Using Zoom with WCOnline at Penn Critical Writing Center

We have recently enabled a Zoom integration for online tutoring sessions conducted through the Critical Writing Center’s WCOnline tutoring scheduler.

Zoom will automatically be utilized for WCOnline appointments, under the following conditions; The tutor hosting the meeting on the schedule must be:

  1. signed up for a Penn Zoom account
  2. signed up for WCOnline using theirpennkey@upenn.edu (e.g. no @sas.upenn.edu). You can click here to change the email address you are using for WCOnline, if need be.

If the tutor is not signed up for Zoom or uses any other email address,  the built-in WCOnline meeting tool will automatically be used instead.

Others (non-tutors) joining the meeting do not need either of the above — they can join the meeting with or without a zoom account and can use WCOnline with any email address.

Tutors with meetings on the WCOnline calendar that will take place on Zoom will see an automatically generated unique Zoom link in the appointment’s details + will see the Zoom meeting scheduled in their Penn Zoom account calendar. There is a chance this could function slightly differently if the tutor has configured their Zoom account to schedule appointments differently.

How to Log into the Zoom iOS app with your UPenn Account

All School of Arts and Sciences staff and faculty are eligible for Zoom accounts. More information about Zoom in SAS is available here: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/remote-teaching/zoom. If you haven’t already activated your account, be sure to visit this link: http://zoom.sas.upenn.edu/

Note that students DO NOT need a Zoom account nor to sign into the Zoom app to participate in a meeting — only the meeting host needs an account and to be signed in.

  1. Install the Zoom iOS app on your iPhone or iPad, from the App Store.
  2. Open the app and when signing in, select the SSO option:
  3. Enter “upenn” so the full company domain reads “upenn.zoom.us”

4. You will then be guided to log in with your Pennkey, which will log you into Zoom.

Software & Cloud Services Available to Penn Staff & Faculty (Free)

Below is a list of popular software and services licensed by the University and available to Penn Staff and Faculty for free. Click here for a complete list of supported Penn software.


Microsoft Office – available for Penn Faculty and Staff to install for free on up to 5 devices (including desktop, laptop and mobile devices). On a desktop and laptop computer, log in with your O365 account at www.office.com. In the top right hand corner, you should see a button that says “Install Office”. On mobile device, install a Microsoft app from the Apple App Store or Google Play store and then log in with your O365 user name and password.

Penn Box – a cloud file-storage service similar to Dropbox available to all active faculty and staff. Unlimited storage space. http://box.upenn.edu

Last Pass Premium – A secure, password management software that can also generate secure passwords / auto-fill your passwords into your browser and mobile devices  – https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/lastpass

Symantec Anti Virus – Recommended for all desktop and laptop computers. More information: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/symantec-endpoint-protection#General

Fetch FTP/SFTP Application (Mac): Fetch is the recommended, Penn-licensed application for connecting and conducting file transfers to Penn servers. https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/fetch

Adobe Acrobat Pro (which is now called Acrobat DC Pro) is available for some staff and faculty at the University, if you are using a computer purchased with Penn funds. Contact your Local Support Provider (LSP) to find out if you are eligible.

LabResearch is a cloud-based digital notebook for Lab Researchers to store, organize, share, and publish their laboratory research and data. More information is available here: https://researchnotebooks.upenn.edu/

Qualtrics is a cloud based software for conducting research surveys and is also used for creating simple submission forms (e.g. for applications, registrations, polling). For more information, view the School of Arts and Sciences page about Qualtrics.