December 9, 2025 Volume 72 Issue 17

On November 12, 2025, Jonathan A. Epstein, Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System, announced the rededication and naming of Penn’s Biomedical Research Building in honor of William (Bill) N. Kelley, who led the institution from 1989 to 2000, and his late wife, Lois; and the rededication and naming of Penn’s Clinical Research Building in honor of Arthur H. Rubenstein, who led Penn Medicine from 2001 through 2011, who shares the building name with his late wife, Denise Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein received an additional honor when, this month, he was named the winner of the 2026 Research!America Herbert Pardes Family Award for National Leadership in Advocacy for Research. This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated distinguished academic leadership and sustained commitment to public engagement and advocacy for research.

“Bill Kelley believed that healthcare could be stronger if it worked as one,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “That belief became the foundation of Penn Medicine as we know it today. And Arthur Rubenstein took that foundation and gave it life; he led, but more importantly, he inspired. He reminded us that excellence is not just about science, but also about people.”

Penn Medicine, an institution that is rooted in Philadelphia as home to the nation’s first medical school and first hospital and is now united as the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, is the birthplace of many biomedical firsts. Penn Medicine research has substantially contributed to 45 new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for new disease treatments (and counting) since 2013. Among these were the first mRNA vaccines, which quelled a global pandemic, saved millions of lives, and earned the Nobel Prize.

“Penn Medicine has emerged as a preeminent academic medical system over the past several decades largely because of the foundations laid by two of our former Deans, Bill Kelley and Arthur Rubenstein,” said Dean Epstein. “Their vision set the stage for breakthrough therapies that have transformed the world, and created an expectation of excellence that continuously draws the brightest medical students and research trainees to learn at Penn and go back out to make an impact everywhere.”

Adapted from a Penn Medicine news article by Rachel Ewing, November 17, 2025.

Gareth Nellis has been named the new director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), effective July 1, 2026, and an associate professor of political science. As CASI director, he will also hold the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India. He comes to Penn from the University of California, San Diego, where he was an associate professor of political science. He specializes in comparative politics, South Asia, and intergroup relations, examining how democratic institutions accommodate social diversity and internal mobility.

“We’re delighted to see Gareth take the helm of CASI, the first research institution of its kind in the United States and now in its fourth decade,” said Mark Trodden, Dean of Penn Arts & Sciences and the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy. “Gareth’s depth and breadth of experience in this area of scholarship will continue the center’s crucial research on the politics, economy, and culture of modern India.” 

Nikhil Anand, the Daniel Braun Silvers and Robert Peter Silvers Family Presidential Professor of Anthropology and CASI’s interim director, said, “Gareth brings an exceedingly impressive research profile that has broken new ground in how we understand diversity, democracy, and migration in India today. His deep commitment to supporting and conducting cutting-edge social science scholarship on politics, development, and the environment will ensure CASI remains a leading center for the study of India in the United States.” Dr. Anand will stay on as associate faculty director of CASI. 

Dr. Nellis has published widely in leading outlets, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, The Review of Economic Studies, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His work spans identity politics, social cohesion, and the electoral inclusion of internal migrants. 

With Guy Grossman, the David M. Knott Professor of Global Politics and International Relations, and others, Dr. Nellis co-edited Information, Accountability, and Cumulative Learning: Lessons from Metaketa I, which was named the Best Book in Experimental Research by the American Political Science Association in 2019. In addition, Dr. Nellis has collaborated with Tariq Thachil, who, from 2020 to 2025, served as CASI’s director and the Madan Lal Sobti Professor for the Study of Contemporary India. Dr. Nellis received his PhD in political science from Yale University.

In his ongoing work, Dr. Nellis researches ways to build “bridging” social capital through projects on large-scale education reforms and workplace and community initiatives, drawing on survey data and field-based collaborations. 

The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ashoka University, a leading Indian liberal arts and research institution, to strengthen academic and research collaborations in engineering, science and interdisciplinary education.

