Services
Please read below for service related policies.
Full Housekeeping is provided Monday through Friday (except holidays) for all common areas in the residences, such as corridors, lounges, lobby areas, laundry rooms, and shared bathrooms in the traditional residences. Housekeeping is also provided on weekends, but is limited to common area bathrooms, trash removal, and emergency clean-up. Residents who notice a situation that requires emergency housekeeping should report it to Facilities at 215-898-7208 and then follow up with their Info Center.
The Information Center in each College House is operated by the Residential Services Manager and offers daily, front line, 24-hour assistance to residents.
The Information Center is the first point of contact for most residential concerns and provides services and support in many areas, including:
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Assistance and follow up with maintenance and housekeeping issues
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Monitoring and maintaining systems and controls for safety, security, key control and resident privacy
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Loan of lock out and special use keys
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Facilitating guest access, guest passes, and resident sign-in
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Loan of moving carts
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Loan of vacuums
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Access to house staff and program info
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Issuing house-specific items such as game equipment, flowers, and perishable deliveries: These are the only items signed for and kept at an Info Center. The student must pick them up within 3 days. Flowers and perishable deliveries: These are the only items signed for and kept at an Info Center. The student must pick them up within 3 days. Perishables such as flowers will be disposed of if not claimed.
The Information Center is staffed on weekdays from 8am - 12pm by the full-time Residential Services Manager (RSM), and by student and Allied Universal guard staff on afternoons, evenings, and weekends. The Information Center program is managed by the Building Administration team in Residential Services.
The Information Center is not a lost and found, and staff may not accept lost articles. Lost items should be referred to Penn Police. Personal deliveries to students may not be left at the Information Center.
For any Information Center related service, transaction, fee or other concern, please email Residential Services at living@upenn.edu.
The Residential Services Manager (RSM) is a full-time University employee who hires, trains and manages student staff, oversees the delivery of daily services to the residents and the House staff, and keeps abreast of issues and concerns affecting the condition, appearance and operations of the building. The RSMs take a great deal of ownership and pride in serving their house residents and in making sure that things are addressed and run smoothly. The RSM and other Info Center staff can assist with resident questions or problems
The RSM is particularly equipped to monitor and assist with resolution of resident maintenance or housekeeping issues and works closely with Residential Services administration to set priorities, follow up on open work orders, and call for emergency issues. The RSM is responsible for the building key inventory, including security, recordkeeping and control of all student room keys, as well as keys to service areas and common rooms.
Each College House is equipped with laundry facilities with electric washers and dryers in numbers proportionate to the number of residents in the community. As an added amenity of living in a College House, there is no charge for residents to do laundry. Residents are asked to be respectful of each other by attending to their wash and removing it promptly when the load is completed. The laundry rooms are intended for the use of residents of the Houses only.
An additional feature of the Residential Laundry program is the Laundry Alert system. This web- based program allows residents to see what machines are available and in use. Sign in with penn6389 to view available washers and dryers. Students can even have an email sent to their email when machines become available.
Correctly addressed first class mail is sorted and mail notifications sent Monday through Friday by Canon Solutions America, Inc., an outside vendor contracted to manage residential mail and parcel delivery. Residents pick up mail at the package room that serves their residence (either Hill or Harnwell).
Packages are delivered Monday - Saturday to residential package rooms. Residents are notified of package deliveries via email
Packages and accountable mail (registered, certified, etc.) are inventoried and addressees verified to be residents before any notification is sent to the resident to pick up a parcel.
Correct addressing of mail and packages is critical to insure prompt delivery to our residents. Residents can view their on-campus mailing address by logging into Campus Express and choosing the "My Housing" tab.
The correct format for addressing mail for a particular College House can be found here.
Perishable Packages:
Flowers, plants, fruit arrangements or baskets, baked goods or similar items should be sent only through local vendors or carriers. Residents having such items sent through the USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL do so at their own risk. Our Info Centers accept delivery of these items only when delivered by a local vendor. After the items are logged, the Info Center will contact the resident for pick up. Residents are asked to pick up any perishable delivery as soon as possible. If items are not picked up in 3-days, items will be disposed.
For questions about College House academic year mail services, email housingmail@lists.upenn.edu.
Penn has partnered with Microfridge.com to offer our residents easy microfridge rentals. Roommates should collaborate on making a decision whether to rent a microfridge and limit microfridge rentals to one per apartment or room. Please note that non-kitchen units in the High Rise and Low-Rises will have a microfridge already placed in every unit.
Moving Carts are provided to residents through the Info Center on a “first-come, first-served” basis. Residents must sign-out their cart and sign the cart back in when they are done with it. There is a one-hour time limit for use of the cart during normal times and residents will have the option of renewing the cart if there are no other residents waiting to use the cart. Residents who return carts late or fail to return a cart are subject to fines.
Renter's Insurance helps protect residents from the cost of replacing personal belongings in the event of a covered incident. Residents are encouraged to review any existing coverage through family homeowner or other policies. Residents may explore having a rental insurance rider added to an existing policy, or explore renter's insurance products through any reputable insurance company. Aspects to consider include the dollar amount of personal property coverage, the dollar amount of any deductible, the extent of replacement cost coverage, and the availability of personal liability coverage.
AirPennNet is the University’s wireless network that provides secure Internet access in campus buildings and residence halls. AirPennNet uses WPA2-AES to encrypt data between your wireless device and the AirPennNet wireless access point. Students need to configure a device to use Penn’s wireless network before connecting to AirPennNet. A student’s PennKey username and password is needed to successfully connect a device to connect to AirPennNet.
There is a configuration wizard available to help you configure your device for AirPennNet. When in a campus wireless zone, connect to the Connect to AirPennNet wireless network. Next, launch a web browser and navigate to http://www.neverssl.com/ and then be routed to the SecureW2 web page to connect to AirPennNet.
Wireless resources are available for students living on and off campus at www.upenn.edu/computing/wireless/. Students should check with their schools for specific computing needs related to their academic studies.