillian Bradford, Presbyterian Medical Center

One Step Ahead: Thank you for Sharing…Intelligently

Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Thank you for Sharing…Intelligently

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) applies to all faculty, staff and students at Penn.

The DMCA was signed into law in 1998 to protect the rights of the original work of authorship from reproduction or tampering and criminalizes the use or development of software that allows users to illegally access and redistribute copyright-protected material.

Because The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires post-secondary educational institutions to set policies and sanctions related to copyright infringement, the University has its own Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media.

Copyright violations at Penn could result in discipline up to and including termination or expulsion through standard University procedures and could also result in criminal charges, civil suits, penalties or fines depending on facts and circumstances, so it is critical for University faculty and staff to exercise appropriate care in the use of copyrighted materials.

  • Be cognizant of the fact that “fair use” of copyrighted material in an educational context still involves guidelines and restrictions and does not grant permission to simply redistribute copyrighted works in their entirety.
  • Confirm that those who assist and support your work in the Penn community, including work-study students, teaching assistants, administrative staff and others are also made aware of relevant copyright policy and are also adhering to copyright guidelines.
  • Ensure that University computers and other equipment in your workspace are not being inadvertently recruited for the illegal redistribution of copyrighted content via the default settings on common peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing programs.
  • Secure your computers with anti-virus programs. In addition to P2P filesharing programs, the presence of malware may also make computer systems vulnerable to exploit. Make sure your computer is secured with anti-virus programs and is kept updated with all necessary patches to guard against malware and attacks that could hijack your equipment for illegal data distribution or could compromise Penn’s intellectual property.

For more information about DMCA, The Higher Education Opportunity Act and how to report a copyright violation see: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/copyright-fileshare

For the University Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media see: http://www.upenn.edu/computing/policy/copyright.html

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead

Talk About Teaching & Learning

Physics Teaching in the Community: A Case for Service-Based Learning

The goal of any Academically Based Community Service Course (ABCS) is to integrate research and teaching with service. The successful ABCS course allows students and faculty to learn through reflective consideration how knowledge actually achieves community improvement. As such, it offers unique opportunities that no classroom experience can replicate: Students are active participants in their own learning and are consistently reminded that the goal of that learning is improvement of the quality of life for people they interact with on a regular basis. There are no hypothetical “people I will help in the future.” Rather, the responsibility for mastering the knowledge presented in the Penn classroom is coupled directly to sharing that knowledge and applying it in practical ways to enhance the immediate good. One thing that ABCS and non-ABCS courses share in common is the joy course instructors receive from knowing that the lessons learned are carried on through the students who improve and expand on what they have experienced as part of the class. This article represents the personal story of an exemplary Penn student.

—Larry Gladney, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor for Faculty Excellence and Associate Dean for Natural Sciences

—Bill Berner, Physics Demo Lab Coordinator

 

In the fall of my junior year, I registered for PHYS 137 (Community Physics Initiative), an ABCS course taught by Professor Larry Gladney and Bill Berner. Between me and my 10 other classmates, we wrote, practiced and taught introductory physics labs to classes at Boys Latin and Furness High School. During the course, I realized I deeply enjoyed the communication of science and decided to continue the experience after the semester ended. I reached out to West Catholic High School, which previously did not have a physics lab curriculum, and worked with Moelis Access Science at the Netter Center to organize volunteers to teach weekly experiments. Now, as a recent graduate, I reflect on my service learning experience as a crucial part of my development at Penn. Despite the extra labor involved for faculty and students, service learning taught me lessons I could not have gained through lectures alone, and I write here to share some of my most important takeaways.

