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Ad Hoc Advisory Committee for New Director of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics

Provost Wendell Pritchett and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli have announced and will co-chair an ad hoc advisory committee to advise them on the appointment of a new Director of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics. Grace Calhoun, who has served as the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics since 2014, will leave Penn on April 19 to become Vice President for Athletics and Recreation at Brown University.

The members of the committee are:

  • Mamta Accapadi, Vice Provost for University Life
  • Yash Bhargava, C’21, chair, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
  • Sean Burke, Associate General Counsel
  • Karin Corbett, Lois S. Leitner Head Coach, Women’s Lacrosse
  • Amalia Dache, associate professor, Graduate School of Education
  • Kelly Diaz, President, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
  • James H. Greene, W’72, chair, Athletics Board of Advisors
  • Trevor Lewis, Vice President for Budget Planning and Analysis
  • Catherine O’Hern Lyons, C’86, member, Athletics Board of Advisors
  • Joann Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer
  • Ray Priore, George A. Munger Head Coach, Football
  • Paul Schmidt, professor of biology; NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative

The work of the committee will be supported by Associate Provost Lynne Hunter, working with Daniel Parker of Parker Executive Search.

Confidential nominations and applications can be sent to danielparker@parkersearch.com.

2021 Lindback and Provost’s Awards

2021 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching

Health Schools

caption: Amy C. Durham, diplomate ACVP, associate professor of anatomic pathology, Penn Vet  caption: Angela M. Ellison, associate professor of pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine    caption: Helen E. Giannakopoulos, associate professor, department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Penn Dentalcaption: Salimah H. Meghani, professor of nursing and term chair of palliative care; associate director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, Penn Nursing

Non-Health Schools

caption: Peter Fader, Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor of Marketing, Whartoncaption: David F. Meaney, Solomon R. Pollack Professor of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science    caption: Melissa E. Sanchez, Donald T. Regan Professor of English and Comparative Literature and core faculty of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, School of Arts and Sciences  caption: Kevin T. Turner, professor and chair of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, School of Engineering and Applied Science

2021 Provost’s Awards

For Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring

caption: Chenoa Flippen, associate professor of sociology, School of Arts and Sciences  caption: Randall Kamien, Vicki and William Abrams Professor in the Natural Sciences and professor of physics and astronomy, School of Arts & Sciences. Photo courtesy of the Archives of the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach.

For Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty

caption: Keith W. Hamilton, associate professor of clinical medicine, division of infectious diseases; director of undergraduate medical education, department of medicine; co-director of internal medicine clerkship, Perelman School of Medicine; director of antimicrobial stewardship, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvaniacaption: Asuka Nakahara, practice professor of real estate and associate director of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center, Wharton School

Lindback and Provost’s Teaching Awards Virtual Celebration

All members of the University community are invited to a virtual reception honoring the recipients of the 2020 and 2021 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Awards for Distinguished Teaching, the Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty, and the Provost’s Award for Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring on Monday, April 26 at 5 p.m. For Zoom access, please register for this event at: https://pennprovostevents.wufoo.com/forms/k18yv5o10oiilrb/.

Of Record: Salary Guidelines for 2021 - 2022

The University of Pennsylvania’s merit increase program is designed to recognize and reward the valuable contributions of faculty and staff to the University’s commitment to the highest levels of excellence in teaching, research, and administration by paying market competitive salaries in a fiscally responsible manner. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of financial uncertainty and has had a significant negative impact on the University’s financial position. Even with financial uncertainty, the University will provide a merit increase pool of 2.0 percent. With this in mind, the following guidelines are recommended.

Faculty Increase Guidelines

Below are the standards for faculty increases that the Deans are asked to follow. The Deans will give the department chairs their own guidelines at the School level regarding available resources.

  • The minimum academic salary for new assistant professors will be $74,050.
  • Merit increases for faculty should be based solely on performance as evidenced by scholarship, research, teaching, and service to the University and the profession. As in previous years, there will be no cost of living increase for continuing faculty.
  • The aggregated merit increase pool for faculty will be 2.0 percent. Some Schools and Centers may have financial constraints that can only support budget growth of less than 2.0 percent. Salary increase recommendations that are below 1.0 percent for non-meritorious performance, as contrasted with general limits applied to an entire class of faculty, must be made in consultation with the Provost. Likewise, salary increases that exceed 4.0 percent must also be made in consultation with the Provost. Deans may wish to give careful consideration to salary adjustments for faculty who have a strong performance record but whose salaries may have lagged behind the market.

Staff Increase Guidelines

Presented below are the merit increase guidelines for July 1, 2021.

  • This year’s aggregate salary increase pool is 2.0 percent for staff. The merit increase range is zero to 3.0 percent.
  • Monthly, weekly, and hourly paid staff members are eligible for a merit increase if they are regular full-time, regular part-time or limited service status employees, and were employed by the University on or before February 28, 2021. The following groups are not covered under these guidelines: student workers, interns, residents, occasional and temporary workers, staff on unpaid leave of absence, staff on long term disability, and staff who are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
  • The merit increase program is designed to recognize and reward performance. The foundation of this program is the Performance and Staff Development Plan. Salary increases should be based on performance contributions within the parameters of the merit increase budget. The Performance Appraisal System documents each employee’s performance and contributions and establishes performance goals for the new fiscal year. All employees must receive Performance and Staff Development Plans for the next review cycle whether or not they receive merit increases. Schools and Centers are requested to submit performance appraisals by June 1, 2021. The Division of Human Resources’ Staff and Labor Relations team is available to discuss performance management issues.
  • Merit increases should average no more than 2.0 percent for staff and may average less if a School or Center establishes a lower percentage merit pool based on financial considerations. The aggregated salary increases within a School or Center may not exceed 2.0 percent regardless of performance rating distributions. Performance expectations should be raised each year as employees grow in experience and job mastery. Performance ratings and raises should reflect a normal distribution for all employees. Employees with unacceptable performance are not eligible for a merit increase.
  • There will be no bonuses, in keeping with the elimination of discretionary bonuses announced in prior years.
  • The Division of Human Resources Compensation office is available to discuss specific merit increase parameters with Schools and Centers. Staff and Labor Relations team members are available to discuss performance management issues.

—Amy Gutmann, President
—Wendell Pritchett, Provost
—Craig Carnaroli, Executive Vice President

Deaths

Donald Montabana, ISC

caption: Donald MontabanaDonald Joseph Montabana, a former senior IT director of ISC Central Computing, passed away due to complications from COVID-19 on March 14. He was 75.

Mr. Montabana was born and raised in Bridgeport, CT. He attended Lycoming College, where he received a BS in physiological psychology, then earned a MS from Brown University in the same field.

