myHR: November 12, 2025

Biometric Screenings End November 25

Penn’s on-campus biometric screenings are entering their final weeks, so don’t miss out on this key part of the 2025-2026 Be in the Know wellness campaign. These free screenings are available at convenient University locations through November 25. Completing one offers you valuable insights into your health – and earns you a $50 cash reward.

Here are the final on-site biometric screening dates and locations for 2025:

• Thursday, November 13: Houston Hall, Hall of Flags (flu vaccines are also available at this location)
• Tuesday, November 18: New Bolton Center, Alumni Hall, Kennett Square (flu vaccines are also available at this location)
• Wednesday, November 19: Houston Hall, Bodek Lounge
• Thursday, November 20: Facilities & Real Estate Services (FRES), Left Bank
• Tuesday, November 25: Houston Hall, Bodek Lounge

Sign up for your non-fasting appointment online at the Health Advocate website using your PennKey and password. Click the HEALTH tab, then select Get a Health Screening. Choose Health Screening Event, click Schedule Now, and follow the steps to book your preferred time and location. You’ll receive a confirmation email from Health Advocate, Penn’s biometric screening partner, once your appointment is set.

Five Things to Know about Biometric Screenings

1. On-campus screenings are free, fast, and convenient. Health Advocate personnel will measure your blood pressure, blood sugar/glucose, and lipids (including total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.) Your privacy is strictly protected, and all screening results are confidential.
2. You can get personalized feedback on your results from Health Advocate professionals, who are onsite to help you understand your results. After your screening, you can call one of their Wellness Coaches for further discussion.
3. Health Advocate automatically sends screening credit to the new WebMD wellness platform on your behalf. (Please allow a few weeks for biometric screening credit to appear on WebMD.) To earn rewards, you must enroll on the WebMD platform. Get started by visiting WebMD or downloading their “Wellness At Your Side” app (connection code: Penn).
4. You will receive a $50 cash reward for completing a biometric screening. For the 2025-2026 Be in the Know wellness campaign, complete your choice of qualifying wellness activities to earn up to $300 in cash rewards. All cash incentives will be added to your paychecks (less applicable payroll taxes) and paid on a monthly basis.
5. You have the opportunity to get a flu vaccine on two of the remaining biometric screening dates: November 13 and November 18. To earn Be in the Know points, please use the Preventative Health Verification Form to document your flu vaccine and other preventative health activities you’ve completed, and submit the form to WebMD to receive credit. Your on-campus flu vaccine will not automatically be reported to WebMD on your behalf.

Be in the Know for Better Health

Penn’s annual Be in the Know wellness campaign is available for all benefits-eligible faculty, staff, and postdocs. In partnership with its wellness platform partner, WebMD, it provides an array of wellness tools, programs, resources, and rewards to support your health and feel your best.

For complete details about the 2025-2026 Be in the Know wellness campaign, visit www.hr.upenn.edu/beintheknow.

A Knock on the Door

Human Resources has been made aware that some University employees have received visits at their home from people wanting to talk to them about work-related matters like their pay.

• These home visits have not been approved by the University. The University would not send people to speak with employees at their homes about their working conditions, pay or other benefits.
• The University does not share home address information publicly and did not provide the individuals making these home visits with employee home address information.
• Employees who receive a home visit are under no obligation to speak with the person at their door. You have the right to tell that person to leave or engage with them only if you wish to do so. 
• If an employee does not wish to speak with someone who comes to their home and that person will not leave or the employee otherwise feels unsafe, the employee should call 911 for emergency assistance.
  

A Simple Way to Give Thanks to Your Coworkers

With the countdown to Thanksgiving Break and mid-year performance reviews in progress, myHR offers a simple way to express gratitude to your colleagues for their efforts great and small. Add to your gratitude practice with myHR’s 2025 Penn coworker gratitude questionnaire.

“While Thanksgiving has become the de facto time of year to express our gratitude, one day a year isn’t nearly enough,” says Wharton Dean Erika James. “Don’t wait for an annual review or a huge win to express thanks and acknowledge a job well done.”

Making gratitude a regular habit increases its benefits to individuals and organizations. To help you show your thanks, selected coworker gratitude questionnaire submissions will be published in an upcoming issue of myHR and at www.hr.upenn.edu/gatheringgratitude.

To show our gratitude for your entries, myHR will select participating Penn faculty, staff, and postdocs at random to receive a gift package from the Human Resources Work-life and Wellness team. To be eligible, please complete the coworker gratitude questionnaire by December 1, 2025, at 5 p.m. EST.

