January 31, 2023 Volume 69 Issue 21

On January 25, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill announced that John L. Jackson, Jr. has been selected to serve as Penn's Provost, effective June 1, 2023, following ratification by Penn’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Jackson is currently the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and the Richard Perry University Professor. He was previously dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice and senior advisor to the Provost on diversity at Penn.

“John Jackson is one of Penn’s most respected and accomplished academic leaders,” said President Magill. “He is an acclaimed scholar who has had extraordinary success in recruiting outstanding faculty, in leading innovations in teaching and learning, and in building an exceptional educational experience for students. John is a superb fundraiser who has raised the profile of both schools that he has led at Penn. I know he will guide Penn to even greater heights.”

Dean Jackson becomes the thirty-first Provost in Penn history and was selected following an international search. His predecessor as Provost, Wendell Pritchett, returned to the faculty in 2022 after his service as Interim President before the arrival of President Magill. Beth A. Winkelstein has served as Interim Provost since July 2021 and will return to her role as Deputy Provost. “Dr. Winkelstein has been an exceptional Interim Provost,” said President Magill. “She has established herself as a trusted partner and problem-solver to her colleagues. Her steady leadership and unwavering commitment to Penn, especially during COVID and the presidential transition, have been invaluable. All of us at Penn are deeply grateful for the leadership she provided.”

Dean Jackson earned his BA in communication (radio/TV/film) from Howard University, completed his PhD in anthropology from Columbia University, and served as a junior fellow in Harvard University’s Society of Fellows before becoming an assistant, then associate, professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University. He joined the faculty at Penn in 2006.

An urban researcher, media ethnographer, anthropologist of religion, and theorist of race/ethnicity, Dean Jackson’s work also explores how film and other non-traditional formats can be effectively used in scholarly research projects. Dean Jackson is one of the founding members of CAMRA, a Penn initiative that creates visual and performative research projects and produces rigorous criteria for assessing them.

Dean Jackson was Penn’s first Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) professor, one of the University’s most distinguished chairs. PIK University Professors hold appointments in two or more schools, using their positions to build bridges between disciplines through collaboration. He is currently a faculty member at Penn’s new Center for Experimental Ethnography, and he has affiliations with Penn’s departments of Africana studies and anthropology, as well as with the Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Policy & Practice.

“I could not be more honored and genuinely humbled to be asked to serve in this important post,” Dean Jackson said. “I look forward to working closely with President Magill and the entire Penn community as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of today and prepare, together, for the ones that will emerge tomorrow.”

As Provost, Dean Jackson will oversee teaching, learning, research and student life across the University, as well as such core areas as admissions, arts, athletics and recreation, libraries, online learning, and global initiatives.

“The Provost’s responsibilities are far-reaching and have a profound impact on the success of the University,” said President Magill.

President Magill noted that Dean Jackson is also currently chairing the Red and Blue Advisory Committee, which is leading a community-wide effort to inform the strategic next steps for Penn. The recommendations from the committee will be submitted to President Magill and will underpin the framework for Penn’s future. “John is a true university citizen who has brought bold, collaborative, and creative leadership to this effort. He is well poised to lead as we begin shaping the future academic priorities of our University,” said President Magill.

In making the announcement of Dean Jackson’s appointment, President Magill thanked J. Larry Jameson, Penn Medicine EVP and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, who chaired the consultative committee for the Provost search, as well as all the members of the committee: “Dean Jameson and the consultative committee did stellar work,” said President Magill. “Their efforts helped ensure that we had a talented and diverse pool of candidates to consider.”

A filmmaker and urban anthropologist, Dean Jackson is the author of Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America (University of Chicago Press, 2001); Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity (University of Chicago Press, 2005); Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness (Basic Civitas, 2008); Thin Description: Ethnography and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (Harvard University Press, 2013); Impolite Conversations: On Race, Politics, Sex, Money, and Religion (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2014), co-written with Cora Daniels; and Televised Redemption: Black Religious Media and Racial Empowerment (NYU Press, 2016), co-written with Carolyn Rouse and Marla Frederick. He is also editor of Social Policy and Social Justice (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).

