The University of Pennsylvania’s
Graduate Student Center
2004-05 Annual Report

Table of Contents

Introduction
Grad Center Stats
Highlights
Services
Programs
New Student Orientation
Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring Program
Web Site & Publicity
Facilities
Partnerships
Appendix

Introduction

In 2004-05, the Graduate Student Center staff focused on critically assessing our programs and services. The Center has grown tremendously during our first four years. We felt this past year was the right time to look seriously at everything we do, with the goal of identifying areas needing improvement as well as areas that should be dropped or added.

In order to successfully evaluate our work, we needed more reliable data. So our efforts began with the creation of administrative web tools that helped us gather data about our programs, services, and the students who participate in them. This long-term project was begun the previous year, and completed during the summer of 2004, allowing us to collect a full year’s worth of data in 2004-05. More information about this project can be found in the Web Site section.

In addition, we also formalized several feedback techniques. Using short, e-mailed surveys, the Grad Center’s Fellows now regularly get feedback from students immediately after attending our programs to assess if the programs met their goals. We also gathered focus groups of students to evaluate New Student Orientation, the Navigating the Grant series, and our Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring Program.

We’ve been able to utilize our store of anecdotal information, newly-gathered data, and student feedback to make ongoing adjustments to our programs and services throughout the year.

In the coming year, we will more fully implement what we’ve learned from this assessment project. For example, we will use this collection of information to determine if there are pockets of students who use the Center less heavily than others, and we will adjust our publicity efforts in 2005-06 accordingly. In another example, it became apparent through the feedback process that students required more support as they were writing their dissertations; we are offering Dissertation Boot Camp in 2005-06 as a result.

In the coming year we also will continue to share the story of the Graduate Student Center’s success with our alumni and other schools. We will further develop our alumni initiative and communicate with our growing alumni constituency. We will also attend conferences and make presentations to student leaders and University administrators about the importance and relevance of increased graduate student services.

It is our goal through these efforts to build and improve upon the graduate student community on Penn’s campus, and to develop a reputation as a leader in graduate student services.

All figures are for 2004 -05

Consulting
This past year, several universities that are exploring the feasibility of opening a graduate student center contacted us to learn more about our Center, how it was founded, how it operates, etc. We’ve spent time consulting with UCLA, UC San Diego, University of Michigan, Duke University, University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Temple University. The geographic diversity of this group testifies to the fact that Penn’s Grad Center has earned a nationwide reputation for excellence.

Revised Mission Statement
During the 2004 summer, the Grad Center staff and Advisory Board re-wrote the Center’s mission statement to include our new service component. The mission now accurately reflects our main objective of building community through programming, services, and facilities to meet the needs of Penn’s graduate and professional students.

Election Activities
The Grad Center joined the rest of campus in encouraging student participation in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election through a variety of activities. The Center distributed voter registration forms and was a drop point for completed forms. We hosted a political satire film series during the month of November, featuring Wag the Dog, Head of State, Primary Colors, etc. We also showed several of the televised Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, and fostered discussions among students following the broadcasts. Finally, the Grad Center stayed open late on election night to broadcast the coverage as well as provide snacks to the students who stayed late to see the results. Following the election, we organized a Theory & Practice dinner in which Annenberg Professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson discussed the election results with students.

Navigating the Grant
The Grad Center was approached by the Graduate Student Associations Council (GSAC) to help in the administration, planning, and follow-up components of “Navigating the Grant,” a new program designed to offer peer-based support in the grant process. The program offered 18 sessions of disciplined-based workshops in which graduate students served as grant advisors to their fellow graduate students. More information on this new program can be found in Programs.

Elevator Construction
In the fall, we began the long process of constructing an elevator in the Grad Center. Through noise, dirt, disruption, and occasional power outages, the Center remained open for our students. The elevator project was finally completed in June and we marked the occasion with an “Elevation Celebration” for the entire Penn community. Our building is now fully accessible to all graduate and professional students.