His career with the University of Pennsylvania began in 1972, when he joined the School of Medicine. First he was a clinician in the department of medical ophthalmology, then, a year later, he joined the department of environmental medicine, conducting biomedical research on the effects of elevated and reduced atmospheric pressure on vision. In 1987 Mr. Montabana joined ISC’s Computing Resource Center as a computer and information systems specialist; six years later, he was promoted to department director of the Computing Resource Center, and in 1997, to senior IT director. Mr. Montabana also served Penn as interim IT director for the Technology Training Group, Penn Vet, Penn Dental, and the Office of Software Licensing, where he spearheaded the redesigns of their existing infrastructure and future technology direction. In 1996, Mr. Montabana was involved with a Task Force to Restructure Computing Services Across Penn, and he was a recurring voice in Almanac issues of the 1990s, giving computer users advice on how to deal with viruses.

Mr. Montabana joined Penn’s 25-year club in 1997, then left Penn in 2000 to pursue an opportunity with Akamai Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the director of global customer care. He and his team provided technical support for some of the largest online events at the time, including livestreams of Apple and Microsoft product introductions. He left Akamai in 2006 to return to academia—this time as director of client support services for the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, Mr. Montabana led the school’s web development, software engineering, licensing, computing resource management, training, support, and security staff prior to his retirement and return to the Philadelphia area in 2008.

Mr. Montabana is survived by his ex-wife, Barbara; his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; and grandchildren, Kathryn, Miles, Benjamin, and Ezra.

Donation in Mr. Montabana’s memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Governance

From the Senate Office: Faculty Senate Executive Committee 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, April 7, 2021
3:00–3:50 p.m. EDT

  1. Finalize Meeting Minutes:
    • SEC meeting, February 10, 2021
    • Faculty Senate Meeting, March 17, 2021
    • SEC meeting, March 17, 2021
  2. Chair’s Report
  3. Past Chair’s Report
  4. Moderated Internal Discussion
  5. New Business
  6. Adjourn and transition to BlueJeans Events for Faculty Senate Seminar:
    Climate and Sustainability at Penn (4-5:30 p.m.)
    Registration: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/register/wtzkqexa
    All faculty and students are welcomed.

University Council March Meeting Coverage

The University Council’s Wednesday, March 24 meeting was held virtually. President Amy Gutmann stated that the University has a stable financial outlook given the circumstances. President Gutmann then introduced Trevor Lewis, Vice President for Budget Planning and Analysis, who gave a presentation on the University’s Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2021.

Mr. Lewis discussed Penn’s pandemic response, which has focused on the assessment and mitigation of risks, implementation of polices to ensure health and safety, reduction of controllable expenses without adversely affecting the University’s mission, the provision of increased revenue for strategic investment, and other efforts to position the University for an uncertain future. While there are ongoing challenges ahead, such as the post-pandemic transition and economic and political uncertainty, Mr. Lewis said some positives include enrollment stability, strong investment performance, and the vaccines’ impact.

Provost Wendell Pritchett thanked everyone for all their hard work over the course of the pandemic, from which the University community will emerge stronger. He then introduced Barbara Hewitt, Executive Director of Penn Career Services, who gave a presentation about the department’s remote services.

Dr. Hewitt said that Career Services’ fully remote operations include student appointments, drop-ins, and document reviews; virtual workshops; various social media and newsletter communications; career fairs; employee-student interviews; and job and internship postings in a wide range of fields. Dr. Hewitt reported that 2020 undergraduate employment outcomes were similar to the year prior with almost 74% finding full-time employment, compared to 77% in 2019. Forty-nine percent of respondents reported having found their full-time positions with the assistance of Career Services.

Bruce Lenthall, Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Jamiella Brooks, associate director of the center for Teaching and Learning, then presented on initiatives to support “education in this moment.” The center has built on its existing to provide programs that faculty members need and students value. Dr. Brooks indicated that helping faculty create a belonging framework in their courses is key to inclusive teaching. She stated that the center’s inclusive and equitable teaching programs are available to a broad range of campus stakeholders.

Anne Papageorge, Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services, presented the FY2020 annual report on the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0. She reviewed progress being made on the seven initiatives of the plan—academics, utilities and operations, physical environment, waste minimization and recycling, purchasing, transportation, and outreach and management. This year’s Climate Week will take place from September 20-26, 2021.

Melissa Goodall, inaugural senior director of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, presented on the Initiative and reported that its mission is to catalyze solutions to significant real-world environmental challenges. To do so, the Initiative brings together scholars, leaders, practitioners, students, and community members around climate action, stewardship of nature, and societal resilience, including equity and inclusion.

The next meeting of the University Council will be on April 21, 2021. For more information, visit https://secretary.upenn.edu/univ-council.

Honors

Recognizing Outstanding Penn Staff Members with 2021 Models of Excellence Honors

The University’s Models of Excellence program continues to recognize the remarkable staff contributions to the University’s mission as a global leader in education, research, and public service. After a challenging year, Penn is proud to honor the professionals who exemplify the dedication, care, and innovation that helped our community persevere during the pandemic.

This year, Penn coworkers and colleagues nominated a record number of individuals and teams for Models of Excellence Program awards. From this pool, 23 outstanding teams and individuals from schools and centers across the University were chosen to receive 2021 Models of Excellence honors. Together, these 262 staff members embody the best in Penn community accomplishment.

This year’s honorees are listed below in four categories: Models of Excellence, Pillars of Excellence, Model Supervisor, and a special category, Sustaining Penn Through COVID-19.

In April, each Models of Excellence, Pillars of Excellence, Model Supervisor, and Sustaining Penn Through COVID-19 award-winner and winning team member will receive $500 and a symbolic award. Staff members who have earned Honorable Mentions will receive $250 and a symbolic award.

—Division of Human Resources

2021 Models of Excellence Honorees

Models of Excellence

The Models of Excellence Award recognizes staff member accomplishments that reflect initiative, leadership, increased efficiency, and a deep commitment to service.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) I CARE Team
Batsirai Bvunzawabaya
Amelia Cason
Heather D. Frost
Jane E. Kotler
Sonya Meora
Marian Reiff
Michal Saraf
Alaina Spiegel
Chérie M. Stanford
Alyssa Steglik
Alice Wang
Bibi Abeeda Warnauth
Derik Yager-Elorriaga
Peter Zamora

Jean-Pierre Dolle, Perelman School of Medicine

International Student and Scholar Services Team (Penn Global)
Rodolfo “Rudie” Altamirano
Jaclyn Billek
Julia Carboni
Marianna Chiaravalloti
Chao-Hung Chung
Riley Cook
Aaron Debruin
Aaron Fuccello
Chiwei Huang-Ma
Traci Martin
Nile Miller
Amanda Phipps
Melinda Pontes
Juan Serrat
Shyrmaine Sin
Jeremy Spohr
Donna Steinfeldt
Ryan Villanueva
Huan Yang
Lily Zhang

