Recent Initiatives
Course Costs
WAB identified that there was a lack of transparency in the cost of courses for students. The Course Costs initiative aims to increase transparency around costs relevant to the Wharton curriculum. Through an analysis of past syllabi for the Wharton core curriculum, we identified key resources that students could use to the lower financial burdens of course costs. These findings can be found here in the following tips and tricks memo for students. Tips and Tricks For Students
WAB Seminars
WAB Seminars is our fleet of student taught courses that encourage learning for the sake of learning. There are skills that many students want to explore, yet want to do so outside of a formal class setting. Our Seminars have included Coding for Absolute Beginners, Photoshop, Blockchain Basics, Smart Contract Programming, Mobile App Design, and Financial Modeling & Excel. WAB Seminars is a great way for students to both share their knowledge of certain skills and learn in an informal setting.
Passion Projects
WAB began the Passion Projects program in 2015 looking to enable students who wanted to explore their passions. We work with students by providing funding for any non-start-up, non-club, and non-academic project every Spring semester. Throughout the semester, WAB creates a community between the fellows allowing them to work with each other, get feedback and perfect their projects. Past examples have included: creating a hot cheeto cookbook, learning Arabic calligraphy, building a computer, or interviewing members of a community whom you admire. You can find more information and profiles of past fellows here!
HuntsmanHacks
HuntsmanHacks began with the mission of providing an immersive experience in which underclassmen are able to apply the skills in their business toolkit to real world problems. Rather than tackling theoretical situations, students are challenged with solving current and top of mind problems facing some of the largest corporations. In the first iteration of HuntsmanHacks, WAB partnered with Alibaba, and included over 150 students and 10 company representatives. To learn more about the initiative and to stay up to date with this year's competition visit our website here!
Wharton Wellness
WAB began work on the Wellness initiative with the goal of improving the (mental, physical, etc.) wellness of Wharton undergraduates. We believed there was a lack of effective programming and resources addressing wellness issues, particularly ones which disproportionately and uniquely affect Wharton students. After extensive initial research (including meetings with key stakeholders, benchmarking against other schools, and discussion with wellness-focused organizations at Penn), we concluded that neither WAB nor any other current group by itself had the resources or purview to tackle such a vast issue. Instead, we collaborated with Wharton Council and Wharton Cohorts to found Wharton Wellness, an organization dedicated to the improvement of undergraduate well-being at Wharton. After founding Wellness in Spring 2017, WAB has continued to collaborate with Wellness on an ongoing basis in initiatives where our experiences and missions are complementary.
Office Hours
For the past couple semesters, WAB has worked with professors to help increase supplemental help offered in their courses. The Office Hours initiative aims to provide students with more accessible, personalized, and effective supplemental learning opportunities. Through frequent surveys and conversations with students, faculty, and administrators, we have identified supplemental help methods that are useful, yet underutilized. WAB has worked alongside professors in both core and elective classes to implement Interactive Exam Review Sessions and Virtual Office Hours. To date, we have worked with courses in the Real Estate, Statistics, and Business Economics and Public Policy departments.
Women of Wharton
WAB identified a disparity in Wharton undergraduate student satisfaction between women and men in regards to academic experience. Through rigorous primary and secondary research, reviews of academic literature, as well as working closely with students, faculty, and the administration, we developed strategic recommendations for professors on how to improve gender equality and inclusion in the classroom. Our analyses and solutions were published in a confidential white paper distributed to the faculty and administration.