Grad Center Spaces

The Welfer Common Room and Thakkar Family Coffee & Tea Bar areas, located on the main floor, are the Grad Center's primary space for hanging out. Whether you come for relaxation or work, its comfortable couches, large tables, Andy Wu fireplace, coffee service, and signature French doors overlooking Locust Walk make it the perfect place to connect with Penn's graduate community.

The Welfer Common Room's primary purpose is to provide lounge space for graduate and professional students during consistent times. Therefore, we do not reserve the space during our normal hours.

Very occasionally, the Welfer Common Room (front) and/or Thakkar Family Coffee/Tea Bar areas (back) are used for events sponsored by the Office of the Provost or for Grad Center special events open to all graduate and professional students. Signs will be posted in the room when such uses are scheduled.

The Welfer Common Room and first floor lounge areas are only available after hours/weekends for special events and therefore always incurs housekeeping and staffing fees. If you are interested in reserving this space, please contact gradcenterops@pobox.upenn.edu for more details well in advance of the event date. 

The Grad Center "Break Room" has an array of games, activities, and a digital screen for screening content or playing games. The room comfortably seats 4-6 people without crowding. 

This room features:

• wall-mounted digital screen with HDMI input 
• seating for 4-6

This room requires advance registration. 

The Student Support Services Office is a space available to campus partners for regular and pop-up advising and outreach for graduate and professional students. Upcoming advising sessions and services are posted to our events calendar at www.gsc.upenn.edu/events. 

For more information, please contact gradcenter@upenn.edu. 

The #302 Group Study Room located on the third floor is intended for those seeking a quiet meeting space for groups of 4-8. If you need a refuge from the vibrant activity of the main floor's Welfer Common Room, look no further. Generously proportioned worktop tables are ideal for collaborative projects (and provide plenty of unhampered legroom). Lacking visual clutter, these rooms assure that you can get down to work without distraction.

The room features:

• three easy-glide wheeled worktop tables
• seating for 4 -8

If this space is not reserved, you can use and share the space with other graduate students for quiet study or a group meeting.

The #303 Group Study Room located on the third floor is intended for those seeking a quiet meeting space for groups of 4-8. If you need a refuge from the vibrant activity of the main floor's Welfer Common Room, look no further. Generously proportioned worktop tables are ideal for collaborative projects (and provide plenty of unhampered legroom). Lacking visual clutter, these rooms assure that you can get down to work without distraction.

The room features:

• three easy-glide wheeled worktop tables
• seating for 4 - 8

If this space is not reserved, you can use and share the space with other graduate students for quiet study or a group meeting.

The third floor Multi-Purpose Room provides you the opportunity to enjoy a large, versatile room prepared to your specifications. Whether arranged in a classic conference table configuration or classroom style with individual worktop tables for participant pairs, this light-filled space is generous without feeling impersonal. Catered group meetings or multimedia presentations have access to everything necessary for a successful and memorable event sure to be cherished by participants for at least a couple of hours.

This room features:

• easy-glide wheeled worktop tables
• LCD screen with HDMI inputs
• flexible furniture configurations with capacity for:
  • 20 seated at a conference table or classroom style
  • 30 seated theater style

If this space is not reserved, you can use and share the space with other graduate students for quiet study or a group meeting.

Located in the Lower Level of the Graduate Student Center, the Family Resource Center at Penn is a hub for information, resources, activities and advocacy for students and post-docs with children. The Family Center provides a forum for student parents to connect and develop supportive networks, and offers a welcoming and family-friendly environment for Penn students, post-docs, caregivers, and children.

The Family Center is a membership based facility, all University of Pennsylvania students and post-doctoral fellows with children are eligible to join and memberships are free.