With the threat of anthrax permeating mailrooms across the nation, Penn's admissions officers are taking extra precautionary measures to ensure safety while opening mail.
The months of October and November mark the time of year when the University begins its admissions process for next fall's incoming class, bringing thousands of early decision applications into the basement of College Hall.
To protect staff and students from possible anthrax exposure, the office has been taking certain precautions, including providing rubber gloves to everyone handling incoming applications.
While Nov. 1 generally marks the annual early decision deadline, the admissions office has extended that deadline this year to accommodate any applications delayed by at the post office by the recent threats to the nation's mail system.
"We are just worried about mail not getting through because post offices are shutting down," said Margaret Porigow, director of operations for the admissions office. "We are going to keep accepting the applications as long as we can."
This news is comforting to both parents and high school students who are nervous about their applications crossing the admissions desk after the deadline.
"We are from an area where there there has been a lot of postal disruption," said one mother, whose son will be applying early decision for a spot in the Class of 2006. "Even though we will drop off the application tomorrow, it might not get there or even get postmarked on time."
All members of the admissions staff were invited to information sessions last week where they were briefed by doctors and the Division of Public Safety on how to identify and isolate suspicious mail.
Online applications, which have become more popular in the past few years, are reducing the threat considerably, but the supplemental material such as teacher recommendations and student transcripts must go through the normal mail system, inevitably slowing down the process.
And the admissions office needs to get the early decision letters mailed out by mid-December, making the extension period for accepting mailed applications only so long. The office can only extend the deadline about a week or it will not have ample time to review the several thousand applications mailed early.
Porigow said she also worries about the coming winter break, when the admissions office usually hires students and temporary staff to help wade through the many applications received in December for the normal review period. These temporary employees are often given tasks that involve a great deal of mail handling.
"We are definitely worried that people will turn down that assignment this year," Porigow said. "We might not find enough people."
But despite the concerns, all mail that goes through the office is being treated the same way, regardless of origin. There has been no distinction made between mail coming in from out of the state or out of the country.
