April 1, 2023

The Graduate College would like to welcome Deirdre McMahon, PhD, who will begin her role as Assistant Dean of Online Education effective April 1.

Deirdre joins the Graduate College with more than fifteen years of experience in online and hybrid instruction. In addition to her role as a Teaching Professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, Deirdre has been a leader in online education at Drexel.

In Academic Year 2021-2022, Deirdre served as a Provost Fellow, contributing to projects and initiatives on Program Innovation, particularly but not solely in relation to online and remote learning in the post-pandemic context. Her work in and beyond the classroom has given her important insights about the Drexel student experience in multiple instructional modalities (face to face, online, and hybrid) and at multiple levels (undergraduate, continuing, and graduate). She has also participated in a number of important university-wide committees and initiatives on online and hybrid education.

For the past three years, she and Dean Elisabeth Van Bockstaele have co-chaired the University Council on Online Quality and Standards (UCOQS). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Deirdre served on both the Remote Teaching Task Force and the College of Arts and Sciences' Remote Teaching Committee. She acted as the liaison between the Remote Teaching Task Force and the Remote Course Facilitators (RCF) program. She also contributed extensively to the Middle States Standard III Committee. She serves as Chair of the Online Learning Council (OLC) Faculty Fellows. Deirdre also co-chairs the US News & World Report Rankings Committee for Online Bachelor's Degree Programs and serves on the Undergraduate Online initiative team and Online Traditional Learner subcommittee of the Drexel 2030 – Designing the Future strategic plan.

Welcome Deirdre!