Darren Johnson, Perelman School of Medicine

The Workday Transformation Initiative Team
Victor Adams, Division of Finance
Kalyani Bala, Information Systems and Computing
Christopher Blickley, Information Systems and Computing
Joanne Blythe, Human Resources
Nick Braciszewski, Information Systems and Computing
Erin Brown, Human Resources
Ernesto Chieffo, Information Systems and Computing
Brian Clark, School of Arts and Sciences
Lara Cohen, Information Systems and Computing
Stacey Collins, Information Systems and Computing
Bob Dugan, Perelman School of Medicine
Helena Gibbons, Information Systems and Computing
Tamika Graham, Human Resources
Charles Harvey, Information Systems and Computing
Sneha Kamat Satoskar, Information Systems and Computing
Julia C. Kec, Information Systems and  Computing
Michelle Kenney Shears, Provost’s Center
Jeanine M. Kleba, Information Systems and Computing
Beth Knaul, Division of Finance
Michelle Lai, Perelman School of Medicine
Andrew Lashin, Information Systems and Computing
Janet Lind, Information Systems and Computing
Tracey L. Longs, Information Systems and Computing
Bill MacDonald, Information Systems and Computing
Gina A. Marinilli, Information Systems and Computing
Mary Ellen McCusker, Information Systems and Computing
Lynn Meaney, Perelman School of Medicine
Julie Meyer, Information Systems and Computing
Danielle M. Modzelewski, Information Systems and Computing
Ravi Musuku, Information Systems and Computing
Rosemary Nissley, Information Systems and Computing
Julie Orts, Provost’s Center
Bridgid Panas, Information Systems and Computing
Louise Pedraz, Human Resources
Ann J. Perch, Wharton School
MaryAnn Q. Piccolo, Division of Finance
Claudia Quinton, Human Resources
Staccee Ramey, Information Systems and Computing
Erica Schulke, Information Systems and Computing
Julie Shuttleworth, Health and Wellness
Elisa Spiewak, Information Systems and Computing
Susan Sproat, Human Resources
Brent Taylor, Information Systems and Computing
Nicole Torsella Harris, Human Resources
Ann White, Information Systems and Computing
Lisagail Zeitlin, Information Systems and Computing
Nico Zigouras, Information Systems and Computing

Models of Excellence Honorable Mentions

Morris Arboretum’s Youth and Visitor Education Programs Team
Lisa W. Bailey
Liza Hawley

Off-Campus Virtual Housing Fair Team
Stanley Drake
Linda Kromer
Jennifer Miller

Sonja M. Ogden, Perelman School of Medicine

Pillars of Excellence

The Pillars of Excellence Award recognizes the important support Penn’s weekly-paid staff members provide to promote the University’s mission.

Anabel Bernal Estrada, School of Arts and Sciences

Pillars of Excellence Honorable Mentions

Kevin Calvert, University Museum
Irene Clements, School of Engineering and Applied Science

Model Supervisor

The Model Supervisor Award honors supervisors who are effective and productive leaders for the University.

Patrick Bredehoft, Development and Alumni Relations

Model Supervisor Honorable Mentions

Meghan L. Blair, Perelman School of Medicine
Adina Lieberman, Perelman School of Medicine
Sarah Grady, Wharton School
Karen J. Hamilton, Wharton School

Sustaining Penn Through COVID-19

This year’s special Sustaining Penn Through COVID-19 category shines a light on individuals or teams who contributed directly to creating extraordinary outcomes for the Penn community. The category focuses on maintaining life-sustaining on-campus services and support, delivering mission-critical programs and services working from home, finding new ways to work safely onsite, and improving the morale and well-being of students, staff, and faculty at a time of need.

Penn Open Pass Team
Dawn Augustino, Information Sciences and Computing
Joy Azikiwe, Human Resources
Greg Barendt, Perelman School of Medicine
Madeline Bell, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Corey Brooker, Information Sciences and Computing
Sean  Burke, President’s Center
Matt Carmody, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Meghan Cartafalsa, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Stephen Cunha, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Nathanael DiGiorgio, Perelman School of Medicine
Patrick Dolan, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Kathleen Faucett, Information Sciences and Computing
Jennifer Feldman, President’s Center
Amy Graber, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Kai Gray, Health and Wellness
Kyle Gurganious, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Ashlee Halbritter, Health and Wellness
Victoria Iannotta, Facilities and Real Estate Services
William Ihlenfeld, Perelman School of  Medicine
Raj Iyengar, Perelman School of Medicine
Michael Kelty, Health and Wellness
Albi Kohen, Perelman School of Medicine
Cristina Kossak, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Dorothy L. Leung, Perelman School of  Medicine
Gina A. Marinilli, Information Sciences and Computing
Patrick McTeague, Perelman School of Medicine
Joe Mihalich, Division of Recreation and  Intercollegiate Athletics
Donna Milici, Information Sciences and Computing
Amy A. Miller, Information Sciences and Computing
Elika Molayi, Perelman School of Medicine
Maureen O’Leary, Provost’s Center
Warren Petrofsky, School of Arts and Sciences
Amy Phillips, Information Sciences and Computing
Paula Pritchett, Human Resources
Jackie Recktenwald, Health and Wellness
Scott Schafer, Audit Compliance and Privacy
Joshua Seeherman, Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics
Julie Shuttleworth, Health and Wellness
Mark Siciliano, Information Sciences and Computing
Lauren Steinfeld, Audit Compliance and  Privacy
Vanessa Stoloff, Health and Wellness
Daniel L. Thomas III, College Houses and Academic Services
Kristofor Varhus, School of Engineering and Applied Science

VPUL Technology Services Team
Charles Bears  
Eric Bowden  
Robert J. Butler  
Weining Guo  
Gregory Kinter  
Nasrin Mani  
Steven Rosato  
Mary Spada  
Jordan Springer 

Sustaining Penn Through COVID-19 Honorable Mentions

DRIA Wellness Support Team
Joseph Haughey
Erica Hildenbrand
Michael Martin
Keith Maurer