His most recent films include Bad Friday: Rastafari after Coral Gardens (Third World Newsreel, 2012), co-directed with Deborah A. Thomas, and Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Random Media, 2021), co-directed with Nora Gross and co-executive produced with E. Patrick Johnson.

The search for Dean Jackson’s replacement as dean of the Annenberg School will begin immediately, and details will be provided to the University community in the near future.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) announced on January 24, 2023 that it will no longer submit data for participation in the U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) annual “Best Medical Schools” rankings.

The decision was announced in a memo to faculty, staff, and students from J. Larry Jameson, dean of PSOM and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System. Citing concern that the “rankings perpetuate a vision for medical education and the future physician and scientist workforce that we do not share,” he emphasized the PSOM’s focus on innovation and impact and shaping the future of medicine as more important cornerstones for measuring the school’s reputation.

“The USNWR measures encourage the acceptance of students based upon the highest grades and test scores,” Dean Jameson said. “Yet, we strive to identify and attract students with a wide array of characteristics that predict promise. The careers of transformative physicians, scientists, and leaders reveal the importance of other personal qualities, including creativity, passion, resilience, and empathy.”

Penn Carey Law School also recently announced that it would withdraw from the USNWR law school rankings. Several other top medical schools have recently taken similar steps regarding the medical school rankings.

Dean Jameson noted that transparent, external evaluations are an essential part of how PSOM serves its many stakeholders, from prospective students to the patients in our communities and across the world who rely on the physicians and scientists the school trains. These data both assist medical school applicants as they consider the path to their future career, and help schools continuously improve in preparing students to practice within the ever-evolving field of medicine.

PSOM remains committed to providing objective information about key elements of its operations and performance, including the type of data previously shared with USNWR, which will be included on PSOM's admissions website. School leaders also plan to work with peer and academic medical affinity groups to develop new and better measures of evaluation which are a more accurate, inclusive measurement of a school’s quality.

Progress on construction of a solar energy project, completion of a carbon footprint for Penn’s real estate holdings, and the first purchase of carbon offsets for Penn’s air travel are significant achievements for progress towards the goals of the University of Pennsylvania’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 that were completed in FY22, said Penn Sustainability.

Penn Sustainability has just released the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY22 Annual Report, based on data and metrics for fiscal year 2022 gathered from across many academic and administrative units at the University. The Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY22 Annual Report documents Penn’s progress against the goals of the 2019 Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (CSAP 3.0), tracking metrics in academics, utilities & operations, physical environment, waste minimization & recycling, purchasing, transportation, and outreach & engagement.

“As we close out the fourth year of this five-year plan on our road to sustainability, we mark significant progress with all campus partners, and particularly celebrate our movement forward with our Power Purchase Agreement, and a plan to offset University air travel,” said Anne Papageorge, senior vice president of Penn’s Division of Facilities & Real Estate Services (FRES). “With this FY22 sustainability report, Penn continues to provide public, transparent reporting of our sustainability initiatives.”

This report offers an annual, comprehensive, graphic, and concise presentation of progress in key performance areas during the previous fiscal year. Some FY22 highlights include:

Academics

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand tracking and reporting of student enrollment in sustainability-related majors, minors, and concentrations.

FY22 Progress: 4,695 students enrolled in sustainability related courses in the 2021-2022 academic year. Of these courses, 2,041 students participated in sustainability-focused and 3,742 students participated in sustainability-inclusive courses, as determined by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Utilities & Operations

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Reduce Penn’s overall carbon footprint towards its 2042 carbon neutrality goal.

