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February 3, 2010
Next Information Sessions at the Graduate Center: February 4 and 20
In this issue of Dragonfire:
- Special Program on Financial Aid: February 4 at 5 p.m.
- Drexel President Meets with Sacramento Students
- MBA GMAT Prep Session Packed
- Our Students Experience This Region's Best
- Living It: Public Service
- Drexel to Host American Library Association President on February 17
- Interested in the iSchool at Drexel? Check It Out on Facebook
- Public Health Professor Helps Prepare IOM Report Urging Hepatitis Prevention in the U.S.
- News from the EdD Bureau: Developing New Concentrations Proposed for the EdD
- The Future Looks Bright for MSHE Students
- Dr. Eric Parks Joins the HRD Faculty
- Drexel Receives Leadership Award
- Top 10 Reasons You Should Go For It with Drexel in 2010
Special Program on Financial Aid: February 4 at 5 p.m.
Drexel’s tuitions are competitive, and we offer lots of scholarships, fellowships and grants; even so, this is a big investment and you may want to know what your financing options are. Our students in Sacramento, without exception, will tell you that they have a "Very Big Friend" in Philadelphia, and that is Mike Cioce, associate director of Financial Aid. Mike is our go-to guy for any question about entering a program, or changes in your economic situation after you’ve become a student. He will be presenting a special program on Financial Aid at the Graduate Center on Thursday, February 4 at 5:00 p.m., right before our regularly scheduled Information Session. If you want to find out about FAFSA, Drexel’s Yellow Ribbon Program for military veterans, or anything else, register now, come for food, and learn all that you need to know.
Drexel President Meets with Sacramento Students
Chuck Pennoni, interim president, is one of the nation's leading engineers — having succeeded in government service and private practice, led the development of his own consulting engineering firm, and served as president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has also had an exceptional career in higher education, including many years as the chair of Drexel's Board of Trustees, his current role as interim president, and his active participation on the board of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, where he has helped oversee 14 public universities. His recent trip to California included a keynote dinner speech before the Construction Employers Association in Concord, a luncheon with Drexel alumni in San Francisco, and a visit to the 1,100 acres of land in Placer County where Drexel has been invited to build an undergraduate campus. President Pennoni also engaged in intimate conversation with Drexel's graduate students in Sacramento. Our students were able to ask him about Drexel's goals and objectives in California. The consensus: "Totally impressive!" President Pennoni is planning to be back in Sacramento on March 24 to welcome our newest students in the six graduate programs that will start in spring term. Will you be in the room then? Enroll now!
MBA GMAT Prep Session Packed
Drexel's reputation for excellence was reinforced last December when BusinessWeek ranked Drexel's part-time LEAD MBA program first in the nation for academic content and top 10 overall for the second year in a row. Applications for the next MBA cohort (starting in March) have surged. Not only will a good GMAT test score go a long way toward admission, but it may result in a Sacramento Leadership Fellowship. Maybe that's why the recent two-day GMAT prep session was packed. Students raved about the professor and left confident of success. The March cohort is filling up quickly, so if one of your New Year's resolutions is to take that next big step up in your career with a top-ranked MBA, then apply now to Drexel. And if you'd like some help preparing for the GMAT, there's still time to contact us.
Our Students Experience This Region's Best
The Rocklin Area Chamber's 40th Anniversary Celebration. The annual State of Downtown Sacramento. LEED's Convergence IV Workforce and Education Summit. Coast-to-Coast Conversations with Folsom Lake College's Founding President Thelma Scott-Skillman and Waste Connection's founder, chairman, and CEO Ron Mittelstaedt. The annual dinner and award programs of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber. These are just a few of the events that Drexel students are attending in force. Our educational style is experiential, and getting out and meeting the region's movers and shakers is part of what we actively encourage our students to do. That's what we mean when we use the phrase "Live It" — taking it beyond the classroom and into the community.
Living It: Public Service
Our Sacramento Graduate Student Association has a committee on public involvement that selects the service projects we — students, faculty, and staff — will participate in during the academic year. Recent events have included, a blood drive for Blood Source, clean-up of the American River, leading a fundraising team in the Thanksgiving Run to Feed the Hungry, donating Christmas presents to the Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services, volunteering on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and staffing the phones for a KVIE phone-a-thon. We're set to have a coat and professional clothing drive for the Sacramento Food Bank and to volunteer with CAN-DU, Drexel's alumni association outreach arm, in a city park during Earth Week. If you share our spirit of civic engagement, become a Drexel Dragon.
