Heard Around Campus: August 2015

With the new school year just around the corner, Drexel’s fashion design program again received a top ranking and construction projects are nearing their end.

Check out what you may have missed over the past month in the August edition of Heard Around Campus. 

Jim Tucker Retirement Announced

Last week, President John A. Fry announced that Senior Vice President for Business and Administration Services Jim Tucker plans to retire at the end of 2015.

“Since 2007, Jim has overseen a constantly evolving portfolio of critical University functions and projects with unprecedented success,” Fry said in the Aug. 17 message. “I am deeply grateful to him for all that he has done for Drexel.”

Tucker will remain as a senior vice president until the beginning of September, when he will shift into a senior advisor role until the end of the year. He will be instrumental in the process of opening of The Summit at University City, the new student housing, dining and retail site for which Drexel has partnered with American Campus Communities, and the construction of The Study at University City, a hotel Drexel partnered with Hospitality 3 to build, among other projects. 

Using third-party investing for those projects and others is a strategy that Fry described as “one of Jim’s most important legacies at Drexel.”

Tucker’s administrative responsibilities will be transferred to Executive Vice President Helen Bowman during the transition, though the Department of Athletics and Recreation will report directly to Fry.

Why I Give Success

The University’s annual faculty and staff fundraiser, Why I Give, was another success this year.

A third of the University’s faculty and staff contributed during the 2014-15 cycle to support education across the University. In total, 1,589 faculty and staff members contributed.

Five departments have achieved 100 percent participation for five years: Athletics, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the President, Office of the Provost and University Communications.

Individually, 581 faculty and staff members have contributed to the Why I Give campaign for five or more years.

Fashion Design Program Achieves Another Top Ranking

On the heels of making the Fashion-Schools.org’s Top 50 list in July, Drexel’s fashion design program again ranked near the top of a list of the best schools for prospective students.

Business of Fashion, a global fashion trade publication, ranked schools based on their fashion design programs’ global influence, learning experience and long-term value.

Drexel came in at No. 10 in the entire world on the list and No. 3 in the United States.

The ranking was subsequently highlighted in a piece in The New York Times’ “On the Runway” column.

RSVP for Convocation

This year, Convocation has been moved up to Sept. 17 to be held during the new Welcome Week and before classes begin.

Don’t forget to RSVP to celebrate the beginning of the school year. And while you’re at it, volunteer to help at Move-In Day too. 

Construction/Renovation Project Updates

• The Summit at University City: American Campus Communities’ 580,000 square foot student housing, dining and retail complex on the southwest corner of 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue, as well as The Urban Eatery dining facility, are on schedule to open in September 2015

  
  

• Renovations to the Center for Automation Technology (CAT)/LeBow Engineering Center and Paul Peck Problem Solving and Research Building (PPSRB): Six new classrooms and instructional laboratories are being built on the second floor of PPSRB and are expected to open in September 2015. The new classrooms will free up space in CAT/LeBow for the construction of wet research laboratories for the departments of chemistry and physics, as well as the environmental engineering component of the Institute for Energy and the Environment. Meanwhile, new leased space on the third and fourth floors of University Crossings is being built out for graduate student offices relocated from PPSRB, with expected occupancy in the fall.

  
  

• Bossone Research Enterprise Center Renovations: Construction is in progress for the first floor expansion of the Core Research Facilities for materials characterization, and for new laboratories for electrochemistry and thin-layer materials fabrication. The new labs are expected to be fit for use early this fall.

  
  

• Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC): Construction has begun on Phase 4 of the ongoing renovation to the DAC, including new north end seating and improved concessions. Completion is expected in October 2015.

  
  

• 3401 Market Lease (DragonsTeach, CASTL and College of Arts and Sciences): Drexel has entered into a new lease at 3401 Market for approximately 7,400 rentable square feet to house two grant-funded initiatives: DragonsTeach and the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning (CASTL), as well as space for components of the criminology and justice studies programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. Build-out of the space is expected to be complete in mid-November for occupancy.

  
  

• University Crossings Renovations (American Campus Communities): Complete renovations of the living spaces are underway, with an early September completion expected for American Campus Communities’ student living areas. The basement and first floor University-leased premises (currently occupied) are being impacted by the building renovations.