If you have trouble viewing this email, please visit www.drexel.edu/univrel/dragonfire/2010-08-26
August 26, 2010
Next Information Sessions at the Graduate Center: August 28 and September 8
Upcoming Events:
August 27-28: Orientation/Classes begin for the Executive MPH program
September 1: "Experience Drexel" party at the Graduate Center
September 11: Orientation for EdD students
September 15: Convocation and New Student Orientation
Save the Dates:
October 10: Eagles vs. 49ers game in San Francisco
November 4: Drexel alumni/student special tour of the New Crocker Art Museum
November 12-15: California Library Association Annual Conference
In this issue of Dragonfire:
- Not Just "Top 10" Again — We're Now Number Two!
- Reserve Your Place at Our Table! Career and Financial Aid Workshops, Great Dinner, and Wonderful People: "Experience Drexel" on September 1
- Nearly 200 Convene for First Regional Young Professionals Summit
- Leadership: Learning It, Living It, Creating a Path for It
- Drexel Holds Blue-Ribbon HRD Symposium
- iSchool to Host Special Event at CLA National Conference in Sacramento this Fall
- iSchool Students Gather for Dinner, Fun
- Another "Outstanding" Drexel Professor to Teach in Sacramento MPH Program
- Grad Center Welcomes Two Full-time MBA Faculty to Sacramento (Part II)
- New Faculty Profile: Ramya Ghosh, PhD in Economics
- Drexel's Treasurer/CFO/SVP Finance Visits Sacramento
- Post-Bac Pre-Med Program Spans Continent
- Program for LGBT Health Receives Sapphire Award
To read articles from past editions about your degree program, visit the Dragonfire archives.
Not Just "Top 10" Again —We're Now Number Two!
First, we were sixth (2009), then we were fourth (2010), and now (for 2011), we're number two! For the third year in a row, college presidents, provosts and deans from around the country have ranked Drexel as among the ten "most promising and innovative" in the nation, as reported by U.S.News & World Report in its just-released 2011 edition of "America's Best Colleges." Overall, Drexel moved up to number 48 among all private universities, and up to 86th among the nation's best 260 national universities.
If you don't know what this means, you should "Experience Drexel" on September 1 — where you can ask one of the 255 working professionals whom we are teaching in our high-tech campus in Sacramento, or meet the senior officers in our career development (not just "placement") office and financial aid office, or chat with the professors who will teaching you this coming fall...plan to come to dinner with us!
And yes, being Number Two DOES mean that we try harder!! (ask someone over 40 what that refers to…).
Reserve Your Place at Our Table! Career and Financial Aid
Workshops, Great Dinner, and Wonderful People: "Experience Drexel"
on September 1
Experience Drexel is the best party of the year! It's for those who have enrolled in our programs starting this fall, or are seriously thinking about it. The food is fantastic, the technology amazing, and you get to meet our current students, faculty, and staff. You will also hear from two regional leaders who will give you their perspective on why higher education makes perfect sense at this time in your personal development: Todd Trotter, HR Business Partner for Kaiser Permanente, and Barbara Hayes, president and CEO, Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO). The event will include career counseling sessions from Kathleen Neary, associate director, Global Business Development and Career Services, in Drexel's Steinbright Career Development Center; and from Melissa Englund, University assistant vice president for enrollment planning and director of our Office of Financial Aid. And if you have already enrolled by then, be sure to take home your special gift from your new alma mater!
Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with special career development seminar starting at 5:15 p.m. Come when you can, stay as long as you'd like. Experience Drexel and see why 255 of your peers on their way up in their careers have already become Dragons!
