Embracing a Vision for Academic Transformation

This message was shared with faculty and staff on September 11, 2024.

Summary

• From the Strategic Plan to the UAC on Academic Structure (UACAS), teams of faculty, professional staff and administrators have come together to redefine the vision and roadmap for Drexel’s future.
• Provost and incoming Interim President embrace UACAS recommendations, requesting review and consideration from Faculty Senate to transition to a semester calendar for all academic programs and to move forward with restructuring of colleges and schools.
• The implementation process will continue to embrace a collaborative spirit; nominations will be sought for working groups.
• Ongoing communication and engagement of Drexel faculty, professional staff and students will ensure that members of the Drexel community have the information and support needed to help implement academic transformation.

Dear Colleagues,

We stand at a defining moment in Drexel’s history when we must boldly take steps to forge the University’s future.

Collaborative efforts that started with Drexel’s strategic planning process and continued through the University Advisory Committee on Academic Structure (UACAS) have created the unique advantage of a compelling, community-developed vision for becoming the University our students and society need. We have the opportunity to transform Drexel into an institution that champions its differentiators while becoming more nimble, efficient and easier to understand, appealing to a broader audience, breaking down disciplinary silos to empower innovation, and improving the experiences of students, faculty and staff.

At the same time, we must acknowledge the imperative need for change to thrive in the current academic landscape: With growing needs for inclusive, experiential teaching strategies, the impacts of artificial intelligence, mounting financial pressures, demographic shifts and increased questioning of the value of a college degree, the current model of higher education has become unsustainable for many institutions.

Since the start of Drexel’s strategic planning, teams of faculty, professional staff and administrators have come together to design and advance a plan that holistically addresses these shifts in higher education and across industries. The path forward requires our sustained collective efforts to connect our disconnected strengths and assets and align our academic, enrollment and financial strategies, while intentionally divesting from activities that do not support our strategic priorities or long-term financial sustainability.

Paramount to our future is our ability to evolve from the “comprehensive” research university we have grown into over the last 25 years into the “comprehensively integrated” powerhouse we have the opportunity to become. To do this, we will embrace the bold recommendations of the UACAS and recommend to Faculty Senate that we move forward with:

• Restructuring our schools and colleges into integrated, forward-looking pillars of expertise: Arts and Sciences (including Education); Computing & Engineering (including Biomedical Engineering); Business (including Entrepreneurship); Health (including Medicine, Nursing & Health Professions, Public Health, Salus & Autism Institute); Design and Media; and Law;
• Transitioning to a semester calendar for all programs to support enhanced recruitment, retention and partnership;
• Defining and implementing core competencies; supporting pedagogical innovation and redesigning curricula to continually improve the quality of our programs and enhance student learning and outcomes;
• Developing greater consistency in practices and policies across academic units to support efficiency, flexibility and collaboration.

With a vision and vetted roadmap, the ongoing partnership of Faculty Senate and our academic and administrative leaders, as well as the enthusiastic support of incoming Interim President Denis O’Brien and the Board of Trustees, we have the unique opportunity to decisively enact Drexel’s academic transformation.

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The following message outlines the academic transformation work before us. This week, I will write to Senate Chair Kevin Owens to formally seek Senate’s support for this work, in adherence with the University’s Charter of Faculty Governance. 

Restructuring Colleges and Schools

Restructuring colleges and schools is a critical step in bolstering curricula, research and the student experience while emphasizing our strengths in key focus areas. A more streamlined organizational structure will reduce complexity and duplication, provide clearer entry points for students, offer flexible degree choices, and create opportunities for greater integration of curriculum and research.    

The revised structure we intend to pursue is described below. This structure is aligned with the cluster model identified in the UACAS original report. The names below do not represent final naming of units.

Arts & Sciences (including Education)

The School of Education and First-Year Exploratory Studies program of the Goodwin College of Professional Studies will merge into the College of Arts and Sciences, becoming a single RCM entity. SoE will retain its external identity, while FYES will become a program within CoAS, thus providing a clearer entry point for undecided first-year students.

