September 4, 2018 Volume 65 Issue 3

Sara (Sally) Bachman has been named dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, effective January 1, 2019. The announcement was made by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett.

 “Sally Bachman is an acclaimed scholar, teacher and academic leader,” President Gutmann said. “She is passionately committed to integrating the perspectives and tools of multiple disciplines and professions in research, community partnerships, policy development and education and training activities to strengthen and advance social work, social policy, social change and social justice. She is exceptionally well prepared to lead Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice into this next exciting phase in its growth and evolution.”

Dr. Bachman comes to Penn from Boston University, where she is the Paul Farmer Professor in the School of Social Work, a research professor in the School of Public Health, and the inaugural director of the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health, whose mission is to elevate social work leadership and cross-sector collaboration to promote health, health equity and social justice.

During her tenure as director, she has brought together faculty and experts from social work, public health, global health and other disciplines to advance initiatives that reduce health costs, improve outcomes, enhance the patient experience, promote population health and stimulate health equity nationally and globally. During the last five years, she and her colleagues have garnered nearly $25 million in grant support for their scholarly and outreach activities.

“I am grateful for the exciting opportunity to serve as the next dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice,” Dr. Bachman said. “I am eager to join with President Gutmann, Provost Pritchett, SP2 faculty, students, alumni and others to build on the accomplishments of the school under the exceptional leadership of Dean John Jackson. Together, we will leverage our shared passions, skills and knowledge in the pursuit of social innovation, impact and justice.”

“Sally is a committed and talented educator,” Provost Pritchett said. “She has taught and mentored master’s and doctoral students in social work, public health and health policy. She has been recognized for teaching excellence in public health and social work and was honored by BU’s social work alumni association for her contributions to that school. She has published numerous journal articles with student contributors and co-authors.”

An epidemiologist and expert in social welfare policy, Dr. Bachman earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Bucknell University, where she has remained a committed and engaged alumna, including service as alumni association class president and as a member of the recent fundraising campaign’s executive committee. She earned her master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a doctorate from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. 

She remains deeply connected to the public health and non-profit communities, including serving on the boards of the Massachusetts Dental Society Foundation and the Women’s Lunch Place (a shelter for poor and homeless women in Boston), having earlier served on the boards of Bicycles Against Poverty, Century Health Systems, the Associates of the Boston Public Library and the Natick Visiting Nurse Association.

The selection of Dr. Bachman concludes a global search to identify a successor to John L. Jackson, Jr., who, after serving as dean since 2014, will assume the deanship of Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, also effective January 1, 2019.

“We are all grateful for John’s energetic, committed and inspired leadership,” President Gutmann said. “The School of Social Policy & Practice has enrolled an increasingly diverse and academically accomplished student body, and faculty research programs have grown ever stronger. John also forged partnerships with the Graduate School of Education and the School of Nursing to spearhead the Penn Futures Project, which is improving the lives of young people and their families across Philadelphia.”    

“Sally Bachman is uniquely positioned,” Provost Pritchett said, “to advance the School of Social Policy & Practice’s vision and mission as a leading global center for transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research, education and outreach focused on the most complex and challenging societal questions.”

Provost Wendell Pritchett announced the appointments of Camille Charles and Robert Ghrist as the inaugural Faculty Co-Directors of the Office of Penn First Plus Students.

 “Camille Charles and Rob Ghrist,” said Provost Pritchett, “are two of our foremost faculty leaders in helping our students achieve personal and academic success. They are the ideal people to launch this new office, which will provide expanded programs and support to our low-income and first-generation undergraduates. In the months ahead, they will work closely with me, Vice Provost for University Life Val Cade, Vice Provost for Education Beth Winkelstein and partners across the University to begin the vital work of this office and to conclude our national search for its inaugural executive director.”

Dr. Charles, Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, teaches in the departments of sociology and Africana studies in SAS and in the higher education division of GSE.

A scholar of race, class and urban inequality in the United States, she has focused in particular on research about minorities in higher education, co-authoring Taming the River: Negotiating the Academic, Financial, and Social Currents in Selective Colleges and Universities (Princeton University Press, 2009) and The Source of the River: The Social Origins of Freshmen at America’s Selective Colleges and Universities (Princeton University Press, 2003). Here at Penn, as director of the Center for Africana Studies, she leads the Center’s intensive, weeklong Summer Institute for Pre-Freshmen.

Dr. Ghrist,  Andrea Mitchell University Professor, professor of mathematics in SAS and professor of electrical/systems engineering in SEAS—is one of 22 Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors, the group of intellectual leaders whose work brings together the perspectives of multiple disciplines. He is an award-winning researcher in applied algebraic topology and the 2015 winner of a Lindback Award, Penn’s highest cross-university honor for teaching. He has been a pioneer in teaching calculus through electronic media and a longtime leader in the University’s Pre-Freshman Program, an academically rigorous and intensive four-week summer residential program preceding New Student Orientation. 

The Office of Penn First Plus Students, established in Spring 2018, offers a central, supportive home at Penn where undergraduate students can form a vibrant community, learn more about resources and connect with faculty and alumni. Its inaugural executive director and faculty co-directors—one from a humanities/social science discipline and one from a STEM discipline—will implement new programs, strengthen connections to faculty and alumni and provide a central hub and strategic vision to sustain these efforts.

Provost Wendell Pritchett and Vice Provost for Education Beth Winkelstein announced the appointment of Lisa Lewis as Faculty Director of College Houses and Academic Services, effective July 1, 2018.  

“Lisa Lewis,” said Provost Pritchett, “is one of our great campus leaders in student life. She has lived in college houses for more than a decade, and she has been actively involved in our Campaign for Community and a wide range of other initiatives to advance student wellness and diversity across campus. She is the ideal person to build on the legacy of Dennis DeTurck, and we are enormously appreciative of her willingness to take on this new role.”