Additional gratitude resources, including an online group session on November 20 and recorded seminar links, are available at Penn Cobalt.

For more personal and professional development resources, visit HR’s Learn & Grow pages.

Rally for Campus Cup 2026

Do you and your colleagues have what it takes to claim this year’s Penn Relays Campus Cup? Penn Athletics invites all University faculty, staff, and postdocs, as well as Penn Medicine and CHOP employees, to rally their teams for a series of fun events in the Spring term. Registration is open now.

The 5th annual Campus Cup competition begins in January and continues through the Spring 2026 term. Join your coworkers to match up against teams from across campus for these upcoming events (dates and times will be announced soon):

• January: Dodgeball & Donuts—score points and pastries
• February: Back to Childhood Night—like season one of Squid Game, but peaceful
• March: Hot Shots & Sweet Dunks—hoops and donut holes
• April: Campus Cup Relays—the ultimate face-off at Franklin Field

For detailed descriptions of each event, download the Campus Cup flyer. Teams will earn points at each contest. The more you participate, the more points you rack up, giving you key advantages in the Campus Cup Relays Finale!

The games culminate in the Campus Cup Relays Finale in April at Franklin Field. This showdown gives teams the opportunity to connect with colleagues and families in the same stadium where world-class Penn Relay Carnival athletes and the Penn Quakers compete.

Here’s how to participate:

Form a Team

• Each team must assign one member to be the captain.
• Each team must have a minimum of five members on your team to participate. Each team can have a maximum of 12 members.
  • After receiving all the registrations, Penn Athletics will create teams for those who do not meet the minimum requirements.
  • If you have more than 12 members, please split your members up to create two separate teams.
• One Penn department can have multiple teams.
• Your entire team does not need to be present for each event, but you must meet the participant minimum to compete at each event.

Register

Captains must register their teams by completing the 2026 online registration form.

Earn Points

• Each event will have a unique point breakdown.
• Points will be accumulated throughout the year after each event.
• The total points each team has after all the events prior to the Campus Cup Relays Finale will be added up to determine the teams in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. These three teams will be granted advantages for the final event. Every team will start with 0 points for the final event in April.

Whether you’re in it to win it, up for a little exercise, or looking to unwind with colleagues, Campus Cup offers something for everyone.

If you have Campus Cup questions, please contact Lauren Gerlin, Penn Athletics Assistant Director of Business Development and Special Events, at lgerlin@upenn.edu.

November and December Volunteer Opportunities

Faculty and staff volunteers contribute their time, talent, and resources to our community throughout the year. In this season of generosity, Penn Volunteers in Public Service (VIPS) has organized on-campus holiday drives to collect donations for local families and agencies. Here are a few opportunities to share holiday cheer with local families, coordinated by Penn VIPS.

Holiday Food Drive now through November 17

Penn VIPS colleagues across the University are collecting non-perishable foods (cans and boxed foods), as well as turkeys, for those in need of food assistance. These donations will re-stock local food pantries and local schools to feed families in the area. Please take donated items to a conveniently located on-campus Penn VIPS site. For more information, contact your nearest drop site committee member listed below.

Holiday Gift/Toy/Sneaker Drive, December 1 - December 16

As you check your seasonal gift list, please consider spreading cheer to those in need. All toys and other gifts donated will support the efforts of organizations such as HopePHL, local schools, Potter's Mission, Southwest Family Services, and many more. New sneakers will benefit Otley House and other local shelters.

All items for the holiday drive must be new. No gift wrapping, please.

Please contact one of the drop site committee members listed below for more details.

Drop Site Committee Members

Thanks to these Penn VIPS staff members for leading these efforts to spread generosity this winter. Please contact volunteers for exact drop site location.

Become a Drop Site Volunteer!

You can join Penn VIPS as a drop site volunteer to increase drop-off locations around the University for its spring, summer, and winter donation drives.

Volunteer activities include helping to advertise the event, managing collections, as well as delivering the donated items to our central location.

Contact Isabel Sampson-Mapp, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, at 215-898-2020 or sammapp@upenn.edu for additional information.

Penn VIPS Adopt a Family Program Now through December 15

The Adopt a Family program is a gratifying opportunity for your department or team to give directly to a specific family in the Philadelphia area. The adoption is usually done in lieu of departmental gift exchanges. The assigned family is treated to presents and sometimes holiday dinner in December. Assignments are made during and prior to mid-December.