Computing & Engineering (including Biomedical Engineering)

The College of Engineering, College of Computing & Informatics, and School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences and Health Systems will become a single RCM entity. CoE and CCI will merge into a new college; the School of Biomedical Engineering will be embedded within the new unit and will retain its external identity.

Health (Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions, Public Health, Autism Institute and Salus)

The A.J. Drexel Autism Institute will be merged into the Dornsife School of Public Health, with the two becoming a single RCM entity and retaining their external identities.

As previously announced, we continue to bring together the management of clinical operations across the University under a unified structure of “Drexel Health.” We will also consider some academic integration of Drexel’s health units. The first phase will involve the College of Medicine, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Dornsife School of Public Health, and programs within CoAS working to outline an integrated first-year curriculum that would allow students interested in health to find their path in any number of Drexel programs. Future opportunities for enhanced alignment and integration will continue to be explored.

Business & Entrepreneurship

To more closely affiliate the University’s business and entrepreneurship strengths, the LeBow College of Business and the Close School of Entrepreneurship will work together to identify synergistic opportunities, particularly in first-year curricula. Additional opportunities for alignment are still being explored.

Design & Media

The Westphal College of Media Arts & Design will not merge with any other areas at this time. To help ensure more consistent operations, we will look at structures and policies across all units, including Westphal.

Law

The Kline School of Law will not merge with any other areas. To help ensure more consistent operations, we will look at structures and policies across all units, including Kline.

Pennoni Honors College and Goodwin College of Professional Studies

Due to the scope of these units, these areas will not be restructured at this time. Goodwin College has existing administrative shared services with LeBow, while the Honors College is part of the Provost’s Office.

Calendar and Curriculum

Further discussion with co-op partners and peer institutions reinforced the long-term benefits of a transition to a semester calendar for all programs, namely enhancing the student experience and bolstering recruitment (including transfer recruitment), retention and partnership goals. It will also open critical opportunities to support pedagogical and curricular innovation while providing faculty with professional development and other resources. Students will retain their ability to take up to three, six-month co-ops, and the process will be structured to maintain students’ expected time to graduation.

In complement with the calendar and curricular change, we will move forward with defining and implementing core competencies across Drexel’s undergraduate programs, supporting greater curricular alignment and providing differentiating skills that will more clearly define a Drexel education. These calendar and curriculum changes are expected to take three years to implement, based on conversations with peer institutions that have made similar changes.

Consistency and Effectiveness

Establishing consistent, effective policies and procedures is essential for the success of the previously noted changes, and to improve the experiences of students as well as support the efforts of faculty and professional staff in teaching, research and administration. We will work to establish greater efficiency and consistency not only in University operations, but also throughout the academic unit structures to promote an equitable experience for all.

Implementation Structure & Nomination Process

As we come together to evolve Drexel into a more interconnected university, we are committed to collaboration and transparency. To support that effort, I have appointed a Transformation Management Team to oversee the design and implementation of Drexel’s academic transformation, with Vice Provost for Academic Strategy and Communications Amy Weaver serving as project lead. The team includes Provost’s Office appointees, Faculty Senate representatives in key leadership roles, as well as leaders from University Advising, Enrollment Management, and Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture.   

Pending support of these recommendations by Faculty Senate, nominations will be sought for working groups comprising faculty, professional staff and administrators for each workstream. The Provost’s Office and Faculty Senate will work together to select the final membership for teams.

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Together, we can shape a better future for the University and the many stakeholders we serve.

Changes of this magnitude understandably bring a range of emotions and questions. We are committed to ongoing communication and collaborative engagement of Drexel faculty and professional staff to ensure you have the information and support needed to participate in the work ahead, as well as the opportunity to share insights and feedback. Details and FAQs will be shared on the Provost’s Office website and will continue to be updated and distributed.

Thank you to all who have been engaged in Drexel’s academic transformation to date. Through these efforts, we will ensure our long-term ability to advance research-based societal solutions and an experiential education of the highest quality — enriched by an ethos of partnership, innovation and entrepreneurship and the integration of our distinguishing academic and research strengths.

Sincerely,

Paul E. Jensen, PhD
Executive Vice President
Nina Henderson Provost