- Administration and Faculty Offices
- Getting to Campus
- Accommodations
- Other Hotel Accommodations
- Meals
- Parking
- Transportation Options While at Wharton
- Pre-Course Preparatory Material
- Typical Schedule
- Dress Code
- Personal Computer Information
- Using E-mail While at the Steinberg Conference Center
- Accessing an Existing E-mail Account
- Setting Up a New E-mail Account
- Telephones
- Faxes, Mail, Messages
- Health Services
- Emergency Contact Number
- Athletic Facilities
- Smoking Policy
- Security
- Shipping of Program Materials
- Banking, Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), and Credit Cards
- Currency Exchange
- Philadelphia Information
The Executive Education office in the Steinberg Conference Center is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (+1.215.898.4560 phone). Faculty offices are located in Steinberg Hall/Dietrich Hall and Jon M. Hunstman Hall and are also open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A faculty directory is available in the Executive Education office.
The Philadelphia International Airport has a very good website, from which you can check all airlines' arrivals and departures.
From the airport, the following forms of transit are available:
- Taxi: A metered cab ride will cost $25.00 and take about 20 minutes. There is a flat fee for all trips to and from the airport.
- Shuttle Van: costs $10 to $12 for a one-way trip. There are several firms that stop at the University campus with frequent service.
- Executive Sedan: To reserve a sedan from Boston Coach in advance, call 1.800.672.7676 (inside the U.S.), +1.610.521.0500 (worldwide). Philly Shuttle is also available. To make a reservation, call +1.215.333.1441 at least 2 days in advance.
- Airport Express Train: The SEPTA R1 train departs every 30 minutes, at 10 minutes after the hour and half-hour and takes you to 30th Street Station. The fare is $5.00, and the ride takes 22 minutes.
- From Amtrak's 30th Street Station: Philadelphia is a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast corridor lines. Schedule and fare information is available by phone (1.800.USA.RAIL) or on the Amtrak website. From the station, a metered cab ride costs about $6.00 and takes about 5 minutes.
All open-enrollment programs (those programs for which you are invoiced directly by Wharton Executive Education) and most custom programs (those programs sponsored by your employer or an organization) include hotel accommodations. Where accommodations are included, Wharton Executive Education will handle all of the details. Each of the program pages on our website indicate whether accommodations are included. You can also read the following paragraph for additional information on program accommodations.
Most participants are housed at the Steinberg Conference Center. Frequently, other nearby hotels, such as the Inn at Penn, are utilized. For your specific accommodations information, if you are:
- An open-enrollment program participant (one who is invoiced directly by Wharton Executive Education), you will receive your housing information with your pre-reading materials (approximately three weeks prior to their program).
- A custom program participant (one who is attending a program sponsored by your employer or an organization), you should check the correspondence received from the program administrator or coordinator.
Check-in is anytime after 12:00 noon on the day your program starts (unless you are advised otherwise; please refer to the letter from your program coordinator). Accommodations are typically not available to program participants prior to the start of a seminar. Please call your coordinator if you need an earlier check-in.
Checkout time is before 10:30 a.m. on the last day of the program.
Participants in the Conference Center will be provided with all the amenities of a hotel, such as private bath, linens, color television, hair dryer, radio alarm clock, and daily maid service. Laundry services are available for a fee. There is same-day service if dropped off at the front desk by 8:30 a.m.
Participants not staying at the Conference Center will be housed at one of the four-star hotels in the campus or downtown area. If you are staying at an outside hotel, you may check into your room anytime after 3:00 p.m., although rooms may be available before that time.
For those with accommodations at The Hilton Inn at Penn, that address is:
3600 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
+1.215.222.0200 phone
For accommodations prior to or after a program, we suggest one of the hotels in the University City or Downtown (also known as Center City) areas. In the University City area, we recommend The Hilton Inn at Penn. Downtown, Wharton Executive Education regularly uses the Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton. A complete list of hotels is available through the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Corporation.
