Standard I: Mission and Goals
Co-Chair:
Jason Gersh: Director of Finance and Administration, Office of the Provost
Jason Gersh serves as Director of Finance & Administration for the Office of the Provost and has been working at Drexel University since 2007. Gersh’s educational background is in historical musicology, and he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Haverford College and a PhD in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he wrote a dissertation on the motets of late 16th-century English composer William Byrd. In his current role in the Office of the Provost, Gersh manages faculty appointments and reappointments, staff hires, budgetary/financial reporting, policy review, and various other projects for the Provost and academic division of the university. In addition, he provides primary financial oversight for the Office of Global Engagement and Education Abroad and serves as a primary liaison for space reallocation and renovation projects within the academic division. Outside of his professional engagements, he is active as a choral singer and amateur genealogist, serving as a board member for non-profit organizations in both areas. Gersh lives with his wife and daughters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Co-Chair:
Andres Kriete, PhD: Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Teaching Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems
Dr. Kriete is Teaching Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University, Philadelphia. He received his PhD from the University of Bremen, was faculty member at the University Clinic in Giessen, Germany, and served as Imaging Director for a biotech startup in Pittsburgh, PA. After joining Drexel University in 2003, Dr. Kriete held adjunct faculty appointments at the Center for Complex Systems and Visualization at the University of Bremen, Germany, the Bioengineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, Camden, NJ and the Monell Institute for Chemical Senses, Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Kriete contributed with over 100 scientific publications, including 40 peer-review journal articles, to computational modeling, cell stress characterization, control theory and 3D imaging. He wrote a monograph and edited three textbooks and is internationally known for his contributions to systems biology. He teaches students in computational bioengineering, statistics, imaging and pharmacogenomics. Under his leadership the graduate program at the School increased and diversified. Dr. Kriete directed the program alignment review for the School and is member of Drexel’s Council on Graduate Affairs.
The institution’s mission defines its purpose within the context of higher education, the students it serves, and what it intends to accomplish. The institution’s stated goals are clearly linked to its mission and specify how the institution fulfills its mission.
An accredited institution possesses and demonstrates the following attributes or activities:
- clearly defined mission and goals that:
- are developed through appropriate collaborative participation by all who facilitate or are otherwise responsible for institutional development and improvement;
- address external as well as internal contexts and constituencies;
- are approved and supported by the governing body;
- guide faculty, administration, staff, and governing structures in making decisions related to planning, resource allocation, program and curricular development, and the definition of institutional and educational outcomes;
- include support of scholarly inquiry and creative activity, at levels and of the type appropriate to the institution;
- are publicized and widely known by the institution’s internal stakeholders;
- are periodically evaluated;
- institutional goals that are realistic, appropriate to higher education, and consistent with mission;
- goals that focus on student learning and related outcomes and on institutional improvement; are supported by administrative, educational, and student support programs and services; and are consistent with institutional mission.
- periodic assessment of mission and goals to ensure they are relevant and achievable.
| Name | Title | Office/Department | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Gersh | Staff Co-Chair | Office of the Provost | I |
| Andres Kriete | Faculty Co-Chair | School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems | |
| Patience Ajoff-Foster | Executive Director, Diversity and Inclusive Culture | Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture | I |
| Rachel Callahan* | Senior Co-op Advisor for Training and Development | Steinbright Career Development Center | I |
| Fran Cornelius, PhD | Assistant Dean for Teaching, Learning and Engagement; Co-Chair, Doctor of Health Science Program; Coordinator of Clinical Nursing Informatics Education; Clinical Professor | College of Nursing and Health Professions: Graduate Nursing, Advanced Role MSN | I |
| Jennifer Johnson Kebea, EdD* | Executive Director, Lindy Center and Instructor MS in Nonprofit Management | Lindy Center for Civic Engagement | I |
| Aleister Saunders, PhD | Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation | Office of Research and Innovation (Provost) | I |
| Michael Wagner, PhD | Department Head, Digital Media; Program Director, Graduate Digital Media | Westphal College of Media Arts and Design | I |
* Members that contributed to the committee, but have since left the university.