Alumni Initiative
By 2004-05, the Grad Center had developed a critical mass of alumni who passed through our doors. We tapped into this resource by gathering a database of recent alumni who served as graduate student leaders, Grad Center Fellows, Advisory Board members, and who attended Grad Center programs. We also created a web page specifically for graduate and professional alumni that explains how to stay involved with the Grad Center, and highlights services of the University’s Office of Alumni Relations, Career Services, the Penn Club of New York, etc. Alumni in our database were e-mailed the URL for this web page, along with a brief update on the Grad Center. We will continue to grow our alumni database and contact this group twice a year with information and updates. We are currently consulting with the Grad Center’s Advisory Board about creating membership societies for alumni who support the Grad Center.

The Grad Center Gnome
Who do you ask when you don’t know who to ask about Penn or Philadelphia? The Grad Center Gnome! The Gnome was created in the spring 2004 as a friendly, easy way for graduate and professional students to get information online. To ask the Gnome a question, students just click on his picture on our web page, or go directly to www.gsc.upenn.edu/services/gnome. Questions are automatically forwarded to Grad Center staff for a speedy and knowledgeable reply.

In 2004-05, the Gnome received over 120 e-mailed queries from students, on topics such as travel grants, where to live off-campus, where to park on campus, recreational facilities, where to buy textbooks, Penn transit, and more. In addition, the Gnome proactively provided useful information for students: Tax Tips, Fun in Philadelphia during Spring Break, Places to go for Thanksgiving, Holiday Safety Tips, and Late Night Study Spots during Finals. This year, the Gnome also surveyed students about their favorite food trucks and local restaurants, and will make the results available to incoming students.

Information Clearinghouse
The Grad Center staff began an initiative in 2004-05 to present information and events pertinent to graduate students on our web site and on the Grad Tab of the Penn Portal. We disseminated information about student health insurance deadlines, tsunami relief efforts, flu shot shortages, dining plans, the University’s bicycle survey, etc. We also promoted events organized by Career Services, the Penn Humanities Forum, GAPSA, GSAC, the Library, Penn Volunteers in Public Services, the Center for Teaching and Learning, School of Arts and Sciences, and the University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Committee. Finally, we provide a funding sources page to help advertise funding opportunities specifically geared towards graduate students including positions available through Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, Communication Within the Curriculum, the Writing Center, and the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Notary Services
We began providing notary services at the Grad Center in June 2004 in order to help students handle the myriad of legal documents related to attending university in the U.S., buying a home, applying for utilities, etc. This past year, nearly 300 documents were notarized at the Grad Center, testifying to the usefulness of this service for our students.

Space Rental
The Center’s rooms can be reserved at no charge by graduate students and by University offices holding events for graduate students. This service encourages graduate students to create and participate in group activities, thus helping to build community. The Grad Center was reserved for 806 activities throughout the year; more information about our reservations can be found in Facilities.

Coffee and Tea
The Grad Center may be most well-known for serving free coffee and tea all day, every day, to graduate and professional students. This much-appreciated caffeine boost lures students back to the Center every day, helps build graduate community, generates goodwill, and keeps our students on their toes!

Arts & Culture Programs
A total of 18 programs were organized by the Grad Center’s Arts & Culture Fellow this year. Highlights included a trip to the Japanese Tea House in Fairmount Park for a traditional tea ceremony; discounted tickets to the Philadelphia Opera Company’s production of Aida, accompanied by a discussion of the opera at the Grad Center by Theater Arts lecturer David Fox; and a Chinese New Year’s Celebration that included traditional Chinese pastries and a presentation about the Year of the Rooster. We also sold discounted tickets to several PennPresents performances, visited the Morris Arboretum, and took students to First Fridays in Old City during the summer.

Art Exhibitions
The Grad Center showcases works by Fine Arts students in the School of Design through our exhibitions program. In 2004-05, the Grad Center displayed the work of 10 students during seven exhibitions. Each exhibition begins with a reception and artist talk, which is open to the entire Penn community.

Career & Life Skills Programs
This past year, Career & Life Skills program highlights included workshops on meditation, massage, swing dance, and healthy cooking; tutorials on PowerPoint and business presentations; and Making Sense of Scents, an information session at Douglas Parfumerie on skin care and beauty tips. A total of 16 programs were organized in 2004-05. The Career & Life Skills Fellow also provides information on our web site about other campus career-related workshops of interest to graduate and professional students.