Meghan K. Mahony, Division of Finance

PSOM Ready Mission Continuity and Pandemic Response Team
All members of the Perelman School of Medicine unless noted.
Marianne Achenbach
Antonyo Adams
Anne-Cara Apple
Greg Barendt
Michael B. Barron
Charles H. Bears II
Christopher Blackwell
Johnnie Bullock
Marty Burke
Michelle Caraway
Du’Wayne Coleman
Joseph Davis
Jsemal Davis
Anna Delaney
Michelle Dolce
Derrick Dow, Provost’s Center
Bob Dugan
Myra Fishburn
Kevin Flanigan
Stephen Frank
Lori Freda
Susan Fry
Charles Gant
John Hallman
Val Hardy
Chuck Haughton
Dorothy Hunter
Raj Iyengar
Judy Jackson
Patricia Johnson
Darren Johnson
Michael Johnson
Zephaniah Jones
Odell Jones, Provost’s Center
Michelle Lai
Dorothy L. Leung
Tracey L. Longs, Information Systems and Computing
Michelle McCarthy
Lynn Meaney
Elika Molayi
Sean Moore
Victoria Mulhern
Namrata Narain
Adiodun Ogunleye
Maureen O’Leary, Provost’s Center
Ellis Otto
Susan R. Passante
Jennifer Pereira
Dana Pinckney, Facilities and Real Estate Services
Syd Redmond
Tamaira Rhodes
James Riley
Christopher Romanowski
Herminio Rosario
Lorri A. Schieri
Philip Swierc
Stephanie Taitano
Shirley J. Taylor
Eric M. Weckel
Willie Williams

Residential and Hospitality Services Operations Continuity Team
All members of Residential and Hospitality Services unless noted.
Karen Barnes
Jeffrey Barta
Mary Bearden
Douglas Berger
Edwin Berrios
Lynnea Carrington, Business Services
Nathan Cockrum
Mark Cordova
Nayadis Couce
Kristin Cummings
Courtney Dombroski
Stanley Drake
Eleni Driza
Melissa Dunlap
Jeremy Estrada
Paul Forchielli
Rebecca Golpe
Renee Hadam, Information Systems and Computing
Scott Hammell
Lauren Haynes
Paul Kilbride
Patrick Killilee
Mark Knob
Linda Kromer
Pamela Lampitt
Christina Lester
Thomas MacDonald
John Macri
Michelle T. Majeski
Tessa Joy Mansell
Stephen Maurer
Jennifer Miller
Alexandra Morales
Ted Morrin
Katie Musar
Oluwaseyi Oniyide
Petra Ortiz
Jane Pablos
Cornell Pitt
Grace Reilly
Max E. Reyes-Rosario
Michelle Ruggia
Marc-Anthony Serrano
Maya H. Smith
Maureen Stanton
Miranda Stewart
Maurice Taylor
Tara Tobin
Bryan Wilkinson
Alketa Katie Xhori

Team Moving & Supporting Penn’s Educational Enterprise Online
Jamiella Brooks  
Megan Carr  
Sara De Mucci  
Emily Elliott  
Afuah Frimpong  
Bruce Lenthall  
Anna Miller
Jessica Morris  
Ian Petrie  
Sherri Place  
Rebecca Stein  
Catherine Turner  
Oscar Whiteman 

Wellness Team’s COVID-19 Response Efforts
Ashlee Halbritter
Julie Shuttleworth

Visit the Models of Excellence website to learn more about this year’s honorees and to learn how you can nominate a coworker for this prestigious award.

Harold Berger: Philadelphia City Council Resolution

caption: Harold BergerJudge Harold Berger, EE’48, L’51, a member of Penn Engineering’s Board of Advisors, received a special Philadelphia City Council Resolution recognizing his public service and contribution to academia and the national legal community. This resolution recognizes Judge Berger’s many achievements and involvements, including his service as Chair of the National Committee on the Federal and State Judiciary of the Federal Bar Association, his service as a Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia and his Special Service Award of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges.

In 2019, Judge Berger was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Commitment Award of Penn Law, which further highlights his dedication to the legal community. His involvement as a member of the Executive Board of Penn Law’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and his National Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who in America and Marquis Who’s Who in American Law are among the achievements recognized through this special resolution.

Brenda Casper: Fellow of the Ecological Society of America

Brenda B. Casper, professor of biology and chair of the department of earth and environmental science, has been elected a fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The Society’s fellowship program recognizes the many ways in which its members contribute to ecological research and discovery, communication, education and pedagogy, and management and policy. Elected members have made outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA, advancing and applying ecological knowledge in academics, government, non-profit organizations, and the broader society. Members are elected for life.

The Casper plant ecology lab’s research is wide-ranging, with recent projects focusing on the responses of plants and soil microbes to various stresses including climate change, soil contaminants, and the inhospitable environment of coastal sand dunes. The ESA cited Dr. Casper’s decades of contributions to ecological understanding in plant reproductive ecology, population biology, and foundational work in plant-soil feedbacks; mentoring and training experimental ecologists; and leadership positions enhancing science communication and undergraduate education.

ESA established its fellowship program in 2012 with the goal of honoring its members and supporting their competitiveness and advancement to leadership positions in the Society, at their institutions, and in the field.

James Corner: American Academy of Arts and Letters

caption: James CornerProfessor emeritus James Corner, MLA’86, a renowned landscape architect and urban designer who is founder and CEO at James Corner Field Operations, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The honor is widely considered the highest form of recognition of artistic merit in the United States.

“Jim has been a major force in both design theory and landscape architecture practice, and his teaching at Penn was central to that,” said Fritz Steiner, dean and Paley Professor at the Weitzman School.

Richard Weller, professor and chair of the department of landscape architecture and Martin and Margy Meyerson Chair of Urbanism, said, “Jim lit up the field with his writings on ecology, urbanism, and design and then went on to build seminal projects such as the High Line and Freshkills Park in New York.”

Mr. Corner is one of just 29 newly elected members for 2021—along with Barbara Kingsolver, Wynton Marsalis, and Faith Ringgold—and one of only six architects. Membership in the Academy is limited to 300 architects, visual artists, composers, and writers who are elected for life by vote of the existing membership and pay no dues.

Since earning his master of landscape architecture degree at Penn in 1986, Mr. Corner has devoted the past 30+ years to advancing the field of landscape architecture and urbanism, primarily through his leadership on high-visibility, complex urban projects around the world, as well as through teaching, public speaking and writing. At Penn, he has served on the faculty in the department of landscape architecture since 1989 and was the chair from 2000 to 2012.

Mr. Corner is the fifth Penn-affiliated architect elected to the Academy. He and the other new members and honorary members will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters during its virtual award ceremony on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m.

Karen Glanz: NIH Working Group

caption: Karen GlanzKaren Glanz, the George A. Weiss University Professor in the School of Nursing and the Perelman School of Medicine and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Integration Working Group.

The working group is Congressionally mandated to identify and recommend strategies for a more robust and focused NIH commitment to behavioral science research and training. The charge of the NIH BSSR Integration working group is to assess the current status of BSSR in NIH supported research and training and identify existing processes that should continue or be enhanced, and prepare a report including recommendations on ways to encourage greater BSSR integration and relevance to the research supported across the NIH.

“One reason I was invited to serve on this group is that I’ve served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Advisory Council for the past four years,” said Dr. Glanz. “The organizers were interested in having senior behavioral/social science researchers who are also familiar with how planning and funding decisions are made at the various Institutes. I’m excited to have this opportunity to contribute to improving the quality and scope of BSSR sponsored by the NIH.”

