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Hello Penn Parents and Families

Believe it or not we are halfway through the fall semester We were thrilledto have the opportunity to meet many of you during Family Weekend or atour Parent Corners at Penn to You events in Chicago or Washington DC Asyou are aware your Penn child is preparing or may have already taken midshyterms and is beginning to prepare for final exams and room selection for nextyear We have connected with our colleagues in Penn Libraries and WeigleInformation Commons as well as Residential Services to provide you withinformation on how your Penn child can use the learning resources availableand enjoy a successful end of the fall semester Finally our VPUL Spotlightfeatures the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life highlighting the waysPenn works to with Penn students involved in ldquoGreek Liferdquo through outreachand educational programs We wish you all the best at this point in thesemester

Homecoming Weekend featuring Arts amp Culture at PennOctober 31 ndash November 2

Today marks the start of Homecoming Weekend featuring Arts amp Culture atPenn The weekend features a variety of family events including art exhibitsmusical performances and athletic events on campus For more informationand registration please visit the Homecoming Weekendwebsitewwwalumniupenneduhomecoming

The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life preshyRush andunderground societies

FraternitySorority Life can be a positive complement to a universityexperience Social organizations can help provide the values leadershiptraining civic engagement and social experiences that guide young peopleinto adulthood

Student culture has evolved over the years and Greek Life at Penn can beconfusing even for parents who are alumni members of fraternities orsororities As you talk with your student about Greek recruitment please takethe time to learn more about the Greek community and the Office of

Happy Birthday to the Weingarten Learning ResourcesCenter

This year the Weingarten Center celebrates ten years of supporting Pennstudentsrsquo academic goals Over the last decade this studentshyfocuseddepartment has innovated and expanded group programming throughoutcampus in classrooms residences and within its own beautiful space Newstrategies and approaches to learning have kept pace with changingtechnologies and teaching practices and have been integrated intoappointments with individual students

Please click here for more information

The Weingarten Center staff understands that life at Penn is fastshypaced andchallenging Your students are here to learn grow and taste success Studentwonrsquot let challenges stand in their way Neither will the staff attheWeingarten Learning Resources Center

An integral department in the Division of the Vice Provost for UniversityLife the Weingarten Center assists Penn students as they strive to reach theirfullest potential The Center offers study strategies and time managementadvice to help students become more productive and empowered

Weingarten is made up of the Office of Learning Resources and the Office ofStudent Disabilities Services Centrally located in Stouffer CommonsWeingarten invites students to use its study lounge conference room andcomputer lab The staff welcomes your children to stop by explore the spacemeet a Learning Instructor attend an interactive workshop or choose ahandful of takeshyhome resources

The Office of Learning Resources (OLR) exists to expand horizons and helpstudents fall in love with learning Helping your child to navigate hishercollege experience is their mission OLR instructors are learning specialiststrained to work with each student individually from freshmen to doctoralcandidates every major every discipline Staff will provide reading writingand study strategies and help students learn to balance their academicprofessional and social commitments

Student Disabilities Services (SDS) helps students with disabilities enjoyequal access and academic opportunities so they can participate in allUniversityshysponsored programs SDS staff can assist your student withaccommodations and auxiliary services SDS professional staff assistsstudents in understanding their strengths and needs and accessing theresources that will lead to continued success

Weingarten has a proud Penn Parent to thank for its name He said it bestwhen he described Weingartenrsquos mission to harness ldquohuman potentialrdquo

ldquoIntelligence and creativity can be expressed in so many ways and theLearning Resources Center enables all students to find outlets for and theresources to demonstrate their abilitiesrdquo shyshyshy Jeffrey Weingarten Wrsquo70PAR05

To receive the latest news from the Weingarten Center sign up for theirmonthly online newsletter Send your name affiliation (eg Penn Parent) andemail address tolrcmailpoboxupennedu

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Fraternity and Sorority Life or OFSL

Penn has 31 recognized chapters in the Interfraternity Council ninePanhellenic Council chapters and 14 chapters represented withintheMulticultural Greek Council All of these chapters are supported andadvised by OFSL Importantly Greek members interact regularly withinternational leaders and distinguished alumni All recognized Greekchapters are also required to follow University health and wellness protocolsand responsible event planning mandates

We strongly encourage all parents of students who may be interested injoining a Penn fraternity or sorority to read the OFSL website and to takeparticular note of the menu highlighting sections thatbull Provide more information about our community (GREEK LIFE AT PENN)bull Explain the ldquowhyrdquo and ldquohowrdquo of the recruitment process (JOINING) bull Address a number of parental questions and concerns (PARENTS)

