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Join PPSA's Team in the "Maintain, Don't Gain" Holiday Weight Maintenance Program!

Fight the Holiday Bulge with PPSA!
PPSA has a team in the "Maintain, Don't Gain Holiday Weight Maintenance Program" through Human Resources!
Want to join our Team?  Just go through the registration process for any of the sessions.  When you go to weigh in say you are there for the PPSA Team.  It will be fun to see if we can make it into the "Honor Roll."
Please let us know if you joined our team!

The holiday season is one of the toughest times to maintain your weight. While it's often an opportunity to rejoice, celebrate, and enjoy time with family and friends, it's also one of the most challenging times to maintain your waistline, as many holiday activities revolve around food and drink.
But Human Resources can help you avoid gaining weight during this challenging time through the Maintain, Don't Gain Holiday Weight Maintenance Program. Last year, the program was a great success - 93% of participants were able to either maintain or lose weight.
Participating is easy. Once you've registered, just come to the pre- and post-holiday weigh-ins and keep your weight within 2 or 3 pounds of where you were before the holidays. Click here for dates and locations for pre-holiday weigh-ins. Pre-registration is required:
http://www.hr.upenn.edu/Quality/Wellness/MaintainDontGain.aspx
You can also create your own Maintain, Don't Gain team. Grab your officemates and friends on campus, give yourselves a team name, and let the competition begin! We'll track how all of your team members are doing and average your results in January. If each team member either maintains or loses weight by the final weigh-in, your team will be highlighted on the Maintain, Don't Gain Honor Roll on the Human Resources website!
Visit the website for more information about the Maintain, Don't Gain Program. If you have questions, contact Human Resources at 215-898-5116 or suzsmith@upenn.edu.

Coat Drive
Now through December 10!

GOT COATS?
PPSA is cosponsoring a Coat Drive with Netter Center, PennVIPS, and the Linguistics Department. 
Donate your gently-used or buy a new coat for someone who needs to stay warm this winter.
Drop Off Locations Include:
Stouffer Commons, 3702 Spruce St.
Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St.
Linguistics, 619 Williams Hall
Netter Center, 133 South 36th/5th Floor
Museum Reception, Kress Gallery

Please make sure the coat you donate is clean and in good condition.  We don't have the facilities to wash anything.
Please donate your coat by December 10th.
Questions? Contact:
PennVIPS: Katrina Terrell @ 898-3547
PPSA: Laurie McCall @ 898-7038
Netter Center: Isabel Mapp @ 898-2020
Linguistics: Amy Forsythe @ 898-6046

Details to come soon.

2010 Penn Commuter and Parking Survey
http://www.upenn.edu/survey/commuterparking

The 2010 Penn Commuter and Parking Survey is now available online at http://www.upenn.edu/survey/commuterparking
Please take a few minutes to take the survey, as it will assist the University in improving services for those who choose to commute using public transportation, ridesharing, walking and biking.
Complete the survey online for one of two chances to win a valuable prize!

2010 Penn Bookstore Survey
http://www.upenn.edu/survey/bookstore

Participate in the Penn Bookstore Survey at http://www.upenn.edu/survey/bookstore for a chance to win one of three $100 gift certificates to the Penn Bookstore!

Ongoing:  NEW EXHIBITIONS at the Penn Museum:
Righteous Dopefiend: Homelessness, Addiction and Poverty in Urban America; The Goodlands; What in the World (Philagrafika 2010 festival "Out of Print" collaboration)

Deals
Philly Fun Guide - http://www.phillyfunguide.com/categories/index/14/661
Free at the Kimmel Center - http://www.kimmelcenter.org/events/?org=355
The Walnut Street Theatre has day-of-show discounts for only $15 each! Tickets/Info: 215-574-3550, or www.walnutstreettheatre.org. 
Art After 5 - Philadelphia Museum of Art: Friday evenings take on a whole new groove with Art After 5, a unique blend of entertainment from 5:00-8:45 p.m.  in the Great Stair Hall. With an eclectic mix of international music on the first Friday of each month, and recognized and emerging jazz artists performing all other Fridays, it's a stylish way to start your weekend. http://www.philamuseum.org/artafter5/

The Arthur Ross Gallery
Exhibition Schedule Fall 2010 - Spring 2011
Gallery Address:
220 South 34th Street (Between Walnut and Spruce Streets)
In the Fisher Fine Arts Library
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Gallery Hours
Tuesday through Friday: 10am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday: 12pm to 5pm
Closed Mondays and some holidays.
For More Information, please see our website: http://www.upenn.edu/ARG

Walk-In Wednesday Information Sessions
Dec. 1, 8, 15
11:00 am - 1:00 pm; 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
3440 Market Street, Suite 100
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/wiw
Learn how to use your employee tuition benefits for professional development with courses and degree programs at Penn. One-on-one meetings with recruitment staff.
No appointment necessary, just walk in. However, if you'd like to schedule an in-person or telephone meeting, please call us at 215-746-6902. Or, you may email an appointment request to lps-info@sas.upenn.edu.