FY22 Progress: In FY22, Penn reduced overall emissions by 45% and reduced building-related emissions by 45% compared to the 2009 baseline year. Construction began on the solar energy project that is part of Penn’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Two new solar energy facilities will be built in central Pennsylvania, from which Penn will purchase all the electricity produced—an amount equal to approximately 70% of the total electricity demand of the academic campus and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Physical Environment

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Continue to improve the sustainability of penn’s real estate holdings.

FY22 Progress: Penn Sustainability has worked with the Center for Environmental Building & Design (CEBD) and FRES to quantify emissions for the real estate footprint. Penn Sustainability also created a flow chart for utility data to begin to identify where the carbon emissions from real estate can be quantified. FRES will use this information to continue promoting sustainable practices in its buildings.

Waste Minimization & Recycling

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Increase Penn’s overall waste diversion and minimize waste sent to landfills.

FY22 Progress: Penn Sustainability, in partnership with Urban Park and Penn Housekeeping, created a waste precinct map to help better understand and disseminate building waste and recycling data to identify strategic opportunities for increased diversion. A truck with a scale has been obtained to start collecting monthly data for open top trash and recycling dumpsters.

Procurement

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Encourage purchasing of low- or zero-emissions vehicles; establish a plan to reduce Penn’s carbon emissions from air travel.

FY22 Progress: As of July 1, 2021, Penn integrated an additional fee into travel booking costs to generate funding to offset Penn’s air travel carbon emissions through purchased offsets. The fees go to the Travel Sustainability Fund, which invests in best-fit sustainability projects to fully offset the carbon impacts of the University’s air travel. Penn has purchased 4,336 MTCDE of carbon offsets to offset the 11,872 domestic and international flights taken in FY22.

Transportation

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Improve energy efficiency of parking and transportation facilities and fleet composition.

FY22 Progress: For the first time ever, Penn Transportation has purchased four electric vehicles that will be used as passenger vans in the coming year. This purchase will produce a minimum 13-MTCDE reduction per van per year, totaling a 53-MTCDE or more reduction for the four-van electric fleet annually.

Outreach & Engagement

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand and strengthen existing outreach programs.

FY22 Progress: Penn Sustainability hosted Earth Week from April 18-23, 2022, with nearly 50 in-person, virtual, and interactive events planned by students, schools and centers, and partner organizations on campus and in the community.

A Look Ahead

Penn Sustainability and Penn’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC) will begin work on the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 4.0, by examining progress to date and evaluating new imperatives in the action against climate change. The new plan will be released in fall 2024.

A PDF of the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY22 Annual Report is available on the Penn Sustainability website.

Penn Sustainability is a University-wide initiative to advance environmental sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania, and coordinate programs to develop a more sustainable campus.

View a video introduction to Penn Sustainability on YouTube and visit sustainability.upenn.edu.

—Penn Sustainability

ISC is implementing a set of rate changes for FY24.  Rates have been held firm for the last several years, but changes in technology, the labor market, and our environment at Penn have

compelled us to review and revise our pricing strategies in several areas.
These changes allow us to continue making important technology investments and delivering services that are effective and efficient. Below is a summary of the FY24 changes.  

—Tom Murphy, Senior Vice President for Information Technology and University Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Smartsheet Licenses: Rates have been kept stable despite increasing vendor costs for the last few years. To recover these costs, the rate will increase by 10% from $25.00/license/month to $27.50/license/month.

Zoom Add-On Licenses: A review and standardization of administration costs across all Zoom licenses to 10% resulted in a reduction in costs for most clients.

Articulate 360 Licenses: Vendor-driven increases have resulted in a 5% increase in the per-license fee for Articulate 360.

Box Overage Charges: To protect Penn from major increases to future Box costs, a decision has been made to charge for usage over 1TB.

• 1TB to 5TB-$500/year
• 5TB to 50TB-$2000/year
• Every additional 50TB-$5000/year

ISC will work with highly impacted organizations to smooth out the effects of this change.

