Dear Members of the Penn Community,
NSOAI would like to thank the hundreds of you who have already volunteered to serve as PRP Group Facilitators and Preceptorial hosts! For those of you who still may be interested in getting involved with NSO 2020, it’s not too late, but deadlines are approaching quickly! Below you will find opportunities to connect with first-year students through NSO and beyond.
If you have any questions regarding NSO activities & programming, please do not hesitate to contact us at provost-nso-ai@pobox.upenn.edu.
Thank you!
Office of New Student Orientation & Academic Initiatives
New Student Orientation Preceptorials
Sign up to Host a Preceptorial by August 12 at 11:59pm!
NSO Preceptorials are informal non-credit seminars which offer a unique way for new students to "Zoom in at Penn" and take a closer look at the cultural, social, and intellectual environment at Penn. This year, all NSO Preceptorials will be virtual in nature and will occur between August 25 and August 30. They can be synchronous or asynchronous to fit the preference of the presenter.
We invite you to host one (or multiple) NSO Preceptorial(s) this year! We are open to a wide array of topics and lengths of sessions so that we can provide incoming students with a vibrant selection of Preceptorials during NSO. If you would like to host a Preceptorial, please fill out this form by August 12 at 11:59pm EST. Our NSO Preceptorial catalog will be updated daily on our website and sent to incoming students via email during New Student Orientation. Visit our website to learn more about how to get involved in NSO 2020.
Penn Reading Project & The Year of Civic Engagement
Sign up to Serve as a Group Facilitator by August 16 at 11:59pm!
Civic engagement is a core value at Penn, beginning with Benjamin Franklin’s original vision for a university; even as we recognize that recent events call us together across many lines, we can also see how great a challenge that is in a time of quarantine and social distancing.
With this in mind, as President Gutmann described in her first mention of this project, the Year of Civic Engagement (YoCE) aims to expand the traditional groundwork laid in the theme year. This includes the Penn Reading Project, which introduces our incoming first-years to a range of thinking about a particular topic, and continues with year-long programming around this theme.
Newly this year, we want to expand the range and robustness of our programming, and to invite the Penn community at large—graduate, undergraduate, and professional students; faculty; and staff—to join in mentoring our newest Penn students.
Please consider serving as a facilitator for the YoCE. There are multiple ways you can take part:
During the Penn Reading Project (August 24 through 31) you can work with a small group of first-year students as they discuss the assigned selections in a Canvas-based discussion forum. The text for this year’s PRP is comprised of four short pieces of writing and one 30-minute film documentary, all of which are now available through Canvas:
· James Baldwin: My Dungeon Shook (A Letter to My Nephew)
· Benjamin Franklin: Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania
· Martin Luther King Jr: The Purpose of Education
· Toni Morrison: Home (from The Source of Self-Regard)
· Song of Parkland (directed by Amy Schatz)
Facilitators, if interested and available, may also mentor students throughout the year as they develop ideas for active participation in an organization or specific project. Staff from the Netter Center, Paideia Program, and Civic House will work alongside facilitators to assist the first-year students as they further develop their understanding of civic engagement and find opportunities to contribute to the community.
Visit www.prpfacilitators.org to sign up by August 16 at 11:59pm EST and find more information about the Year of Civic Engagement. You can also contact the Office of New Student Orientation & Academic Initiatives with any questions: Provost-NSO-AI@pobox.upenn.edu.
Still have questions about NSO?
We’re happy to help with any questions you might have about NSO activities and programming. Please feel free to contact us at provost-nso-ai@pobox.upenn.edu.
