DREXEL 2030:
Designing the Future
As we approach year two of
implementation in 2023, I am
pleased to share this inaugural
annual report on implementation of
the Drexel 2030 – Designing the Future
strategic plan, outlining our progress
from the past year. What you will read about
represents the collective eorts and energy of
more than 300 dedicated faculty and professional
sta volunteers who are actively collaborating in
a pan-University structure—on top of their existing
responsibilities—to advance the mission and vision
of this incredible institution. With the recent successful
conclusion of The Future Is a Place We Make fundraising
campaign; continued focus and commitment to improving
diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; and strong fall 2022
enrollment; I am incredibly inspired and excited about the work
underway and the opportunities that lie ahead for realizing our
full potential as an R1 research institution committed to experiential
learning and civic engagement.
I would like to thank our emeritus team members who contributed their time
and eorts to implementation. I would also like to honor the legacy of Penny
Hammrich. Penny was instrumental in our implementation eorts as one of the
chairs of the Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning initiative team. She is greatly
missed by our Drexel community.
As always, I invite anyone with ideas and questions to please share with us through our
Drexel 2030 Feedback Form or the [email protected] email address.
Dear
Colleagues
and Friends,
With deepest gratitude,
Elisabeth Van Bockstaele
Chief Strategy Ocer
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM
DREXEL 2030 EFFORTS
Implementation Structure
1. Formation of Drexel 2030 Implementation CORE team:
Consists of senior leaders, administrators, deans and faculty and professional sta members
who are also serving as liaisons and sponsors to initiative and imperative teams.
2. Formation of 12 initiative and six imperative teams:
Consists of more than 300 volunteer faculty and professional sta members from across the
University invested in their content areas and collaborating across units.
3. Engagement of three faculty fellows:
Drawing from the deep expertise of our faculty, volunteer fellows took on projects in the areas
of design research and strategy to bolster the teams’ work and ensure achievement of goals.
4. Launch of the Drexel 2030 Implementation Guide:
Designed to orient our community on each of the teams, members and goals.
Retention & Student Success
Graduate Education
Marketing & External Communications
Internal Communications & Digital Infrastructure
Research Administration
Pricing & Financial Aid
Operations
Housing, Auxiliary & Facilities
Program & Curricular Innovation
Undergraduate Online
Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning
Partnerships
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Community Updates
1. Launch of The 2030 Report:
A tenet of Drexel 2030 implementation is a commitment to transparency and communication
with various stakeholders at the University and beyond. The teams are working diligently and
coming up with great ideas for Drexel’s future. To showcase all these eorts, The Drexel 2030
Report is a Strategic Plan Implementation newsletter with updates from the CORE, initiative
and imperative teams and announcements about opportunities for engagement, surveys, etc.
2. Launch of virtual roundtable series:
Invites faculty and professional sta members to hear progress updates from the initiative and
imperative teams and engage in discussion about implementation eorts that will help shape
the future of our University. Averaged 40-50 attendees per four sessions to date.
3. Anti-Racism Task Force Podcast:
One of the key imperatives of the Drexel 2030 Strategic Plan is to establish a diverse, inclusive
and antiracist learning community that provides equitable opportunities for excellence and
achievement for all faculty, students, professional sta and partners. This Culture of Equity
imperative will help forward the work of the Anti-Racism Task Force, established in 2020. In
the first podcast episode, Kim Gholston, Ahaji Schreer and Jason Schupbach share how the
commitments from the Task Force are being integrated into Drexel’s ongoing strategic planning
process to create a stronger, more inclusive Drexel for the future.
4. Feedback Form Submissions:
CORE team communications liaisons worked with members of the CORE team and University
leadership to address and respond to 24 questions and suggestions from the University
community, including faculty, professional sta members and students.
5. Virtual Community Updates:
Updates from senior leadership on University-wide initiatives and strategic plan implementation
updates from team chairs, development of a list of FAQs posted on the implementation website.
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Initiative Team Work
1. Enrollment Integration Center:
Fully aligned Drexel’s administrative enrollment management structure with a comprehensive
and fully integrated marketing and communications operation that will both unify messaging
and branding while enabling individualized recruitment across various populations of students.
This integration, based on five key principles, brought together teams from Drexel University
Online, Enrollment Management & Student Success and University Communications.