Community Service
The Community Service Fellows organized several drives at the Grad Center: a Thanksgiving Food Drive; Holiday Toy and Coat Drive; Grenada Hurricane Relief; and Recycle for Breast Cancer, among others. We also joined UC Green to plant trees in West Philadelphia in the fall and spring. Finally, we recruited graduate and professional students to participate in the Penn/West Philly Community Celebration Day, which was part of President Gutmann’s inauguration activities. Eight community service activities were organized in all. In addition, Community Service Fellows collect information about other volunteer opportunities and post it on our web site so students can easily find other community service programs of interest.

Films
The Grad Center shows two films each week – about 90 films throughout the year. Notable series this year included Benicio Del Toro Films during Latino Heritage Month; films highlighting Music of the African Diaspora during Black History Month; Chinese Wuxia Films for Chinese New Year’s; Salvador Dalí Film Festival; Heroes with PhDs; movies about Sleep and Dreams to coincide with the Penn Humanities Forum theme; a Star Wars Marathon; etc.

In addition, the Grad Center partnered with GAPSA on two film events. We sold discounted tickets to the premiers of Ocean’s Twelve and The Ring 2 at the local Bridge Cinema de Lux. We also showed the earlier installments of those films at the Center prior to each premier. Over 300 students participated in these special events.

Language Chats
Students gather weekly at the Grad Center to chat informally in American Sign Language, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish. Language Chats are a terrific opportunity for students from across the University to meet each other. Over 220 Language Chats sessions were held this year. At least 100 individual students have participated in a chat; most students participate multiple times. Chat sessions are coordinated by a student volunteer who records attendance. Seven student volunteers ran nine different language chat groups.

Lecture Series
The Lecture Series is designed to enhance intellectual exchanges among graduate and professional students. The Lectures Fellows organized seven programs this past year. Three “Theory & Practice” dinners were organized on the topics of the elections (featuring Kathleen Hall Jamieson); citizenship (featuring Amy Gutmann and Rogers Smith); and terrorism and public policy (featuring Harvey Rubin and David Eisenhower; this dinner unfortunately was cancelled due to snow). Our Theory & Practice dinners consistently sell out. In addition, we offered several student lectures and cosponsored with the Fontaine Society a student conference on “Bridging the Gap: Promoting Equity, Excellence, and Opportunity.” We also offered a faculty lecture featuring Lisa Hark, director of the Nutrition Education and Prevention Program at the Medical School, discussing her book Nutrition for Life.

Recreational Outings
The Recreational Outings Fellows organized nine fun activities to get grad students out of the classroom and into the sunshine this past year. Students biked in the annual “Tour de Philly;” visited the New Jersey State Aquarium; skied at Blue Mountain in the Poconos; learned colonial beer brewing techniques; toured Washington, DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival; among other fun activities.

T.A./Ph.D. Support Programs
(The Navigating Series)
In 2004-05, we collaborated with GSAC on a new T.A./Ph.D. Support Program: Navigating the Grant, increasing the number of programs in this area to 42. The Navigating Series -- which includes Navigating the Dissertation, Navigating the Classroom and Navigating the Grant -- were introduced to students in an annual kick-off event featuring SAS Graduate Dean Jack Nagel as keynote speaker. The three T.A./Ph.D. Support Fellows that coordinate the Navigating series spoke to students about the workshops we offer. Representatives from each organization with which we collaborate also spoke to students about the services and resources they offer.

The successful Navigating the Dissertation series completed its third year. The Ph.D. Support Fellows organized 13 workshops in this series, including topics such as “Applications of Endnote,” “How to Get your Paper Published,” “Writing Drafts,” and “Finishing the Dissertation,” working with organizations such as the Library and Weingarten Learning Resources Center.