DEC 2-4: Parsons Dance Company:
The Village Voice exclaims that David Parsons' newest masterpiece Remember Me - a full-length collaboration with the East Village Opera Company featuring live singers performing rock renditions of favorite arias - is full of "eye-popping digital effects...excellent showbiz-savvy performers...lusty, sensual movement" and that "Parsons enters the realm of pop spectacle with a vengeance!"
http://annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=128

DEC 10: Preservation Hall Jazz Band:
Straight from the Big Easy and featuring a flavorful gumbo of Christmas classics and beloved standards with a twist of ragtime, blues and jazz, this family-friendly event will surely put you in the holiday spirit!
http://annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=115

DEC 11: Slide (Ireland), Irish Christmas Celebration:
Featuring festive fiddling, traditional Irish tunes and holiday favorites, this family-friendly show is a Christmas extravaganza straight from the Emerald Isle you won't want to miss!
http://annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=112

DEC 16-18: Mummenschanz:
Celebrate the holidays with Mummenschanz in their clever and comic world filled with strange creatures, astounding colors and imaginative shapes - "a place of constant wonder and ingenuity" according to the Boston Herald. Perfect for the whole family!
http://annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=130

Discounts available for staff and faculty: 215-898-3900 | AnnenbergCenter.org

Wondering what to do with those old office chairs? Have promotional items left over from an event, or laboratory equipment gathering dust? List them in Ben’s Attic – a new online website developed by Purchasing Services that allows Penn faculty and staff to exchange and purchase surplus University owned property.

All faculty and staff are able to browse the site to see if there are any items they may need. However, to post items or make purchases, you must be a TAC (Transaction Authorization) holder (or a TAC holder’s designee). Items are listed by category and can be sold or given away at no cost. You can also request an email notification of items by category as they become available. 

All policies defining disposition of University property are defined on the site and must be adhered to when listing an item for purchase or bid. All items are centrally reviewed by the Ben’s Attic system administrator and then approved for posting on the site.

As Ben’s Attic is just being launched, there is a great need for items to be listed on the site. It’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of unwanted stuff in an easy and sustainable manner!

Ben’s Attic is strictly for repurposing of University owned property and can be accessed from the Purchasing Services website http://www.upenn.edu/purchasing or you may bookmark https://upenn.unl.edu/.

If you have any questions regarding the usage of Ben’s Attic or to set up an account please email benattic@exchange.upenn.edu.

If you have personal items that you wish to repurpose you may access the West Philly Freecycle™ site at freecycle.org for your personal transactions. The Freecycle™ Network is made up of groups with members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns and thus keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Bon Appetit at Penn Dining: A Bigger Bite for your Buck with Club Cards
Next time you visit Houston Market or the Shops at 1920 Commons ask for a "Frequent Buyer's Club Card." Each time you make a purchase of $7 or more get your card punched and after four visits at either location get the fifth purchase FREE! Or visit Yo-reka, the Greek yogurt shop in 1920 Commons and get a "Yo-reka Club Card" for a FREE yogurt after seven visits.

Penn Volunteers In Public Service posts a list of volunteer opportunities for the Penn community to become involved in.  These opportunities are developed from the many requests we receive for partnerships and assistance from the local community.  The Penn community continues to show its generosity by providing much needed support to members of our surrounding community. Many benefit from your willingness to give.
The following is a list of current request:

Do you know how to develop a Business Plan?
Teach local community members in the Nonprofit Institute.

Through the Nonprofit Institute, persons involved with local nonprofits and communities of faith, learn how to build organizational and program capacity through the study of funding, management, technology, business practice and legal issues.

Volunteer to teach our new workshop on developing business plans or design a workshop you would be interested in teaching.

The Institute takes place over a 2-week period and each class is approximately 2 hours in length. 

Contact  Isabel Mapp at sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu or call at 898-2020 to volunteer to teach.

Mentors Needed
Join the Penn WorkPlace Mentoring program.  Students visit campus once a month on the 3rd Thursday of the month from October – May and spend the day with their mentors in a variety of activities.  Your commitment is for only a few hours once a month.

Training will be provided.

For additional information, contact Isabel Mapp at sammapp@pobox.upenn.edu or cal at 898-2020.