Nearly 200 Convene for First Regional Young Professionals Summit
The doors to the Grad Center opened at 5:00 p.m., and by the time the program got underway at 5:50, it was packed! Almost 200 members of four of the region's young professionals organizations (YPO's) — Ignite, Metro EDGE, Nehemiah Emerging Leaders, and Urban Land Institute Young Leaders Group — came together for the first time to discuss the young professional's role in fueling the new economy. The discussion was led by a panel of three of the region's stars: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, D & S Development executive Bay Miry and Bank of America Northern California President Kathie Sowa. They answered specific questions chosen by the four YPOs and others asked from the floor. The meeting began and ended with conversation — building the networks that will support and empower the region's growth in the years to come.
Drexel's campus has nine different classrooms, none of which was large enough to seat everyone. The way it worked was that the guests were seated in the three larger classrooms which were all linked together by Drexel's hi-def videoconferencing system so that everyone could see all three classrooms. The panel members then moved from classroom to classroom to answer the questions, with the cameras covering them wherever they went. The whole event was also "360-captured" the way Drexel records many of its graduate classes, so that anyone who attended — and everyone who didn't — would be able to watch the event (again) if they wanted to via podcast available on Drexel's website.
“It was an incredible event, and we thank Drexel for encouraging us to have the summit and for hosting it," said Brian Whitmore, an associate principal with Williams + Paddon Architects in Roseville and the 2010 chair of Ignite, South Placer's YPO."This is what young leaders should be doing: getting to know each other in the context of learning about and focusing on a challenge facing the region. After all, in almost no time, we are going to be leading the initiatives to solve them."
Leadership: Learning It, Living It, Creating a Path for It
Drexel is focusing on the next generation of leaders at its Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento. Today it is teaching eight master's and one doctorate with national top rankings and accreditations in one of northern California's most high-tech educational facilities. Supplementing the academic, the students have monthly "conversations" with business and civic leaders on the subject of "What It Means To Lead." The speakers series has brought to campus such luminaries as the president pro tem of the California State Senate, the state's chief information officer and the secretary for labor and workforce development, and the founder/CEOs of the largest publicly traded corporation headquartered in the region and of the newest community college, plus the chairmen of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Board and of Urban Outfitters, who have "beamed in" from Philadelphia via Drexel's state-of-the-art videoconferencing system.
But at Drexel leadership is not just learned, it is lived. By their own decision, the graduate students come together for one public service project each month. They have staffed the phone bank for the local public television station, collected over 2,400 pounds of food and four barrels of professional clothing for the local food bank and family services center, run "the Pink Dragons" in the Race for the Cure, teamed up with CAN-DU for a bi-coastal Earth Day effort to clean up city parks, collected over $5,000 in school supplies for an inner city high school science program, and joined in the CAA Blood Drive.
In fact, the Sacramento Business Journal just published an op-ed piece on this very topic by the inaugural president of the Sacramento Graduate Student Association, Kyle Glankler: "Creating a Path for the Next Leaders."
Public service and deep connections with the community in which we teach have been part of Drexel's DNA since it was founded in 1891. If you see yourself stepping up in your job, your career, or your profession, you owe it to yourself to see what Drexel has to offer.
Drexel Holds Blue-Ribbon HRD Symposium
Drexel's MS Human Resource Development (HRD) program recently hosted a panel discussion on the topic of Navigating Your Career in Tough Economic Times. Led by Dr. Sal Falletta, the director of the Drexel program in Sacramento, the distinguished panel of speakers included Dr. Wendy Combs, program director for leadership development at Kaiser Permanente; Scott Eberspacher, corporate training manager at CalSTRS; Dr. Mary Ellen Kassotakis, director of the leadership Center of Expertise at Oracle Corporation; and Todd Trotter, senior HR business partner at Kaiser Permanente. Over 20 HRD students and guests participated in the evening's discussion. "It was a very valuable and interactive event that addressed a topic of significant concern for graduate students as well as working professionals in our field," said Kirsten O'Neill, one of Drexel's MS-HRD students.
