October 28, 2014

Dear Drexel Colleagues,

As we have been working together to implement Drexel’s strategic plan, we have also been engaged in the complementary process of defining an administrative structure that best serves the University. To this end we created the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Success; completed the process of uniting the Drexel College of Medicine with the University; engaged in substantive evaluation of our academic alignment that resulted in the creation of new academic entities such as the College of Computing and Informatics and a free-standing School of Education; and began the University’s transition to responsibility-center management.

The next step in our administrative evolution is to create a leadership structure with parallel executive oversight of Drexel’s academic and research enterprise and its business operations. On the academic side, as I announced at Convocation, the provost’s position will carry a new title: Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. With this change, the dean of the College of Medicine will now report to the provost on all academic matters. Bringing the academic work of the College of Medicine into the portfolio of the provost underscores the importance of our work to integrate all dimensions of the academic enterprise at Drexel. The search committee to select a new provost is charged with finding a leader with the level of experience and vision demanded by this position.

On the operations side, I am very pleased to announce the promotion of Helen Bowman to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Helen’s accomplishments in her growing role at the University over the past several years, as well as her institutional knowledge and collaborative skills, make her the natural choice for this critical role. Helen’s portfolio will include her current responsibilities and also expand immediately to include oversight of Human Resources, Compliance and Privacy and Internal Audit. Helen and I will continue to evaluate the best reporting structure for other operations.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strong leadership of Jim Tucker, whose portfolio as senior vice president has included Human Resources since he came to Drexel. Jim has played a major role in creating the infrastructure that helps support our faculty and professional staff, including the recent recruitment of Louis Bellardine from Columbia to serve as Drexel’s vice president for Human Resources. Thanks to Jim, Human Resources at Drexel is on a great trajectory, and I’m very grateful for his efforts.

I am proud of Drexel’s evolution as we work diligently toward achieving our goals, and I am confident that this new leadership structure will serve our university well. Please join me in congratulating Helen Bowman in her new role, and thanking Jim Tucker for a job well done.

Sincerely,

John A. Fry
President