Wharton explores student interest in San Fran campus

Wharton undergraduates may be a step closer to having the opportunity to spend a semester at the epicenter of the tech world.

On Thursday, Vice Dean Lori Rosenkopf sent an email to all Wharton sophomores asking them to complete a survey on their interest in studying at the school’s San Francisco campus in the spring of 2016.

“Many students have expressed interest in the opportunity to study at Wharton San Francisco for a semester, and the Undergraduate Division is assessing its feasibility,” the email read. The survey asked students about their likeliness to take part in the program if it were offered to them and went on to ask how factors like cost, prerequisite requirements, food and housing could affect their interest.

Wharton launched its first San Francisco programs in 2001, and the school opened its new campus at the base of the Bay Bridge in 2011. Today, the campus is home to Executive MBA programs and hosts full-time MBA students who choose to spend one semester of their second year out west.

Rosenkopf’s email came just a week after Wharton senior Larry Fan created a petition on Change.org on Nov. 12 titled “Extend Wharton’s Semester in San Francisco Program to Undergraduates.” The petition was created for Adam Cobb’s Management 104 class, in which students were challenged to start a social movement. Fan, along with fellow seniors Vybhavi Bharadwaj , Amanda Chin, Shaun Lee, Carpus Tin and Theresa Tse, decided to push for a new opportunity for Wharton undergraduates.

“A couple of the people in our group have worked in the Bay Area and appreciated the value of being out there in the center of the tech world,” Fan said. “We looked at Wharton’s MBA’s program that allows them to study in San Francisco for a semester, and with the infrastructure and the demand there, it made sense for undergraduates to be able to do it as well.”

“We want to see the administration at least take on the initiative to consider this opportunity to expand Penn’s presence on the West Coast,” he added.

Though he’s unsure whether his petition played a role in the vice dean’s decision to send the email, Fan is nonetheless thrilled that the administration has decided to take the next step in considering sending undergraduates to the Bay Area. Fan and his team have a meeting scheduled with Rosenkopf this week to discuss the potential for this program.

“We want to ask, ‘How else can we help the administration move forward with this process?’” Fan said . He added that his team was happy to help however possible, whether it meant talking to students and teachers or working on logistical issues.

“Even though we’re all graduating, this is a time for us to give back to the community that we love,” Fan said.

Wharton has already planned to test out an undergraduate program in San Francisco with a small trip over winter break. Rosenkopf, along with Lee Kramer, the director of Student Life for the Wharton Undergraduate Division, is running a program for undergraduates at Wharton’s San Francisco campus from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11. Forty students will be partaking in the Wharton Industry Exploration Program, where they will listen to an array of speakers from the tech industry and make visits to company offices.

The Daily Pennsylvanian reported in early October that Rosenkopf was eyeing the possibility of a full-semester program for undergraduates in San Francisco.

“We do hear that there is interest in longer-term sorts of opportunities, and we’re just starting to explore that as well,” Rosenkopf told the DP at the time. “Obviously, we are very aware of the MBA semester in San Francisco and we are assessing the cost and benefits of doing something ... like that.”

A Wharton representative said no one was available with any new information on San Francisco on Nov. 21.

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