This new agreement builds on a long-standing relationship between Penn and Ashoka. Co-founded by Penn Engineering alumnus Pramath Raj Sinha, GEng’89, GrEng’91, Ashoka University first partnered with Penn in 2017 to create the Global Gateway Program, which enables graduates of Ashoka’s Young India Fellowship to complete a Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) at Penn. Over the past decade, Ashoka and Penn have developed term and summer student exchanges, supported numerous faculty connections, and fostered multiple joint scholarly activities.

The new MoU expands this collaboration into engineering and applied science through initiatives that include faculty and researcher exchanges, short-term research residencies for undergraduate and graduate students, joint academic and research programs, co-hosted conferences and workshops, and the exchange of scholarly resources and data. It also introduces a new 4+1 academic pathway, enabling eligible Ashoka undergraduates to pursue an accelerated master’s degree at Penn Engineering if admitted.

“We are delighted to strengthen our engagement with Ashoka University, whose interdisciplinary approach aligns closely with Penn Engineering’s commitment to integrating knowledge across fields,” said Vijay Kumar, the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering. “This partnership opens new avenues for collaborative research and creates meaningful pathways for outstanding students to join Penn Engineering’s graduate programs.”

“The new 4+1 pathway and opportunities for joint research will bring Ashoka’s talented students and faculty into Penn Engineering’s vibrant research ecosystem,” added Boon Thau Loo, the RCA Professor in Computer and Information Science and Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Global Initiatives. “We are excited to welcome Ashoka students to Penn and to continue building partnerships that support global scientific discovery.”

“We are certain our partnership will strengthen pedagogy in emerging fields such as AI and data science,” said Somak Raychaudhury, vice chancellor of Ashoka University, “while enabling our students and faculty to work in world-class research environments, collaborate with leading global academics and collaboratively develop solutions to pressing issues.”

“Penn and Penn Engineering have been founding partners of Ashoka since the launch of our flagship Young India Fellowship in 2011, with Penn faculty teaching at the YIF for the past 14 years,” noted Dr. Sinha, chair of Ashoka’s Board of Trustees. “Now, this partnership enters a new phase, reflecting our shared commitment to advancing excellence in research, teaching and innovation.”

The University of Pennsylvania has released the Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 4.0 – FY25 Progress Report.  For the first time in Penn’s history, the report includes detailed accomplishments for both the University’s main campus and other major property holdings, including Penn’s health system, Morris Arboretum & Gardens, New Bolton Center, and Penn’s real estate portfolio. On the main campus, net emissions fell by 4.5% between FY24 and FY25 and have dropped by 49% since FY09. FY25 achievements by the numbers include:

• Yearly Over Year Net Emissions Reductions: 9,215 MTCDE* (equal to 1,200+ homes’ annual energy use)
• Air Travel Carbon Offsets: 12,218 MTCDE*
• Environment-Related Courses: 330+
• New Academic Hires with Climate or Sustainability Expertise: 19
• LEED-Certified Projects: 55
• Regional Procurement Spending: $702 million
• Philadelphia Procurement Spending: $467 million
• Landfill Diversion Rate: 33%
• Electric Vehicle Fleet: 50

*MTCDE = metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

View the full report on the Penn Sustainability website.

The ways you can help further Penn’s sustainability work include powering down electronics over winter break, getting involved in Green Labs efforts, and inquiring about Green Office Certifcation.

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.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025
3–5 p.m. ET

1. Finalize the Minutes of November 19, 2025
2. Report from the Tri-Chairs
3. Reports from Constituencies
   • Annenberg School for Communication
   • School of Dental Medicine
   • School of Social Policy and Practice
4. Update from the Office of the Provost
   Discussion with Provost John L. Jackson, Jr.
5. Proposed Revisions to Policy for Reviewing Alleged Misconduct in Research
6. Internal Discussion
7. New Business

The December University Council Open Forum meeting was held on Wednesday, December 3 in the Hall of Flags at Houston Hall.

During the provost’s report, Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. introduced Timothy Rommen, Penn’s inaugural vice provost for the arts, who discussed his aspirations for fostering connection across schools and centers on campus and beyond. He described Penn’s arts ecosystem and his vision to extend it on campus and to elevate Penn as an arts anchor in the Philadelphia region. He and his colleagues are developing a strategic plan that should be finished next year. He is currently meeting and listening to students, alumni, faculty, staff, and local and national leaders for input. A website, arts.upenn.edu, will be launched in spring 2026.