Recruitment is under way for the next HRD cohort in Sacramento, which will begin in September 2010. Those with questions should contact Dr. Salvatore Falletta or call him at the Graduate Center at 916-213-8773.
iSchool to Host Special Event at CLA National Conference in Sacramento
On November 12-15, 2010, the California Library Association (CLA) will hold its Annual Conference in Sacramento , and Drexel's faculty and students will be attending. In fact, the iSchool at Drexel will be hosting a special networking event at the conference.
This is a banner year for the conference. Two of California's largest library associations – California Library Association (CLA) and the California School Library Association (CSLA) will present "Navigating the New: Charting the Future Together," a premier continuing education exposition that will combine both associations' annual events into one extravaganza.
The CLA provides leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library services, librarianship, and library community. Drexel encourages its students, especially in the MS Library and Information Sciences program, to participate in the CLA.
To learn more about Drexel's MS-LIS program, attend an Information Session or contact program head, Dr. Toni Carbo, who is in residence in Sacramento.
iSchool Students Gather For Dinner, Fun
In our last edition, we reported on how you could (if you wanted to) pursue an MS in Information Systems at the same time as an MS in Library and Information Science (“Can't Decide Between the MS-IS and MS-LIS? Earn Both!"). Since then, our students have gotten together for two different social events.
First, the MS-LIS students held a movie night at the Grad Center, bringing in covered dishes from home and then watching "The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film" — a humorous look at the disparity between the simplistic depictions of bun-wearing, finger-shushing, spinster librarians served up in Hollywood feature films and the far more complex reality of today's savvy information navigators—of both genders.
Then, the MS-IS students invited their faculty out for dinner in Old Sacramento, at Ten22. There they had a lively discussion about how those who create and manage the databases, interfaces, and information systems that support businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies actually rule the world — without the rest of us mortals even knowing it!
Both programs are planning more dinners and social events this fall. You'll be invited... if you are a member of our programs! So apply now! If you have questions about either program, contact either Dr. Toni Carbo, head of iSchool programs in Sacramento, or Nancy Thompson, director of recruitment
Another "Outstanding" Drexel Professor to Teach in Sacramento's MPH Program
Raymond K. Lum, an award-winning professor in Drexel's School of Public Health, has been tapped to teach in the Executive Master of Public Health program at the Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento this year.
Lum has received four awards for the quality of his teaching: the Teaching Excellence Award and the Golden Apple Award from the School of Public Health, and he has twice been named one of Drexel University's Outstanding Online Instructors, including just this past year. He will be teaching a class on health disparities during the 2010-11 academic year.
"It is a pleasure to be able to teach public health courses on health disparities, particularly on reducing healthcare disparities in the Asian population in California, where there are large Asian communities," said Lum. "One of the hallmarks of an education at the Drexel University School of Public Health is to work directly in the communities we serve. For me, this is an opportunity to work closely with students at improving the health and well-being of vulnerable communities from coast to coast."
Lum is also a founding member of the American Cancer Society's Asian Advisory Committee, which is designed to help address health disparities for Asians in cancer services. He has been a member of the committee for the past seven years. Lum recently helped establish the "Hep B Free Philadelphia" Campaign, which is modeled after a similar program in San Francisco.
Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Gay News.
Grad Center Welcomes Two Full-time MBA Faculty to Sacramento (Part II)
Last edition, we welcomed Dr. Mark E. Vargus to the Drexel faculty in Sacramento. He will be teaching accounting in the LEAD MBA program and will be joining our four other resident faculty: Dr. Toni Carbo, (MS Library and Information Science, MS Information Systems); Dr. Jose Chavez and Dr. Holly Carpenter (MS Higher Education); and Dr. Salvatore Falletta (MS Human Resource Development). In this week's edition, we welcome the second inaugural member of the Drexel MBA Faculty in Sacramento:
New Faculty Profile: Ramya Ghosh, PhD – Economics
The world's fastest growing, most powerful economy is India, and India's economy is the special focus of Dr. Ramya Ghosh, who will be joining us in September. After receiving his Bachelors of Science in Economics from the University of Calcutta (with minors in Mathematics and Statistics), he came to California and obtained his Master of Arts in Economics from the University of San Francisco. Three years later, he received a second Master's in Economics, this time with emphasis on International Finance from Claremont Graduate University, from which he also received his PhD in 2010. In between, he had a stint in Washington, D.C., working for the World Bank, in the Infrastructure Economic and Finance Sector, and then the International Monetary Fund, working in the Independent Evaluation Office, on exchange rate policy and multilateral surveillance. His dissertation was on "Capital Flows, Exchange Rate Classification, and Monetary Policy in India." He has taught at several universities including, most recently, UC-Irvine and Cal Poly, in Pomona.