The Navigating the Classroom series is now in its second year. In 2004-2005 we held 10 workshops relevant to the needs and interests of teaching assistants. Topics included “How to Design a Course,” “Crafting Your Teaching Portfolio,” and “Keeping Your Cool in the Classroom.” While some of the workshops included advanced graduate students serving as panelists, others drew on staff and faculty at Penn to share some of their expertise with workshop attendees. Navigating the Classroom is planned with organizations such as the Center for Teaching and Learning.

In spring 2004, GSAC created a pilot program called Navigating the Grant to offer guidance on the grant writing process. GSAC asked the Grad Center to take over the administration of the program following its debut. During the summer 2004, nine graduate students from a variety of departments were selected as Grant Advisors and participated in a multi-faceted training program to teach them to effectively research and present discipline-specific information to other students on applying for grants. The Grant Advisors then offered two workshops each on researching and writing grants for students in their respective fields. At the end of the semester, the Grant Advisors met with staff to provide feedback on the program. The Grant Advisors’ comments, together with surveys completed by the workshop participants, have helped to reshape Navigating the Grant. During the spring 2005 semester, plans were developed for restructuring the format of future workshops to provide more information on the basic elements of researching funding options and developing successful grant proposals, in addition to offering more discipline- and grant-specific support. In addition, plans were developed to compile examples of successful student grant proposals, and distribute them on a CD in 2005-06.

General Events
The Center’s staff also organized 21 general events throughout the year. We broadcasted the summer Olympics, U.S. Presidential election coverage, and the Super Bowl; and hosted a graduation brunch for students and their families and our annual Alumni Weekend Open House; and an “Elevation Celebration” to celebrate the completion of our elevator.

We also organized a new workshop -- “Demystifying Penn Traditions” -- to help graduate and professional students better understand the culture and identity of Penn. Grad Center staff gave a presentation that explained the Penn shield, Hey Day, Ivy Stones, and more, and taught participants the words to Penn songs. Following the presentation, students could attend a Mask & Wig production. The successful event was repeated in the spring; more than 40 students attended these fun workshops and developed a greater affinity to their future alma mater.

Program Participants
More than one-third of the University’s graduate and professional students attend Grad Center programs: over 3,100 students in total. Our programs are attended by a robust mix of graduate and professional students from across the University. The table below compares the percentage of students by school who attend our programs to the percentage of students by school enrolled at the University.

As the table illustrates, Grad Center programs meet the diverse needs of Penn’s graduate and professional student population.

More than 4,100 students began graduate and professional programs at Penn in 2004. Spread out across 12 schools with differing start dates, these students arrive on campus anytime from June to September. Accordingly, we planned NSO events over a two-month period so that most NSO programs were offered multiple times to meet the demand. As always, the 2004 Graduate & Professional NSO was planned in conjunction with representatives from all 12 schools and from important resource centers across campus.

For the last three years, the Grad Center has hired an intern from the Policy, Management, and Evaluation Division within the Graduate School of Education to run NSO. This successful partnership provides the NSO Coordinator with a valuable educational and professional experience and gives the Grad Center an especially qualified student for the job.

New Student Communications
In early summer, all incoming graduate and professional students received a welcome letter from the Grad Center, along with a refrigerator magnet that listed important URLs. Providing web-based information allows us to continually update, giving students the most timely information about Penn and NSO, while at the same time cutting down on printing costs. We also published the 2004-2005 Graduate & Professional Student Resource Guide, which was pared down and redesigned (by a Design alumna), in response to student feedback. When students arrived on campus to their respective school orientations, they were given a welcome packet from the Grad Center, which included the new Resource Guide, an invitation to the President’s Reception for new students, the Pennbook of academic policies, the NSO calendar, and a Safety and Security CD.

New Student Programs
Following the 2003 New Student Orientation, the NSO Coordinator surveyed students about how helpful they found the various seminars and how they would improve NSO to better suit the needs of new students. We received over 100 responses. Based on these assessments, we repeated seminars on transportation, safety, and University City District, as well as walking tours of campus and Philadelphia. We once again held the highly successful “Get to ‘Gnome’ Penn Scavenger Hunt,” in which new students are sent to many of the most useful and important sites on campus looking for the Grad Center’s lost garden gnomes. And we cosponsored the President’s Welcome Reception and Resource Fair for new students. In addition to these programs, we added a seminar explaining Penn’s health insurance system, drawing off of the many student surveys that suggested a need for more information on this topic. This event proved to be a great success, serving over 50 of our new graduate and professional students.