All meals, unless otherwise noted in your correspondence, will be served in the Steinberg Conference Center. Open-enrollment programs include all meals for the duration of the program. Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style, while dinners are served either buffet or à la carte. Beer and wine are available with dinner on a retail basis. Please contact your program coordinator if you have any special dietary needs, and he or she will communicate this to our Executive Chef.
Parking in the vicinity of the Conference Center is extremely limited. The nearby lots charge approximately $20 per day and accept payment in both cash and credit card. Please note, however, that an automobile is not needed while attending a program, and the Conference Center is easily accessible by taxi, train, and public transportation.
There are additional direction and map resources available through the University of Pennsylvania.
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA):
SEPTA has bus and rail lines throughout the city and suburbs of Philadelphia. Schedule and fare information is available at +1.215.580.7800 or go to the SEPTA website. - Car Rentals:
If you want to rent a car for a day, all major rental agencies are located at the airport; and Hertz, Avis, National, and Budget are located nearby in Amtrak's 30th Street Station. - Taxi:
Taxis are abundant around the campus. The Steinberg Conference Center front desk will call a cab when requested.
You will receive the detailed program schedule, pre-reading materials and instructions about 2 to 3 weeks prior to the start of the program.
The specifics vary from program to program, but typically our 5-day programs begin on Sunday evening, with a reception, dinner, and an introductory session after dinner. Five-day programs typically end just prior to lunch on Friday, with lunch included at the participants' option. The schedules for programs shorter than 1 week vary sufficiently that it is hard to generalize the starting and finishing times. During the program, most days run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with evening work frequently assigned. Some programs also have scheduled evening sessions. You will receive a detailed schedule about 2 to 3weeks prior to the start of your program.
The dress code for class and all meals is comfortable and casual. The Conference Center can be cool at times, so it is advisable that you bring a sweater.
Personal computers are a feature of the Conference Center guest rooms. These systems run the Windows 2000 operating system and feature Microsoft Office software and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. An HP LaserJet printer is available for participants' use in case-study rooms. All personal computers accept 3.5" double-density diskettes. Diskettes are available from the front desk for transferring files. Each computer has a direct Internet connection available and recent installations of both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Participants may bring laptop computers to their program. Participants attending from outside the United States should bring an adapter for converting 220 volts to 120 volts. Participants requiring modem support will find that Steinberg Conference Center guest rooms are equipped with a modem port and an RJ-11 jack, which can be used with most laptop computers or personal fax machines. International participants should bring a telephone adapter for their modem.
Each guestroom, case study room, and breakout room in the Steinberg Conference Center has high speed access to the Internet. This connection is direct, meaning that no telephone dial up is required, and no telephone charges — or any other charges for that matter — are incurred for using the Internet.
Current editions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are provided for your general web browsing and Internet research. A Windows version of Telnet is also available.
Wharton does not provide e-mail accounts to executive education participants. However, it is often the case that the computers in the Steinberg Conference Center can be used to access your existing e-mail systems, that is, those systems you normally use at the office or at home. In order to configure the computer in your guest room to use your existing e-mail system, you will need to know the answer to some technical questions. Check with your computer support department before coming to Philadelphia to answer the following questions:
- Does your e-mail system support one of the Internet standards for e-mail post offices? These standards usually are referred to as POP or IMAP.
- What is the technical name or the Internet protocol number for the post office computer? This is normally in the form of postoffice.mycompany.com or 123.456.789.012. Note that this is not the name of your computer, but the name of the post office computer.
- What is the exact name of your e-mail account?
With this information, the computer support technicians at the Steinberg Conference Center can help you set up your guest room computer to send and receive mail. It is usually not wise to configure the public computers in case study and breakout rooms for reading your e-mail, since others using the machine after you might have access to your personal information.
If you do not have an e-mail account already, or if your e-mail system does not conform to one of the Internet standards (Lotus Notes, for example, normally does not), you may want to set up an e-mail account on one of a variety of free e-mail services. These are provided by many Internet portals, such as Yahoo or Netscape (Microsoft's HotMail is not recommended).