Departmental Firewalls: This pricing model change reflects a service model change made several years ago to include hardware maintenance and replacement costs. This should correspond to a decrease in client-borne hardware maintenance and replacement cost.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: A significant investment in hardware to strengthen and reinforce the service has necessitated a 10% increase in rates.

HireIT: Increasing complexity of environments, the number of devices per person, and the extraordinary increase in labor costs have warranted an increase to HireIT’s Extended and Leadership rates by 5%.

Labor Rates: Wage increases over the last several years (including an unprecedented increase in tech wages in Philadelphia of 12% in 2022) coupled with ISC holding rates steady for a few years has resulted in increases to ISC’s hourly rates of 4.5% (high tier), 6.8% (mid-tier), and 7.1% (low tier).

PennNet IP Address Registration: For increased security, we are proposing an IP Address Registration fee of $560 to cover tracking and registering of unregistered IP addresses.

Expedited Installation & Activation Fee: To cover some of the additional expense incurred for unexpected, expedited requests we are implementing an expediting fee of $560.

McIver (Mac) Williamson Edwards, Jr., M’62, a professor emeritus of anesthesia in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on January 13. He was 87.

Born and raised in Darlington, South Carolina, Dr. Edwards left the south (in which he had deep roots) to study biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1956. He served as 1st Lieutenant U.S. Army Chemical Corps at Fort McClellan, Alabama, then completed medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. After completing an internship at Johns Hopkins University, he joined Penn’s faculty in 1968 in what is today the department of anesthesiology and critical care. Dr. Edwards taught at Penn for 39 years, and spent ten of those years as chief of anesthesia at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

Outside of Penn, Dr. Edwards loved the outdoors, learning to identify hundreds of varieties of flora and fauna. He volunteered with his wife, Donna, at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College and the Philadelphia flower show for many years. He was also a woodworking aficionado and captained his family around Norton Pond in Maine on a wooden boat called the Lucille.

Dr. Edwards is survived by his wife, Donna; his children, David McIver Edwards (Theresa) and Susan Edwards Yadgar (Michael); his sister, Rosemary Edwards Sundeen; three grandchildren; and two nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders online or by mailing a check to Doctors Without Borders U.S.A., P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, Maryland 21741.

Barbara S. Jacobsen, GED’58, a professor emerita in Penn’s School of Nursing who taught many generations of nursing students how to employ statistics in research, died on December 13, 2022. She was 91.

Ms. Jacobsen received a bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, then taught in an elementary school for more than a decade. She went on to earn a master’s degree from Penn in measurement evaluation in 1958, then joined Penn Nursing’s faculty as an associate professor in 1964, where she taught statistics and research design. “During her 28 years with Penn Nursing, she was one of the school’s most popular teachers and was known especially for her humor, quick wit, and energy,” wrote her colleagues in an online tribute. She received the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching from Penn in 1975, and was also active in the school’s research community: As primary statistician for much of the early research in the school, her scholarship and application of mathematical disciplines created the foundation on which Penn Nursing’s research, now nationally and internationally renowned, is based. Ms. Jacobsen’s research helped launch the Center for Nursing Research. She served on the University Council throughout the 1970s and 1980s, chairing its committee on recreation and intramural sports, and also served on several university-wide committees. In 1991, she became a full professor; she retired soon thereafter and took emeritus status.

After retiring from Penn, Ms. Jacobsen pursued an interest in lapidary arts, serving as a member of the Tuscarora Lapidary Society in Philadelphia, and later the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society in Medford, Massachusetts. She was active in the society, teaching classes, leading tours, and presenting her work in gem and mineral shows.

Ms. Jacobsen is survived by her sister-in-law, Marion Jacobsen; her nephew, Mark Jacobsen; her great-niece, Isabel Shi Jacobsen; her sister-in-law, Greta Jacobsen; her niece, Kirsten Jacobsen; and her nephew, Lars Jacobsen. She was preceded in death by brothers-in-law Keith Jacobsen and Stephen Jacobsen. Donations in her memory may be sent to the Crater Rock Museum, 2002 Scenic Avenue, Central Point, Oregon 97502.