Please note that each Council recruitmentintake process is different Due tothe increased demand on their time and energy first year students areprohibited from joining a fraternitysorority until their second semester oncampus until they have a strong sense of what it will take to be successful atPenn Please also note that there are a handful of unauthorized groups at Pennthat recruit members as if they were Greek organizations which they are notThese underground groups are not sanctioned and receive no oversightresources or support from the University We urge parents to visit the OFSLwebsite (ldquoDonrsquot Fall For the Fakesrdquo) to get informed and be able to speakfrankly with their students about the realities of joining or attending partieshosted by unrecognized groups

Not all student groups are alike Please discuss these issues to help yourstudent make informed choices Your student can learn more by visitingthe OFSL website

Advanced Registration for Spring 2015 Courses

Advanced Registration for the Spring 2015 Term began on October 27th andwill end November 9th For more information students are encouraged tovisit the Office of the University Registrar website

Closing ThoughtshelliphellipFall is here

Dear Proud Penn Parents

It has been wonderful to connect with so many of you in person through theParent Corners or during Family Weekend and I have enjoyed the emailexchanges and phone conversations with many of you throughout the fall aswell In each interaction I am reminded that we are no longer transitioningyour Penn student to the University because we have now officially reachedthe midshypoint of the semester With that in mind I want to use this eshynewsletter as a method of providing you with news and information that willbe useful to you as you talk with your Penn student at this point in thesemester As you may know students are tackling a variety of decisions thisfall ldquoWhere do I want to live next fallrdquo ldquoWhat classes do I take nextsemesterrdquo And in some cases ldquoWhat do I want to do next weekendrdquo Wepartnered with our colleagues across campus to share some insight aboutthese topics so that you can remain abreast of all that the University has tooffer and in turn you are able to support your student in making informedchoices Additionally our colleagues in VPUL and the Weigle InformationCommons have provided insight about the wealth of resources in place tosupport your Penn student as they participate in University traditions andcelebrations such as Homecoming Weekend featuring Arts amp CultureWeekend explore their options to learn more about Fraternity and SororityLife or prepare for papers and exams In sum there is always somethinghappening at Penn and it is my hope that whether you are a freshman parentor a senior parent you embrace your role as a Proud Penn Parent and that youremain connected to our great University this Fall

Take Good Care

Kenya LeNoir Messer Ed DDirectorParent Outreach and Development Penn Parents

Update from the Commons at Penn Libraries

We have had a busy year here at the David B Weigle InformationCommons(WIC) and the Education Commons (EC) One major priority hasbeen working on the Commons footprint online We are creating a newwebsite that will highlight similar offerings across the two spaces using inputfrom focus groups of students and faculty as a starting point and guide Inaddition our PennWIC blog now includes 41 posts featuring student voicesand student posts have been popular Studentshycreated videos are another funpart of our blog check out this yearrsquos winners The blog was alsoinstrumental in attracting almost 200 faculty and graduate students tothe 2014 Engaging Students Through Technology Symposium part of whichis meant to help address the question of what works in Penn classrooms

Utilizing classroom space and technologies in the classroom in novel wayshas been a hot topic on campus this year We are conducting a student surveythrough the symposium to better understand the student perspective on whatwe can do to make classroom learning more engaging and fruitful We doalready know that our iPads in the Classroom project continues to be wellshyused with interesting insectshyrelated applications The ldquoflipped classroomrdquohas been generating a lot of buzz on campus as well some of our work isdescribed here We continue to receive national attention for ourunderstanding of learning space design and our work on supporting coursesat Penn was featured on October 27 in the Educause Online Review

Over the past year we have also assisted our library colleagues withspecialized workshops on open access and digital scholarship in addition toholding our own workshops on fun topics from the Makey Makey toourMake and Take seriesPlease encourage your student to learn more aboutus by visiting us online

Prep for 2015shy2016 Room Selection

Room Selection for OnshyCampus ResidentsComplete information about the onshycampus room selection process for Fall2015 will go live on the Residential Services website starting November 1 Details will include dates for each phase of the application process specificinstructions for residents about when and how to apply for housing for nextyear Information Sessions are scheduled for November 10th and 19th and inearly Spring 2015 (dates times and locations will be posted as the sessionsare confirmed) Residents can attend any information session and are notrestricted to those held in their current house

Residential Programs applications take place in January inshyhouse and intershyhouse processes take place throughout February Residents may apply for thewaitlist at any time after room selection concludes More details includingFAQs for parents can be found on the ldquoFriends and FamilyshyNeed to Knowrdquotab of the Residential Services website

OffshyCampus Housing 2015shy2016 Academic Year The Off Campus Services website and office provides resources for studentsconsidering off campus housing Website features include a searchable onlinelisting database that allows you to search by landlord location price size ofunit and so on The site provides tips on planning your search navigating thelandlordshy tenant neighborhood profiles community resources and data andtips on how to access services and utilities More details including FAQscan be found by visiting the Off Campus Services website

11262014 httpsadminlbimodulescomcontrolsemail_marketingadminemail_marketing_email_vieweraspxsid=1587ampgid=2ampeiid=2864ampusearchive=1ampseiidhellip

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