Katrin Hinrichs: Honorary Doctorate from Ghent University, Belgium

caption: Katrin HinrichsGhent University in Belgium has presented an honorary doctorate to Katrin Hinrichs, whose pioneering research in the field of equine assisted reproductive technology (ART) has transformed the state of equine reproductive practice around the world. Dr. Hinrichs is the chair of the department of clinical studies at New Bolton Center and the Harry Werner Endowed Professor of Equine Medicine at Penn Vet.

Ghent University’s honorary doctorate degrees recognize individuals for their exceptional scientific and social merits. Dr. Hinrichs was recognized on March 19 during Ghent University’s Dies Natalis 2021 ceremony, held virtually.

In their citation, the university praised Dr. Hinrichs for her achievements in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and other ARTs in horses.

“Assisted reproduction in horses is puzzling scientists. For some unknown reason, the easiest and fastest way, in vitro fertilization (IVF), does not work in horses,” the university said in its citation. “That there is an alternative is largely due to the pioneering work of Professor Katrin Hinrichs.”

Dr. Hinrichs joined Penn Vet in March 2020 after 22 years at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

As a leading international authority in equine ART, Dr. Hinrichs has significantly advanced understanding of equine oocyte maturation, fertilization, and early embryonic development. This foundational knowledge led her lab to develop and report on major advances that have revolutionized equine assisted reproduction, including oocyte retrieval, in vitro oocyte maturation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in vitro embryo development, preimplantation diagnosis, and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

“I find Katrin’s vision enormously refreshing,” said Ann Van Soom of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent and promoter of the honorary doctorate. “You don’t meet many people like that in the research world: someone who is so open and thinks along with you.”

Kellie Ann Jurado: Linda Pechenik Montague Investigator Award

Kellie Ann Jurado, Presidential Assistant Professor in the department of microbiology, has been awarded the Fiscal Year 2021 Linda Pechenik Montague Investigator Award. The award was created in 2013 by philanthropist Linda Pechenik Montague to support the work of some of the most promising mid-career research faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine. It provides a total of $100,000 to spend toward research program advancement and is applied within a two-year period.

Adam Konkol and Abigail Timmel: Churchill Scholars

caption: Adam Konkolcaption: Abigail TimmelAdam Konkol, C’21, G’21, and Abigail Timmel, C’20, G’20, have each been awarded a Churchill Scholarship for a year of graduate research study at the University of Cambridge in England. They are among only 16 nationwide selected as 2021-2022 Churchill Scholars.

The scholarship is considered one of the most prestigious and competitive international fellowships available to American students planning graduate study in the United Kingdom. Churchill Scholars are chosen from select universities nationwide in the disciplines of science, mathematics, and engineering.

Mr. Konkol is majoring in physics, biophysics, biochemistry, and mathematics and is submatriculating for a master’s degree in physics. Interested in the shapes and structures of living matter, he has studied physical and life sciences through the Vagelos Program in the Molecular Life Sciences. At Cambridge, Mr. Konkol will pursue a master’s degree in applied mathematics and theoretical physics.

Ms. Timmel graduated in December with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in physics. Since the summer of 2019, she has been conducting theoretical condensed matter research with Eugene Mele, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics, developing a theory for electronic phenomena in one-dimensional moiré heterostructures. She has two published papers, including one as first author with Dr. Mele. At Cambridge, Ms. Timmel will pursue a master’s degree in physics.

Perelman School of Medicine Recent Accolades

Jean-Christophe Beltra, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of E. John Wherry, director of the Penn Institute of Immunology, was named a 2021 Parker Scholar. The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy’s Parker Scholars program supports graduate students and researchers entering their first postdoctoral appointment focused on high-impact, high-risk projects. Dr. Beltra works to unravel the role cytokines play in CD8 T cell exhaustion. As a post-doc in Dr. Wherry’s lab, he described new subsets of exhausted CD8 T cells and the complex process that leads to their exhaustion, which was published in the journal Immunity in 2020. He is now focused on determining how cytokines can be guided and fine-tuned into a more effective combination partner with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

Torrey Creed, an assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Penn Collaborative for CBT and Implementation Science, and Gregory Brown, a research associate professor of clinical psychology in the department of psychiatry and director of the Penn Center for the Prevention of Suicide, were selected to join Psych Hub’s inaugural Scientific Advisory Board. Psych Hub is an online educational platform on mental health. Drs. Brown and Creed join 11 other experts in finding solutions to some of behavioral health’s more pressing issues, including establishing quality metrics and integrating evidence-based practices throughout the continuum of care.

Maria Geffen, an associate professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology, and Jay Gottfried, the Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professor and a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor in the departments of neurology and psychology, were awarded a $300,000 “New Initiatives Grant” from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation, a supporting organization of the Pittsburgh Foundation. The grant will assist with exploring how the brain synthesizes information from sound and smell. This work will establish the basis for a new collaboration between the Geffen and Gottfried laboratories, setting the stage for an in-depth research program that will signal a paradigm shift in how to study mechanisms of multisensory integration, not only for sounds and smells but also for combinations among all of the senses.

Stacey Kassutto, director of Internal Medicine Residency Simulation Education and the associate program director for Ambulatory Pulmonary Fellowship Education, received the Emerging Educator Award from the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors. This achievement award honors up-and-coming clinician-educators for their work in delivering and promoting medical education in pulmonary and or critical care medicine at the local and regional levels. APCCMPD is the national association of program directors for all the pulmonary and critical care fellowships in the country.

David Oslin, a professor of psychiatry and executive director of the Stephen A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Penn, was awarded the 2020 John B. Barnwell Award from the Department of Veteran Affairs Office of Research and Development (CSR&D division)—the organization’s highest honor for outstanding achievement in clinical science research. Dr. Oslin received the award for scientific contributions that change clinical practice for veterans. Dr. Oslin is the director of the VISN 4 Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), and chief of behavioral health at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center. In addition, he is a core investigator at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP). His research has focused on two main areas: the development and implementation of measurement-based care practices and the application of genetics to clinical care in order to bring precision mental health care to veterans and others.

Asad Usman, an instructor in anesthesiology and critical care and a NIH T32 Fellow, received the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists’ Early Career Investigator Award for his research on rescue transesophageal echocardiography. He recently had his pilot work, titled Pre-Trial Logistical Run-up to the Rescue Transesophageal Echocardiography for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (ReTEECA) Trial, accepted for presentation. This award is designed to motivate physicians early in their training to pursue their interest in research that investigates topics in cardiac, thoracic, and vascular anesthesia and disease. Dr. Usman’s abstract has been accepted for presentation at the SCA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting & Workshops on Sunday, April 25, 2021.

