Preorientation programs receive $10K funding boost

With the Provost's Office agreeing to pay just $5,000 for an expansion of these programs -- which include both PennQuest, an outdoor retreat, and PENNacle, a leadership program -- the UA decided to allocate $5,000 of its own budget to the programs.

Ultimately, this total of $10,000 will allow for PennQuest and PENNacle to be increased by 20 and 25 percent, respectively.

"The preorientation programs... have been a vital source of leadership for all branches of student government, as well as other organizations at Penn," UA treasurer and College junior Jenn Choi said. "Therefore, I believe that it is in the interest of the UA to invest our funds into this program."

Currently, there are over twice as many students looking to participate in these programs than there are spots available. The UA is hoping to alleviate this excess demand to meet student needs.

"There are over 200 students who apply for 100 spots in PennQuest and about 90 to 100 that apply for 40 spots in PENNacle," said UA Education Committee Chairwoman and Wharton sophomore Cynthia Wong, one of the authors of the September expansion proposal.

She added that PennQuest has doubled in size in recent years, yet this increase still did not meet demand.

At Sunday's meeting, the UA also passed an "agreement of understanding for the expansion of preorientation programs," which outlined a long-term partnership between the UA and the administration.

This item passed with 15 in favor, nobody against and one abstention.

The agreement recognized that the UA Steering Committee unanimously voted to expand preorientation programs and called for the UA to "consider a further expansion of the PENNacle and PennQuest preorientation programs."

UA Chairman and College senior Jason Levy said he favored the expansion proposal, but also expressed concern over the continuity of these changes -- which he hopes the UA's agreement of understanding with the administration will address.

"The negotiations for this plan were a bit difficult because of the upcoming transition in the President's Office," he said. "However, we are very happy to be working with the provost on this program... and are confident that the future administration will also support this."

Other UA members were also optimistic.

"I'm really pleased that the UA is working with the administration on this project," Wong said.

She also praised the programs, mentioning the large number of class presidents and UA members who started their careers at Penn with such programs.

Because the new allocation will be taken both from the UA's own operations budget and directly from the Provost's Office, it will have no direct impact on other student groups on campus.

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