Office of the Provost

A Defining Year: Academic Transformation 2026

January 15, 2026

This message was shared with faculty and professional staff on January 15, 2026.

Dear Colleagues,

With 2026, Drexel enters a decisive phase of its Academic Transformation. The progress of the past year now gives way to focused execution — the final 18 months in which our work will translate into meaningful change for our students and academic community.

The Year Ahead

This year we will reach several key milestones. Among them:

  • By May: Complete redesign of every undergraduate and graduate program to the semester calendar; readying advising teams to translate flexible, competency-driven curricula into clear plans of study.
  • Late Spring/Early Summer:  SmartPlan — a new degree planning tool — will be rolled out, enabling advisors to more easily map personalized pathways toward a student’s graduation. In addition, a new faculty workload policy will be finalized and implemented.
  • By July: Both the 2026-2027 (final quarter) and 2027–2028 (first semester) catalogs will be published, ensuring continuity for current students and guiding prospective students into this new era.
  • August: Application opens for Fall 2027 first-year students
  • Fall 2026: Students welcomed into the new integrated units
  • Ongoing:
    • More than 15 teams and task forces are actively advancing the work that will reshape the Drexel experience — from Core Competencies and ELO Teams to the Plans of Study Team, and Summer 2027 Task Force. Just as vital are the cross-cutting groups spanning IT, finance, enrollment, and student success, which are ensuring alignment across Transformation and administrative areas.
    • Faculty will design semester-length courses built not only to fit a new calendar, but also to embody deeper learning, core competencies, and the hands-on experience that distinguishes a Drexel education. Streamlined curricula will support student flexibility and integrate emerging topics and technologies, including artificial intelligence.
    • Critical operational tasks and milestones across all administrative units — already well underway and spearheaded by dedicated professional staff — will continue at a robust pace to ensure a seamless transition to semesters.

What This Asks of Us

This work is demanding, and I want to acknowledge it asks for our continued extraordinary effort.

Academic Transformation asks faculty to reimagine how they teach while continuing to teach, advisors to guide students through pathways still being built, and professional staff to rethink systems while keeping current operations running.

While this is challenging work, it is also among the most important work we’ll do — seizing a generational opportunity to reimagine and deliver an education built for current and future students.

Why This Moment Matters

Academic Transformation is central to President Merlo's vision for Drexel and inseparable from our shared goals to strengthen enrollment, improve retention beyond 90%, elevate our national reputation, and empower students through enhanced experiential learning. These priorities reinforce one another: a more coherent curriculum drives student success; student success strengthens our reputation; a stronger reputation attracts the students, faculty and partners who fuel our mission. Academic Transformation is the engine that will power this cycle, and, over the next 18 months, it will propel Drexel into a new academic era.

As we continue this critical work, I thank you for your ongoing engagement and dedication. The collaborative spirit that has brought us to this point will carry us through to launch.

If you have questions, I encourage you to visit the Academic Transformation SharePoint to review additional information, resources and FAQs. You are also welcome to submit questions to the Academic Transformation Team in the Provost’s Office using the linked form.

Sincerely,

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