Howard Stevenson and Nancy Hornberger: National Academy of Education

caption: Harold Stevensoncaption: Nancy HornbergerThe National Academy of Education (NAEd) announced Friday that Penn GSE’s Howard Stevenson and Nancy Hornberger have been elected to join the National Academy of Education.

Dr. Stevenson, the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, is a nationally sought expert on how racial stress and racial trauma can affect every stage of life. He is the executive director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative, a research, program development, and training center that brings together community leaders, researchers, authority figures, families, and youth to study and promote racial literacy and health in schools and neighborhoods.

Dr. Hornberger, professor emeritus of education, is internationally known for her work in bilingualism and biliteracy, ethnography and language policy, and Indigenous language revitalization. She researches, lectures, teaches, and consults regularly on multilingual education policy and practice in the United States and the Andes (Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador) and has also worked in Brazil, China, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, and other parts of the world.

“Howard and Nancy have made unparalleled contributions to research and practice that have positively impacted young people, their families, and the field of education more broadly,” said GSE Dean Pam Grossman. “I am delighted that they have been selected for this prestigious honor.”

Drs. Stevenson and Hornberger will be elected along with 20 other new members at NAEd’s November Annual Meeting.

AT PENN

Events

Human Resources: April Programs

Professional and Personal Development Programs

Open to faculty and staff. Improve your skills and get ahead in your career by taking advantage of the many development opportunities provided by Human Resources. Register at http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu/.

Resilience and Well-Being Workshop (Week 3); 4/8; noon-1:30 p.m. The Resilience and Well-Being Workshop Series for Penn faculty and staff will present core resilience and well-being skills you can use in your personal and professional lives. During each 90-minute workshop, you’ll learn how each skill contributes to resilience and well-being and participate in group exercises with colleagues to explore the content together. We hope that this series provides you with new tools to bolster your resilience and well-being and enhance your relationships at work and at home.

Assertiveness Skills; 4/20; 12:30-1:30 p.m. You may experience situations when you need to use assertiveness to complete a task, goal or project. In this class, we will identify personal blocks to assertiveness, identify both assertive and non-assertive language and behaviors, and learn ways to use assertiveness in everyday situations.

Work-life Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. These free workshops, sponsored by Human Resources, offer information and support for your personal and professional life. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Webinar: Living Debt Free; 4/1-4/30. Is your wallet full of credit cards, but low on cash? Are most of your paychecks already spoken for in the way of debt payments by the time payday rolls around? Many people are burdened with the debt they are struggling to pay every month—car payments, student loans, medical bills, credit cards payments, and so on. This webinar is an interactive session that teaches how to break the chain of debt, so participants can start building wealth and enjoying life. We will walk you through the process step by step, so you can begin the journey to living debt-free.

Virtual Workshop: 6-Week Mindfulness Course—Positive Momentum; 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10; 12:30-1:30 p.m. This 6-session mindfulness course offers participants an opportunity to practice calming and effective awareness activities adapted by Jennifer Schelter of the Best of Philly­—recognized Radiant Retreat—your fullest gifts, self-care, and creativity retreat. Sessions will begin with a brief guided meditation to feel present. Following this mediation, participants will experience a short journaling exercise to clarify your most cherished gifts or current goals (health, career, community, relationship, etc.). The group will also discuss how to apply mindful awareness to everyday life for greater ease, natural evolution, and self-development. The session will conclude with a simple body scan, visualization of successes, and a communal gratitude circle. No experience necessary. Participants must attend all 6 sessions to earn 30 BITK (Be in the Know) Bonus Action Points.

Call Up Calm Mindfulness Workshop; 4/6; 12:30-1:30 p.m. In these uncertain times, it’s essential to release fear and step into the calm. This call is offered for participants to have the opportunity to be led in guided meditation, practice letting go of stress, fear, and anxiety, and be present to having courage, and resilience. The guided meditations will focus on breath, letting go of negativity and fear, and allowing oneself to feel inner reserves of strength, clarity, and intentionality. No experience necessary.

Preparing to Care for an Aging Parent; 4/7; noon–1 p.m. With a longer lifespan, it’s more likely we are going to need assistance.  This is why it’s extremely important to prepare financially and understand the roles and responsibilities of caregivers. During this workshop, sponsored by MetLife, you will learn about:

  • What it means to be a caregiver in today’s world
  • Different types of care and the options to receive care
  • Legal and financial considerations
  • Planning tips and available resources

Webinar: Removing the Man-Can’t Myth; 4/13; noon-1 p.m. Moms and dads have been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, experiencing equal amounts of stress, despite stereotypes. Dads today are “all in” and more emotionally and physically involved at home than ever before. Josh Levs, an expert on modern dads in the workplace, will share how men can engage on issues of gender equality and diversity, how they can become co-champions for change, and strategies to offer work-life balance for both women and men.

Radical Resilience Discussion Group; 4/13; 2-3 p.m. This event offers participants in our previously held Radical Resilience Workshops the opportunity to re-connect and discuss the content and their experiences with this topic further in a small group setting. We’ll review resources and content briefly, ask participants to continue to share takeaways, and respond to questions. The size of the group will be capped at 15. If more participants are interested, additional times will be scheduled.

Guided Mindful Meditation; 4/23, 4/30; 12:30-1:30 p.m. This workshop is for participants to practice present moment awareness with kindness and compassion. During the first part of our practice, we will begin with a guided meditation focusing on the breath. The second half of our session will focus our attention on a guided exploration of the body, bringing awareness to the different areas of the body, and allowing ourselves to experience how each part feels, without trying to change anything. No experience necessary. All warmly welcome.

Women and Investing with PNC; 4/27; 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. This seminar addresses specific financial issues that women face—because women and men may be affected differently by demographic factors and often have different perspectives on money. We’ll examine the challenges women face at each stage of life, from their first job through retirement, and discuss investment strategies for each stage to help you achieve specific goals throughout your life and plan for expenses in retirement.

Maximizing the Campus Visit; 4/28; 12:30–1:30 p.m. Virtual or in-person, the concept of information gathering about colleges and universities has changed during the pandemic. We will offer tips, suggestions and share resources as you and your family make “visit” plans.

Stress Management; 4/29; 12:30–1:30 p.m. It is natural to become stressed when the demands on time and energy have become too great. This can happen both at home and at work and can severely limit productivity and effectiveness. This workshop shows the physiological stages of stress development and its harmful effects on the body. It also addresses the defining symptoms and different sources of stress. This useful information is incorporated with helpful stress relievers and imagery techniques.

Penn Healthy You Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. From expert nutrition advice to exercise and wellness strategies, we can help you embrace a healthy lifestyle. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Chair Yoga; 4/7, 4/21; noon-1 p.m. Chair yoga is a more moderate form of yoga that is done while sitting in a chair or using a chair for support. You get the same benefits of a regular yoga workout (like increased strength, flexibility, and balance) but don’t have to master complex poses. Chair yoga can even better your breathing and teach you how to relax your mind and improve your well-being. Ready to give it a try? Don’t worry about your experience or flexibility—chair yoga can be modified for all levels! This workshop will be led by Judith Glass from UPHS.