Also new in 2004 were two events that provided students with a unique way to see Philadelphia: a Bartram’s Garden Schuylkill River Boat Cruise and a Ride the Ducks Tour of Philly, which was cosponsored by Graduate Programs at Sansom Place and the Office of International Programs. Both events helped students meet others from across the University and to appreciate the beauty and culture of their new city.

More than 1,000 students attended 23 Grad Center NSO programs. Through our New Student Orientation program, the Grad Center becomes a new student’s hub for learning about graduate and professional life at Penn. We hope to continue improving our programming for those new students and continue promoting the Grad Center within the Penn community.

Student Recruitment
The NSO Coordinator also was involved in the recruitment/admissions process for the University’s 12 graduate and professional schools, providing tours of campus, presentations about graduate student life at Penn, and participation in Resource Fairs. Eight out of 12 schools utilized at least one of these services. The NSO student coordinator wrote self-guided tours of campus for two schools, led tours for eight Accepted Student Days and one tour for prospective graduate students from Bloomsburg University, and participated in two Graduate School of Education resource fairs. In addition, Grad Center staff handle hundreds of admissions-related e-mails and phone calls each year from prospective students.

Finally, Grad Center staff worked with the Office of Graduate Studies to develop a new admissions brochure. The “Graduate Student Life” brochure highlights the many great aspects of Philadelphia, our campus, and the graduate community at Penn. The piece supplements school-specific admissions materials, and helps our schools and departments better promote the University as a whole.

By showcasing the many resources that are available to all graduate and professional students at Penn, we are able to help prospective students make a more informed choice about matriculating at Penn.

Program Growth
Our Mentoring Program experienced many changes and improvements in 2004-05. The efforts of this past year, which are detailed below, resulted in an unparalleled revitalization of the program. From the fall to spring semester, the program experienced tremendous growth in new undergraduate sign-ups. Mentoring matches reached an all time high with 36 new pairs. Most pairs reported that they plan to continue their interactions over the summer and into the fall 2005 semester.

Campus Collaborations
In an attempt to revitalize and strengthen the program, the fall semester was largely devoted to soliciting input from the Education Committee of the Undergraduate Assembly (UA) and members of GAPSA. The resulting student feedback helped greatly to improve the way we promote the program to both mentors and mentees. Another result is that the Mentoring Program is now co-sponsored by GAPSA and the UA. Both groups assisted in advertising efforts in the spring semester and GAPSA has funded various program initiatives.

The Grad Center’s Mentoring Fellow also reached out to student service offices and undergraduate schools on campus. Links to our Mentoring Program now appear on several University web sites, including those for the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering, Career Services, College Houses and Academic Services, and the UA. The program is also included in the College House Wheel brochure. Career Services also organized several graduate school-related information sessions for the undergraduate community; panelists were drawn from our Mentoring Program’s graduate student volunteers. We continue to seek out additional partnerships across campus to better promote and support the Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring Program.

New Initiatives
Drawing from member survey information and the feedback from the UA and GAPSA, we reformatted and expanded the Mentoring web site, making it an informational resource for students. The most significant improvement occurred with the implementation of an online information database to track inquiries, retain information, and assist with the creation of optimal mentoring matches.

Campus collaborations also resulted in new programmatic elements and events. In the spring of 2005, we introduced “Coffee Talk,” a feature which encourages mentoring pairs to meet in person by subsidizing a visit to Cosi or Starbucks with gift cards funded by GAPSA. This component of the program has been incredibly successful, resulting in an increase of in-person mentoring interactions, and is naturally popular with participants.

In addition, the Mentoring Fellow organized a workshop for the program’s volunteer mentors. “Mentoring 101: Best Mentoring Practices” was taught by Gale Gibbons, a career coach from Penn Human Resources.

