This year, the Undergraduate Assembly wants the issues it tackles to be directed by the concerns of the student body.
To this end, UA leaders say they plan to develop new student surveys to gauge interest on a variety of topics, along with the body's other projects for the semester.
"We want to be able to say to the student body, 'This is what you wanted, this is what we did,' and it matches," UA Vice Chairman Ethan Kay said.
While it awaits the addition of eight freshmen to its ranks, the UA will also be working to complete some projects that were begun in previous years.
"We want to advocate a revision of the financial and grading policies regarding study abroad," Kay, a Wharton senior, said. "We have been working on this for about a year-and-a-half, and now there is a renewed interest."
According to Kay, the UA has learned that study abroad is a concern for the student body by attending a sampling of the study abroad information sessions.
The UA has designed a resolution asking the University to reevaluate its policies regarding the cost of studying abroad and treatment of grades earned abroad.
Presently, students who are abroad still pay Penn tuition. The UA is asking the University to follow the leads of other Ivy League institutions and change that policy, as well as easing the process of translating grades that students achieve while studying abroad.
"We want our issues to be student-driven, and study abroad is a perfect example of that," Kay added.
Another project that is being continued from previous years is increasing campus recycling.
"We'd like to increase awareness both on and off campus, and we'd like to continue working with the Penn Environmental Group," said Matt Lattman, an Engineering and Wharton junior and the UA's facilities committee chairman.
The UA will also continue working with campus dining and its new provider, Aramark, said UA President Seth Schreiberg.
Schreiberg, a College senior, also said that the UA would like to develop more "collaborative projects" with other student groups, such as the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center, the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the United Minorities Council.
"We would like to have more of a mutualistic relationship with other groups on campus," Kay added.
And while the UA plans to keep a watchful eye on campus issues, members will also attempt to tackle an issue of national contention.
Four years ago, Congress passed the Higher Education Act, which made students convicted of a drug crime ineligible for federal financial aid.
Last year, Yale University decided to promise those students denied aid under this act a full reimbursement at the university's own expense.
"We're trying to get Penn to do the same," Schreiberg said. "We're in the process of trying to get student support behind the issue."
Once Maj. Gen. Clifford Stanley arrives at Penn next month to take over as Penn's top business official, UA executive board members plan on lobbying him to bring more student-friendly vendors to the 40th Street corridor.
"We have talked about bringing in a Ben and Jerry's and a Taco Bell.... But first we are likely to create a survey to ascertain what the entire student body wants," Kay explained. "We would also like to bring a coffee bar with comfortable late night study space into 40th Street, which would benefit off-campus students."
Another new project being started this semester is a "simulation-based study of the elevator usage in the high rises," Lattman said.
Lattman added that the body is looking into the benefits of installing express elevators.
