President's Message

Three years ago, the University formally adopted Drexel 2030 - Designing the Future, our strategic plan to position ourselves for long-term competitiveness, success, and civic impact.

Developed through inclusive collaboration and consultation, drawing on our experience in forging successful public-private partnerships, and building on our competitive advantages in innovative research and experiential education, our plan is guided by six imperatives — Culture of Equity, Research Impact, Powerful Partnerships, Adaptable Curricula, Immersive Learning and Student Empowerment.

Three years into its implementation, Drexel 2030 has helped to drive enrollment success, to strengthen our research infrastructure, and to secure new markets and revenue sources. Most notably, it played key roles in piloting both successful online graduate programs and approaches to attract adult learners into online bachelors’ programs, in launching a reimagined Academic Resource Center (ARC) as a centralized hub for academic advising and student support services, and in laying the groundwork for our merger with Salus University, which will allow Drexel to add quality, comprehensive programming in the health professions to its already outstanding academic portfolio.

Drexel 2030 has accomplished much more. It has strengthened the Culture of Equity at Drexel by guiding the implementation of key recommendations under the University’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) and establishing a reconfigured Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture (EIC). While guiding our work around Areas of Excellence and Opportunity (AEOs) and University-wide plans for Academic Restructuring, the Plan has redoubled our focus on drawing on the pedagogical expertise of our faculty who are renown in innovating curricula. That in turn has bolstered our competitive advantage with experiential learning platforms, while helping us to identify new pathways for adult learners and degree completers to enroll in market-driven programs.

And in supporting ways to further strengthen Drexel’s research infrastructure, the University is following the Plan’s roadmap for building on the University’s R1 status to reach $250 million in research expenditures by the end of the decade — the threshold for joining the Association of American Universities — the ultimate measure of research prominence.

Drexel 2030 is not designed to catalogue every exciting new program or initiative that it has under development or underway at Drexel. But as you learn about the many impressive initiatives and efforts that are linked to the Strategic Plan, you will, I hope, be as excited and optimistic about Drexel’s future as I am.

Sincerely,

John Fry
President