EVP Newsletter - Summer Edition

News You Can Use

Rotunda in The Daily News

The Rotunda is one of Penn's off campus arts and culture facilities, managed out of FRES. Since 1999, the Rotunda has presented hundreds of quality and engaging community programs that bring together the Penn and West Philadelphia audiences. The newest project at the Rotunda is called Collective Imprints, a community mural project that was held at the Rotunda over a series of weekly meetings throughout the Fall and Winter. Click here to read the article in the Daily News.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/19092004.html

Facility Focus Update
Many of you use the new Facility Focus system to initiate work orders.
On May 27 FRES released a new version of the Facility Focus web form. You will still be able to perform all of the same tasks and query as before, but there are some changes in the presentation of the information and added some additional search capability that we hope will make the screens more friendly and easy to use. These changes have been made in response to your feedback and a series of focus groups FRES undertook with its clients. Thanks for your patience as we perfected this new system. Some of the changes include: the addition of a Help button on every screen and the ability to search buildings by either by 'All Campus' or 'Residential'. We consolidated the query functions so that users can search for work requests from one screen, regardless of status. We also added a new field that provides a more detailed definition of the
Problem Code. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. For questions please email fsfeedback@pobox.upenn.edu and for technical assistance
please contact fshelp@pobox.upenn.edu

Five Minutes to a Greener Campus
Penn has developed a series of podcasts on Sustainability topics entitled "Five Minutes to a Greener Campus." The podcasts feature Penn faculty such as: Wharton Professor Karl Ulrich, who explains the TerraPass system, which was created in one of his MBA classes; Ali Malkawi, Professor of Architecture at Penn Design and director of the Penn Tsinghua TC Chan Center, discussing the Center's research on energy efficient buildings; and Robert Giegengack, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, discussing his new class, Sustainable Penn. The podcasts are narrated by Penn student Susan Abrams, who also serves as a representative of the University's Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC). To listen to the discussions go to i-tunes U or visit Penn's new sustainability website: http://www.upenn.edu/sustainability/podcast.html

Apply for Summer and Fall Term Tuition Benefits Online

If you're using the tuition benefit for yourself or your dependents, please take note of these important dates: the last date to apply for the Summer Session I benefit for students attending Penn is June 15. For Summer Session II, or dependents attending a school other than Penn, the deadline is August 15. Finally, you can request payment of the tuition benefit for Fall 2008 starting on June 1. To access the easy-to-use online tuition management system-where you can see a complete list of deadlines, get answers to frequently asked questions and more-visit the Human Resources website at www.hr.upenn.edu/tuition. If you have questions about the tuition benefit or the online system, please contact Human Resources at tuition@hr.upenn.edu

Pre-Tax Expense Account "Use It or Lose It" Deadline Approaching
As the end of the current benefits plan year approaches on June 30, it's important for individuals with money in a Pre-Tax Expense Account to be aware of the IRS regulation known as "Use It or Lose It." This provision of the laws governing Pre-Tax Expense Accounts means that if you have unused money left in your account at the end of a plan year, you will lose it. For more information about Pre-Tax Expense Accounts, including deadlines to incur expenses and file claims, lists of eligible expenses and instructions on how to file your claim, please visit the Human Resources website at www.hr.upenn.edu/Benefits/PreTax or call the Penn Benefits Center at 1-888-PENN-BEN (1-888-736-6236).

Penn Mail & Purchasing Services Announce New Partnership with UPS

Penn Mail Services and Purchasing Services announce a new partnership with UPS which will now offer Penn faculty and staff more comprehensive express mail services. The new express mail system offers many benefits including:

State-of-the-art online shipping including desk top printed air bills, eliminating the need for paper shipping forms;
Penn negotiated discount pricing so Penn customers get the best possible price with significant cost savings;
Enhanced external package tracking and reporting; and
Tight internal budgetary controls including online allocation of shipping charges.

The new system will launch July 1st with full implementation expected by the beginning of the fall semester. Throughout the summer, Penn Mail Services and UPS will provide training to users for its new online shipping system and drop-boxes will be placed across campus. The transition to UPS is expected to be completed by the start of the new academic year. If you have any immediate questions or concerns, please email: express-ship@upenn.edu

UPennAlert

The UPennAlert Emergency Notification System enables fast and efficient dissemination of critical information to members of the University community during a major emergency via text messaging, voicemail and email.

If you have not done so already, please take a few minutes now to register or update your contact information. All information is secure and confidential.

Students:

Access Penn InTouch via the Penn Portal at http://www.upenn.edu/penn_portal

Access Penn InTouch directly via, https://sentry.isc.upenn.edu/intouch

Faculty/Staff:

Access the Penn Directories via, http://www.upenn.edu/directories

Access U@Penn directly via, http://www.upenn.edu/u@penn

Updating Online Directory Listings before June 30th
The revision cycle for the 2008-2009 printed faculty/staff directory will begin in June. Please check your personal directory information to make sure it is accurate by logging on to www.upenn.edu/directories and selecting "Update Directory Listing." The information in your Penn Profile will be used in your individual listing in the 2008-2009 printed white pages. The deadline for updating information for the printed white pages is June 30.