Drexel's Academic Transformation Makes Significant Progress

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Campus & Community Experiential Learning

Drexel's Academic Transformation Makes Significant Progress

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This story was written by Natalie Kostelni, associate director of partnership communications in the Office of the Provost.

Drexel University's Academic Transformation is already yielding tangible results - such as enhanced programs in the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business through the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship integration as well as a planned undergraduate AI and machine learning major in the new College of Computing and Engineering.

These early indicators reflect how Academic Transformation is reshaping the Drexel experience - from the way programs are structured to how students connect knowledge across disciplines.

The three-year Academic Transformation initiative began in the fall of 2024 and has moved from the design phase into full implementation. It involves reimagining every aspect of Drexel's academic enterprise through a complete curriculum redesign, strategic college integrations and a transition to semesters.

The centerpiece of this work is overhauling curriculum, now underway in every academic unit. Guided by newly established Undergraduate and Graduate Curriculum Redesign Handbooks, faculty are redesigning and re-envisioning programs and courses to provide students more options over their educational journey, strengthen learning outcomes and better prepare graduates for the evolving world of work.

"We're building something almost no other institution has - a completely reimagined curriculum and academic structure designed for this moment and built with flexibility and interdisciplinarity," said Nina Henderson Provost and Executive Vice President Paul E. Jensen, PhD.

This top-to-bottom revision of academic offerings includes instilling three new core competencies across all programs: Inquire & Analyze, Collaborate & Integrate and Apply & Engage. These competencies, already essential parts of the Drexel brand, will be embedded across disciplines to ensure every student gains the critical thinking, problem-solving and adaptability skills needed to continuously thrive.

Complementing the curricular redesign, Drexel released its semester calendar framework this fall, a major milestone toward the August 2027 transition from the quarter calendar. The shift to semesters from quarter-based programs will allow for deeper learning, provide more scheduling flexibility and align Drexel with peer institutions - all while supporting cooperative education (co-op), global experiences and partnerships that define the University's distinctive model of experiential education.

"Five years from now, we'll look back at this moment and say: 'Thank goodness we did Academic Transformation,'" Jensen said. "It's so much work, but it will fundamentally enhance the Drexel experience. We'll wonder how we ever considered not doing it."

There is a lot that has happened, and will happen, with Academic Transformation. Read on to learn more - and also check out a short Q&A with Jensen at the end.

A Collaborative Transformation

The initiative reached a pivotal milestone in May when the Faculty Senate supported a series of integrations between schools and colleges. The School of Education and the Goodwin College of Professional Studies' First-Year Exploratory Studies program will join the College of Arts and Sciences, while the College of Engineering, the College of Computing & Informatics and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems will unify into the new College of Engineering and Computing and become Drexel's largest academic unit by enrollment.

Already, the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute has moved into the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health, and the Close School of Entrepreneurship as integrated within the LeBow College of Business.

These integrations, like all of Academic Transformation, have been supported by faculty and professional staff who have volunteered to serve on working groups and devoted countless hours to this vital initiative, all while maintaining existing professional and personal responsibilities.

"You can't do a project on this scale without faculty and staff being committed, and that commitment requires true partnership," Jensen said. "Real buy-in means people own the work, and that only happens when you partner from the start."

This collective approach with Academic Transformation is rooted in Drexel's 2030 Strategic Plan and the 2022 formation of the University Advisory Committee on Academic Structure, each of which comprised a broad coalition across faculty, professional staff and administrators. Colleges and schools are now leading the implementation of Academic Transformation, extending the collaboration that began during the initial design phase.

A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity

Academic Transformation is an ambitious, once-in-a-generation effort that is aligned with Drexel's history of reinvention and innovation in higher education. From being among the first universities to establish co-op to remaining a global leader in experiential education, Drexel continually evolves to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.

These changes are also designed to improve student retention and graduation rates, strengthen partnerships and enhance Drexel's national competitiveness. But this process will still preserve what has always made the University distinct: its integration of real-world experience into every facet of learning.

Through Academic Transformation, Drexel will double down on experiential learning. A new Experiential Education Hub will help expand options and improve access through a cohesive ecosystem of hands-on opportunities - co-op, global engagement, research, civic learning and project-based courses. Starting with the entering class of 2027-28, experiential learning will be more formally and extensively integrated into academic programs.

"Drexel is a pioneer in linking learning with experience, and Academic Transformation builds on that tradition by creating a University that's even more dynamic, connected and student-centric," Jensen said.

The initiative's impact is already visible as new interdisciplinary offerings and shared resources are helping students explore academic paths that better reflect Drexel's strengths in innovation and collaboration. For example, the integration of the Close School of Entrepreneurship within LeBow has begun to shape a broader ecosystem for undergraduate programs.