Dr. Lewis is associate professor and assistant dean for diversity and inclusivity in the School of Nursing. She has lived in the College House system since 2007 and currently serves as Faculty Director of Gregory College House. Her research focuses on the behavioral management of hypertension among black men, who have a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than other demographic groups. In addition to significant research support from the NIH, she is an inaugural Calvin Bland Fellow, an initiative of the Penn Futures Project to support interdisciplinary research by Penn faculty members that aims to improve the lives of boys and young men of color in Philadelphia. Dr. Lewis was appointed a Penn Fellow in 2015 and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

She earned a PhD in nursing (2002) from the University of Missouri, an MA in nursing education (1998) from NYU, and a BSN (1991) from Syracuse University.

Standing Faculty Awards

There are two recipients of the 2018 SP2 Standing Faculty Teaching Award: Ioana Marinescu and Phyllis Solomon.

Ioana Marinescu, assistant professor and faculty research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research, is an economist who studies the labor market to craft policies that can enhance employment, productivity and economic security. She teaches Economics for Social Policy and Quantitative Reasoning in the MS in Social Policy program. Dr. Marinescu’s research expertise includes online job search, competition in the labor market, unemployment insurance, the universal basic income and employment contracts. Dr. Marinescu’s research has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Labor Economics and the Journal of Public Economics. She is engaged with policy, participating in events at the White House and the State House of Pennsylvania. She writes a monthly op-ed for the French newspaper Liberation.

Phyllis Solomon is the Kenneth Pray Chair Professor and associate dean for research, faculty fellow at the Ortner Center and the Center for High Impact Philanthropy in the School of Social Policy & Practice, and professor of social work in the  department of psychiatry and senior fellow at the Center for Public Health Initiatives at Perelman School of Medicine. She teaches research methods courses to MSW, PhD and DSW students and has a passion for teaching rigorous methods and their application to social work practice. Her research focuses on interventions and service delivery issues for persons with severe mental illness and their families. Her recent research examines issues of family violence for persons with severe mental illness in the US and Japan. She has received numerous awards for her research and teaching, including the Provost’s Award for Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring, Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work & Research and the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Mental Health Policy & Practice from NASW Foundation, to name a few.

Non-Standing Faculty Awards

There are two recipients of the 2018 SP2 Non-Standing Faculty Teaching Awards: Melanie Masin-Moyer and Nadya Shmavonian.

Melanie Masin-Moyer has been in clinical practice for more than 20 years at a non-profit community behavioral health agency, working with individuals and families across the lifespan. Over the past several years, she has devoted her clinical focus to group therapy, which inspired her doctoral work involving group therapy with women with histories of trauma. Dr. Masin-Moyer completed her clinical doctorate in social work in May 2017 at the University of Pennsylvania and began a new role as a full-time lecturer at Penn in August 2017. She received her BA in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and her MSW from Marywood University, where she also worked as an adjunct instructor.

She feels privileged to have worked in partnership with her clients and to be able to share her passion and commitment to the values of social work with her students. She has taught classes in human behavior, research methods, trauma, foundations of practice and advanced clinical practice. She recently completed a NIAAA Fellowship training for social work educators to enhance integration of substance use disorder issues across program curricula. She feels invigorated by her students and is deeply grateful to be able to nurture the next generation of social workers.

Nadya K. Shmavonian is the director of the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund and a partner at SeaChange Capital Partners. The Nonprofit Repositioning Fund is a Philadelphia-based pooled fund of philanthropic partners that encourages and supports mergers and other types of formal, long-term strategic alliances and restructuring opportunities among non-profit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region. SeaChange is a New York-based non-profit merchant bank whose mission is to enable transactions that increase the impact of non-profits while offering leveraged opportunities for funders. In addition to her ongoing management of the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund, Ms. Shmavonian contributes to SeaChange’s national collaboration field building and advisory services and explores potential opportunities for SeaChange to engage in projects in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Ms. Shmavonian served as president of Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) from 2010-2012, where she presided over the responsible dissolution of the organization. She has extensive foundation management experience, having served as vice president for strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation and executive vice president at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she also worked as director of administration and as a program officer in health and human services.

Ms. Shmavonian serves on the boards of many nonprofits and is an SP2 instructor, teaching graduate seminars on non-profit governance. She holds a BA from the University of Chicago and an MBA with a concentration in health care management from Wharton. She was awarded the Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award from Wharton Women in Business in 2011.

On Friday, June 22, Governor Tom Wolf signed the General Fund Appropriations Bill (House Bill 2121) into law, approving a total state general fund budget for FY 2018-2019 at $32.7 billion with an increase in spending of $718.9 million. The Governor also signed House Bill 2246, approving the School of Veterinary Medicine non-preferred appropriation at $31,328,000—a three percent increase over the prior year and the largest appropriation for the school since 2009. Other items of interest to the Penn community in the final budget package include level funding for the Physician Practice Plan line in the Department of Human Services budget, which supports programs in the School of Dental Medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine. Funding distributed via the Commonwealth Universal Research and Education (CURE) fund with revenues from the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement also continues. Penn receives $3-$7 million annually from CURE funding.

Jeffrey Cooper, Vice President of Government and Community Affairs, announces that Hugh O. Allen, Senior Director of Commonwealth Relations, left Penn on July 6, 2018, to become the Chief of Staff of the Pennsylvania Treasury. Mr. Allen led Penn’s advocacy activities involving state and local government since September 2011. Notably, he secured state appropriations for the School of Veterinary Medicine through several challenging fiscal and political crises, overcoming the proposed elimination of the funding in 2017. His colleagues say farewell with great affection.