Charles (Charlie) Bulmer Mathias, a former member of the board of advisors of Penn Nursing, died on December 17, 2022. He was 82.

Born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Mr. Mathias graduated as salutatorian from Tamaqua High School, then attended Princeton University. After graduating, he began a 45-year career in pharmaceutical advertising, starting with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as a copywriter, followed by a stint in New York City with Roche, and then Pfizer as director of communications. In Philadelphia, he was president of the HealthCom division of Lewis, Gilman & Kynett and later served as executive vice president of Vicom/FCB. He led campaigns to promote women’s contraceptives, including Norplant, the first implantable contraceptive. In his community, he served on the Penn Nursing board of advisors and on the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Strategic Planning Committee.

Mr. Mathias is survived by wife, Marla (Hegyan) Mathias; his children, Brette Reiman (Dan), Jim Mathias (Sherry), Greg Mathias (Danielle), and Danna Steele (Ryan); and his grandchildren, Jake Reiman, Kylie Reiman, Tess Reiman, Rachel Mathias, Desmond Mathias and Isla Mathias. He was predeceased by his former wife and the mother of three of his children, Nellie Anne, and by his grandson Hayden.

A private family memorial will be held at a later date. Donations in Mr. Mathias’s memory can be made to Chanticleer: A Pleasure Garden, the Chanticleer Foundation, 786 Church Road, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087 or https://chanticleergarden.org/.

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To Report A Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students and other members of the University community. Email almanac@upenn.edu.

During the first half of the 50th session of the UA, the executive board focused on improving the Undergraduate Assembly’s internal funding systems and continued to advocate for our long-term advocacy projects. You can find a copy of the report here.

Student Funding

The majority of the first half of the session was dedicated to creating better allocation methods for the Undergraduate Assembly Reserve Fund, where over $1 million has accumulated. Additionally, we focused on finding meaningful ways to effectively spend the money in the Reserve Fund by brainstorming and identifying projects that would benefit the academic and cultural experience of Penn students. Through a lengthy bylaw amendment process, the number of voices heard during the process has increased by over ten-fold, and has allowed for public comment in the process. As of now, we have already spent over $300,000 on meaningful proposals that have addressed student needs on campus.

Large-Scale Initiatives

Outside of funding, we have continued advocacy efforts targeting a variety of aspects of Penn’s campus. We have started the process of proposing policies to protect students’ academic breaks, have dedicated significant amounts of time and thought to ensure economic diversity at the new Radian College House despite its high-cost threshold, and have continued to push for improved space accessibility by increasing the availability of classrooms to students and ensuring faster booking times.

Project Work in the Body

Several projects from within the UA Body also reached completion during the first half of this session. Projects that positively impacted the transfer student experience at Penn were completed, including the implementation of a Transfer Critical Writing Seminar pilot program for the fall semester of 2023 and the expansion of the Resident Assistant (RA) program to allow for the transfer living community (TLC) at Rodin to have an undergraduate transfer student RA. Additionally, projects to improve the RA experience at Penn have been completed, including an expansion to the RA dining plan. Finally, projects that brought awareness of sustainability to Penn students were put into motion, including a water bottle giveaway event that will occur during the beginning of the 2023 spring semester with the goal of encouraging students to use reusable water bottles and learn more about ways that they can be more environmentally friendly on campus.

Conclusion

The 50th session of the UA is far from complete. We hope to add to all of our achievements, and we encourage you to reach out to us at exec@pennua.org or through our suggestions box on our website. We remain committed to hearing the concerns of all individuals at Penn, and we look forward to finishing our term with the same dedication and passion with which we began.

—Undergraduate Assembly Executive Board

Download the 2023 Summer Camps and Programs at Penn supplement PDF.

