March

This month and with more donations needed, Samantha Rivera Joseph, a PhD student in the Dornsife School of Public Health, hopes to buy the historic building in her Mt. Airy neighborhood and convert it into a community meeting space with crowdsourced funds.

A message with COVID safety reminders for the spring was sent to the Drexel community. Pandemic safety measures remain crucial as campus activity levels increase.

Since March 2020, Drexel faculty and international academic partners have been pivoting planned study abroad trips to engaging remote learning opportunities.

After a rollercoaster of a year that changed the way Drexel’s student body engages with campus, the community and each other, two student leaders reflect on what was learned and where the Dragon community can go from here.

With the start of spring term and end of March, be sure to take advantage of events related to Women’s History Month and Drexel’s annual Health and Wellness Fair.

Markers of the pandemic’s impact – testing rates, positivity ratio (cases among total tests), case rates by overall population and deaths – are clustered in neighborhoods, with low-income and predominantly minority communities experiencing worse outcomes than wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods. The findings, part of the first research to look at comprehensive neighborhood-level data from March through September 2020 from three large U.S. cities – Chicago, New York and Philadelphia – were published today in Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers from Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.

13 Philadelphians recently graduated from a technology training program for Salesforce, a customer relationship management service, through a partnership with the University’s Beachell Family Learning Center.

The University now has the capacity, and an external partnership with a medical cannabis dispensary, to conduct evidence-based research on the health effects of medical cannabis.

On the night of March 18, well-known landmarks and buildings on campus and throughout the city shone in the University’s colors to support the Dragons.

A service offered by the University generates revenue for your department by selling items to be picked up at your location — at no up-front cost.

The University received an award for its role in supporting and engaging with minority-owned businesses as an institution of higher education.

The University will be ramping up in-person and hybrid classes through the summer. Drexel expects that, by the fall, every student will be able to have face-to-face learning experiences, although some hybrid classes and other operational modifications may remain based on public health guidance.

A message by Janet Cruz, MD, Director, Student Health Services, and Marla J. Gold, MD, Director, Return Oversight Committee, on how to stay safe during spring was sent to the Drexel community.

In the last two meetings of a series of Q&As held last week, University leaders discussed topics like vaccine updates, ramping up face-to-face offerings, mask requirements and on-campus parking and dining.

 

In two Q&As held last week, University leaders discussed topics like vaccinations, phased return and ventilation in office spaces.

Researchers from the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute collected and reviewed published research about how autistic youth and adults use the internet to communicate and provide a framework for understanding contributions, gaps and opportunities in online autistic communities.

Drexel University announced a collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., on a new initiative that will help diverse business owners enhance their leadership and business acumen and strengthen and grow their companies. The inaugural cohort of the newly launched “Merck Drexel Advanced Leadership Program for Diverse Suppliers (Merck Drexel ALP)” began coursework for the four-month certificate program last week.

At the beginning of winter term, the University instituted a new public safety measure to ensure that everyone on campus observes pandemic-era safety guidelines, especially in high-traffic areas at peak times.

Consider joining the long, diverse lineage of Dragon scholars who’ve applied for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program with the help of the University’s support system, and the hope that COVID-19 will soon be a thing of the past.

This month, Public Safety shared alcohol awareness tips and how to take its virtual, interactive, monthly presentations on situational preparedness.

This month, Public Safety shares alcohol awareness tips and reviews the Responsible Dragon Amnesty Program.

Drexel will extend its Test-Optional policy, which offers prospective students flexibility in the face of challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, for the next two admission cycles (2022–2023 and 2023–2024).

Marla Gold, MD, director of the Return Oversight Committee, discussed how decisions are made to ensure the safety of Drexel students, faculty, professional staff and neighbors both on and off campus.

Cardboard cutouts of historical and local Black figures were placed in the stands of Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center in recognition of Black History Month.

Drexel University’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery will re-open on Friday, April 2, 2021 after COVID-19 closed the doors to its contemporary art space for the last year. Fittingly, the Pearlstein Gallery will open with a new exhibition, called Breathing Room, presented in collaboration with local gallery Twelve Gates Arts.

More than one out of every 10 seniors (10.5%) enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, also known as a Medicare managed care option, and living in a rural area, switched to traditional Medicare during 2010-2016. The switch was driven primarily due to low satisfaction with care access, according to a study published this week in Health Affairs from researchers at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. 

Members of the Return Oversight Committee virtually answered submitted questions from faculty and professional staff in the first of three sessions. Read the questions and answers that most relate to students.

 

Members of the Return Oversight Committee virtually answered submitted questions related to working from home, vaccine access, campus operations and safety and more.