Five key principles:
• Enables unified messaging and branding of Drexel University to ensure that any interaction
with the enrollment area of the university is consistent even as we individualize tactics for
the various populations
• Enhances the applicant experience for all student populations and instructional modality
• Provides clarity to all Drexel personnel from both academic and administrative units on
the structure, responsibility, and ownership of enrollment management related functions
• Supports a comprehensive strategy for undergraduate and graduate enrollment regardless
of instructional modality. Adjustments to organizational design and/or practices must
enable enrollment success across student populations.
• Stewards resources well – strategic cost eciency should be considered at each juncture
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A Partnership: By Audience – Applies Across Modalities – Designed to Support the
Applicant Journey, Current Student Experience & Stronger Collaboration Among Central
Units, Colleges/Schools & Administrative Stakeholders
GRADUATE ADMISSIONS
UNDERGRADUATE
ADMISSIONS
STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT SERVICES
DIVISION OF UNIVERSITY
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
• Admissions Reporting
• Application Management & Decision
Processing
• College Partnerships
• Event & Travel Student Engagement
• Program Launch Support
• Prospective Student
Customer Service
• Recruitment Strategy
• Admissions Reporting
• Application Management
& Decision Processing
• College Partnerships
• Event & Travel Student Engagement
• Program Launch Support
• Prospective Student
Customer Service
• Recruitment Strategy
• Admissions Services
• Articulation Agreements
• Strategic Partnerships
• Transfer Enrollment
• UG Online Enrollment
• Creative
• Digital / Web
• Events/Project Management
• Executive Communications
• Graduate Strategy
• Internal Communications & Publications
• Market Research/ Analytics
• Marketing Technology
• Media
• News & Media Relations
• Undergraduate Strategy
COLLEGES,
SCHOOLS &
ADMINISTRATIVE
STAKEHOLDERS
2. PAsmart Grants:
Under the leadership of Kena Sears-Brown, one of the chairs of the Continuing Education &
Lifelong Learning initiative team, Drexel University received 3 PAsmart Grant awards totaling
$400,000 for Registered Apprenticeships for Middle-Skill Professionals (RAMP): Medical
Assistant, Cybersecurity and Salesforce. These represent a collaboration between UCP and
Goodwin College with internal and external contributors and partners. This important work will
create pathways to education and employment for adult learners.
3. Online Bachelor’s Pilot:
Eort to grow three bachelor’s programs through a pilot that adjusted price, speed to decision,
speed to transfer credit evaluation and increased advertising. Resulted in an 83% increase in
Fall 2022 new student headcount and a 59% increase in net tuition revenue over Fall 2021.
4. Partnerships:
Drexel University became a member of Amazon’s Career Choice Network. Up to an annual
maximum benefit, Amazon will pre-pay 100% of tuition for Blue Badge hourly employees to
pursue bachelor’s degrees.
5. U.S. News & World Report Rankings:
Coordinated across multiple colleges and units in order to improve the student experience
and positively impact rankings. U.S. News & World Report released their annual “Best Online
Programs” rankings on January 25, 2022. Drexel made some strong gains in several categories
including online bachelor’s, MBA, graduate business, and graduate education.
6. Program & Curricular Innovation:
Ocial reports generated including findings and recommendations from the following
subcommittees: Infrastructure, Experiential Learning in the Classroom Environment,
Encouraging Use of Evidence-Based Teaching, and Curricular Innovation in Graduate Education/
Post-Undergraduate Education.
Working Sessions
1. Weekly CORE Team Meetings:
Strategic discussion on implementation eorts, as well as a space to meet with initiative and
imperative team chairs to hear progress and provide feedback.
2. Four Focus Area Collaborative Council Retreats:
Brought together the council, CORE team, sponsors and team chairs of the 12 initiative teams to
work together within their focus areas to collaborate on goals which cut across each focus area.
3. Two Imperative Integration Council Retreats:
Brought together the council, CORE team, sponsors and chairs of the six imperative teams, to
work together to identify goals, key performance indicators and metrics by which to measure
against their goals. Resulted in the creation of a metrics dashboard working group.
4. Retention Retreat (July 2022):
Brought together faculty and professional sta members from across the University to discuss
how to improve student retention through the lens of belonging, academic and student
engagement, student life, communication, and in developing a structure for supporting students.
Outcomes included recommendations for the formation of a retention council, development of
a learning terrace and improvements to physical campus spaces, enhancing DrexelOne, campus
signage and InfoNET system, and infusing retention and student success themes through the
integration of immersive learning experiences and co-op.
