Provost's Office Priorities

Drexel has been ranked among the U.S.’s most innovative universities. Building on Drexel’s strong history of partnership and Carnegie-classified R1 research reputation, we are continuing to expand on our unique model of partnership to enhance teaching, research and the student experience and deliver solutions for our community, partners and society. This includes aligning the centers of impact housed in the Provost’s Office — across global engagement, sustainability, innovation and more — to ensure that active learning and partnership become fundamental components of a Drexel education. Furthermore, through the Areas of Excellence and Opportunity initiative, we are strategically harnessing Drexel’s distinctive strengths to elevate our academic and research impact and generate new opportunities for sustainable growth.

Ensuring students’ access to an inclusive, high-quality academic environment, enriched with experiential learning and appropriate supports, is central to the mission of the Provost’s Office. Initiatives that support curricular innovation and improvement, for example, seek to build adaptable curricula with greater flexibility within major requirements. From supporting the launch of the centralized Academic Resource Center to improving physical and technological infrastructure for teaching and learning, to developing cutting-edge immersive learning experiences, we aim to support students’ success and retention while preparing them to lead purposeful lives and careers post-graduation.

A high-quality education, institutional reputation and innovation in research, teaching and scholarship all rely on strong support for faculty development. We are committed to building incentives, policies and resources that equitably position faculty for success throughout the faculty lifecycle. This has included investments in the Office of Research & Innovation and the Teaching and Learning Center to increase support for faculty teaching and grant applications. More broadly, through initiatives such as the Council for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, the Provost’s Office seeks to align the University’s diverse expertise and resources related to teaching and learning to collaboratively support pedagogical and curricular excellence across the University.

Achieving the imperatives of the Strategic Plan requires a firm foundation in institutional operational excellence — managing resources strategically, streamlining processes and improving incentive systems to better support faculty, students and professional staff. Drexel adopted the Responsibility Center Management budgeting model in 2022, and an RCM Advisory Committee has been charged with oversight and ongoing refinement of the model. Also in 2022, an ambitious effort around improving infrastructure and efficiency began with the University Advisory Committee on Academic Structure, which was tasked with reviewing the structure of the University to ensure that it meets current strategy. These and other ongoing efforts will positively impact the student experience and allow faculty and professional staff to focus on their core responsibilities — ultimately leading to greater fiscal and operational strength at Drexel.