Vice Provost for Education Beth Winkelstein announces the appointment of Meredith Wooten as Director of the Graduate Student Center, beginning August 31.

Dr. Wooten earned a PhD in political science at Penn in 2013 and served as a Fellow of the Graduate Student Center for her entire time as a Penn student, working in several different areas, including diversity and family programs, and most notably developing the Center’s highly successful Dissertation Boot Camp. 

She has worked for the past four years at the Pennoni Honors College of Drexel University, most recently as Founding Director of the Center for Scholar Development. In this role, she has partnered across the Drexel community to offer skills-based workshops, programs and resources designed to help students make more intentional choices about their educational and professional paths. She also helped found and co-chair the steering committee for First Forward, Drexel’s new initiative to support first-generation college students, and has taught American politics at Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Penn.

In addition to her PhD from Penn, she earned a BA with honors in political science (2002) from Bryn Mawr College.

The Office of the Chaplain and The Spiritual and Religious Life Center (SPARC) introduce two staff transitions: Associate Chaplain Steve Kocher has been promoted to Senior Associate Chaplain, and Sana Saeed has been hired as Assistant Chaplain—a new position in the office. Mr. Kocher’s new role is effective immediately and Ms. Saeed joined the Penn community in August. 

“This title affirms the excellent work that Steve has done at Penn for the last decade helping to grow and sustain religious life, promote wellness, teach and support student life,” Chaplain Chaz Howard said. “I’m pleased that he will take on new oversight and initiatives in the coming months.”

“Steve’s impact has been felt throughout the Penn community through his leadership with our religious communities, his teaching the iBelieve Faith and Service Course, his work with Penn Wellness, serving as an adviser in Student Conduct and SVIO cases,” said the Chaplain.

“Sana will bring a wisdom, compassion and a commitment to community building that will bless not only religious and spiritual life on campus, but the greater Penn and Philadelphia communities as well,” Rev. Howard added. “We’re very excited that she is joining our team.”

A recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Ms. Saeed earned a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University and an MA in peace studies, which she received in Tokyo, Japan. She has experience working in higher education chaplaincy, youth ministry, religious literacy training and consulting.

Religious and Spiritual Life at Penn is dynamic, boasting more than 50 student groups and communities from every major world religion and nearly every movement or sect. The SPARC team also includes office manager and special events coordinator Mary LeCates who leads several office initiatives, including the MLK Commemorative and the University’s Baccalaureate Ceremony.

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, September 12, 2018, 3-5 p.m.

College Hall, Room 205

1. Welcome and introductions (5 minutes)

2. Approval of the Minutes of May 9, 2018 (1 minute)

3. Chair’s Report (5 minutes)

4. Past-Chair’s Report on Academic Planning & Budget, Capital Council, Trustees and

Campaign for Community (5 minutes)

C4C Applications are being accepted at https://provost.upenn.edu/initiatives/campaign/grants

5. Announcements (5 minutes)

    a. Philadelphia Symposium on Research Credibility and Excellence to be held October 15

    b. Alumni Relations Survey: Faculty Participation in Alumni Programming https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dpAU21h0d6PgD7T

6. Discussion and vote on the draft Committee Charges for 2018-2019 Committees (30 minutes)

7. Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures (30 minutes)

    Discussion with Joann Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs and

    Chief Diversity Officer, and Wendy White, Senior Vice President and General Counsel

8. Discussion and recommendations for SEC’s agenda for 2018-2019 (30 minutes)

9. New Business (5 minutes)

From the Office of the University Secretary

Wednesday, September 5, 2018, 4 p.m.

Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall

I.     Welcome. 1 minute

II.    Appointment of a Moderator. 1 minute

III.    Announcement of appointment of a Parliamentarian. 1 minute

IV.    Approval of the Minutes of April 18, 2018. 2 minutes

V.     Follow-up comments or questions on Status Reports. 5 minutes

VI.    Presentation and scheduling of Focus Issues for University Council for the academic year. 5 minutes

VII.   Presentation of the Council Committee Charges. 10 minutes

VIII.  Timing and format of Open Forum sessions. 5 minutes

IX.    Presentation and discussion on Penn’s Year of Why. 15 minutes

X.     New business. 5 minutes

XI.    Adjournment.

PPSA Open Board meetings are open to any monthly-paid exempt University staff.

Meetings take place 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays.

September 13, School of Nursing

October 11, School of Medicine

November 8, Duhring Wing

December 13, Steinberg Conference Center

Jan. 10, Penn Museum, Widener Lecture Room

February 14, School of Medicine

March 14, Duhring Wing

April 11, School of Medicine

May 9, St. Leonard’s Court

June 13, Stouffer College House

If you plan on attending a meeting, contact PPSA at ppsa@lists.upenn.edu

The 2018-2019 PPSA board is as follows:

Chair: Stephanie Yee, School of Medicine

Chair-elect: Nadir Sharif, Stouffer College House

Past Chair: Heather Kelley-Thompson, School of Nursing

Members-at-Large: (2017-2019 term)

Danielle L. Crowl, Office of Student Conduct

Kris Forrest, University Museum

Christine Lowery, Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy

Members-at-Large: (2019-2020 term)

Rudie Altamirano, International Student and Scholar Services, Penn Global

Odell Jones, ULAR

Stephanie Taitano, School of Medicine

J. Patrick Walsh, Faculty Senate

Anne Corcoran-Petela, Wharton

PPSA LISTSERV Manager: Adam Sherr, Student Registration and Financial Services

PPSA Secretary: Hannah Rollings-Cunningham, School of Medicine

PPSA Treasurer: Lauren McDonnell, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research

PPSA Webmaster: Mayumi Hirtzel, Information Systems and Computing

The WPPSA Executive Board invites all non-exempt staff to attend general membership meetings. WPPSA’s scheduled meetings for the fall and spring semesters will be held on Tuesdays,12:30-1:30 p.m., Conference Room 201, B Wing, 3401 Walnut Street.