5. Metrics Dashboard Committee (ongoing):
Assisting in the development of goals, key performance indicators and actions that drive toward
strategic plan imperatives.
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STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
Aug - Dec 2021
Initiative Team
Kickoff Meetings
& Retreats
Jan - Feb 2022
Launch of Communication
Strategy
Oct 20192018 - 2019 Jan - May 2020 June - Oct 2020 Dec 2020
Executive Planning
Committee (EPC)
Pre-Planning Phase
EPC formed; tasked to
develop strategic plan
Committees included:
• Academic Resource
Planning
• Institutional
Effectiveness
• Retention
• Thinking Forward
Gathering Feedback
to Inform Strategic
Plan Development
• Meetings with
colleges/schools and
key stakeholders
• Faculty/professional
staff survey launched
• Initial announcement
of University’s
mission, vision
and goals
• Analysis of faculty/
professional staff
survey results
Strategic Plan
Renement
• Town hall on anti-
racism and formation
of the Anti-racism Task
Force (ARTF)
• Adjustment of strategic
plan to incorporate
and reect lessons
learned from ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
and ARTF efforts
• Drexel Forward
Initiative: explore
opportunities for
increased revenue and
improved efciencies
Strategic Plan
Approved
• Drexel 2030:
Designing the
Future Strategic Plan
approved by the Board
of Trustees
• Chief Strategy Ofcer
appointed
STRATEGIC PLANNING
June - July 2021
Community Town Hall
Strategic Plan Implementation
Town Hall Kick-off; team
formation continues and
work begins.
Jan 2021
CORE Team Formed
& Develops Plans
The CORE team, consisting
of faculty, professional
staff and administrators,
developed to ensure
integration and consistency
across initiatives, dene
priority areas and
imperative teams, ensure
teams have data to make
informed decisions and
drive key strategic decisions
by moving recommendations
upward from teams to
University leaders.
April 2021
Initiative Teams Formed
Formation of twelve Initiative
Teams continues, three
teams (UG Online, CELL and
Partnership begin work),
Enrollment Integration Center
(EIC) implementation begins
(McKinsey & Company
Consulting).
May 2021
Inputs to Teams’
Charge & Goals
Inputs from the work of
the EPC, Drexel Forward,
Anti-Racism Taskforce,
Institutional Effectiveness
committee, and other
projects to develop the
charge and goals of
initiative teams.
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
June - Aug 2022
Metrics
Development
• Undergraduate Online
Initiative Team Roundtable
• Metrics Dashboard meetings
• Drexel 2030 Retreat
on Retention
• Focus Areas Collaborative
Council Retreat #3
• Launch of internal
implementation newsletter,
The 2030 Report
• Podcast episode discussing
Drexel’s anti-racism efforts
and strategic plan
• Focus Areas Collaborative
Council Retreat #1
• ARTF nal recommendations
published
• Focus Areas Collaborative
Council Retreat #2
• Imperative Integration
Council Retreat #1
March - May 2022
Community Engagement
Events
• Continuing Education &
Lifelong Learning Initiative
Team Roundtable
• Launch of Provost’s Ofce
“Areas of Excellence and
Opportunity (AEO)” initiative
• Retention & Student Success
Initiative Team Roundtable
• Focus Areas Collaborative
Council Retreat #4
• Spring Virtual Community
Update
• Program & Curricular
Innovation Initiative Team
Roundtable
• Imperative Integration Council
Retreat #2
STRATEGIC PLANNING TIMELINE
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM
DREXEL 2030 TEAM
As told by initiative team chairs and project leads
Focus Area #1
Driving Current & Future Enrollment Success
INITIATIVE TEAM: RETENTION & STUDENT SUCCESS
Chairs: Mary Gallagher-Gordon, Bernetta Millonde
Emeritus Chair: Shivanthi Anandan
What has it been like to serve as a chair of your initiative team?
“ As chairs of the Retention and Student Success initiative team, our diverse backgrounds within the
University allowed us to stretch, see through the lens of each other, brainstorm and hit the ground
running. The passion each brought to the group related to our topics of retention, student success
and academics was the glue that formed a cohesive team. It has been a wonderful year, withboth
rewarding and challenging elements. The team is comprised of some of the brightest members
of the Drexel community. It is an honor to work with kindred spirits committed to student success
and creating a sense of belonging for the students we serve.”
Why is this work important?
