Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship is rebranding, merging programs with other schools

In addition to announcements about how the University of Pennsylvania will be handling its fall semester during the coronavirus pandemic, the institution’s Wharton School recently announced that Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship will now be known as Venture Lab.

The change to Penn’s resource center for entrepreneurship and innovation will allow for the merging of several incubators and accelerators, including from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Wharton, the school said.

Venture Lab aims to “rebuild the entrepreneurship ecosystem, serving as the nexus of all startup activity at the University,” Wharton said in an announcement. “Through Venture Lab, we aim to re-establish ties with all of the schools at Penn and create a robust network of strategic opportunities for student and alumni entrepreneurs.”

This revamp includes new and updated programing for the 2020-21 school year and a new website, which will roll out over the course of the next 12 to 14 months, the school said. It also said it now has a new Slack community to support the lab; email entrepreneurship@wharton.upenn.edu for access.

Wharton’s current plan for the fall 2020 semester includes mostly all online instruction for undergraduate and graduate students, a slight adjustment from a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction introduced earlier in the summer.

“Please know that I share in the disappointment many members of our community are feeling about the need to make this change,” Dean Erika James wrote in a notice to the school community on July 31. “I too wanted a different outcome for our students, staff and faculty this fall. However, I believe proactively making this decision will provide the clarity necessary for us all to focus on the term ahead, and the exceptional opportunity we all have as members of the Wharton School.”

James joined Wharton as dean on July 1, succeeding Geoffrey Garrett.

Dean @erikahjames shared a message with the Wharton Community to provide perspective on the School's approach to fall 2020, which includes a "Remote Plus" model with hybrid learning. Read the full statement here: https://t.co/RADQbtPLiF pic.twitter.com/98IUfWrt0I

— The Wharton School (@Wharton) July 9, 2020