University of Pennsylvania scientist Nader Engheta has been selected as a 2023 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal, one of the world’s oldest science and technology awards. The laureates will be honored on April 27 at a ceremony at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Dr. Engheta, the H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor in Electrical and Systems Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, is among nine outstanding individuals recognized with Benjamin Franklin Medals this year for their achievements in extraordinary scientific, engineering and business leadership.

“As a scientist and a Philadelphian, I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Franklin Medal,” said Dr. Engheta. “It is the highest compliment to receive an award whose past recipients include some of my scientific heroes such as Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell, and Max Planck. I am very thankful to the Franklin Institute for bestowing this honor upon me.”

Larry Dubinski, president and CEO of the Franklin Institute, said, “We are proud to continue the Franklin Institute’s longtime legacy of recognizing individuals for their contributions to humanity. These extraordinary advancements in areas of such importance as social equity, sustainability, and safety are significantly moving the needle in the direction of positive change and therefore laying the groundwork for a remarkable future.”

Dr. Engheta was recognized for his transformative innovations in engineering novel materials that interact with electromagnetic waves in unprecedented ways, with broad applications in ultrafast computing and communication technologies.

“Professor Engheta’s pioneering work in metamaterials and nano-optics points the way to new and truly revolutionary computing capabilities in the future,” said Penn President Liz Magill. “Penn inaugurated the age of computers by creating the world’s first programmable digital computer in 1945. Professor Engheta’s work continues this tradition of groundbreaking research and discovery that will transform tomorrow. We are thrilled to see him receive the recognition of the Benjamin Franklin Medal.”

Dr. Engheta founded the field of optical nanocircuits (“optical metatronics”), which merges nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. He is also known for establishing and developing the field of near-zero-index optics and epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials with near-zero electric permittivity. Through his work he has opened many new frontiers, including optical computation at the nanoscale and scattering control for cloaking and transparency. His work has far-reaching implications in various branches of electrical engineering, materials science, optics, microwaves and quantum electrodynamics.

“This award recognizes Dr. Engheta’s trailblazing advances in engineering and physics,” said Vijay Kumar, the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering. “The swift and sustainable technologies his research in metamaterials and metatronics offers the world are the result of a lifelong commitment to scientific curiosity. For over 35 years, Nader Engheta has personified Penn Engineering’s mission of inventing the future.”

The 2023 February AT PENN calendar is online. To view a web version of the calendar, click here. To download a printable PDF of the calendar, click here. 

The January AT PENN 2023 calendar can still be viewed at almanac.upenn.edu/at-penn-calendar/january-at-penn-2023. 

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 January 16-22, 2023. 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 January 16-22, 2023. 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.

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 10 incidents (7 assaults, 2 aggravated assaults, and 1 indecent assault) with 1 arrest were reported for January 16-22, 2023 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th St & Market St to Woodland Avenue.

The Faculty Award of Merit was established in 2014 by Penn Alumni and the Office of the Provost. It is presented annually to an individual or group of collaborators who has made an outstanding contribution to alumni education and engagement at Penn by sharing their unique scholarship work with the alumni community. Special emphasis is placed on faculty members who go above and beyond the call of duty by engaging Penn alumni with the University as their intellectual home and educate the faculty community about the alumni engagement opportunities available to them. The 2022 honoree was Laura W. Perna, the GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education and Vice Provost for Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also executive director of Penn’s Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD). The award consists of a formal citation and will be presented during the fall Alumni Award of Merit Gala.

All Penn faculty, staff, and alumni are eligible to nominate a faculty member for this award. For more information about award criteria and eligibility, or to nominate a faculty member, visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/FacultyAwardofMerit. Nominations are due by February 24, 2023.

The Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (PGAEF@NC) is a fellowship opportunity for PhD students whose scholarship includes academically based community service (ABCS) and related activities, including community-engaged scholarship, service learning, participatory action research, local collaborative problem solving, and learning by teaching in public schools. PhD students from all schools and fields are highly encouraged to apply.

The Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship at the Netter Center involves the following:

• Year one and two: Participation in a faculty-student seminar on community-engaged research and teaching, a research fund of $5,000, as well as support to attend and present at conferences.
• Year two: Full funding for the academic year (inclusive of stipend, tuition, general fee, clinical fee, and health insurance) and one summer stipend, the amounts of which are determined in accordance with the policy of the University and of your school.

Applicants must have a Penn faculty sponsor to help oversee the student’s project. For more information, visit www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/get-involved/pgaef. Students are also encouraged to submit drafts of their proposals to provost-ed@upenn.edu; we would be pleased to provide recommendations and feedback at any stage of the application.

The application deadline is February 13, 2023.

—Netter Center for Community Partnerships

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2023 Penn Supplier Diversity Impact Award. This award recognizes the outstanding contributions of University individuals or teams who are driving intentional impact in the area of supplier diversity and economic inclusion at Penn. It is intended to honor faculty and staff who are championing supplier diversity and inclusion across campus, as well as celebrating projects that are fueling business growth locally with minority-owned enterprises.

Visit the Supplier Diversity Impact Award page to review the nomination guidelines and information about the submittal process. Nominations will remain open until Friday, March 31, 2023. Award recipients will be honored at the University’s annual supplier diversity and inclusion event. Questions may be directed to DiversitySupplier@upenn.edu.

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

When you use your PennKey to log in to Penn resources, two-step verification is an extra layer of security that helps to protect your privacy and Penn’s data.

In situations where two-step verification is required, you usually have a choice between confirming your identity via the Duo Mobile app or via SMS/text.

The Duo Mobile app, which will “push” a notification to your cell phone when you try to log in, is the recommended option—not only is it more secure, it’s also far speedier and more reliable.

Using Duo Mobile instead of SMS/text offers the following benefits:

1. Duo Mobile is a “one tap” time-saving solution—no need to type in verification codes.
2. Duo Mobile can be used even when you do not have a steady data or Wi-Fi connection, acting much like a standalone key fob.
3. You can rely on Duo Mobile when you are overseas, where SMS/text may not work as expected.
4. Using the stand-alone Duo app means that two-step verification information will not be lost within the stream of SMS/texts you may have.

There are also additional downsides to using SMS/text for two-step verification:

1. When issues arise with cell phone carriers, SMS/texts may be delayed — which means you cannot log in when you need to.
2. SMS/text has become an ever-increasing target for exploitation by malicious parties. Fake SMS/text messages can be used to compromise and break into accounts.
3. Depending on your cell phone plan you may be changed per SMS/text.

The takeaway? Duo Mobile is the fastest, safest, most reliable way to perform two-step verification when needed. If you don’t have it yet, why not start today?

For more information about using two-step verification with Duo Mobile see: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/two-step-verification-getting-started.

M. Ruth Elliott

One challenge of teaching Penn students is summed up in the common aphorism—“Perfect is the enemy of good.” All Penn students are capable of striving for excellence. That is, they can challenge themselves to complete rigorous work with the goal of improving. The problem is that they often strive for perfection, which means they try to avoid even temporary failures, thus inhibiting true growth. As instructors we aim to create an environment that requires excellence but discourages perfectionism in our students—we want students to engage in our courses with the goal of learning and not with the goal of getting a good grade without achieving any new understanding. 

There are a number of ways students exhibit perfectionist tendencies. They obsess about points because they obsess over meeting only the highest standards; they can’t give concise answers because they want to show everything they know; they struggle to start assignments because they fear trying something new and not succeeding. These students place their self-value in perceived performance rather than accepting their own inherent value, which will allow them to become resilient in the face of obstacles. When students relay these concerns to me outside of class, I find that listening to discern if the problem the student brings to me is rooted in a student’s perfectionist tendencies can provide me a chance to encourage the right goals, motivate the right study habits, and assure students of their capacity to succeed.

That conversation, however, is easier said than done. I want to consider specific ways we can actually implement strategies that encourage excellence in our students and avoid perfectionism.

