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Selected students will soon have a chance to leave their footprint on a big part of Penn's future -- the postal lands.

The eastward-expansion student advisory committee proposed last spring by numerous student-government groups will come into being over the next week.

The joint task force was conceived of by the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly to incorporate student proposals and feedback into the planning and development of the postal lands.

The property comprises 24 acres of land east of campus that the University will be acquiring in 2007. The land, extending from Locust Street to Market Street, was bought from the U.S. Postal Service for $50.6 million.

The committee will consist of three undergraduate-student representatives and three graduate-student representatives. It will be working with the Campus Development Planning Committee chaired by Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and Provost Ron Daniels.

"We are looking at overall campus development. Certainly the opportunity presented by the postal lands is a big component of this," Associate Vice President Mike Harris said, adding that the committee will also consider how the acquisition of the new land will impact the campus.

Of the three undergraduate slots, one will be filled by UA Development Committee Chairwoman and Wharton senior Cynthia Wong.

The remaining two members will be chosen from applications submitted to the Nominations and Elections Committee, which are due today. Of the two openings, one will be filled by a member of the UA Steering Committee -- a group of student leaders from various organizations on campus -- while the other is open to any undergraduate student.

Interviews will be conducted this weekend by the Nominations and Elections Committee.

The committee is seeking "people that have ideas ... can analyze the situation ... are well-spoken and are not afraid to speak" to school administrators, NEC Chairman and College senior David Diesenhouse said.

He added that experience is not as important as ideas for the "many different possibilities for the land."

As to the graduate component of the committee, GAPSA will also be finalizing the selection of its three representatives over the next week.

The three openings will be filled by one professional-degree student, one doctoral student and one dual-degree student.

The candidates were reviewed through applications and interviews over the summer by GAPSA Vice Chairwoman for Nominations Alice Chou and the relevant GAPSA facilities policy director.

Both undergraduate and graduate representatives will be meeting with Harris next week to determine the details of the committee. No specific tasks or general timeline have been set.

The committee will, however, be working on the final report to President Amy Gutmann, to be submitted by June of next year.

It will also be meeting other faculty members involved with the project and potentially with outside consulting groups sought for the development, Harris said.

The UA Development Committee will assist the advisory committee in networking and building relationships across undergraduate groups, Wong said. The advisory committee aims to "represent as many and as significant of the undergraduate needs as possible."

GAPSA is also reaching out to the broader graduate community. An upcoming meeting open to all graduate students will feature a presentation by a school official to give students a better understanding of the issue.

We have had "a lot of support from the president and provost's office for student consultation," GAPSA Chairwoman Lela Jacobsohn said, adding that she hopes the advisory committee achieves "a good [balance] between imagining what is possible and putting that into the context of what is feasible."

While the administration will play its role in giving "an understanding of what the project entails," Harris said, it will leave it up to the students to generate their own ideas.

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