September 11

October 9

November 13

December 11

January 8

February 12

March 12

April 9

May 14

Chair: Rhonda Kirlew, Administrative Assistant, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics Administrative Affairs

Chair-elect: Thalia Mangan, Administrative Assistant, Office of Student Affairs

Treasurer 1: Lara Fields, Administrative Assistant, Department of Anthropology

Secretary and Treasurer 2: Maureen Goldsmith, Administrative Coordinator, ISC-VP and Administration

Past Chair: Marcus Wright, Undergraduate Program and Communications Manager, Sociology

Danielle S. Bassett, Eduardo D. Glandt Faculty Fellow and associate professor of bioengineering at Penn Engineering, received the 2018 Erdős-Rényi Prize from the Network Science Society (NetSci), which recognizes the achievements of a young researcher working in the field of network science. NetSci noted that “while the achievements can be both theoretical and experimental, the prize is aimed at emphasizing outstanding contributions relevant to the interdisciplinary progress of network science.”

“Receiving the Erdős-Rényi Prize is a clear recognition from her colleagues that Dani is a true pioneer with many significant accomplishments to date and even more ahead of her,” said bioengineering chair Dave Meaney. “She is an amazing role model for all of us.”

Dr. Bassett received the award during NetSci’s International Conference on Network Science this summer where she delivered a lecture on her work, which uses the discoveries of network science to augment our understanding of the complex organization of the brain in a subset of network science known as network neuroscience. These ways of understanding the connections between neurons in a larger system have powerful applications for engineering, neurology and psychiatry.

David F. Dinges, professor of psychology in psychiatry, chief of the division of sleep and chronobiology and director of the unit for experimental psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, has been selected for the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Sleep Research Society (SRS). This is the highest honor the SRS bestows and recognizes significant, original and sustained basic, translational, clinical or theoretical scientific contributions to sleep and circadian research. This award honors a single individual of prominence for contributions over an entire career.

Dr. Dinges, who is also vice chair for faculty affairs and professional development in psychiatry, was selected for his service teaching courses in sleep and chronobiology and conducting research for the past 25 years. His research through his sleep and chronobiology laboratory at HUP, as well as his extensive field studies, have considerably advanced the understanding of the acute, chronic and cumulative effects of sleep restriction and how sleep need and circadian biology interact to affect physiological and neurobehavioral functions in healthy adults. These studies on the effects of sleep deprivation on human cognitive, neurobehavioral and physiological functions, and on the consequences of sleep loss for health and safety—sponsored by NIH, NASA, DoD and DoT—have informed public policies to identify and prevent the effects of inadequate sleep. He has created and validated the psychomotor vigilance test, one of the most widely used assessments for behavioral alertness pertaining to sleep need and circadian timing.

Marybeth Gasman, the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and the founding director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI), has received a $182,000 grant from the ECMC Foundation for the MSI Aspiring Leaders program. With this program, CMSI brings together prominent leaders of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to engage with mid-career aspiring leaders from the education, non-profit and business sectors in an effort to prepare the next generation of MSI presidents.

Matthew Hartley, professor of education, associate dean for academic affairs and founding executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD), and Alan Ruby, senior fellow and senior scholar for AHEAD, have received a $131,000 grant from the Qatar Foundation to support their research examining conceptions of institutional excellence at colleges and universities. The work will involve developing detailed case studies of approximately a dozen institutions in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

Marilyn Howarth, adjunct associate professor of emergency medicine and systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine and director of community outreach and engagement at Penn’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET), was honored by the community organization Chester Environmental Partnership at their recent annual awards dinner for her long-standing involvement with its efforts to protect the environment and safeguard the health of members of the Chester community.

Chester has a number of environmental problems stemming from numerous current and abandoned industrial sites, two major chemical manufacturers, municipal and infectious medical-waste treatment facilities, a trash-to-steam incinerator and heavy automobile and truck traffic.

Dr. Howarth was recognized for providing environmental health expertise on a range of health and environmental justice issues to the Partnership, meeting with industry and regulatory agencies on setting permit standards for emissions and working with medical providers on advising patients on how to avoid exposures to toxicants. She also emphasizes the importance of social factors such as poverty, crime and housing quality in affecting health.

Dr. Howarth is a founding professor of Penn’s Master in Public Health environmental and occupational-health track and provides educational sessions on environmental health topics to community and employee groups.

Frank Matero, professor of architecture and chair of PennDesign’s graduate program in historic preservation, is the recipient of the 2018 Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award. The award recognizes “a sustained record of excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals” and was presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

Mr. Matero also presented at the conference, Ground-Truthing Adobe Ruins: Assessing Vulnerability of Earthen Architecture in a Changing Climate, based on work he leads with PennDesign’s Architectural Conservation Laboratory at Fort Union National Monument, the largest adobe ruin in North America and once the largest US military reservation.

Mr. Matero is founder and editor-in-chief of Change Over Time, an international journal on conservation and the built environment published by Penn Press.

Megan Matthews, assistant professor of chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn, was named a Scialog Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), a foundation that aids basic research in the physical sciences at US colleges and universities. Scialog, an RCSA program, supports cohorts of early-career scientists addressing globally significant challenges, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and high-risk research of untested ideas. The 2018 Fellows will focus on the chemical machinery of the cell with the aim of better understanding cellular processes at the molecular and atomic levels.

Research in Dr. Matthews’ group unites enzymology and chemical biology to develop novel chemical proteomics technologies for the discovery of enzyme cofactors and regulatory post-translational modifications that cannot readily be predicted by gene or protein sequence.

