Students at the Student Activities Council Fair on Aug. 28.
Credit: Sonali ChandyEvery fall, thousands of first-year students arrive on Penn's campus hoping to join the school's exclusive clubs — and get swept into information sessions, club fairs, and coffee chats within weeks of arriving.
Many of these students apply for clubs governed by the Wharton Council, the student organization that oversees the standardized club recruitment timeline and application process for Wharton clubs. This year, however, prospective members and club leaders faced unexpected delays to that timeline, disrupting various clubs and students' plans.
The applications, which were set to open on Aug. 30 and close on Sept. 13, were delayed one week to open on Sept. 6 and close on Sept. 20.
The centralized application uses the PennClubs platform and gives students two weeks to submit written applications. Wharton Council Co-Chair and Wharton junior Yiru Ma told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the standardized Wharton club application was created in 2020 to relieve students of additional uncertainty and anxiety by standardizing the timeline, duration, and length of all applications to Wharton-recognized clubs.
Wharton Council announced on Sept. 1, one day after applications were set to open, that the process would be delayed, adding that all applicants would still have two full weeks to write and submit applications after their opening. Similar communications were sent through email lists, club leaders, and other social media.
"Due to a miscommunication between several parties, some active clubs are currently not listed on PennClubs, awaiting action from Penn administration, and unable to fully access the application portal," the announcement read.
In typical years, club leaders submit updates to their PennClubs pages and applications that make them relevant for each recruitment year and are approved by Penn administrators before the Wharton clubs’ centralized application process begins, according to Ma. In previous years, Penn's Office of Student Affairs has approved all updates in accordance with the recruitment timeline, she added.
Wharton junior Alyssa Shah, Wharton Council's club recruitment chair, said that the delay was caused by miscommunication between several parties, including the Office of Student Affairs.
“OSA pushed the timeline for club approval resets and re-approvals on their end on PennClubs later than what we’ve experienced in the past,” Shah said. “They were not aware that Wharton clubs have a centralized application and recruitment timeline that all clubs must adhere to."
Katie Bonner, the executive director of OSA, disputed Shah's characterization in a statement to the DP.
"OSA was not informed of Wharton Council’s new application timeline, and, therefore, did not have the opportunity to provide feedback about discrepancies between their deadlines and our established re-registration period," Bonner wrote.
Ma explained that the delay meant “club leaders weren’t able to edit their applications, and some of their previously made edits were deleted.” Ma also said that some students couldn’t access applications at all.
By the end of the day on Sept. 3, OSA had reviewed and cleared all Wharton Council-recognized clubs from the approval queue. Club representatives received an email the same day announcing the new recruitment timeline for all Wharton Council-recognized clubs, detailing a one-week delay to the original application period.
"Upon learning of the issue, staff in OSA prioritized the re-registration requests of Wharton student groups in an effort to minimize any further impact to their planned process," Bonner wrote.
A document attached to the email, which was obtained by the DP, wrote that “students will still have the full two weeks to complete their applications - no interviewing may be done before this.”
Wharton senior Andrew Diep-Tran, the vice president of the Social Impact Consulting committee of the Marketing Undergraduate Student Establishment, said the updated timeline gave his team more time to source clients and organize internally before accepting applications.
However, he added that “further delays would detract from the club experience for students.”
Wharton junior Julian Ward, co-president of the Wharton Global Research and Consulting group, agreed.
“GRC and other consulting clubs now have to grapple with one less week to complete our already fast-paced projects,” Ward wrote in a statement to the DP.
Both GRC and MUSE are clubs recognized by the Wharton Council and follow the centralized application cycle.
Ma also said that efforts are being made to improve communications across organizational bodies and avoid delays in future years, adding that Wharton Council plans to meet with OSA representatives soon.
“Wharton Council would like to extend their apologies about the PennClubs delay,” Shah said. “We hope that the remainder of the application cycle goes smoothly.”
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