PennQuest and PennCorps, Penn's popular freshmen pre-orientation programs, will have a new partner beginning this fall.
The Undergraduate Assembly is sponsoring a new program, the name of which has not yet been finalized, to focus on leadership training for Penn's newest crop of future club presidents, college house leaders and role models.
This new option for early introduction to life at Penn is being organized by UA members Seth Schreiberg, a College junior, and Jason Levy, a College sophomore. Wharton junior Ethan Kay has also participated in the planning of the program.
According to the proposal, the three student leaders' goal for the program is to give new students an opportunity to develop "a sense of community and diversity, people and leadership skills." The program also aims to improve the participants' "transitions to college, time management, self-awareness" and show them the many different avenues to participating in extracurricular activities at Penn.
Like PennQuest, this leadership seminar starts students off in the great outdoors, and not in a classroom.
The group of about 40 students will be guided by representatives from Adventure Networks, a professional outdoor experience company and will spend two days at Camp Newman in Central Bucks County, approximately a one-hour bus ride from campus.
The trip leaders will facilitate a number of physical activities, similar to those found on a traditional ropes course. The idea is to give students a physical task to accomplish, such as climbing a high wall, to induce action, rather than mere contemplation.
But teamwork and action are only a small part of what this pre-orientation program is setting out to accomplish. The event planners say they plan to tackle issues of gender, personality, age, diversity and group dynamics among the freshmen.
"If you could learn [about] that before you get to Penn, then some of the tensions that develop on campus would be diffused," Schreiberg said.
In order to find a group of interested freshmen, the organizers plan on mailing out an application in conjunction with the two already-established pre-orientation programs. The application process will seek to find a diverse and dynamic group.
"We're looking for students that are enthusiastic and interested in meeting people... and mostly to become leaders in the Penn community," Levy said.
But the participants are not the only people who will be carefully selected.
A handful of upperclassmen will be chosen to facilitate the getaway. Targeted students are those who have previously participated in leadership retreats through the Office of Student Life and who are willing to continue to help develop the program for a few years. The application deadline for trip leaders is March 20.
Beyond the leadership training that will take place, the pre-orientation schedule includes a variety of activities, free time and opportunities to bond with fellow attendees.
The program "will provide incoming freshmen with a valuable opportunity to sharpen their leadership skills, build relationships with their classmates, and gain insights from upper-class student leaders," said UA Chairwoman Dana Hork, a College senior.
The new program will fill some of the large demand for pre-orientation programs. Currently, PennQuest and PennCorps receive more applicants than they can accept and are forced to turn many students away each year.
The provost's office will help offset funding for the two-day excursion, but students will have to pay in order to participate.
