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Giving Students What They Deserve
Students who have to walk from office to office for answers might just keep on walking. Drexel Central is fixing that…
If students have to walk from office to office to get answers, they might just keep on walking. That's the problem Drexel Central set out to fix.
Drexel's one-stop student services center handled more than 145,000 student contacts in its first year of operation, and was rated good or very good by 92 percent of students.
When the University turned its focus in 2012 to improving student retention, better services were identified as a key part of the equation. A 15-month overhaul integrated the student-facing operations of financial aid, student accounts and registration. The result was Drexel Central, serving students in person, by phone, online and via e-mail.
"Students should be busy being students and learning," says Alisa Abadinsky, assistant vice president for financial planning and student financial and registration services. "The administrative responsibilities and questions they have should be the simple part."
Drexel Central plays an important role in the University's shift to a Student Lifecycle Management approach. Recruitment, admissions, financial aid, academic support and services are now coordinated as a single continuum, with a single goal: student success, as measured by how many students Drexel retains and ultimately graduates.