Jonathan Supovitz, professor in the Graduate School of Education and director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), has received a $155,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct a distributed leadership project. The project will identify the research and evidence base for distributed leadership; develop a framework to guide practitioners; and identify tools, resources and technical assistance providers.

Penn’s School of Nursing has been redesignated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHOCC) for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership for an additional four-year term, 2018-2022. In 1988, Penn Nursing earned the designation of being the first nursing school in the country to be named a WHOCC, and the school has been working with the WHO ever since. Penn Nursing commits to advancing the workplan of the Pan-American Health Organization related to human resource development and the sustainable development goals during each four-year cycle of work.

On Monday, August 27, the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 2022 Convocation was held under the summer sky in Blanche Levy Park in front of College Hall. President Amy Gutmann accepted the baton—symbolizing the Class of 2022—from Dean of Admissions Eric Furda. Below are President Gutmann’s remarks to the more than 2,600 incoming students, including freshmen and transfers.

Don’t Just Meet Destiny, Make It

President Amy Gutmann

Members of the Class of 2022: You have arrived!

Transfer Students: Good call!

You come from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and 88 countries around the world.

So let’s hear what that sounds like in action. On the count of three, together, I want you to shout out your state or country of origin. One, two, three!

I don’t think I heard everyone. Let’s try it one more time all together. One, two, three! Good!

I welcome you all to the Penn family. You are a truly unique Class.

Never before in Penn’s history have so many first-year students been born at the turn of the millennium. We will not see a similiar Class for another thousand years. You are truly one-in-a-millennium.

My challenge to you is to mark this historic occasion with a momentous calling. Consider another historic occasion 82 years ago when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Penn’s campus. He addressed a roaring crowd on Franklin Field. “This generation,” he famously declared, “has a rendezvous with destiny.”

Your Class has an even greater calling. We call upon you not just to meet destiny, but to make destiny.

Members of your Class have already begun. After Parkland, you said #NeverAgain and Marched for Your Lives to end school shootings. You formed political action groups for educational reform in Paraguay. You built coalitions here in Philly to improve access to clean drinking water and nutritious food.

Many of you will vote for the first time in the midterm election this fall. The importance of you doing so is impossible to exaggerate. It will be a milestone moment when your generation speaks more powerfully than it has ever done before.

All these engagements underscore my message to you tonight: To truly make destiny, to effect change for the better, no one person goes it alone. We each pursue our own dreams, but we make destiny only together.

Mark this as why we’re gathered here tonight: At Penn, everything we do to make our future better, we do together.

Here’s a historic case in point: A century ago, Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was a brand-new Penn student, fresh out of high school. She earned all her degrees at Penn, becoming one of the first two African-American women in the United States to earn a doctorate.

She found her passion in the law, becoming the first African-American woman to earn a Penn Law degree and the first to be named Assistant City Solicitor for Philadelphia.

In 1946, President Harry Truman appointed her to the nation’s Committee on Civil Rights, which successfully urged Truman to fight against employment discrimination.

Like all of you, Dr. Alexander was clearly a leader, a pioneer who pursued her own destiny no matter the obstacles. “I never looked for anybody to hold the door open for me,” she said. “I knew well that the only way I could get that door open was to knock it down: because I knocked all of them down.”

Dr. Alexander’s story also reveals that making destiny—even for pioneers—is never a solitary pursuit.

Many people at a university, in a city, on a civil rights committee mobilized. Dr. Alexander’s spirit lives on in one of our own, the pathbreaking scholar and teacher Dorothy Roberts, who is the Sadie Alexander Professor of Civil Rights in Penn Law and a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor in Law and Arts and Sciences. She leads the Penn Program on Race, Science, and Sociology. Dorothy’s with us tonight–let’s hear it for her.

Dr. Alexander’s legacy extends to all of us here tonight who prize inclusion and innovation, and to thousands more.

The youngest pursue bright destinies just a few blocks west of here, at a transformative public school named in Dr. Alexander’s honor, created in partnership by Penn, the School District and the teachers’ union.

The stellar achievements of Penn Alexander School students earned the school the highest National Blue Ribbon honor. And I am thrilled to report that two of your classmates are proud Penn Alexander graduates: Jenaye Johnson and Jana Pugsley—let’s hear it for them.    

That’s the best part of making destiny: when you knock down doors, you open them for others.

Each year, a diverse group of Penn seniors win the President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes.

These prizes are open to all graduating seniors. The best proposals receive major funding for year-long post-graduation projects. They are supported from start to finish by caring Penn faculty mentors and staff.

One winning project is called Lanzando Líderes, Launching Leaders. When I first read the team’s proposal, it brought tears of joy to my eyes.

Launching Leaders promotes educational success for immigrant and first-gen Latino students in our South Philadelphia community. Last year, the Penn team—Yaneli Arizmendi Estrada, Alexa Salas and Camilo Toro—one Nursing and two College graduates—mentored dozens of young leaders, helping to prepare them for college.

They found, as you will find, that when you open those doors, the light shines in for so many others. Launching Leaders is empowering immigrant families to make their own destinies.

Yours is a generation—and this is the class—that will bust open so many doors. At Penn, you join us in making destiny, together.

To help you on your way, we believe your momentous calling and your historic Class require special recognition.

Since you are one-in-a-millennium, let’s make it official, have some fun, and bestow a special title upon your Class.

It just so happens I have authority as president to do so, but I still need your help. I’m going to offer three choices of Class title. After I do, I want you to talk to the people around you. Figure out which title you like best.

I will then call on you as a Class to cheer for your favorite. The longest, loudest cheer wins, so build support for your choice fast. OK, here we go.

Your first choice for official Class title is: Destiny Makers.

Your second choice is: Twenty-Two Together.

