Main building interior

Drexel 2030

Designing the Future
Drexel University’s Strategic Plan, Drexel 2030 – Designing the Future, provides a road map for the University to fulfill its mission, better the campus experience, and enhance community impact.
A strategic plan is intended to make our University a better place for its entire community.
- Elisabeth J. Van Bockstaele
Chief Strategy Officer
Elisabeth Van Bockstaele and Sandra Strang discuss the strategic plan
Learn about Drexel University’s Strategic Plan and what it measures and means for the community in and around Drexel.

Shared Values graphic
Drexel University's shared values provide the foundation and guidance for all decision-making and the actions of all community members.
Imperatives wheel graphic
Drexel University has identified six imperatives that will guide us in building a sustainable culture of education, scholarship and collaboration.
Drexel bio wall
Learn about Drexel University's Strategic Plan, developed under the direction of an Executive Planning Committee chaired by President John Fry that began work in October 2019.
Elisabeth J. Van Bockstaele

Elisabeth J. Van Bockstaele

Chief Strategy Officer, Senior Vice President for Graduate Education
Main Building
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Initiatives

Ensure equitable systems for all students, faculty, and professional staff by continually examining University policies, processes, practices, and culture to eliminate racial and all other forms of bias and discrimination.

Consider intersectionality, the ways in which people's unique experiences are shaped by a compounding of their marginalized identities, in implementing strategies and building learning opportunities in support of change by acknowledging disparities and harm.

Address potential implicit biases among planning groups and leadership, as well as systemic biases in our policies and in how we recruit and advance students, faculty, and professional staff.

Cultivate a culture in which racism and other forms of marginalization can be discussed with goodwill, openness, and civility.

Building on our deep commitment to civic engagement, Drexel will address society's most pressing challenges by focusing on the critical intersections of Health, Technology/Engineering, Design, Social Sciences and their impact on our most vulnerable communities.

Develop transdisciplinary clusters at the intersection of identified sectors to maximally leverage current strengths while generating new opportunities for education, scholarship, collaboration with external partners, and entrepreneurial engagement. Cluster development will include specific sub-initiatives, including:

Expanding inter- and trans-disciplinary research and education aligned with identified sectors and clusters by incentivizing teams and collaborations driven by strong internal trend assessment, revised academic structures and process and comprehensive external partnerships.

Integrating and coordinating university-wide partnership development to support key priorities aligned with identified sectors and clusters, including increasing co-op and clinical placements, research opportunities and enrollment.

Strengthening and aligning the humanities and social sciences at Drexel to enhance activities in identified focus sectors and clusters and their intersections with society.

Build more diversity in faculty and revise curriculum to advance the University's mission and strategic goals of an anti-racist community with equitable outcomes.

Develop and implement smartly balanced, flexible, transdisciplinary core competencies to build strong critical thinking skills across all disciplines.

Expand, connect, and codify co-op and civic engagement programs to ensure that all of Drexel's programs include experiential learning opportunities that are both industry and society focused.

Invest in innovative research and scholarship that builds on academic strengths and academic partnerships based on clear, transparent criteria aligned with identified sectors and clusters.

Build and utilize diversity in faculty and curricular offerings to engage students and support development of cultural competence

Leverage Greater Philadelphia and Drexel's position at the nexus of its two innovation districts and federally designated Promise Zone to create solutions to be captured, codified, and shared regionally, nationally, and globally.

Identify regions nationally and globally in which to grow partnerships to yield increased enrollment, co-ops, clinical placements, curriculum sharing, and research consortia aligned with identified sectors and clusters

Establish Drexel's capacity to lead in remote learning, through our continued development of innovative remote delivery of experiential learning and industry participation

Develop and implement an infrastructure, including stakeholder capabilities, for rapid prototyping of programs that attracts students at all phases of learning, including growing online undergraduate and life-long learning programs using both face-to-face and innovative remote and hybrid platforms.

Grow internal capacity to identify trends based on students' interests, partnerships with industry, and data analysis

Identify and create new sources of revenue aligned with the strategic plan that ensure Drexel's viability, while leveraging innovative partnerships to create new revenue streams to address the rising cost of education.

Implement Responsibility Center Management (RCM) as the foundation of a sound financial plan for the University ensuring adequate resources are available to support the strategic plan and address the rising cost of education.

Define inefficiencies which exist in current operations and operational gaps that would limit strategic success and develop plans to close these gaps and build operations infrastructure needed to ensure long-term success

Change policies and systems using intentional and visible processes that build understanding of the importance of inclusive practices.

Complete $750 million capital campaign, craft the next campaign toward the implementation of the strategic plan, and grow endowment so it achieves $1 billion in value.

Executive Planning Committee

Drexel University developed a ten-year strategic plan under the direction of the Executive Planning Committee (EPC) chaired by President John Fry. 

Implementation

Drexel is executing a strategic plan to effectively – and intentionally – address shifts in higher education and broader challenges facing society.
Drexel University: A Commitment to 2030
Learn more about the development of the Drexel 2030 Strategic Plan and its implementation.

Help us to design Drexel's future.

Send Comments, Ideas, Questions