Finally, the Grad Center produced a Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring brochure to promote the program to undergraduates. The brochure is distributed through the Presidents’ Office, Career Services, Weingarten Learning Resources Center, the Center for Undergraduate Research & Funding, and other campus offices.

Over the course of the next year, the Grad Center plans to continue to promote this important campus-wide program so that many more undergraduates can learn about graduate school options from our graduate and professional student experts.

Web Site Content
The Graduate Student Center web site underwent a complete overhaul in 2004-05. Because the Center needed increased functionality and control over web site content and features, we moved the web site from the Penn server to an outside server. This move provided us with much-need database features and a more dynamic site, and allowed us to more fully utilize the talents of our Web Fellow. With this upgrade, our web site now functions not only as an informational resource about the Grad Center and Penn, but as an online internal administrative system for the Grad Center staff.

One of the primary functions of the Grad Center web site is to publicize our programs by providing comprehensive information about our events and our online calendar. The Grad Center calendar is integrated into the main Penn web calendar, which also feeds the PennPortal and GAPSA calendars, so Grad Center events are reflected on multiple calendars.

Our web site also serves as a larger graduate community resource, providing an online Graduate & Professional Student Resource Guide, funding information, community service opportunities, reminders about important academic deadlines.

In addition, the web site facilitates transactions with the Center through online room reservation requests, event registration, feedback forms, employee applications, cosponsor forms, and questions for the Gnome.

Finally the web site serves as a password-protected internal administrative site for the Grad Center staff. For example, within this new intranet we keep track of all our events and information related to our events. Event information entered into the intranet creates automatic features such as online registration. When a student registers for an event, their information is captured in a database that is subsequently used for assessment purposes. When an event sells out, that information is automatically noted in the registration form. Because this system is online, our Fellows can view their event and registrant information from any location. In addition to the large event database, we created several smaller databases: a mentoring database which stores all information pertaining to the mentoring pairs, a timesheet database for Fellows to enter and track their work hours, a lost and found database, and an alumni database. Finally, important documents are maintained on the intranet so that everything a Fellow needs to do their Grad Center work effectively is on one site.

Web Site Usage
During the course of the year, the Grad Center web site had 180,000 unique visits, during which 370,000 pages were viewed. These numbers are nearly double our figures from last year, demonstrating that the Grad Center is an increasingly important source of information, programs, and services for greater and greater numbers of students.

The daily average numbers of visits and views are outlined in the graph below. Similar to our building usage, our web site is more heavily utilized during the middle of the week.

The Grad Center’s web site has consistently increased in usage each month this year from previous years. In addition, the web site receives the greatest number of views during September, when new and returning students are most in need of information, programs, and New Student Orientation.

Publicity
During 2004-2005, the Graduate Student Center maintained the successful publicity channels established during our first three years while also increasing our communications with our constituencies through several new publicity campaigns.

The Publicity Fellow conducted training sessions for our other Fellows on how to create, promote, and run a successful event. Fellows exploit several publicity vehicles to promote their programs. The most powerful publicity channel is our weekly e-mail listserv, which details Grad Center-sponsored programs and announcements of interest to the graduate student community. More than 2,500 individuals are subscribed to the listserv, and several thousand more are forwarded the listserv by student affairs staff at individual schools. In 2004, we streamlined the listserv content in response to student feedback, while retaining topical groupings of events and announcements. The resulting organization is easier to navigate. Other effective publicity vehicles include flyers distributed around campus, PowerPoint messages displayed in the Center, and our web site.

All of these techniques amounted to many “sold out” programs and well-utilized services offered by the Graduate Student Center.

Many of our projects were covered in campus publications, including the Daily Pennsylvanian, Pennsylvania Gazette, and the Almanac. Articles highlighted our programs, services, and building renovations. In addition, an article about our use of garden gnomes as the Center’s mascot appeared in The Journal News, a daily newspaper serving Westchester and Rockland counties in New York.

During the spring semester, the Center underwent substantial construction projects to make our building accessible to the entire graduate and professional student population. Throughout the long renovation process, students were kept informed about the purpose and extent of changes to the building through PowerPoint slides, flyers, posters, and information on our web site. There were minimal complaints about the disruption, mostly because students felt informed and involved.