Your department chooses the size of the family they would like to adopt. Participating departments will be provided with the names and address of the family, or the family may wish to remain anonymous. Departments may request a wish list from the family, or they may choose their own gifts for the family members. Departments choose the number and types of gifts they will provide. Departments are provided with the family members’ ages and sizes.

Families are selected from clients of the Baring House Family Service Agency, People’s Emergency Shelter, and other local agencies and shelters. Families participate in the program on a one-time basis.

To adopt a family, contact Isabel Sampson-Mapp at sammapp@upenn.edu.

Create Your Own Volunteer Activity for Your Department

Would you and your colleagues or friends like to participate in other volunteer activities? Penn VIPS is happy to connect you to an activity or help you develop one of your own.

Contact Isabel Sampson-Mapp at 215-898-2020 or sammapp@.upenn.edu for additional information.

Learn more about Penn VIPS and other Netter Center for Community Partnerships programs at www.nettercenter.upenn.edu.

Break Free from the Tobacco Habit

What’s one thing that diabetes, vision loss, rheumatoid arthritis, and fertility issues have in common? All have links to smoking. Though not frequently associated with tobacco use, these health concerns can be grouped with many others more commonly thought of as smoking-related, such as lung cancer and emphysema.

In honor of the Great American Smokeout on November 20, take the first step to living tobacco-free.

Penn Medicine’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program — also called Penn Stop — aims to help those with the goal of eliminating tobacco use for good. The Penn Stop team works one-on-one with individuals on personalized treatment plans that take a compassionate approach to meet their specific needs. You can make an appointment at one of six locations — five in the city and one in Cherry Hill, NJ. Program care is covered under insurance plans as a specialist visit.

Penn’s Be in the Know annual wellness campaign, now powered by WebMD, provides programs, resources, and rewards to design a step-by-step blueprint for sustainable healthy habits, stronger connections, and feeling your best.  Complete three sessions with a Penn Stop professional to earn 1,000 Be in the Know points for 2025-2026. Inform Penn Stop that you are a Be in the Know participant so they can track sessions and inform WebMD when to award your points.

"Maybe you’ve tried things in the past and nothing seemed to work,” says Penn Stop Project Coordinator Jody Nicoloso. “One of the utmost priorities of the program is to find the treatment or treatments that work best for the person. That will help to make it a more comfortable process so they can go through the day without such intense cravings.”

To learn more about Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program or to schedule an appointment, visit the Penn Stop website or call 1-888-PENN-STOP.

In addition to the Penn Stop program, Penn provides a variety of supports to reduce or eliminate tobacco use — plus manage other areas of well-being that can be impacted along the way. WebMD’s wellness platform offers Health Coaching and many behavior change wellness resources. You can also download their “Wellness at Your Side” app (available from both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store) and use the connection code “Penn” for access. Many of WebMD’s programs and tools offer points that build toward earning rewards for the 2025-2026 Be in the Know wellness campaign.

The American Cancer Society offers their Empowered to Quit email-based program for online support.

To learn about additional resources, visit Tobacco Cessation Resources on HR’s Penn Healthy You webpages.

Healthy Meals: Cauliflower Thanksgiving Stuffing

This Thanksgiving, why not try a modern version of a classic dish? You can enjoy the traditional flavor of the stuffing we all grew up with, along with added healthy ingredients like cauliflower, celery, and mushrooms that take it to another level of wholesome goodness.

Click here to send us your healthy recipes and tips.

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower cut up into 1/2-inch florets
• 2 single sticks of celery, sliced
• 8 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic 1/4 cup of butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning
• 1/4 cup of parsley leaves minced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine the cauliflower, celery, mushrooms, onion, garlic, butter, and poultry seasoning in a large bowl. Toss until evenly coated.
3. Place them in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, stir in the parsley, and bake for another 15 minutes or until the cauliflower and veggies are tender.

Meet With a Registered Dietitian Today!

• One-on-one, virtual sessions you can schedule at any time that works for you
• 100% covered under many insurance plans
• Available to spouses and dependents
• Fill out the Ramp Health Nutrition Counseling Sign Up Form or call 800-484-7720.

Did You Know: Virtual Tour of Employee Assistance Program

Attend a virtual tour of Penn’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) on November 18 from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. to learn how the EAP supports the mental, emotional, and physical health of employees and their families. From confidential counseling and wellness resources to work-life benefits, the Penn EAP offers personalized support – available all day, every day, free of charge – to you and your eligible family members to help you navigate life's challenges.