Leading labs during the ABCS course and starting a new program with West Catholic helped me learn the best teaching techniques and structures for effective engagement from the schools. For example, one limitation of volunteering as an undergraduate was that I could not practice an experiment every day over multiple periods like a high school teacher can. Thus, when one week went poorly, I learned to thoroughly record feedback and suggestions for improvement so that next year’s volunteers would not repeat a lesson that was too chaotic or ineffective. Casual talks with students during downtime also helped, revealing which labs truly stuck and which ones did not. Practical lessons such as these were equally as important to me as the scientific ones. Through service learning, I also learned that effective listening precedes effective service, and I started initiating regular meetings with the teachers and administration to get their advice on the best methods to teach large classes with limited volunteers and time. These meetings, which included frank conversations about expectations and improvements on lab structure, were extremely helpful for making the service learning meaningful and rewarding for both parties. Learning how to listen is a skill I will carry with me both inside and outside the lab.

Teaching a subject is one of the best ways to master it, and I learned real physics by teaching physics. For example, I taught a roller coaster lab in which the students had to experimentally find the minimum starting height for a ball to clear a circular loop. I solved this problem on paper many times in freshman physics, but never did the experiment. By teaching the lab and making mistakes, I learned new aspects of the problem, such as the fact that a rolling ball needs more height than a sliding object. Understanding the students’ impediments to learning became a part of my own STEM education, and asking students and myself to verbalize an intuitive explanation without any math helped me truly grasp the mechanics concepts, not just the equations. As a bonus, I also learned and taught real-life applications, such as the fact that real-life coasters are shaped as teardrops, not circles, and why that is.

When put into practice, labs often did not work as expected, and troubleshooting experiments was a research exercise that made me a more resourceful scientist. In a projectile-motion lab, results from the experiment we ran did not match theory, and I had to explain the discrepancy in class to puzzled students. Eventually, I realized and explained to students that we left out a component of the starting velocity. The experience felt very similar to ones in the research lab, where discoveries about nature often start with the question, “Where did I screw up?” In other cases, working in the Philadelphia urban classroom environment pushed me to innovate. For a demo on circular motion, we wanted to measure centripetal acceleration. Most schools don’t have accelerometers lying around, so Mr. Berner showed us a method using an old, hollowed-out ant farm filled with water. When the apparatus is spun in a circle, the water is pushed outward, forming a parabolic shape. This simple setup, which the students could make themselves, showed me and the high school students how to be citizen scientists in our everyday lives without fancy equipment.

Teaching Community Physics broadened my perception of career options in science and its potential for social impact. For example, to prepare for going into the schools, we read articles in physics education research, a field I did not know existed before the course. Working closely with Mr. Berner, Dr. Gladney and the science teachers at West Catholic also inspired me to seriously consider “non-traditional” career paths, such as those in science writing or science policy. Even if I still end up in academia, my ABCS experience instilled in me a social responsibility to communicate and spread knowledge to the public, whether it be through bringing local high school students into the lab or developing introductory courses for undergraduates. In addition, I connected my physics education experience to knowledge in other fields during the course. For example, learning about the challenges of English Language Learners (ELL) students during ASAM 205 (Asian American Communities), another ABCS course I took freshman year, helped me include students who often understood lab concepts, but were not always fluent in science’s jargon and vocabulary. Experiences like this re-emphasized to me that science, research and learning do not happen in a vacuum.

Overall, service learning transformed me as a scientist, bringing me out of the ivory tower and into the community. It prompted me to reflect on Penn’s local role as a world-class university in West Philadelphia. At the same time, teaching the introductory labs taught me new aspects of freshmen physics I did not catch the first time, and the moments of excitement when students were surprised by a result always inspired me. One student wrote in an end-of-the-year survey that she was surprised when she successfully predicted where to place weights to balance a seesaw ruler, and that lab helped her understand equilibrium. Other students wrote that they generally gained more confidence in science and math even if they were not interested in pursuing STEM careers. Reading these comments affirmed to me that undergraduate engagement in West Philadelphia, while not perfect, has value and impact, and wherever I end up, my service experiences will shape the way I do, teach and connect science to society.

—Kevin Chen, CAS ’18

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.

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