Your third and final choice for Class title is the most solemn; it’s timeless; and it’s in no way a reference to Drake’s #1 Billboard-topping song or the viral Internet craze it inspired…. That said, for your final choice, get in your feelings: it’s Class Kiki.

I’ll say them one more time.

Destiny Makers. Twenty-Two Together. Or Class Kiki.

Everybody got it? I’ll be coming down to see how you’re doing, then I’ll call the vote. OK? Everybody, go!     

[Dr. Gutmann interacts with students and returns to stage.]

Alright! The time has come to choose. I will say each title one at a time. If that’s your choice, cheer! The loudest cheer will win. So let’s hear it for:

Destiny Makers.

OK, how about Twenty-Two Together.

Finally, what about Class Kiki.

I believe we have a winner! By the power vested in me, and by your own acclaim, I hereby declare you Twenty-Two Together!

May it grace your hashtags, inspire your actions and adorn your T-shirts at Spring Fling.

Tonight’s ceremony embodies what lies ahead. We will work together, we will discover together, we will have fun together. But most of all, here with the best living and learning community you will find anywhere, we will make destiny together.

And what an exciting time it’s going to be!

Welcome to Penn!

Grow Your Purpose at Penn

Provost Wendell Pritchett

As Provost—Penn’s Chief Academic Officer—it’s my great pleasure to welcome you this evening.

It’s been said—and it’s probably true—that there are just two occasions in your four years at Penn that you will all gather together as a class. The first is tonight. The second will be in May—of 2022, when you graduate. (I assume that’s already in your calendars.)

The reason we don’t all gather is not because we don’t have a space big enough. OK, actually, it sort of is. But that’s not the real reason. The reason is that, while each of you is passionate about something, it is not the same thing. You won’t all be in the same lecture hall, attending the same performance or cheering the same football game. You were chosen to be a member of this great Class precisely because you have varied interests, skills and backgrounds.

What I want to talk about tonight—and yes, since I have you all here, let’s just go ahead and call it advice—may seem counterintuitive. I’m not going to stand up here and tell you to only pursue your passion at Penn: to look within, discover what you love to do and then focus on that. Instead, I’m going to ask—or, you know, advise—that you embrace a growth mindset.

A growth mindset posits that we are all continual learners, and the journey is as important as the goal. A growth mindset asks that you not focus on one specific thing but that you embrace new and different things while you’re here. Because that is why you are here. Not to be laser-focused on one subject, class, or grade, but to be broadly educated. To take in the forest and the trees.

The always-quotable Mark Twain said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born—and the day you find out why.” My hope for you is that, in this, Penn’s Year of Why, you will take significant steps in your journey—it will be life-long—to answer that question.

Now, please don’t take this advice the wrong way. I really don’t want to hear from your parents that you emailed them saying “Provost Pritchett just told me I don’t need to be pre-med!” That’s not what I’m saying. By all means, college is a time to pursue your interests and the field or subject you find meaningful. But a growth mindset will allow you to learn about advances in other fields, advances that—in our interdisciplinary world—will be helpful to yours.

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck pioneered the notion of the growth mindset. She is co-author of a new study of undergraduates—one that, I admit, recently popped up in my news feed. This research has discovered that true passion—strong commitment—does not spring from us fully formed: it develops, over time, by being open-minded, by exploring new things and by encountering challenges that need to be overcome.

Let me focus on those things for a moment, because they are both important and relevant to your time at Penn. Let’s talk about those challenges. We are going through a difficult period in human history, a time when intolerance is on the rise. No place, and no campus, is immune. You will grapple with people and ideas you find disagreeable, even objectionable. At Penn, we strive to give everyone a voice: open expression is a cornerstone of academic freedom, and freedom in general, and inclusion is a core value of our community.

There is, of course, a natural tension between being inclusive and promoting open expression. People here are, well, passionate in their opinions. Even people with a growth mindset.

You will certainly be challenged—and possibly annoyed—by ideas you encounter here. That is part of the discovery process. There are all sorts of trees in this forest. Being open minded and willing to listen will help you articulate your own views and your own vision with nuance and clarity and a sense of purpose. You will also be challenged to think, and to learn, in new ways. The work may prove difficult. But let me give you one more piece of advice.

You got this. You got this!

You would not be here if we weren’t confident you will succeed. Success, of course, is rarely a straight line. And I encourage you to approach success with a growth mindset as well: it is more than a 4.0 or an undefeated season. It is friendships and relationships; it is being engaged and involved in groups and activities; it’s making it to the top of the rock climbing wall. And it’s getting a B—or even a B minus—in a class you never even imagined you might take.

In short, it is not just about pursuing your passion. It is about growing your purpose: cultivating meaning in all the varied opportunities you will have here and then doing what brings you joy.

And finally, since I started with Twain, let me quote him again: “The secret to getting ahead—is getting started.”

Members of the Class of 2022: let’s begin.

A Message to the Penn Community,

We hope that all of you enjoyed a wonderful summer break and found many occasions to relax, recharge and spend meaningful time with friends and family. As we head back into this new academic year, we aim to nurture that same sense of balance in our work and play at Penn, as we experience the daily opportunities and challenges of life on campus.

Last year, as many of you know, we created a Wellness at Penn initiative designed to reaffirm our strong shared commitment to the values of wellbeing. Through this initiative, we have heard and been moved by so many stories of your struggles and triumphs. It is more important than ever for all of us to stop, take time and care for each other across the Penn community. This community of caring means that wellness must not leave behind any member of our community, and we must all be open and empathetic about our shared setbacks and growth.