Associate Vice President and Associate University Secretary Lizann Boyle Rode addressed the 11 new business topics shared at the October council meeting. Action was taken to connect council members to the appropriate campus resources for follow-up discussions.

Council members discussed an amendment to Council bylaws to change a committee name from the Committee on Diversity and Equity to the Committee on Community and Equal Opportunity. Faculty Senate chair Kathleen Brown explained that after the last council meeting (Almanac October 28, 2025), steps were taken to understand legal ramifications and student concerns about the proposed name change. The Faculty Senate tri-chairs met with Joann Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Wendy S. White, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and student leaders. The new proposed committee name was developed from those discussions.

Senior Vice President Mitchell explained that a continuous review has taken place of committee names and University policies and procedures to ensure adherence to federal law. A new name for the committee was proposed; however, Penn’s values of inclusion and belonging would continue. After a vote, the motion was declared to have been approved.

During the open forum portion of the meeting, speakers discussed:

• Concerns about the COVID-19 virus and the need to have resources about it easily accessible on Penn’s website
• Disappointment in Penn’s decision to revoke the athletic records of Lia Thomas and the implications of doing so
• Concern for the safety of Black students at Penn after recent incidents, including the assault of a Black student and a video that contained racist and threatening language that had been circulated
• A call to expand SEPTA’s University Pass (UPass) Program

During New Business, a Robert’s Rules of Order issue was raised by council members concerning the vote earlier in the meeting to amend Council bylaws to change a committee name. Some members believed that the vote had merely been to end the discussion and that there would be another vote on the amendment itself. It was proposed that the amendment be sent back to University Council’s steering committee and that another vote be held at the January 21, 2026 meeting.

Several Council members shared that it was their final meeting and reflected on their tenures representing their student groups.

Looking for that perfect holiday gift idea for your literary friend or family member? Penn faculty, staff, students, and alumni have written books in a range of genres that have come out this year. 

Read The Book Nook: Books by Penn People supplement.

Tom Hecker, vice president for administration & chief of staff at Penn Medicine, has been named a 2025 Pennsylvania Fifty Over 50 honoree. 

When Dr. Hecker’s pregnant wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 29 and treated at Penn Medicine, it set Dr. Hecker on his professional path in healthcare administration. 

That interaction “opened my eyes to the business of healthcare,” recalled Dr. Hecker, who, since 2021, has served as Penn Medicine’s vice president for administration and chief of staff. “The opportunity to work for an organization that provides healing and comfort was compelling.”

Dr. Hecker earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Temple University, where he then served as assistant dean for administration and planning. He moved on to leadership roles at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, where he served as chief of staff, and at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center. Along the way, Dr. Hecker took on another kind of leadership, serving for six years as an Abington Township commissioner.

All of those experiences inform Dr. Hecker’s current role at Penn Medicine, where he supports the CEO and other leaders across clinical and administrative operations. He also manages the health system’s communications and government relations. “I’m proud to work for an organization whose mission is to save lives and improve health,” he said. “To support our providers and staff who do such incredible work is a true honor.”

According to the Public Strategies Group, this year’s Fifty Over 50 honorees exemplify the achievements that have pushed the state forward: They have built our cities’ skylines, broadened access to college and healthcare, and tackled challenges ranging from the environment to post-industrial economies.

Four University of Pennsylvania researchers will receive two of the four New Initiative grants that will be awarded this year by the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation, part of the Pittsburgh Foundation, which supports cutting-edge research in chemistry, biology, and physics at institutions across Pennsylvania. The New Initiative grantees are each awarded $300,000 over two years.

Physicists Martin Claassen and Liang Wu in the School of Arts & Sciences received a grant for research that aims to better understand how light and photon fluctuations alter the magnetic and electronic properties of materials. Their work has implications for advancing technologies in quantum sensing and information.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Nathaniel (Nat) Trask and Douglas Jerolmack, who is also the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science in Penn Arts & Sciences, will conduct research that integrates geophysics and machine learning to better understand fracture networks—features found on the surfaces of Earth and other planets.

Adapted from a Penn Today news article by Nathi Magubane, November 14, 2025.