Drexel's Treasurer/CFO/SVP Finance Visits Sacramento
There has been a steady influx of Drexel's leadership — the dean of our School of Public Health, Marla Gold; the immediate past chair of our Board of Trustees, leading Philadelphia lawyer Joseph Jacovini; newly arrived President Fry later this month; and the heads of Drexel's Office of Financial Aid, Melissa Englund, and Office of Global Business Development and Career Services, both due on September 1 (see story about "Experience Drexel", above). In the midst of all this we were visited by Thomas Elzey, the University's senior vice president for finance, treasurer, and chief financial officer. Elzey's impressive résumé includes service as general manager and chief executive officer of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, so he was (in a way) coming back to his old stomping grounds. He not only toured the Graduate Center and spoke with students, faculty, and staff, but went to City Hall for a special meeting with Mayor Kevin Johnson — who did his very best to persuade him that Drexel should really locate its undergraduate campus in the heart of downtown Sacramento! It was Elzey's first trip to the Grad Center, and his evaluation: "Very, very impressive." Considering that Drexel is investing more than $10 million here, that's an "honors" grade from one very tough grader!
Post-Bac Pre-Med Program Spans Continent
The Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia has been helping college graduates get into domestic medical schools for over 30 years – and now, for the first time, it is helping students here in California! On August 16, the College of Medicine launched its Interdepartmental Medical Science program here in our Graduate Center. Taught by doctors in Philadelphia and utilizing the Grad Center's incredible technology, the program allows students to participate in actual first-year medical school classes — all with the support of postdoctoral teaching assistants here in Sacramento from the University of California, Davis. Adjunct faculty team leader Dr. Catherine "Cay" Tamse is the administrator of the Sacramento program, which includes lab work — both here and over the Internet.
Program for LGBT Health Receives Sapphire Award
The Drexel University School of Public Health recently received a $10,000 grant from the Sapphire Fund to support the school's Program for LGBT Health. The grant was the first time the School of Public Health received an award from the leading regional LGBT health organization.
The School of Public Health launched its program for LGBT Health last year to better address the health concerns and well-being of LGBT communities through research and evaluation, education and training, partnering with health and social service providers, and public health policy and advocacy.
According to school officials, the grant will be used to help develop three online training modules intended to train people in how to advocate for the health and well-being of LGBT individuals and communities.
“These noncredit culturally competent courses will be targeted to individuals working with LGBT clients at all levels in healthcare provider environments, as well as in organizations and efforts to promote public health policy impacting LGBT populations. These will include those community-based groups that exist to provide such services as HIV prevention and health-promotion education to specific communities, such as African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, LGBT youth and transgender populations, among others."
The Program for LGBT Health offers significant training, online data resources, and partnership opportunities for students, researchers and healthcare professionals.
Photo caption: Dr. Seth Welles, a faculty member at the School of Public Health and located in the upper-right corner holding a check, accepts the ceremonial award from the Sapphire Fund, along with other grant recipients.
Admissions | Apply
Online | Contact Us
© Drexel University Center for Graduate
Studies • One
Capitol Mall, Suite 260, Sacramento, CA 95814 • 1-888-389-3781