1. Practice what you preach. Don’t just diagnose perfectionist tendencies in the classroom—put this analysis to the mirror. As teachers we have a unique capacity in the classroom to set the tone for the space and to be an example of the type of learner we want our students to be. I used to feel pressure to have more knowledge than my students in my subject area, and now I tell them I’m glad I can learn from their knowledge and experiences. I no longer worry about being self-aware in front of the class, instead teasing myself or making fun of my own idiosyncrasies. When they ask an incisive question to which I don’t know the answer, I sometimes tell them, congratulations, you have the same questions I do! I admit openly that I’m trying new things with course structure or exam questions, and ask for their feedback so I too can grow. The easiest way to create a positive and warm learning environment is to simply geek out about the things you’re learning in the discipline yourself, so students feel comfortable not knowing everything yet, because the great truth is…you don’t either!
2. Build in flexibility with assignments and lower the stakes. I give daily or weekly quizzes, but students can drop half of them throughout the semester. This gives students a chance to adjust their study methods to the class and your style of assessment, to use trial and error without penalty on early assignments, and to enter a feedback loop where early poor performance becomes an opportunity for the instructor to check in with students and suggest options for a trajectory change.
3. Re-brand some assignments as “projects” (even if not explicitly). Projects have a built-in timeline where brainstorming and drafting and implementing feedback from the instructor are expected but not graded. Semester-long research projects are a typical example of this but also I give regular homework assignments spaced weeks apart so that students have a chance to work together, try and fail, and ask questions before finalizing their answers. These tend to feel more rewarding for students and less intimidating because there is plenty time to be confused, make errors, collaborate, and correct their understanding before it is graded. 
4. Encourage collaboration but be careful how you assess it. My goals for group work are for students to explore applications of key concepts, give possible interpretations of data, be creative and flexible in their ideas, grow in critical thinking, attempt a difficult problem, articulate the right questions, and generally to be curious!  If these are my goals, detailing benchmarks for them or insisting on some proof of productivity from them at the end of class is actually counterproductive and frustrating at best. I set up class to consist of group work where assigned groups have designated in-class problems for the groups to work on before we discuss it as a class. Though I don’t grade the group work, most students come to realize that their scores on homework and exams suffer if they haven’t made the best of their time in class and in groups, and so the accountability as well as the gratification from these efforts happens, though it is delayed.  
5. Teach students to verbalize (good) questions. Perfectionists especially can stay stuck for too long before asking themselves or their instructors the right questions. Find ways to require students to ask questions: ask them to post questions on an online forum, write them on paper and turn them in at the beginning or end of class, or even have them attempt writing quiz or exam questions for their upcoming assessments. Projects are also ways for students to formulate and then answer their own questions about a topic of choice. Good questions are self-aware—they don’t hog space in the classroom, show off, or insist on an instructor giving them a value judgment (ie “is this [answer] right or wrong?”) but rather do a fair self-assessment of their own work first. Good questions ask for clarifications of concepts, or identify the assumptions one made as they reached their conclusion. Or let them work in groups before asking questions, because I find often students are more willing to ask questions once they’ve discussed it with their peers first.

My desire is for students to understand that knowledge is a gift to be received, rather than a metric by which we obtain our value. But as each of us grows in knowledge, we have more responsibility to apply that knowledge in our lives. The advantage to striving for excellence is that one overcomes obstacles resiliently, seeks new challenges eagerly, and finds satisfaction in having changed or improved. Temporary setbacks, unpredictability, the possibility of conflict, and the making of errors are pivotal to the process of growth and so need to be more welcome in learning activities. I aim for my classes to present students with an opportunity to be curious, to wonder, to build, to grow, to collaborate, and so I myself am striving for excellence in the classroom in these ways, though, of course, I don’t do it perfectly.

M. Ruth Elliott is a lecturer in biochemistry for the College of Liberal and Professional Studies at Penn.

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.