Penn Transit’s Hollenback Shuttle: Pedestrian access to the Hollenback complex is restricted beginning May 20.

http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/transportation/using/alerts.html

Due to the construction of the new Penn Park, both the Weave and Paley Bridges will be temporarily closed. Closure of the Weave Bridge occurred on May 20, 2010. Closure of the Paley Bridge will occur on June 1, 2010.

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Penn Ecard Greetings
http://www.upenn.edu/ecard/

Visit http://www.upenn.edu/ecard/ for your Penn Ecard!

The Upper Room at the Christian Association House (118 S. 37th St. - enter on 37th) is a quiet, peaceful room on campus where you are welcome to visit during regular office hours (10am-4pm). The Penn community is welcome to meditate individually, or to come with a group (it is recommended that you call ahead to reserve the space for a group).
You are also welcome to just stop by for a nap or some quiet time.
Please take a virtual tour on our website: http://www.upennca.org/top/facilities/meditation_room/
For more information, please email upennca@dolphin.upenn.edu or come visit us at 118 S. 37th St.

There is a new partnership with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance to promote arts and cultural offerings produced at Penn, as well as a new online ticket program for the Penn community to take advantage of, for terrific  discounts.

· We are happy to be working with the Cultural Alliance who so successfully promotes the arts in Philadelphia, but who also has the capacity to educate their members in the fine points of arts marketing and arts advocacy. The arts and cultural community at Penn is poised to take advantage of both resources.
· We are excited that student arts groups will have the chance to join for free this year, and take advance of all that there is to learn about arts administration as a way to round out their education inside and outside the classroom. 
· Our goal is to showcase the great arts assets and support individual arts organizations with marketing support, and help new audiences discover the arts at Penn and University City as a destination.

Below is the site to the Philly Fun Guide, a site that generates about 10,000 hits a day and is the region’s comprehensive site devoted to arts and entertainment. We created a unique page to house all the wonderful things at Penn in one easy to navigate place. http://www.phillyfunguide.com/group/detail/47

In addition, visit the link on our site http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/artsandculture/pennsavers.html to sign up for your  “Penn Savers” promotional program and to get the weekly email ticket discounts.  

Through partnerships between Penn and our cellular providers (AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless), the Cellular Service Plan Discounts program provides discounts to Penn’s faculty, staff and students (minimum 10% off monthly service plans of $34.99 or higher) on their personal cellular plans. Details, including discount percentages, plan provisions, and customer service contacts, are available at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/voice/cellular/ .

Since the program commenced in 2004, nearly 7,000 members of the Penn community have enrolled in the program, resulting in over $300,000 in savings per year to them.

Information on a variety of other discount programs can be found at:
http://www.purchasing.upenn.edu/buytools/personal.php

SOUTH STREET BRIDGE CLOSURE INFORMATION
http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/ssbridge

The City of Philadelphia notified the University of Pennsylvania that the South Street Bridge closed for reconstruction at 9:30 AM on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008. The bridge is closed to ALL TRAFFIC, including pedestrians, bicycles and cars.

The closure of this important access point to University City results in many changes to traffic patterns, signs and signals, and volume in the vicinity of campus. Please adjust your commute accordingly.

University City Station will remain open and accessible during the South Street Bridge reconstruction project. The station entrance on South Street will be closed. Passengers must use the station entrance on Convention Avenue. For more information, visit http://www.septa.org/.

Penn is providing the following services to enhance your commute. Additional details and other resources are available at http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/ssbridge

• Public Safety - Penn Police, in coordination with the Philadelphia Police Department, will be stationed at key intersections during the morning and afternoon rush hours to mitigate congestion.
• More Bike Racks - Secure, indoor bicycle racks have been installed inside two Penn Garages - Garage #37 at 34th and Chestnut Sts, and Garage #40, (FreshGrocer) at 40th and Walnut Sts.
• Shuttle Service to Hollenback - Until the Weave Bridge is installed to provide access to the Hollenback area, Penn Transit is providing on-call daytime shuttle service. Visit http://www.upenn.edu/transportation/ or call 898-RIDE for information.
• Walking Escort Service - Commuters with safety concerns are encouraged to use Penn's Walking Escort Service. Call 898-WALK (9255) for information.

Have a question about commuting to campus during the South Street Bridge reconstruction project? Please contact ssbridge@exchange.upenn.edu.

PennCard Issuance Changes
http://www.upenn.edu/penncard/announce/

Business Services and ISC jointly launched a project designed to improve processes and systems associated with issuing PennCards. We are pleased to announce that the project team has recently completed software modifications that will enable new employees to obtain a PennCard within one business day after the payroll record has been entered into the Payroll/Personnel system by the hiring officer, allowing new hires to receive their PennCard on or even before their start date.