Gentle Yoga; 4/9; noon–1 p.m. Let your body reward itself with movement! Join us for this Gentle Yoga session and explore the natural movements of the spine with slow and fluid moving bends and soft twists. During this session, you will flow into modified sun salutations that loosen those tightened muscles and joints of the lower back, neck, shoulders, and wrists. And as an added bonus, you’ll get a workout in the process. To maximize the benefits, we encourage you to use a mat and props.

HIIT Strength; 4/14; noon–1 p.m. Come for a 45-minute High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout! Each week will be a different sequence of exercises, with a focus on strength training. This short workout will be a full-body blast guaranteed to leave you sweating!

Taking Care of Your Emotional Well-Being; 4/15; 12:30–1:30 p.m. This presentation is designed to build awareness of overall emotional well-being and provide tools to identify stressors and signs. We will discuss the stigma surrounding mental illness, what emotional health is, review signs, symptoms, and behavior changes, and share resources for those seeking help. We will also debunk myths of depression and suicide and discuss ways to help someone you may be concerned about by referring to EAP and professional resources.

Bodycombat; 4/16; noon–1 p.m. This fiercely energetic cardiovascular workout program is inspired by martial arts and draws from a wide array of disciplines such as Karate, boxing, Taekwondo, Tai Chi and Muay Thai. Tone and shape muscles while burning major calories!

—Department of Human Resources

The 30x30 Challenge: Penn’s Month-Long Outdoor Program

The 30x30 Challenge is an effort to encourage the Penn community to get outside, learn about local ecology, and appreciate the beauty of nature. Join Penn’s 30x30 Challenge and challenge yourself to spend at least 30 minutes outdoors in nature each day for all 30 days of April. The challenge runs from April 1-30.

Did you know that Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, according to the EPA? Over the last decade, researchers have been documenting what many of us know intuitively—that nature is good for our health and well-being. Regularly immersing yourself in a natural setting—like a park, forest, or field—can reduce stress while boosting immunity, energy levels, and creativity

For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/penn30x30.

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for March 15-21, 2021. 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 for the dates of March 15-21, 2021. 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.

03/15/21

8:14 AM

3925 Walnut St

Merchandise taken without payment

03/15/21

2:18 PM

3945 Chestnut St

Unsecured packages taken from vestibule

03/19/21

11:04 AM

University Ave & Civic Center Blvd

Boyfriend struck complainant in the face

03/19/21

11:17 PM

3440 Market St

Offenders took currency from store at gun point

03/20/21

11:51 AM

3744 Spruce St

Disorderly conduct by offender/Arrest

03/20/21

8:55 PM

3925 Walnut St

Merchandise taken without payment

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 4 crimes against persons (1 assault, 1 aggravated assault, 1 dating violence, and 1 robbery) were reported for March 15-21, 2021 by the 18th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.

03/16/21

9:56 AM

600 S 41st St

Assault

03/17/21

1:54 PM

3900 Woodland Ave

Aggravated Assault

03/19/21

11:04 AM

S 34th St & Civic Center Blvd

Dating Violence

03/19/21

11:57 PM

3440 Market St

Robbery

Bulletins

Excellence Through Diversity Fund: Call for Proposals—April 30

Provost Wendell Pritchett and Vice Provost for Faculty Laura Perna have announced this year’s call for proposals for the Excellence Through Diversity Fund. The Fund provides resources for innovative projects by Penn faculty that advance diversity and inclusion. Penn faculty with the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor, in any track, are eligible to apply.

The Fund may support various types of projects, including:

  • Implementation of Schools’ strategic plans to diversify and enhance the climate for faculty and student populations
  • Research on topics related to diversity and inclusion
  • Projects that foster and support diversity on campus
  • Projects that involve collaborations across disciplines and traditional boundaries of academic work

Projects may include cross-school research, conferences and events, large-scale faculty development work, and projects that assess the climate for diversity and inclusion at Penn. Priority will be given to projects that address current issues, promote notable collaborations, and foster new understandings of diversity and inclusion.

Proposals are due, by email, to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty by 5 p.m. on April 30, 2021.

For more information, please see the complete Call for Proposals. For questions, please contact Lubna Mian at mian@upenn.edu.

Call for Applications: Health Communication Postdoctoral Fellow

The Health Communication and Equity Lab (HCEL), based at the Annenberg School for Communication, examines inequalities in marketing, media, and message effects across diverse populations. Its research informs the design of culturally responsive communication interventions to advance the health and well-being of health disparity populations. HCEL is accepting applications for a postdoctoral fellowship to begin in June 2021. The focus of this fellowship is on health communication strategies to address tobacco-related health disparities. The initial appointment is for one year with the possibility for renewal.

The research fellow will gain skills and expertise to be successful as an independent investigator. The research fellow will work closely with Andy Tan, PI of HCEL, to implement a current NIH-funded research project to design and evaluate culturally-tailored anti-smoking health messaging for young adult sexual minority women. Qualifications include a doctoral degree (or earning the degree by the start date) in health communication, public health, health promotion, or related social and behavioral sciences. Candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups that are underrepresented in health-related research, are strongly encouraged to apply.

Interested candidates should submit their CV, three letters of reference, and a cover letter to Andy Tan (andy.tan@asc.upenn.edu). Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

One Step Ahead: Don’t Fall Victim to Stimulus Scams

One step ahead logo

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

Part of the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides supplemental payments to individuals and families. As with tax refunds and other federal programs, these payments are highly attractive to scammers.

Be alert: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury formally refer to these payments as “Economic Impact Payments” (EIP). Official communications never call them “stimulus checks” or “stimulus payments.”

Protect yourself against being scammed out of your economic impact payment!

Do:

  • Track your economic impact payment at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. This IRS tool gives you the status of your payment and how it is being distributed: via direct deposit to your banking account, paper check, or debit card delivered by postal mail.
  • Contact your bank directly for any questions about direct deposit and when your payment will be credited to your account.
  • Contact the Internal Revenue Service if your banking information or postal address has changed.

Don’t:

  • Respond to email or social media posts claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS never uses email or social media to contact individuals.
  • Give out personal or banking information to anyone who claims to get you a bigger or quicker payment.
  • Supply any personal information to a third party to verify an EIP check or debit card prior to use. The IRS will never ask you to verify your personal or bank account information via email, social media, or SMS text message.

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.

