The Imperative of Excellence

The Provost's 2003 State of Academics Address (cont'd)

Drexel University
March 11, 2003

page 4

     July 1, 2002, marked the union of Drexel University and the three schools comprising the health sciences. Two of those schools have become a part of the core college operations and one remains separate as a corporation but with us as a body of scholars. We are seeing many examples of collaboration among the faculties of these three schools. The collaborations include an MD/MBA program, federal funding for projects between the faculty in medicine and engineering, two new A. J. Drexel Institutes that provide research emphasis in new areas of science and technology that improve the practice of medicine, and even an undergraduate research web site launched by our new Pennoni Honors College.

     Drexel University's research funding base during the early to mid-1990s was below the level necessary to assure quality, but the faculty rose to the challenge and we saw a threefold increase in only four years. The College of Engineering is to be especially commended for its successes. The energy in that college and in others will fuel our excellence. But, we are no longer just an engineering institute. I see the energy of excellence across the campus, shared equally among the remarkable new faculty, with their ideas and ability to double the normal output of a day; and the dedicated experience of the tenured faculty, who know how it was at Drexel and see now what it is and what it can be. With the medical school we will pass the $100 million mark in research expenditures during the next five years. We will pass the $150 million mark within the decade. Funding at those levels is characteristic of the nation's top tier of universities. I salute our faculty for their accomplishments and the bright future ahead of us.

     Faculty are our primary asset, and the decision to tenure a member of faculty is the most important decision of quality we make. Good tenure decisions are the underpinning of the best universities and are multimillion-dollar decisions that define quality for decades.

     The standard by which we judge a person for tenure must always be national. It can never be local lest we fail as true scholars. We must accept that as the body of world knowledge increases daily, so does the standard by which we measure excellence. The standard by which we measure today must exceed the standard by which we were ourselves judged. We must respect the Academy enough for this to be true. In that goal lies the success of the institution.

     Our tenure policy should reflect what we might be more than what we were or are, and I am concerned that in the 2,660 words of the document now governing it, the word "quality" does not appear even once. This institution's students and scholars must have a policy that espouses and assures a quality faculty rather than a document of process alone. In September, I will appoint a committee composed of the most esteemed of our faculty, including members of the Faculty Senate and deans, to write a tenure policy that is more appropriate to this new Drexel University.

     I have commended the faculty, but now I state that we are here for our students. Immediately after my appointment as Provost, I announced the appointment of a vice provost whose efforts would be dedicated to the students. I will continue to support that function and the students it, and we, serve.

     Last April in a meeting with the student leadership, I committed my attention to the quality of academic services, and during the past several months we have reorganized course cycling, financial aid, scheduling, and other services that needed improvement. I am pleased that we have made some progress but I am not satisfied. There is more to be done. I want our students' experiences at Drexel University to be comparable to the student experiences at the best of universities. My word to the students is to continue to expect the best.