Three Penn facilities managed by the division of Business Services have been recognized as part of Metro Philly’s Best of 2025 in their respective categories. 

• Best Daycare: Penn Children’s Center, cited for the first time for its high-quality campus-based care and hands-on learn-to-play curriculum for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
• Best Ice Rink: Class of 1923 Ice Skating Rink (Penn Ice Rink), a winner for the second consecutive year for its wide-ranging programming, dedicated staff, and long history of community engagement.
• Best Public Garden: Morris Arboretum & Gardens, a three-time honoree that serves as a high-profile cultural destination, a leading botanical research center, a hub for adult education, and a distinctive venue for events and weddings.

“I’m deeply proud of the staff who make these achievements possible,” said Michael D. Scales, vice president of the division of business services. “Their creativity and commitment reflect the very best of Penn.”

The Metro Philly Best program invites readers to vote for their favorite local businesses, services, and organizations. Each year, tens of thousands of votes are cast, highlighting the city’s most trusted and well-loved destinations.

Aaron Roth, the Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer & Cognitive Science in the department of computer and information science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has received the 2025-2026 George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research for “fundamental contributions to formalizing, quantifying, and enforcing data privacy and algorithmic fairness.”

The Heilmeier Award honors a Penn Engineering faculty member whose work is scientifically meritorious and has high technological impact and visibility. It is named for the late George H. Heilmeier, a Penn Engineering alumnus and member of the school’s Board of Advisors, whose technological contributions include the development of liquid crystal displays and whose honors include the National Medal of Science and the Kyoto Prize.

Dr. Roth, who also holds a secondary appointment in the department of statistics and data science in the Wharton School, is known for his work on differential privacy, algorithmic fairness, game theory, and learning theory. His research strives to provide mathematical guarantees that algorithms protect individual privacy while minimizing bias, a concept that shapes ethical, socially aware data science.

Dr. Roth will deliver the 2025-2026 Heilmeier Lecture at Penn Engineering during the spring 2026 semester.

Tiantian Yang, an assistant professor in the department of management in the Wharton School, has been named to Poets & Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Business School Professors Of 2025 list.

Dr. Yang’s research examines the strategies individuals use to advance their careers, with a particular focus on how they navigate and shape career opportunities—and why some succeed while others fall short.

Her work has been published in top management and sociology journals, including American Sociological Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, MIS Quarterly, and Journal of Management. She is a winner of the Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship and the Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship.

At Wharton, she teaches two courses: Managing Careers and People Analytics. In Managing Careers, she helps students learn to navigate their professional paths and develop into organizational leaders—students describe the class as a valuable road map for their careers. In People Analytics, she equips students with data-driven tools to guide their management decisions and helps them recognize the strategic value of data in managing people.

Dr. Yang has won the Wharton Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Teaching three times. Beyond academia, she advises organizations on talent and career management, integrating her expertise in how individuals make career decisions with the ways organizations make personnel decisions.

Poets & Quants is a publication focused on the business education market. In compiling this list of the best business professors, it received more than 1,200 nominations from students, alumni, colleagues, and administrators, describing the incredible impact each professor has had on their classrooms, departments, and the broader business world. Altogether, nearly 200 individual professors were nominated. For Dr. Yang’s individual feature, click here.

From the proliferation of big data to the rapid circulation of information on digital networks to how citizens talk about what matters to them, understanding the media and communication environment we live in is essential to facing society’s most pressing challenges. Researchers at the Annenberg School for Communication take on communications questions at their roots—studying media and communication history, and archiving and preserving it for future generations. New media and communication technologies emerge from those that came before them, making archives essential to both study and understand the present.  

Since its origin in 1980 with a gift of television scripts from Walter Annenberg’s publication TV Guide, the Annenberg School for Communication Library Archives’ holdings have grown to include diverse materials on the practice of journalism, the history of communication as an academic discipline, and media and entertainment in the 20th and 21st centuries. And now, alongside collections and oral histories of journalists, media executives, and filmmakers that document the trajectories of their lives, their work, and the cultural movements of their times, the school is incredibly fortunate to have the works of an editorial cartoonist providing powerful commentaries on the complexities of American culture.  