Building Improvements
We made several improvements to the building during the past year. Most significantly, we constructed an elevator to increase the Center’s accessibility (see more details under Highlights). Along with the exterior elevator tower, we were able to add an outdoor terrace, thanks to funding from GAPSA, GSAC, and the Office of the Provost. The outdoor terrace is a great new hang out spot for students, and also serves as an additional meeting/event/program space.

With the addition of the elevator, we needed to renovate our second- and third-floor bathrooms to make them accessible as well. GAPSA and the Office of the Provost generously funded those projects. Finally, we refinished the parquet floors on the first floor to spruce up our main space. These many projects caused minimal disruption to our students and have greatly increased the functionality and attractiveness of the Grad Center.

Building Usage
Graduate and professional students use the Center in two ways: informal hanging out and reserving the Center for formal group activities.

Hanging Out
In the spring we invested in an automatic counter to ascertain more accurately how many students use our space every day. The results surprised even us: during the academic year an average of 350 students are using the Center each weekday. More detailed figures are listed in the table below.

Average number of students using the Grad Center:

Each weekday during the academic year	350
On the weekend during the academic year	110
Each weekday during the summer	200

What are all these students doing here each day? Grad students come to the Center to study, relax, eat, meet, nap, get coffee, check e-mail, attend programs, and more. They bring their children, spouses, significant others, parents, and pets. At closing time we have to kick them out and in the morning they’re waiting at the door to get back in. The Grad Center has clearly become the home-away-from-home for many graduate and professional students at Penn.

Reservations
The Center’s rooms can be reserved at no charge by graduate students and by University offices holding events for graduate students. This service encourages graduate students to create and participate in group activities, thus helping to build community. The Center is also considered “neutral” territory and is centrally-located, making us a convenient location for students from different schools to come together.

In 2004-05, the Center was reserved for 806 events representing a wide variety of academic and co-curricular activities. The breakdown of reservations was:

The number of reservations declined somewhat from last year, which is likely due to the noise generated by the elevator construction during much of the academic year. With the addition of the elevator, however, we anticipate that our reservations will grow, even beyond our higher 2003-04 numbers, because of the increased accessibility.

Graduate Student Center Advisory Board
The 20-member volunteer Advisory Board is made up of graduate and professional students from schools across the University. See the full list of Board members in the Appendix.

Board members meet monthly to advise Grad Center staff and Fellows on programming and policy issues. For the first time this year, we organized an orientation session for both new and seasoned Board members to ensure that all members have a consistent understanding of the role and function of the Board. The success of the orientation was evident in the Board’s many accomplishments in 2004-05. During the year, the Board tackled a number of issues, including a revision of the Grad Center’s mission statement; setting the Center’s funding priorities; increasing the Center’s weekend hours; planning the “Elevation Celebration;” recommending topics and speakers for programs; reviewing NSO plans; and helping to shape the alumni initiative.

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA)
The Graduate Student Center works closely with GAPSA to serve the needs of graduate and professional students. The Center and GAPSA cosponsored the Welcome Reception for new students and two film events. This year, GAPSA also became a cosponsor of our Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring program. Grad Center staff sell tickets for large-scale GAPSA even s such as dinner nights, the Election Night Party, the Dalí Cocktail Party, and the annual Boat Cruise. GAPSA’s Nominations Chair identifies volunteers for the Grad Center Advisory Board, and GAPSA’s Communications Chair forwards the Grad Center listserv to increase our publicity outreach. GAPSA representatives sit on the Advisory Board and contribute ideas to our programs and policies.

GAPSA also continued their tradition of donating funds to the Grad Center for special projects. In 2004-05, GAPSA generously contributed $28,660 to the Center: $17,500 for the bathroom renovation project; $10,000 for the terrace expansion project; and $1,160 for the mentoring program.

Graduate Student Associations Council (GSAC)
Likewise, the Graduate Student Center partners with GSAC in many areas and provides us with funding. GSAC representatives sit on the Advisory Board and contribute ideas to our programs and policies. GSAC cosponsored the three Navigating series by graciously providing funding, hands-on volunteer support, and publicity. In addition, GSAC cosponsored the successful Navigating Kick Off event in September.