For more information, please go to http://www.upenn.edu/penncard/announce/

SPECIAL: TIAA-CREF and Vanguard Information
Download PDF: http://www.upenn.edu/ppsa/pdf/
0146_Statement_Financial_Svcs_Volatility_09.pdf

Because of the market issues - some individuals may be concerned. This is a information from TIAA-CREF and Vanguard that has been provided to us. It is shared for your information.

Link to Vanguard is:

For more on the Lehman-related impact, read this article:

https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip/site/institutional/researchcommentary/article?File=NewsWallStreetWobbles

In this video interview, Gus Sauter, Vanguard's chief investment officer, offers his thoughts on the resiliency of our financial system:

https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip/site/institutional/researchcommentary/article?File=VideoSauterMarketTurmoil

TIAA-CREF info:

TIAA continues to hold the highest possible ratings from all four of the leading rating agencies.*

The ratings are based on an independent analysis of TIAA’s balance sheet, capital position, reserves, asset quality, liquidity and other key indicators of financial stability.

CREF & Mutual Funds

Of course, the CREF variable annuity accounts and TIAA-CREF Mutual Fund returns are based on the market returns of their portfolios, so they are not immune to the overall markets.

However, please know that TIAA-CREF manages portfolios to seek consistent growth for long-term investors. Our basic philosophy is to acknowledge that unexpected events do occur and then try to minimize the impact of problems at any single company.

While some TIAA-CREF funds and accounts have been adversely affected by their exposure to specific financial companies, the impact of recent developments has generally been limited as a percentage of overall portfolio holdings. For example, Lehman Brothers stock represented no more than one-fifth of 1% of the assets of any single TIAA-CREF mutual fund or variable annuity account as of July 31, 2008.

For More Information

http://www.tiaa-cref.org/support/news/articles/gen0809_131.html

Penn Transit Offers GPS tracking
More info: http://www.upenn.edu/gps

Tired of waiting for Penn Transit buses or shuttles? Now you can use Penn Transit's new GPS system to find out precisely when your bus will arrive at your transit stop. You can access the new system on your computer, cell phone or PDA by going to: www.upenn.edu/gps . The GPS system will also track Penn shuttles while they are on campus. Not only does this enhancement improve customer service, it also provides an extra level of safety for riders. In addition to the new GPS system, Penn Transit has added four new buses which use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and can also be converted to biodiesel fuel, should those options become available.

GlobalFit

Penn has made available a special opportunity to join a fitness center at a discount rate and with numerous other related services. Check out GlobalFit's extensive network of thousands of fitness centers nationwide to choose a club that fits your personality. Their state-of-the-art fitness center search engine helps you to select the features that are important to you, from childcare to pools to yoga and Pilates. So why not get started on a healthier, more energetic YOU today? Go to http://www.globalfit.com/club/ to start.

Department of Recreation
For information about other health and wellness activities on campus, go to http://www.upenn.edu/recreation/programs/ or call 215-898-6100.

Penn's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Worklife Resources

Available for full- and part-time faculty and staff and their immediate family members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They provide FREE, CONFIDENTIAL, 1-ON-1 COUNSELING SESSIONS to address personal issues, and phone consultation on a range of personal life needs, from legal and financial questions to dependent care needs. Just call 1-888-321-4433 to access this support or go to http://new.mylifevalues.com/login.aspx.

For your username, enter upenn and for password, enter eap.

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 Penn Portal: http://www.upenn.edu/penn_portal
Access Penn InTouch directly at: https://sentry.isc.upenn.edu/intouch

Faculty/Staff:
Access the Penn Directories via, http://www.upenn.edu/directories
or Access U@Penn directly via, http://www.upenn.edu/u@penn

Penn Student Agencies
Services for Staff
http://www.upenn.edu/ppsa/pdf/staffoffers.pdf

PSA services include:
Apparel and Gifts for the Family and Office
Event Flier distribution on campus
Catering Service for your next important meeting by the Williams Cafe
...and much more!

Download details here:
http://www.upenn.edu/ppsa/pdf/staffoffers.pdf

Student Run, Penn Driven.

Division of Public Safety
Operation Theft Awareness
http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/
Theft_Awareness.asp

Download posters and table tents by clicking on the “media kit” on the lower left.

Mentors @ Penn Program
http://www.hr.upenn.edu/Learning/MentorsPenn.aspx

The Board of the PPSA welcomes all Penn staff to participate in the Mentors @ Penn Program operated by Human Resources. Be placed in a mentoring relationship with another Penn staff member in which you will either be the Mentor (offering the benefit of your experience and knowledge) or the Mentee (receiving guidance and assistance on your professional life).

The Board of the PPSA supports the Mentors @ Penn 100% - every member of the PPSA Board is a registered Mentor - and we welcome you to do the same!