The holidays present themselves as a time of reflection for me, and this year is no exception. This past year has been nothing short of incredible for all of us associated with the Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions and I want to take this opportunity to thank you all – students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors and friends – for your continued support of our events.  

 

We have much to celebrate given our many accomplishments and positive outcomes.  

 

• We remain the largest College at Drexel with enrollment totaling 4,569 undergraduate, graduate and certificate students, 21% of the University’s overall enrollment. Our online student enrollment, 2,410, makes up 53% of all online programs managed by Drexel University Online.  

 

• We significantly exceeded goals to increase proposal submissions for research funding —$4,489,518 in total. External research grant funding totaled $3,952,360 and, of 34 submissions, six grants were funded in amounts ranging from $104,000 to $2.8 million. Internal research grant funding totaled $206,202.  

 

• Our graduates earned 1,695 degrees and certificates. Of those, 574, or 37.2% were completed online.

 

• Our alumni are well prepared and their professional licensing and board certification results continue to hover significantly above state and national benchmarks. 

 

• After accomplishing her goal of moving all faculty, staff and operations for the College into Three Parkway in February 2016, now Professor and Dean Emerita Gloria F. Donnelly, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCPP, stepped down from the deanship. We hosted a tribute in her honor back in August at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University at which a formal portrait, a gift for all, was unveiled.

 

• Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, a nationally-recognized model of nurse-led care, doubled its size to 34,000 square feet. Now community members can participate in art, music and dance movement therapies and exercise in a fitness center. They can also receive nutritional support and education, dental services, physical therapy and primary care.

 

• Our “We’re Here Because We Care: Building Healthy Communities Together” initiative strives to implement community-driven, sustainable programs to improve health outcomes within the West Philadelphia Promise Zone.

 

• Mother-Baby Connections is one of only a few intensive outpatient clinics of its kind in the U.S., and the only one in the mid-Atlantic region. This postpartum mental health program emphasizes the mother’s relationships with her baby and partner and encourages moms to bring their infants to therapy at our interprofessional, clinical and research practice, Parkway Health & Wellness.

 

As we look ahead to 2017 and beyond, all workforce trends indicate that our programs will be in high demand over the next decade with the aging of the population, the shift from acute to chronic care and primary prevention and the continued morphing of the healthcare system to increase access while cutting costs. The College of Nursing and Health Professions is in a position to continue its dramatic growth for years to come.

 

Please accept my best wishes for the best of holiday seasons and a happy, healthy, prosperous new year!

 

Sue Smith, PT, PhD

Interim Dean