Beginning in the fall of 2027, entrepreneurship will become a required core course for all LeBow students when it was previously offered only as an elective, ensuring students are exposed to an entrepreneurial mindset. Within LeBow's BSBA program, entrepreneurship will also become a major alongside finance and accounting, creating a robust, co-disciplinary structure within the program.

The Close integration also led to a boost in enrollment for a special topics course that opened in September for the first time to students in LeBow, and quickly filled within a week.

In another example of the power of integrating academic units, the newly formed College of Engineering and Computing will launch an undergraduate degree in artificial intelligence and machine learning in fall 2026, joining a small but growing group of universities offering dedicated AI majors.

In October, Drexel launched Drexel Health Clinical Operations, a centralized structure uniting 28 clinical entities across eight colleges and schools, including programs added with the University's merger with the former Salus University over the summer. The initiative aims to improve efficiency, reduce risk and foster innovation in clinical education and practice.

This consolidation strengthens Drexel's position as a leader in interprofessional health sciences education. It also provides students greater access to high-quality clinical placements, more consistent supervision and assessment, and broader opportunities to collaborate across disciplines - from nursing and medicine to public health.

The result is a more integrated, interprofessional approach to clinical education that reflects the future of health care and strengthens Drexel's position as a leader in experiential, practice-based learning.

The Road to 2027

Currently in the implementation phase, Academic Transformation is being coordinated by the project leadership team and diverse groups of faculty and professional staff across academic and administrative units, all ensuring the initiative continues to progress on time. The project is on track to culminate in August 2027 with the semester transition.

While the switch to semesters will mark the formal conclusion of Academic Transformation, the University will continuously monitor and refine changes adopted through the initiative to ensure long-term success.

Q&A: Academic Transformation's Progress and What Lies Ahead

Nina Henderson Provost and Executive Vice President Paul E. Jensen, PhD, answered eight questions about Academic Transformation.

Q: What's worked better than expected?

A: Adopting a sprint format for curricular work, which we accomplished in the spring of 2025 for five Academic Transformation working groups - Academic Integration, Calendar, Consistency, Core Competencies and Curricular Structure - to accomplish tasks and generate reports throughout design phase. It allowed us to get a tremendous amount done quickly.

Q: What's been most challenging?

A: Change management and maintaining broad engagement while moving forward. But it's the right kind of challenge - you can't build something this significant without bringing people along.

Q: What has Academic Transformation allowed Drexel to do that wouldn't have been possible otherwise?

A: Academic Transformation provided us with a unique opportunity to step back and ask: What would make Drexel truly more student-centric and more so than any university in the country? The answer wasn't incremental change; it meant rebuilding everything.

Q: How do core competencies fit into the vision?

A: We established core competencies that will matter long after graduation. Drexel's core competencies aren't static requirements, but adaptive frameworks designed to evolve as technology and work itself transforms. These competencies form a foundation students build at Drexel and carry into every job, every career pivot and every challenge they'll face over the next 40 years.

Q: How will students experience these core competencies in their coursework?

A: At the highest level, they're built around critical thinking and problem-solving. Every student will start with a common set of foundational courses that introduce core competencies. Think of it as building a shared vocabulary and toolkit that they'll use throughout their time at Drexel and beyond.

The first of these courses will focus on inquiry and analysis - especially information literacy - and will be designed for a world where AI is reshaping how we find, evaluate and use information. Drexel is working with industry partners to ensure students won't only learn about AI, but also how to utilize it intentionally and effectively.

Q: What does "being the global leader in experiential education" mean for Drexel?

A: It means guaranteeing that every student will engage in meaningful, hands-on experiences - whether that is co-op, global, civic engagement and/or research - on a scale almost no other institution can match. At Drexel, we don't just prepare students to succeed after college; we invite them to start applying what they are learning now. Every co-op, every global trip, every civic partnership and hands-on learning experience is a rehearsal for the lives they will lead and the difference they will make.

Q: What should current students know about the 2027 semester transition?

A: Every student will have a custom transition plan. Our top priority is to do this so it doesn't negatively impact them or disrupt their academic progress.

Q: What will be different for first-year students arriving in Fall 2027?

A: They'll have greater academic flexibility and freedom to change programs, more opportunities to explore the University from an academic perspective, easier access to double majors, and a redesigned curriculum built around impactful core competencies and expanded experiential learning. We want to make it easy for incoming students to design the academic experience they want.

Academic Transformation co-op global initiatives Experiential Learning Faculty Alumni Families Staff Students Undergraduate Students Graduate Students Goodwin College College of Engineering School of Biomedical Engineering School of Education Bennett S. LeBow College of Business Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship College of Computing and Informatics Dornsife School of Public Health AJ Drexel Autism Institute Provost Office

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