You can do that by using the Web browser in your guest room at the Steinberg Conference Center or from your own computer at your office before you come to Wharton. For example, point your browser to http://www.yahoo.com, then press "Check E-mail" and then "Sign Me Up". Follow the instructions on screen to establish your e-mail account with Yahoo. This type of account can be used with a Web browser anywhere in the world without any local configuration required. You may also want to forward mail from your existing systems to this Internet account while you're traveling. With that new e-mail account, you can use any computer at the Conference Center to send and receive mail.
A private telephone is available in each participant's room. Conference Center guests will be billed for telephone calls by the Conference Center; other hotel guests will be billed by their respective hotel. Public telephones accepting major credit cards and calling cards are located throughout the second floor of the Conference Center. It is advisable that participants attending from outside of the United States confirm that their credit and/or calling card will be viable for placing calls while in the United States. Otherwise, phone company calling cards can be purchased in $10 and $20 denominations at many nearby locations. These cards are valid for both domestic and international calls.
- Receiving:
During class hours, mail, faxes, and phone messages will be delivered to the classroom. When class is not in session, messages will be delivered through the Conference Center front desk.
- Sending:
Fax service is available at the front desk of the Conference Center and through your guest room computer. Receipt of faxes is a complimentary service. There is a charge for sending faxes.
While class is in session and for guests accommodated at the Steinberg Conference Center, participant contact information is:
Telephone: +1.215.386.8300
Fax: +1.215.573.3426
Address:
Participant's Name c/o Aresty Institute of Executive Education
Steinberg Conference Center
255 South 38th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104.6359
The University has a comprehensive health system designed to protect the health of the University community and to provide treatment for illness and injury. All medical expenses must be paid by the participant at the time of service.
Please provide your family and office colleagues with your hotel number, cell phone number, or private phone mail number for all non-emergency messages. In the event of an emergency, you can also be reached at the Steinberg Conference Center through the main phone line: +1.215.898.4560.
There is an exercise facility on the fifth floor of the Steinberg Conference Center. That facility is equipped with treadmills, rowing machines, stairmasters, stationary bicycles, free weights, and a "Power-Pak" Universal Circuit Weight Training Unit. When open, a limited number of University athletic facilities, which include tennis, squash, and swimming, will also be available for your use. Please bring your own sports equipment as the university does not provide rentals. More complete information on these facilities is available at registration.
In compliance with the University of Pennsylvania's smoking policy, smoking is not permitted in Steinberg Conference Center classrooms, rest rooms, hallways, stairwells, lobbies, or any other areas not specifically designated for smoking. Smoking is only permitted in designated guestrooms. You may request either a nonsmoking or smoking guest room at check-in, subject to availability.
The University cannot assume responsibility for loss or damage of personal property. Safety deposit boxes are available at the Steinberg Conference Center and the Inn at Penn, but participants should not bring valuables or large amounts of cash with them.
Over the course of the program, you will accumulate a significant amount of material. We offer the option of shipping materials to your office upon completion of the program. If your company has an account with a carrier (Federal Express, DHL, UPS, etc.) please bring the account number or two preprinted airbills, and the shipment will be billed directly to your company. Without an account, you will need to provide a credit card account number to which the shipment can be charged. You or your company will be responsible for all shipping charges, duties, and taxes.
Personal checks and traveler's cheques up to $100 per day may be cashed at the Steinberg Conference Center front desk. There is a $300 maximum for each 5-day program. There are also several ATM machines within walking distance. It is recommended that participants attending from outside of the United States consider using traveler's cheques and credit cards. If you wish to obtain cash using credit cards, you may use one of several nearby ATMs, which belong to the international ATM networks Plus and Cirrus. It is advised that you confirm that your debit and/or credit card is valid for cash withdrawals within the United States.
Currency may be exchanged at the following locations. In some cases, there may be limitations:
- FirstUnion Bank, 1500 Market Streets, +1.215.973.4402
- Thomas Cook Currency Services, 1800 John F. Kennedy Blvd. and Philadelphia International Airport Terminals A & B, +1.215.563.7348