The newest notable gift to the school is the Tony Auth collection. Mr. Auth was a Pulitzer-prize winning American editorial cartoonist and children’s book illustrator who was best known for his syndicated work originally drawn for The Philadelphia Inquirer (1971 to 2012). For more than forty years, Mr. Auth’s cartoons appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer five days a week. His cartoons were not merely illustrations, but powerful commentaries that captured the urgency and complexity of American culture—sharp, funny, and often heartbreaking.

Mr. Auth’s wife, Eliza Auth, has donated his extensive archive to the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, ensuring that his artistic legacy will be preserved and studied.

“Annenberg has always been the place that connects media history to the most pressing challenges in our society now,” said Sarah Banet-Weiser, Dean of the Annenberg School. “Adding an important local political cartoonist’s work to the archives enriches this community resource and will help the next generation of scholars and students make clearer meaning of culture and role of the press in it.”

This collection is a trove of artistic and historical significance, encompassing more than 10,000 original editorial cartoons; correspondence with editors, colleagues, and readers; ink and watercolor illustrations; studies and prints; and teaching cartoons. In addition, the library also received a grant from the Philadelphia Foundation for the care and preservation of the Auth materials. At Annenberg, the Tony Auth collection will be preserved and made available to scholars, students, and the wider community.

When asked whether his cartoons had brought about change, progress, or reform, Mr. Auth had replied: “Yes, but only in the sense that any of us contributes one particle a day to the torrent of news, opinion, argument, spin, exaggeration, and lies that people are exposed to constantly. All that any of us who comment on ‘current events’ want to do is to be part of the robust and ongoing conversation of American democracy.” 

For Dean Banet-Weiser, the gift is an important contribution to the curating and archiving of media history that is so important to Annenberg. “Thanks to Eliza, Annenberg will steward a body of work that contributes to our growing archive of media history, a history that reflects and challenges American culture for more than four decades,” she said.

After the collection is catalogued, Samantha Dodd Summerbell, archivist at the Annenberg School, said that it will be shared through exhibitions, programming, and classes at the University. “This incredible corpus of work offers countless opportunities for research in a number of fields, from communications to history, political science to art,” she said. “It is a wonderful opportunity to be the stewards of such a legacy, and I am thrilled to work with students, scholars, and members of the community, incorporating Tony’s work into new works of scholarship.”

“Tony was a very deft draftsman,” said Eliza Auth, “but it was his ability to almost instantly condense a complex event into a small clear drawing with a sharply defined point of view, beautifully drawn, that made him the extraordinary cartoonist that he was. He read voraciously about many subjects, science, politics, current events which he said was necessary because one never knew when there would be a Three Mile Island meltdown or some other complicated event. He needed to be prepared to understand the issue and be able to explain it to his readers but also have a well thought out opinion about it.” With this gift, Mr. Auth’s collection and the Annenberg School for Communication Library Archives will open new paths for students and scholars.

Adapted from a Annenberg School for Communication news article, November 20, 2025.

Children under 17 will receive free admission during Winter Break at the Penn Museum, Friday, December 26 and Saturday, December 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All Winter Break activities are included with museum admission.

The lineup includes family-friendly tours at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., along with drumming workshops at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., a quiet reading nook, a family games area, and a place to create a “vision board” for kids to imagine and shape their future in the new year.

Tickets for Winter Break are available here.

In addition, on Sunday, December 28 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Penn Museum will host its third annual Kwanzaa celebration, honoring Black cultural traditions and community. Admission is free for all.

The free Kwanzaa celebration at the Penn Museum will feature live music by Karen Smith Drums and professional violinist Owen Valentine, hands-on activities for all ages, educational workshops, and handmade Zawadi gifts (while supplies last).

A complete line up for the Kwanzaa celebration and registration for free tickets can be found here. 

Plus, Winter Break and the Kwanzaa celebration both include access to the brand new Native North America Gallery. With interactive multi-media displays and hands-on weaving stations, the gallery offers immersive opportunities to learn about the resilience and enduring cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples.

For more information and to get tickets, visit https://www.penn.museum/calendar/901/winter-break. 

Fitness & Learning

Penn Libraries

Various locations. Info: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events.

