Message from Craig 

The productivity displayed this summer has inspired me to give a shout-out to many of you who worked diligently to ensure that the 2016/2107 academic year begins with the resources - talented staff, great facilities and critical technologies - that our faculty, students and staff have to succeed.

A shining example of these efforts is the opening of three new buildings in a short period of time - the New College House, Perry World House, and Pennovation Center - illustrating that the Penn Connects 2.0 plan is in full swing.

A university campus is organized around structures built to service its community, and the use of those buildings reflects the institution's priorities. These three new structures impressively represent our priorities on a variety of fronts. First, the architecture is stunning, an example of the very high design standards Penn maintains for creating a special campus. Second, they are examples of the tremendous investment and confidence placed in us by our donors, alumni and Trustees. And third, each building represents a program we deeply care about - undergraduate residential life, an intellectual hub for our growing global footprint, and an incubator to advance knowledge and startup companies to serve society with new products and services. In short, we have breadth and depth.

All of this difficult, and important work, accomplished by the obvious talent of our capital construction team. These projects also require expertise in finance, budget, IT, professional staffing, safety and security, and residential/dining services to name just a few.

This fall as these buildings are celebrated, I hope you see them as not only great architecture, but emblems of our collective work in achieving new levels as a world class institution.

As always, you have my appreciation as I consider you the greatest team of higher education professionals, and even greater colleagues.

My best for a terrific fall semester,

Craig

Information Systems and Computing is pleased to announce that Penn has entered into a new, expanded agreement with Lynda.com, an online video training service that provides instructional videos covering a wide range of software products, technologies, and business topics. The new agreement now includes all Penn full-time and part-time faculty and staff.  With hundreds of course offerings and new courses added weekly, Lynda.com provides a convenient learning experience.  Courses are designed for all learning levels and are often presented in 3 to 5 minute segments, playlists make it easy to manage and customize your Lynda.com experience, and bookmarks allow easy reference to favorite course sections. Access to Lynda.com is available 24/7 from your desktop or mobile device, allowing you to learn at your own pace and schedule. Whether you're looking to brush up on existing skills, learn new skills, or explore what's up and coming, we invite you to include Lynda.com as part of your professional development.

The Penn Home Ownership Services Annual Housing Fair returns on Wednesday, September 14 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Houston Hall.

If you have an Amazon account there are some real benefits to linking your account to Amazon@Penn because Amazon Prime members receive Free Same-Day Pickup on orders placed by noon and Free One-Day Pickup on orders placed after noon. And you can take advantage of Amazon's streaming video content. Sign up at penn.amazon.com.

Discover new and innovative solutions and savings from over 50 suppliers at Penn Purchasing's Annual Supplier Show, Sept. 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The second annual Green Purchasing Award will be presented to this year's recipient at the show.

Happy Birthday BEN Financials (aka FinMIS)! On July 1, 1996, Penn began using Financial Management Information System (FinMIS) as its core financial system. FinMIS, now known as BEN Financials, is an Oracle Financials application that was the first modern ERP application implemented at Penn.  FinMIS began Penn's transition away from mainframe computers to ERP solutions, a transition that continues to this day with SRFS's Pennant project.  To celebrate this milestone event several of the original FinMIS implementation team members gathered with members of the BEN Financials team for pizza & cake.

Chris Bristow (SEAS), Janice Tofani (Budget), Kelly Daniels (SEAS)

Peg Heer (Finance), John Horn (Finance), Janet Planten (EVP), Fran Seidita (Budget)

Sophie Dubil (Dental School), Julie Shuttleworth (Provost), Rosey Nissley (ISC)

New Retail Options: A second Philadelphia location of the popular Spread Bagelry opened at 36th & Chestnut Streets, in the completely renovated former location of Pizza Rustica. Serving wood-fired Montreal-style bagels, the bagel shop will offer homemade seasonal spreads, and a diverse menu of signature sandwiches and specials. Joining the retail line-up in University City, Luxe Nails will offer a range of salon services at 212 South 40th Street.