In 2004-05 GSAC generously provided over $31,300 to the Grad Center: $16,300 for Navigating support; $10,000 for the terrace expansion project; and $5,000 for terrace lighting and furniture.

Other Partnerships
Both the Grad Center and our partners benefit from reduced costs, additional resources, and increased exposure when we join forces. Below is a list of the other organizations with which we collaborated in 2004-05.

Other Student Groups: Association for India’s Development, BGAPSA, Fontaine Society, Mask and Wig*, Undergraduate Assembly*, Uptown Swing*.

University Offices: Center for Teaching and Learning, College of General Studies*, Communications Within the Curriculum (CWiC), Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Critical Writing Program, English Language Programs*, Janice Fisher (lecturer at the Wharton Communication Program), Graduate Programs at Sansom Place, Graduate School of Education, the Library, Morris Arboretum, Office of International Programs (OIP), Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of Off-Campus Living, Penn Humanities Forum, Penn Presents, Penn Transit, Public Safety, School of Design, Student Health, University of Pennsylvania Press*, and Weingarten Learning Resources Center.

Outside Organizations and Individuals: Bryn Mawr Running Club*, Cardiovascular Institute of Philadelphia, Douglas Parfumerie, Friends of 40th Street*, Massage Arts Center of Philadelphia, cyclist Al Parker GFA’02, PhillyCarShare, Recycle for Breast Cancer*, SEPTA, Shambala Meditation Center of Philadelphia*, Society Hill Dance Academy*, University City District, UC Green, beer historian Rich Wagner*, Whole Foods Market*.

* Denotes new collaborators

2004-05 Graduate Student Center Staff

Director:
Anita Mastroieni

Assistant Director:
DeAnna Cheung

Arts & Culture Fellow:
Jenny Ko (Design)

Career/Life Skills Fellow:
Annapurna Valluri (Wharton)

Lecture Fellows:
René Luis Alvarez (SAS History)
Alexandra deRenzy Channer (SAS Political Science)

Mentoring Fellows:
Kimberly Sambol-Tosco (SAS History)
Claire Jansen Klieger (GSE)

Ph.D./T.A. Support Fellows:
Kimberly Sambol-Tosco (SAS History)
Meredith Wooten (SAS Political Science)
Cassia Cearley (BGS)

Recreational Outings/Community Service Fellows:
Beverly Frazier (SSW)
Cynthia Bartus (Med)

New Student Orientation Coordinator:
Sonja Krause-Burkins (GSE)

Web Fellow:
Joshua Capitanio (SAS Asian & Middle Eastern Studies)

Publicity Fellows:
Gregory Buckingham (SAS Organizational Dynamics)
Meredith Wooten (SAS Political Science)

2004-05 Graduate Student Center Advisory Board
The Grad Center’s volunteer Advisory Board is made up of graduate and professional students from across the University. Board members meet monthly to advise Grad Center staff and Fellows on programming and policy issues.

Cay Bradley (SSW)
Jamaine Saydu Davis (BMG)
Noah Drezner (GSE)
David Ellowitch (GSE)
Lauren Feldman (SEAS)
Fred Harrison (Med)
Lauren Hauck (Design)
Stephanie Ives (GSE)
Pamela Jackson-Malik (Nursing)
Lela Jacobsohn (ASC)
Jamica Keith (Design)
George Leslie (Med)
Patricia Louison (GSE)
Nicole Maurantonio (SAS)
Agnes Pambid (Nursing)
Lisa Pilnik (Law)
Jade Shipman (Design)
Mike Smith (SAS)
Harry Wang (Wharton)
Micki Young (Vet)

Committee Service
In 2004-05, Graduate Student Center staff members served on the following University Committees:
• Affirmative Action Council
• Facilities Committee
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium Executive Committee
• Penn Transit Advisory Committee
• Penn/West Philadelphia Community Celebration Day Planning Committee
• University Council
• Weekly-Paid Staff Assembly