9          Holman Community Study Hours; an encouraging, safe, and quiet study space for students at a dedicated time, promoting accountability and shared focus; 3-5 p.m.; Holman Reading Room, Biotech Commons.

10        DeStress Fest; take a breather before finals with an evening of relaxing activities; 4-5:30 p.m.; various locations, Van Pelt Library.

Talks

9          Universal Objects for $W$-Algebras of Classical Types; Andrew Linshaw, University of Denver; 3:30 p.m.; room 3C2, DRL (Mathematics).

10        Reality Checks; Kyunghyun Cho, New York University; noon; room 414, Amy Gutmann Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96405514259 (SEAS ASSET Center).

This is an update to the December AT PENN calendar, which is online now. To submit events for future AT PENN calendars or weekly updates, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Division of Public Safety
University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for November 24-30, 2025. The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes. Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of November 24-30, 2025. The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street 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 DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website.

Penn Police Patrol Zone
Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District
Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 8 incidents were reported for November 24-30, 2025 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at specialservices@publicsafety.upenn.edu
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

The Provost, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and College Houses & Academic Services (CHAS) invite applications for service as a College House live-in faculty member starting in the 2026-2027 academic year. This is a residentially-based service opportunity that can be renewed.

College house faculty members play a key role in connecting the houses and their residents to the larger academic community at Penn. Faculty are responsible for collaborating with house staff to develop each college house as an educational resource that encourages intellectual inquiry, promotes academic programs in residence, fosters faculty and student interaction, and builds strong, supportive house and CHAS communities.

The most important qualification is an enthusiastic interest in mentoring and engaging undergraduate students within the residential setting. Faculty applicants from all 12 of Penn’s schools and full-time University administrative staff involved in academic or student affairs, with a minimum of two years of experience in their current positions, are encouraged to apply.

For these highly sought-after positions, the selection process is quite competitive. Applicants are reviewed by the undergraduate deans, the vice provost for undergraduate education, the CHAS faculty director, the CHAS executive director, and selected college house community members, including faculty, staff, and student residents.

Learn more about the college house system at https://collegehouses.upenn.edu/. Information about the application process and each position (college house faculty director and college house fellow) can be found at https://collegehouses.upenn.edu/about/join-us/faculty/opportunities. If you have any questions, please contact Deven Patel, faculty director of CHAS (devenp@upenn.edu) or chas@collegehouses.upenn.edu. The application deadline is January 31, 2026.

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

Holiday shopping can be stressful if you are on the hunt for the perfect gift. It is easy to get scammed. Be wary of shops advertised on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. While the ads may be slick and prices good, many of these shops are fronts for scam vendors. Before purchasing, do the following: 

• Check to see if you can find information on the vendor or shop. Do you find any information on the shop other than social media advertisements? The shop’s name might look like an established one, but it may have made subtle changes to the name or domain to fool you.  
• Read the terms of sale carefully. What are the terms for returns or refunds? Make sure you know what to do if there is a problem or question with your order. Examine the site in general. Do all links work? Do they provide complete information? 
• Check to see if the product is available from other vendors. Are the images taken from other sites? Many shops use third-party companies based overseas that manufacture the products, allowing you to find the same item from multiple vendors. 
• Visit the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website to assess if the business is legitimate and read comments about this business. 
• Watch prices; deep discounts on high-value items during the holidays are unusual. 

If you decide to purchase, use a credit card instead of a debit card, so that if there is a problem with your order, you may be able to get assistance from your bank. Do not use payment methods such as PayPal’s “friends and family” option, Zelle, or CashApp. These payment methods do not have the same protections as credit cards.

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts%23One-Step-Ahead

The Executive Planning Committee invites your organization/department to plan a program in conjunction with the upcoming symposium. Programs can include reflection on, action on, and response to contemporary issues and should raise issues of social change and social justice while incorporating Dr. King’s challenging visions to end racism and poverty, to strengthen and embrace diversity, and to support free expression.

For date availability, visit aarc.upenn.edu/events.

If you are interested, contact the African-American Resource Center no later than December 15, 2025 with your program idea. Please contact Colleen Winn at cowinn@upenn.edu or (215) 898-0104.

—African-American Resource Center