The 2025-2029 Strategic Plan [PDF] articulates Drexel Dornsife's mission, vision, values, priorities, and goals to keep us focused on what matters most and guide our future direction.

About Us

Located in Philadelphia, PA, Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health is one of the top schools of public health in the United States.

Our school's history honors 30 years of training public health students using a curriculum focused on problem solving and real-life practical experiences.

The school is fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

Our Vision

To be a trusted leader in public health – advancing a world of collective health and justice.

Our Mission

Advance health as a human right, improve population health, and eliminate health disparities through impactful research, integrative education, and meaningful partnerships with communities.

Our Shared Values

These five shared values of the Dornsife School of Public Health are the core principles that we collectively consider important and meaningful, guiding how we work together and make decisions:

	Collective Well-Being Cultivating a culture of care, healing, and justice by prioritizing mental health, addressing root causes of disparity, and sustaining people, connections, capacities, and the planet through shared strength.
	Partnership Building authentic and trust-based relationships with individuals, communities, and organizations by sharing power, meeting partners where they are, and co-creating solutions—recognizing that lasting change is community-led and grounded in mutual respect.
	Integrity Upholding honesty, accountability, and transparency by aligning words with actions, welcoming feedback, acknowledging mistakes, and building trust.
	Social Responsibility Acting with a moral and institutional obligation to advance health, human rights, and the common good, while actively preventing harm and addressing systemic inequities.
	Systematic Excellence Pursuing high-quality, evidence-based education, research, and practice rooted in public health science and a growth mindset.

Our Six Strategic Priority Areas

Goals for Strategic Priority Areas

🟦 Student Success and Workforce Development

Goal 1: Strengthen academic excellence and workforce readiness

Goal 2: Advance inclusive and engaging learning environments

Goal 3: Ensure school sustainability and lifelong learning impact

The Office of Education at the Dornsife School of Public Health supports the school in attracting, training, and empowering the next generation of public health leaders.

By supporting our students, our team strengthens its commitment to creating a positive and lasting impact on public health.

🟥 Culture, Community, and Opportunity

Goal 1: Amplify the voices of all Dornsife members via data collection to identify strengths, address challenges, and provide recommendations that enhance culture and community

Goal 2: Strengthen Dornsife culture and well-being by expanding access to resources through strategic partnerships and training for students, staff, and faculty

Goal 3: Foster a culture of shared decision making and strengthen community through shared leadership of students, staff, and faculty

The Office of Culture, Community and Opportunity at the Dornsife School of Public Health aims to create a more connected, transparent, and equity-driven campus culture where all members feel seen, supported, and empowered.

🟫 Faculty and Staff Development

Goal 1: Establish equitable and transparent pathways for faculty/staff growth and advancement

Goal 2: Strengthen shared governance by amplifying community voice

Goal 3: Build a thriving and connected workspace

Dornsife faculty and Dornsife staff have a strong track record of creativity, successfully navigating and adapting to challenges. A shared commitment to the school's vision drives our collective efforts.

🟩 Global Health and Human Rights

Goal 1: Center and prioritize the health and wellbeing of communities in solidarity, care, and the right to health – especially where systemic inequities persist

Goal 2: Boldly advance justice-driven solutions to current and emerging global health challenges

Goal 3: Strengthen equitable knowledge exchange and capacity sharing that drives advocacy, education, research, and service – ensuring learning flows across borders, institutions, and lived experiences

A signature program of the Office of Global Health is the Dornsife Global Development Scholars program. Drexel students gain international experience working alongside World Vision International on projects that prioritize water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

🟧 Public Health Practice and External Relations

Goal 1: Strengthen systems and processes for public health practice

Goal 2: Build resources and capacity for sustainable community engagement

Goal 3: Harness strategic communications to showcase practice-based public health impact

Dornsife students, faculty, and staff share a commitment to maintaining strong connections within our community and with organizations across the region and the globe.

🟨 Research and Thought Leadership

Goal 1: Conduct impactful public health research

Goal 2: Strengthen thought leadership and broaden dissemination

Goal 3: Cultivate robust and adaptable research support systems

The Dornsife School of Public Health, led by our Research Office, strives to be leader in the conduct of research and scholarship that is:

• Aimed at understanding and finding innovative solutions to population health problems,
• Scientifically rigorous,
• Interdisciplinary,
• Considers multiple levels of influence as appropriate, and
• Relevant to public health practice and policy

Thank you to everyone across the Dornsife School community who shared input on the strategic planning process through surveys, meetings, and conversations.

Leaders in strategic priority areas will be sharing progress on objectives and metrics at our State of the School each fall.

This strategic plan is meant to be flexible and iterative, allowing our school to respond to changing environments as needed.