We also continue to think about—and welcome your input on—how best to combine our goals for a community that fosters academic and personal accomplishment with our goals for a community that fosters community through respect, caring and personal fulfillment. We begin by understanding wellness as a holistic, multi-dimensional process, in which intellectual wellness is intertwined with emotional, social, spiritual, physical and other essential forms of personal wellness. Ideally, and with your collective help, we will continue to forge a path that makes Penn a national leader not just in achieving intellectual eminence but also in transforming campus wellness.

Along these lines, we want to update you on our progress in advancing wellness at Penn. First and foremost, we have completed the appointment of the University’s—and the Ivy League’s—first Chief Wellness Officer. Dr. Benoit Dubé, associate professor of clinical psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine, is a highly experienced wellness leader who has been a member of the Penn community for more than 20 years, including as director of wellness initiatives and assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at PSOM.

Dr. Dubé is moving quickly to establish our new Division of Student Wellness Services, which will bring together CAPS, Campus Health, the Student Health Service, and the Offices of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives and Penn Violence Prevention. This integrated unit will aim to create faster access to care, for more students, across a wider range of options. He is leading our national search for a chief operating officer of Student Wellness Services, who will work closely with him and other senior leaders to ensure that we continue to provide the most outstanding and efficient wellness resources.

We are also conducting a national search for a new executive director of CAPS. This leader will oversee the next generation of enhancements to CAPS that emerged from last year’s operational review. These advancements, as we first wrote in April, will increase capacity; decrease the time between a first consultation and a first counseling appointment; better distinguish short-term care, long-term care, and other kinds of wellness care; and expand the availability of phone, video, texting and app-based technologies that can be accessed anywhere, at any time, to support students in crisis. We have already started implementing these changes, making it easier for students to schedule appointments, walk in to CAPS, or talk to a clinician on the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

As the semester moves forward, we encourage all students and faculty to participate in the Take Your Professor (or Mentor or TA) to Lunch Program, which provides free lunches or dinners between students and their professors, mentors, and/or teaching assistants. Last semester, as part of our wellness initiative, we made this program much easier to use, and we were heartened to see the huge number of people who took advantage of it. This is one of the best ways to strengthen our bonds as a community and to build a bridge between our academic and social lives.

 The Chief Wellness Officer, together with the Vice Provost for University Life and our outstanding student-led health and wellness organizations, will soon begin a series of ongoing wellness messages and activities. In the meantime, we welcome your ideas and suggestions to advance wellness at Penn, which can be sent from the home page of the Wellness at Penn website, https://www.wellnessatpenn.com/ Thank you as ever for your partnership in sustaining a healthy and supportive community across every part of our campus.

—Amy Gutmann, President

—Wendell Pritchett, Provost

—Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, Vice Provost for University Life

Benjamin Franklin once wrote,

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.”  
At the beginning of this new school year, what are you doing to keep your well full?

The start of a new school year is the perfect time for all of us in the Penn community to reflect on how we can incorporate self-care into our schedules. It can be difficult for educators and staff members—who focus so much on teaching and caring for others—to prioritize self-care. Cultivating tools and strategies for self-care is important for our lives all of the time and may make it easier to cope in particular times of stress. If you need suggestions for developing self-care strategies, here are a few ideas to consider:

Wellness and Work-Life Balance

Exercise helps reduce stress, increase energy and improve your overall health. Regular physical activity can decrease your risk for serious illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and even some forms of cancer. Consider using the great exercise facilities or taking a class at PennRec. Think about joining a walking club. The Penn Walking Program is open to all faculty and staff and offers a fun way to stay focused on your health by incorporating walking into your schedule when you’re free. If you’re more into Yoga, Zumba or Spinning, Penn Healthy You offers these classes and more for our wellness and work-life balance.

Therapy and Counseling

Penn has many resources for faculty and staff to prioritize your mental health. Penn’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides eligible faculty and staff and their families access to free, confidential, 24/7 counseling and referral services for personal and professional life issues from any location. The Office of the Chaplain/SPARC is also another confidential resource for faculty and staff to access throughout the year. Or perhaps an off-campus resource is the best fit for you. Wherever feels right to you, having someone to talk through what’s going on in our minds and hearts is an important part of wellness.

Take a Vacation! 

Did your vacation days from last year roll over? When was the last time you took a break? It’s easy for us to become over-tasked throughout the year, which can lead to burnout. Remember to schedule a break for yourself in addition to the holidays we already receive. Get it on the calendar now and make plans to go away to the Poconos, go down the shore or have a staycation at home. This is an important and healthy way to model to students when to step back from work and recoup.

Invest in Yourself: Pursue the hobbies you always wanted to do!

Are you interested in learning to cook? Or play the guitar? Or in learning a new style of dance? Hobbies can help with stress reduction, igniting creativity and they can help us explore new social opportunities. This is a great time to start looking into scheduling a guitar tutor, learning how to knit or to enroll in a dance class, which you can add into your calendar for the rest of the year. Take some time to reflect intentionally on which hobbies can help with your personal growth, and invest in yourself.

Mentoring 

Think about connecting with students and mentoring one or two of them this year.  Maybe someone from your hometown or perhaps students who have similar research interests, hobbies or sports interests. Think about how you can encourage and pour into the lives of others this year by mentoring a student. Also, think about finding a mentor for yourself. Mentors are great for folks of all ages and could play a similar role to someone like a life coach for a person contemplating changes in work-life balance.

 These are gentle reminders to schedule time to unplug, eat well and exercise throughout this year as life will inevitably become busier. Pay attention to what your body is telling you, know your limits and make sure to drink lots of water to keep your internal well full.

—The Office of the Chaplain/SPARC

Special Events

6  Party on the Plaza!; Annenberg Center’s kick-off party for the Penn community; 4:30-6 p.m.; Annenberg Center Outdoor Plaza (rain location: Main Lobby); (PennCard required) RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/y8cajknf

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 August 20-26, 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 August 20-26, 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.