“ Retention and student success are core units within this University. We have an obligation to make
certain that we are a place where students can thrive, have a sense of belonging, grow into their
purpose and meet the goals that they have for themselves in order to persist to graduation and
become positive contributors to our University and the community.
Our team split into two groups with one primarily looking from the lens of academics and the other
from belonging. The lively, rich discussions that occur with the team members of the University
community are critical to future success. People need to be able to be heard, valued and share their
knowledge, specifically as it relates to retention and student success. The discussions cultivated
the emergence of common threads from both teams, such as readiness for academic preparation,
centralizing standardized systems, and early warning systems.”
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What’s next for 2023?
“ Our focus will be on maximizing operations and eciencies for
student health, mental health, and academics with an underlying
goal of retention. In addition, a central coordinated eort on
integrating University data for access across multiple disciplines is
key to monitoring student success and retention.”
Subir Sahu, senior vice president for student success, will be
joining Bernetta and Mary as a co-chair of the Retention & Student
Success initiative team. Subir’s extensive experience with student
life at Drexel will help further the work of this initiative team as they
guide implementation of their ideas in year 2.
Focus Area #2
Efciency & Effectiveness in Mission Delivery
INITIATIVE TEAM: HOUSING & AUXILIARY
Chairs: MacKenzie Luke, Michael Ryan, Nancy Trainor
What has it been like to serve as a chair of your initiative team?
“ Serving as co-chair has been a great opportunity to better understand how important housing and
auxiliary services are – not only to Drexel’s bottom line but also to the University’s mission and
strategic goals. Our faculty and sta team includes people who deal with housing and auxiliaries
on a daily basis, as well as those whose professional expertise is outside these areas. The mix
has been a good one – we’ve managed to focus on some larger issues, while also witnessing how
thoughtfully and diligently the sta charged with managing these eorts approach their work.”
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“ Serving as a co-chair of the Housing and Auxiliary team has been enlightening. Getting a better
understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the University housing and auxiliary protocols
have been illuminating and being in a position to positively impact such is an honor. The most
challenging aspect is time limitations.”
Why is this work important?
“ Our team was charged with investigating additional revenue streams for the institution. In order
to stay competitive during a time when high school graduates are on the decline, finding ways to
be less tuition dependent is critical.”
How will the Drexel Community help in your efforts?
“ The Drexel community will assist in determining eectiveness and practicality of our
recommendations and hopefully highlight strategies that may have been overlooked. The hope is
to get consensus on recommendations and be able to finalize measures for implementation.”
What has it been like to serve as a chair of your initiative team?
“ Serving as the Co-Chairs of the Program & Curricular Innovation Team was one of the highlights of
the 2021-2022 academic year, for all of us, primarily because of the shared commitment, creativity,
and professionalism of the 49 members of our committee. Each of us had opportunities to work
with and learn from individuals with whom we do not often have the opportunity to interact. We
enjoyed hearing diverse perspectives on how the issues we were focused on aected instructors’
ability to teach eectively and students’ ability to learn.
The experience underscored just how much Drexel faculty, professional sta and administrators
deeply care about improving Drexel. The passion, dedication, and inclusive collaboration of our
team led to the generation of reports with recommendations and defined action items intended to
address team charges focused on supporting and promoting program and curricular innovation.
It was invigorating to work with a diverse community of colleagues who believe strongly in Drexel’s
potential and have important ideas about how to improve teaching and learning at Drexel.”
Focus Area #3
New Markets & Diversication
of Revenue Sources
INITIATIVE TEAM: PROGRAM
& CURRICULAR INNOVATION
Chairs: Michelle Spina, Jennifer Stanford, Steve Weber
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Why is this work important?
“ The thoughtful, inclusive, systematic, and deliberate allocation of resources in service of teaching
and pedagogy is essential to provide faculty and students with an environment that fosters and
facilitates learning. As was originally described by the Center for the Advancement of STEM
Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE) Faculty Fellows group in 2021, “to be successful as a
university, we need to be responsive to the current and emerging needs of a diverse population of
students so that we can best recruit, retain, and prepare a robust population of future graduates.”
Investing in curricular innovation will enhance experiences we oer to promote the learning,
retention, and graduation of a diverse population of future Drexel alumni.”
What’s next for 2023?
“ The reports that the Program & Curricular Innovation Team has generated to date have outlined
possible steps for implementation on various fronts, including infrastructure, data, professional
development, incentivization, support and dissemination.
