May 9, 2002

• Chief of Penn's finest
  Under Thomas Rambo, the neighborhood and campus are safer, but not just because crime is down. The newly accredited department has instituted safety measures on the streets and security measures on campus.

• Track yourself on-line at U@Penn
• Anderson examines code of the suites
• Cinema deal

• Research: Color teen smokers blue and vulnerable
• Student Spotlight: Audio books level the academic playing field
• Staff Q&A: Public-radio junkie Bruce Warren gets a nod from a music industry titan.

• Ask Benny: A reader challenges Benny's facts
• Political science gets political
• A busman's holiday
• Seminars for retirement and work
• Out and About: How I got on top of old smoking

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Office of University Communications home page

Track yourself on-line at U@Penn

BY SANDY SMITH

A new service will make it easier for faculty and staff to keep track of payroll, benefits and personal information.

U@Penn, which will go live May 14, offers on-line access to pay stub information, said Comptroller Ken Campbell. Faculty and staff can also view benefits choices, and payroll and personnel data, including addresses, emergency contacts, tax filing status, tax withholding and direct deposit information. In addition, non-exempt (weekly-paid) employees will also be able to view their paid-time-off balances using the system.

The service, a joint project of the Divisions of Finance and Human Resources, will also provide links to the Web sites of Penn’s benefits administrators and allow users to e-mail Benefits and Payroll staff.

“This service allows employees to check information directly instead of going to their business administrator or payroll coordinator,” said Campbell.

Privacy protected

To ensure privacy, the service uses a secure Web connection that requires PennNet authentication. Information displayed on U@Penn is not stored on the Web site, but retrieved from Penn’s payroll and personnel databases in response to user instructions.

The service is the first step towards a system that will allow employees to update selected demographic and payroll information on-line. Eventually, Campbell said, faculty and staff will be able to update addresses, change emergency contact information and change paycheck direct-deposit options through the service.

Government rules will still require the use of paper to change tax filing status and withholding.

Find the site at sentry.isc.upenn.edu/uatpenn.

All that is required to use U@Penn is a Penn-supported version of Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, plus a PennNet ID and password. If you do not have a PennNet ID, visit the PennCard Center in the Franklin Building or www.upenn.edu/computing/help/doc/passport/netid.html to find out how to get one.