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School of BIOMED Response to COVID‑19

The School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (BIOMED) is grateful to all of our community members for their patience and understanding as we navigate through this period of unprecedented change in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Our faculty and staff continue to work remotely and are dedicated to being available to assist you. Information regarding actions being taken by our School to support our students, faculty and staff, and future students is available below, and will be updated regularly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated Tuesday, 4/14/2020

Current Students


How is Senior Design impacted?

Despite the challenges of this pandemic, the senior design instruction team (and all of the School's faculty and staff) remains sincerely committed to helping students not just get the best education possible, but also to helping the students achieve their long-term career goals. The senior design instruction team has been working hard to ensure adapting the course appropriately, while still creating the best experiences for the students given the current circumstances. Students will be provided with more information when the Spring term begins.

What about presenting Master's or PhD Proposals and Defenses?

Proposals and defenses will be conducted virtually to prevent academic delays. Please contact either Natalia Broz or Andres Kriete for more details.

Are BIOMED student advisors still available?

Yes! Our student advisors are working virtually and ready and available to assist you. All student advisors sent direct email to their advisees regarding Advising Continuity. Please email your advisor or schedule virtual appointments using the links provided in that email.

What about my BIOMED co-op?

Since every co-op is unique, we advise you to contact your co-op advisor with any questions or concerns about how COVID-19 will or will not impact you.

Who do I contact if I have other academic concerns?

Your first point of contact should be your advisor. If you feel that your question or concern has not been addressed, please reach out to your Associate Director for Undergraduate Education Fred Allen. Graduate students may reach out to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Andres Kriete.


Future BIOMED Students


What is the best way to contact college undergraduate student admissions?

Please contact your undergraduate admissions representative.

What is the best way to contact college graduate admissions?

Contact admisions representatives for One-on-One Live Chats.

Will you still be hosting open houses?

You can now take the BIOMED 360 Virtual Tour or download the Drexel Biomed iOS app for iPhone or iPad! Other open house activities will be available virtually soon.

What if I have other questions?

Please visit Drexel’s Coronavirus: Information for Prospective Students webpage for more information.


Faculty and Staff


What about lab access and safety while campus closes to the public?

Per President Fry’s message on Thursday, March 19, you should have now picked up any items from campus and returned home promptly. Effective Friday, March 20, at 5:00 pm, campus will be closed to the public. Only faculty and staff approved as critical personnel will have access to campus. We are actively working on a critical staffing plan to address the safety of labs as well as IT support while campus is otherwise closed.

What can I do to prevent Zoombombing and protect class participants privacy?

Zoom has publicly acknowledged privacy and security issues. If you would like to avoid these issues altogether, you can use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra for more secure class lectures providing similar functionality all within Blackboard's interface.

Best practices for Zoom include the following, and more details can be found on the Drexel IT Zoom Best Practices page:

  • Turn on Require a password when scheduling new meetings.
  • Turn on Require a password when starting instant meetings.
  • Leave on Embed password in meeting link for one-click join. (Meeting password will be encrypted and included in the join meeting link to allow participants to join with just one click without having to enter the password.)
  • Know where the link is being sent. Avoid sharing to large groups of people or publicly.

Why do I get kicked out of Zoom meetings?

Please make sure you are logging into your Drexel-licensed Zoom account. Otherwise, you may be limited to 40-minute meetings. On the sign in screen you need to select "SSO" as the sign in option. On the next screen the company domain is just "drexel" (so the line should read "drexel.zoom.us"). After hitting continue you'll be at the Drexel Connect page to sign in with your Drexel credentials, and you'll be prompted for MFA authentication. Please contact Bob Matthews for additional assistance.