Graduate Student Wellness and Resources

 

Wellness at Penn now consists of 2 pillars:

Public Health and Well-being:

  • Public Health and Well-being (formally Campus Health) is the division that seeks to create a community of care through advocacy, education, and action. This includes disease surveillance and prevention, health education and promotion, campus health policies, and immunization and insurance compliance.

Student Health and Counseling 

  • Student Health and Counseling offers clinical services to all Penn students. Formally known as the Student Health Service and CAPS, SHAC remains dedicated to caring for students during their academic journey:

 

Additional Wellness Resources:

  • Wellness also has a page dedicated to Managing Stress in Uncertain Times. This page offers tips for how to cope with world news and events, and offers both Penn and external sources of support.
  • Let’s Talk: Monday-Friday in various campus locations—including Thursdays, 2-5pm at the Grad Center. See all Let’s Talk hours and locations here. Let’s Talk provides access to free and confidential drop-in conversations with a trained professional at various locations across campus. Students can talk about any stress and anxiety they are feeling, bounce around ideas, and work through their emotions.
  • Peer Wellness Coaching: This is a free service that aims to enhance students’ holistic well-being. Students can talk to a well-trained Peer Wellness Coach about various topics such as time management, self-care, social relationships, career planning, etc. Students can visit the website at the link above, or simply fill out the Wellness Coaching Intake Form.

 

Additional Student Wellness Resources are available to students in need of information, assistance and support. Anyone in doubt of where to turn should call the Penn Help Line, anytime, at 215-898-HELP.

 

 

Within Engineering:

Master’s students are encouraged to reach out to their graduate coordinators and program directors as their first line of support for academic and other issues. Students can also reach out to EMAB. If a student doesn’t feel comfortable discussing the issue with their program, they may reach out with questions directly to Alyse or Courtney or attend their office hours for further assistance. The full document on Wellness and Climate Communication Channels for Master’s students can be found here.

 

PhD students are encouraged to reach out to graduate group chairs, departmental wellness ambassadors, and/or graduate coordinators as their first line of support on adviser-advisee issues and other academic issues.  If a student doesn’t feel comfortable discussing the issue with their program, they may also reach out with questions via email to Alyse or Courtney or attend their office hours for further assistance. The full document on Wellness and Climate Communication Channels for PhD students can be found here and the visual chart can be found here.
Faculty follow the Values Statement for Ph.D. Student Advising and the recommended process for resolving a conflict between advisor and trainee.

 

Bias incident reporting: Students may also report a bias incident with the University’s Diversity Office via this form. The report can remain confidential.

Resources at Penn

  • The Guide to Thriving at Penn from the Graduate Student Center provides many resources to help students thrive in graduate school and we recognize that your overall wellness can fall within several dimensions; including emotional, physical, social, spiritual, and financial. This guide will help students navigate who they can talk to for help outside of Engineering.

 

 

  • Engineering Library is available for graduate students assisting with research support and engineering specific collections. Get to know your Engineering Librarians and ask them a question about the collections to assist in research, or find a workshop to attend!

 

  • The mission of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODEI) holds at its core the commitment to celebrating and increasing the representation of underrepresented minorities in the student body, faculty, and staff of Penn Engineering. Through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Penn Engineering continues its long history of leadership in the identification, recruitment, and retention of underrepresented minority students and faculty. We enable students to optimize their talents, capitalize on their cultural perspectives, realize their intellectual potential and fulfill their career aspirations.

 

  • The Weingarten Learning Resources Center can assist students with learning tools to help with academic reading, writing, and study strategies. Any student who has a disability and wishes to self-identify with the Office of Student Disabilities Services (SDS) at the Weingarten Learning Resources Center, can complete the Self-Identification Form.  Submission of this form is the first step in the Self-Identification Process. Any student who is requesting accommodations will also need to submit documentation of the disability and schedule an in person meeting as part of the collaborative process in determining eligibility for accommodations. Students that have further questions may contact SDS directly.

 

 

  • The Graduate Student Center is part of the Office of the Vice Provost for Education. The Grad Center is a central hub for resources, activities, support, and advocacy for all graduate and professional students at Penn. Remote Resources & Activities from the Grad Center can be found here.

 

  • Cultural Resource Centers: There are cultural resource centers at Penn providing a home away from home and access to support systems for students year-round.

 

  • Read about what is happening at Penn Engineering, research, or what our alumni are doing via the Penn Engineering blog.

 

  • PhD SLACK channel. This link is the link for the default channel #general. One can register to other channels. This is done in the left column, in the option “channel browser.” There are six channels set up for each department. You can join the appropriate channels for your associated department and discuss departmental issues with your peers. If you do not have slack installed on your PC you need to download it: mac, windows, and linux.