The committee has one remaining charge to pursue this year and hopes to begin implementing
some or all of the recommendations put forth in the reports generated, to date. Moving forward
with implementation will require decisions to be made on which recommendations to pursue,
with associated charges and resources provided, as well as engagement of relevant administrative
oces and sta needed to allow implementation.”
INITIATIVE TEAM: UNDERGRADUATE ONLINE
Chairs: Donna DeCarolis, Michael Harrington, Youngmoo Kim
What has it been like to serve as a chair of your initiative team?
“ We feel very fortunate to be chosen as chairs of the undergraduate online initiative team and it
truly has been a fantastic experience. Bringing together diverse perspectives across faculty and
professional sta to address this transdisciplinary issue has been eye-opening to the opportunity
that exists within the undergraduate online market. From the start, our work was rooted in market
data and insights – and could not have come at a more pivotal moment with the global COVID-19
pandemic. This timing allowed us to collect data in real time as experiences and opinions regarding
online learning were forming among students, faculty and sta. We continue to be impressed
by the commitment and passion of our team members and subcommittees, with high levels of
engagement among faculty and sta who have many obligations to Drexel University.”
Why is this work important?
“ Technology has completely changed the higher education landscape, increasing the quality and
value of online education. These forces were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, making
online education not only an accepted form of higher education, but integral to a flexible student
experience. Historically, Drexel University has been a leader in online education, but faces the
need to innovate to remain at the forefront of this rapidly changing modality. Undergraduate
online programs are strategically critical given the approaching demographic cli, requiring
that Drexel be responsive to the adult learner. With the increase in lower-priced, adult-friendly
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competition from large-scale universities, the importance of adjusting Drexel’s infrastructure to
support these unique populations is paramount. Finally, in alignment with Anthony J. Drexel’s
mission of ‘education for all,’ expansion of online learning provides access to populations who
may not have otherwise had the opportunity to earn an advanced degree.”
What’s next for 2023?
“ The success of the online bachelor’s pilot programs in early FY2023 (+83% growth in new students
in Fall 2022), resulted in a dedicated strategy to roll out pilot features across all online bachelor’s
programs. Our team will continue to explore hybrid bachelor’s programs for traditional students,
as indicated by primary research conducted by the traditional learner subcommittee. They will
begin to assess course gaps between campus and online bachelor’s programs to address the need
for academic infrastructure for preparatory course development and expansion of traditional face-
to-face programs (in partnership with program & curricular innovation initiative team). The degree
completer subcommittee will finalize recommendations for prior learning assessment models, a
critical feature in the adult learner market. Finally, the team will continue to explore co-op/work
integrated learning models in the online program space. There is still much work to be done to
propel Drexel forward in the undergraduate online market.”
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DREXEL 2030 COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
The Drexel 2030 CORE Team provided a variety of opportunities
for information sharing, community involvement and
engagement with the strategic plan
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LOOKING AHEAD
As we look ahead to year two of implementation, we are excited about
the continued engagement and enthusiasm of our colleagues across the
University who are helping design Drexel’s future together. As we have
highlighted in this report, we are making progress. Results are imminent.
We encourage you to stay connected and involved in this important work.
Year 2 goals include:
1. Continue to develop goals and identify key performance indicators and metrics to track our
progress toward 2030
2. Launch a strategic funding proposal process for teams and prioritize areas for implementation
which align with Drexel’s mission and vision
3. Launch a landing page on the new Drexel.edu core site to boost visibility for the plan and the
important work of our colleagues
4. Align Strategic Plan implementation with recommendations from the Provost’s Areas of
Excellence and Opportunity initiative and in the planning for institutional fundraising priorities
We invite anyone with ideas and questions to please share with us through
our Drexel 2030 Feedback Form or email [email protected].
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Be on the lookout for upcoming virtual roundtable discussion opportunities
and a community update to come in early 2023.
Virtual Roundtable Discussion with the Housing & Auxiliary Initiative Team
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022 11 A.M.
Virtual Roundtable Discussion with the Partnerships Initiative Team
WINTER 2023 (TBD)
Drexel 2030 Community Update
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023, 11 A.M.
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LEARN MORE
& GET INVOLVED
Resources
Drexel 2030 Strategic Plan Implementation Website
Drexel 2030 Implementation Guide
Get Involved
Provide feedback to the Drexel 2030 team via the online feedback form
Interested in a specic area of the strategic plan? Join one of our twelve
initiative teams! Send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll be
in touch.
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