Penn Video Network Transitions to Streaming Model

On August 1, 2021, Penn Video Network’s traditional coaxial television (CATV) will transition to a 100% streaming model. This change is necessitated by Comcast’s mandate to discontinue all campus television coaxial service by August 1, 2021. Penn Video Network’s coaxial CATV service will remain in operation through July 31, 2021, after which it will go dark.

Residential users—students, faculty, and staff living in College Houses, Sansom Place, and GreekNet Houses—should access television programming through Xfinity on Campus streaming, already in operation. Residential users can connect to Xfinity on Campus via browser or the Xfinity Stream app, available on select wireless and mobile devices. Setup, programming information, and more can be found on our website: https://www.upenn.edu/video/.

Non-residential users will access television programming through X1 for Hospitality streaming, a new service offering delivered via a proprietary set-top box, provided by Comcast. Each X1 set-top box requires a dedicated power outlet and Ethernet port, and connects to a television via HDMI. Current billing rates for non-residential locations will remain the same after the transition. If they have not already done so, non-residential clients should confirm their decision to transition from Penn Video Network coaxial campus television (CATV) to the new X1 for Hospitality streaming model no later than March 30, 2021, by contacting ISC Client Care at help@isc.upenn.eduhttps://www.isc.upenn.edu/help, or (215) 898-1000.

For more details regarding the transition to all-streaming, see our informational website at https://www.upenn.edu/video/transition-to-streaming.html.

Talk About Teaching & Learning

Teaching a Project-Based Class During a Pandemic

Deborah A. Thomas

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, we had been talking in our undergraduate committee meetings about how to introduce students to a field that is largely unfamiliar to them, while also getting them to think about how knowledge is created and how that knowledge is both solidified and challenged over time. Because most students arrive to universities from high school without any formal background in the discipline, they often don’t have a sense of what anthropology is. And those undergraduates who have had some contact with anthropology often understand the field as the study of “other” people. However, as part of broader decolonizing initiatives, we decided that I would rework my “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” course in a way that reflects how I have always taught the course. In other words, I have always read and taught against our “canon” in ways that expose the colonial underpinnings of our discipline, even while teaching the classics. The new course, Anthropology, Race, and the Making of the Modern World, would be explicit about its critical inquiry. What I ultimately wanted them to take away from the course was a sense that anthropology should be oriented toward generating a better understanding of how power has worked in the past and the present, and how this power is related both to what we know and how we know what we know. On top of this, I wanted to design the course as a project-based learning experience.

The goals of the class were as follows: 1) students would come to understand the foundations of capitalist modernity (Indigenous dispossession and genocide, and African dispossession and slavery), and would be asked to think about how these foundations shape our knowledge of human difference, as well as the political mechanisms through which inequalities are produced, reproduced, and challenged; 2) students were to learn the various approaches anthropologists have had toward the concept of race, and how these have developed over time; 3) students were to come to an understanding of the issues involved for museums in terms of collecting, exhibiting, and research in relation to objects acquired through, and as a result of, native dispossession and imperialism, and would learn about how people in a range of museum and academic contexts have worked toward repair and repatriation; and, 4) students would research, develop, and construct the website for the conference Settler Colonialism, Slavery, and the Problem of Decolonizing Museums, which will take place at the Penn Museum in October 2021. This conference is designed to bring together the North American conversations about native dispossession and the European conversations about imperialism in order to think through the particular and conjoined legacies of these historical (and contemporary) processes.

Things were starting to shape up nicely, and then the pandemic started. I wasn’t sure how to proceed with a project-based course in a virtual, mostly non-synchronous world. In a panic, I reached out to one of my kids’ former middle school teachers, Noelle Kellich, an expert in project-based learning. Noelle’s support, in conjunction with the mini-course offered over the summer by the Center for Teaching and Learning, helped me to devise ways to create a sense of community for students that would build over the semester as they worked in teams on the website project, and to help them to track their own progress toward our learning objectives.

I worked with three fantastic TAs (Chrislyn Laurore, Pablo Aguilera Del Castillo, and Chris Green) to divide our class of sixty students into twenty groups of three, who would work on the five discussion posts I assigned throughout the course of the semester. These posts were tied to readings, but not in instrumental ways. In other words, I wasn’t asking them to mine their class assignments for the “right” answer to a set of questions, but instead offered the opportunity for them to think creatively from the readings in order to imagine how the knowledge they gained from them might be applicable to problem-solving more generally. For example, after reading about the fraught history of collection and representation within ethnographic museums, and about the monuments that had been so contested over the summer in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, I wanted students to think about what repair could look like. I asked them to describe a monument they would develop (either materially or ephemerally) that would take a reparative stance on a particular location, event, or process. I asked them where it would be, what it would be made of, who it would be for, and how they would want people to react to it. The “monuments” students developed were incredible! One group decided to replace the faces on Mount Rushmore to build a Black Hills Memorial to represent the Native Americans who owned the land before the U.S. government broke its treaty with the Sioux tribe to build the national monument. Another decided to memorialize two victims of unethical medical research: Henrietta Lacks, the African American woman whose cells were used without consent to research not only the cervical cancer with which she was diagnosed, but also the development of drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease, polio, and leukemia; and the African-American Tuskegee airmen who went untreated for syphilis as doctors studied its progression in their bodies. For Lacks, they would plant a living garden of flowering dogwoods, the Virginia state tree, to represent her hometown of Roanoake, and for the airmen they would plant a field of longleaf pines, the Alabama state tree, which would represent the victims from Macon County. Another chose to change the faces on American paper currency in order to represent Native American, LGBTQ, and African-American leaders.

Because the course was asking students to probe more deeply into the things they took for granted as social goods (the Enlightenment, capitalism, development), I wanted them also to articulate what they were learning on a weekly basis so they could track their change over time. Noelle suggested students write a weekly short “message” in the following format: “I used to think _____, but now I know ______.” These were addressed to their TAs, but I would also look at them from time to time to get a better sense of the topics that were capturing their attention and turning on their lightbulbs. Because they were working on a group project, Noelle also recommended a weekly self-evaluation in which they considered whether in any given week they felt they did more, less, or about the same amount of work than their colleagues.

For the final project, groups were joined together to work on the website in teams. Some were in charge of developing annotated bibliographies for panelists, some did a podcast with the keynote speaker, some developed a timeline about the Penn Museum (its acquisitions and repatriations), and some developed resource lists (they themselves came up with the idea of a conference playlist, and a video playlist!). I also asked them to individually produce a final assessment in a form of their choice (a paper, a short film, an audio recording, a series of drawings, etc.), in which they reflected on the process of the course, on their own working and learning styles, on their group’s collaborative process, and on history and the production of knowledge about people around the world. One of the students, Lily Coady, expressed her new understanding in a short film, one that is simultaneously hysterical and poignant, and that encapsulates the creativity and critical thinking I hoped they would unleash.

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Deborah A. Thomas is the R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology in the department of anthropology and Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography.

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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