08/21/18         4:31 AM          3819 Powelton Ave     Window to vehicle smashed

08/21/18         8:35 AM          3600 Spruce St            Unsecured iPhone taken

08/21/18         10:02 AM        3809 Walnut St           Janitorial supplies taken from basement

08/22/18         1:29 AM          4048 Spruce St            Unsecured violin taken from outside in Penn carrier

08/22/18         8:56 AM          51 N 39th St                Secured bike taken from bike rack

08/22/18         1:32 PM           3400 Spruce St           Female Complainant threatened by male

08/22/18         1:50 PM           4200 Chestnut St        Motorcycle taken

08/22/18         3:05 PM           3401 Walnut St           Fraudulent check deposited into account

08/22/18         6:50 PM           3737 Chestnut St        Firearms violation/Arrest

08/22/18         7:15 PM           3300 Walnut St           Male sold fake concert tickets to complainant/Arrest

08/23/18         12:17 AM        4224 Ludlow St           Unsecured bike taken

08/23/18         3:20 AM          1 S 36th St                  Parole violations/Arrest

08/23/18         12:26 PM         3744 Spruce St          Male consuming food without payment/Arrest

08/24/18         4:43 PM           4000 Walnut St           Offender took currency from complainant

08/24/18         8:57 PM           111 S 40th St              Male struck by unknown person

08/25/18         4:31 PM           4011 Baltimore Ave    Unsecured bikes (2) taken

08/25/18         5:28 PM           3606 Chestnut St        Tip jar taken from counter

08/25/18         8:33 PM           3700 Hamilton Walk   Cell phone taken/Arrest

08/26/18         11:37 AM        3800 Spruce St            Various items taken from unsecured locker

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 11 incidents (2 domestic assaults, 2 indecent assaults, 3 assaults and 4 robberies) with 1 arrest were reported between August 20-26, 2018 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

08/21/18         6:08 AM          44th & Locust Sts                    Robbery

08/21/18         5:03 PM           4400 Walnut St                       Assault

08/22/18         5:45 AM          1230 S 45th St                         Robbery

08/22/18         11:56 AM        4226 Spruce St                        Indecent Assault

08/24/18         4:44 PM           40th & Walnut Sts                   Robbery

08/24/18         6:12 PM           4000 Woodland Ave                Indecent Assault

08/24/18         9:00 PM           3401 Civic Center Blvd            Domestic Assault

08/24/18         9:02 PM           111 S 40th St                          Assault

08/25/18         5:00 PM           414 S 48th St                          Domestic Assault

08/25/18         10:27 PM         3700 Hamilton Walk                Robbery/Arrest

08/26/18         8:39 PM           4600 Sansom St                      Assault

The Penn Bookstore is continuing a major construction project that began in December 2017 with the installation of a temporary staircase to provide an additional means of access to the store’s second floor. During the spring and the summer, work included the renovation of the store’s restrooms; the refurbishment of its elevator; and the transformation of the cafe into a fully-licensed Starbucks offering a wide range of coffees, to-go meal options, increased seating capacity and the ability to use the Starbucks Mobile App.

The next phase of the project is aimed at upgrading the store’s escalators and will entail the complete disassembly, removal and replacement of its current two escalators. The anticipated completion date is February 2019.

The planned work is essential to improving the reliability and serviceability of the escalators—­the original manufacturer of the equipment that was used in the 1999 installation has ceased operation and, as such, replacement parts are difficult to obtain and maintenance workers are less familiar with the mechanics of the particular model.

Recognizing the important role that the Bookstore plays in campus life, the project has been strategically planned to minimize the impact on the Penn community. The work has been divided into separate periods so as not to impede major University events such as Commencement and Move-In. Given the magnitude of the required work, however, there will be impacts during other activities, such as Homecoming and Family Weekend.

The project’s schedule seeks to maintain the Bookstore’s regular operating hours for the entirety of the project; however, on some days, an earlier evening closing at 8 p.m. (normally 9:30 p.m.) may be required. Temporary partitions will allow the project to move forward while easing any disruption to the shopping experience, merchandise will be relocated from impacted areas and Bookstore staff will be ready to assist customers in finding any repositioned items. The events space at the Bookstore will continue to be available. The current elevator will remain in operation throughout the project and the new staircase will also be an option for visitors to use.

The project will necessitate some street closures, which will occur during low traffic periods. Work will be scheduled to limit noise to certain hours.

The timeline is as follows:

September 13, 2018 to Mid-January 2019—Escalator removal and replacement.

February 2019—Removal of temporary stairs.

Mid-May 2019 to Mid-August 2019—Refurbishment of flooring, fixtures and other enhancements.

Questions regarding this project may be directed to bsd-info-bsd@pobox.upenn.edu

Dear Penn Community,

Thank you for your spirit of volunteerism. Many benefit from your willingness to share. We receive many expressions of gratitude from community members and agencies we have partnered with. The University community continues to work toward being good neighbors in our shared community.  We thank you for your overwhelming support and for your generosity.

Let us help you volunteer. The following are activities available to the Penn community:

Become a Mentor in the Penn Workplace Mentoring Program: Encourage 7th graders from a local school to do well in school. Talk to them about the importance of college. Share your area of expertise in your job with them and help them to think about their futures. Make a difference in the life of a young person! Mentors meet with students once a month from September to May. All sessions are held on Penn’s campus. Training is held in September. Volunteer today.

Join the Penn Team for: Making Strides of Philadelphia: Sunday, October 28, 8 a.m. Cooper River Park. There will be a planning meeting in September. Send your e-mail to be placed on the list.

Leftover conference bags, T-shirts, pens, etc.? Donate them to Penn VIPS.  We will share them with school children and members of the community.

Contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.