Drexel to Host American Library Association President on February 17
The American Library Association (ALA) is the largest and most prominent organization of its kind in the United States. The ALA is responsible for accrediting library programs nationally. ALA President Camila Alire will be speaking at the Graduate Center on Wednesday, February 17, from 6 to 7 p.m., at a special event co-hosted by Drexel and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking.
Her topic will be frontline advocacy — an effort to increase public awareness of how libraries affect communities and the value of this resource. For those holding degrees in any subject, from liberal arts to engineering, the iSchool's MS(LIS) program provides preparation for careers in the information field. Graduates hold jobs in public and academic libraries, museums, archives, Web development companies, law firms, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and more. Drexel's MS(LIS), one of just 62 programs accredited by the ALA, is ranked 11th in the nation by U.S.News & World Report, with specialties in Information Systems and Digital Librarianship ranked fifth and sixth respectively.
Please register for this event and visit the ALA's site for more information about President Alire's initiative.
Interested in the iSchool at Drexel? Check It Out on Facebook
If you haven't visited the iSchool's Facebook page, you don't know what you're missing! This is a great opportunity for you to see current MSIS students and alumni share their Drexel experiences, check out some photos, and read the latest iSchool publications. All this and more are available, just a mouse-click away. Join the iSchool at Drexel on Facebook.
The iSchool is offering two master's degrees that start again in March: Information Systems, which is rated third in the country according to Computerworld, and Library and Information Science, which is ranked ninth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, with a Health Librarianship specialty ranked in the top five. Come to an Information Session soon to find out why the iSchool at Drexel has been called one of the most innovative IT schools in the country.
Enrollment is under way for the March 2010 MS-IS cohort. If you are interested, contact Dr. Toni Carbo, director of iSchool programs at the Sacramento Graduate Center, and sign up for an Information Session.
Public Health Professor Helps Prepare IOM Report Urging Hepatitis Prevention in the U.S.
Dr. Alison Evans, an assistant professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health, was chosen by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies to serve on the expert committee charged with evaluating the current prevention and control of viral hepatitis B and C in the U.S. After 18 months of rigorous review and discussions, the committee published its findings in a comprehensive report that the IOM released on January 11, 2010 — Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C.
The report concludes that "The current approach to the prevention and control of hepatitis B and C is not working. Unless action is taken…thousands of more Americans will die each year from liver cancer or liver disease related to these preventable diseases." According to the IOM, more than 5 million Americans suffer from chronic hepatitis B and C infections.
Dr. Evans is a leading expert in chronic hepatitis B and liver cancer research, conducting epidemiological studies in both China and the U.S. Dr. Evans earned her ScD in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and her BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago. For more information, please visit the School of Public Health website.
News from the EdD Bureau: Developing New Concentrations for the EdD
The program of studies in the EdD includes five course sequences in concentrated areas of study. Students delve more deeply into a field of study, preparing them for success in chosen career paths. Proposed to the University are three new concentrations, the availability of which is contingent upon approval by the Faculty Senate (which has to approve all courses before they are added to the Drexel course catalog, and ensures that each meets the University's high standards for quality). We anticipate that the concentrations will be open to those enrolling during the 2010–11 academic year or beyond.
One concentration focuses on Human Resources Development, a doctoral-level companion to our Master's in Human Resource Development. A sequence of courses in Educational Policy studies prepares us to actively engage in policy making processes. Special Education Leadership addresses the critical need for highly trained leaders in this education sector.
Faculty members are enthusiastic about these concentrations and anticipate that prospective students will be, too. If you have questions, contact program director Dr. Ed Bureau at web28@drexel.edu or call the Graduate Center at 916-325-4600.
The Future Looks Bright for MSHE Students
On January 20 the Center for Graduate Studies welcomed two guests to Sacramento and gave the students pursuing their MS in Higher Education the opportunity to meet with them and learn more about what a master's degree can do for them. Students first met with interim Drexel President Dr. Chuck Pennoni, where he talked to them about the processes necessary for selecting a university president, for both private and public institutions. Pennoni also gave them the opportunity to ask questions about the Center for Graduate Studies and his vision for growth in Sacramento. Following the discussion with Dr. Pennoni, students were given a presentation by Dr. Kristen Betts, associate clinical professor in the Master's in Higher Education program. Dr. Betts recently returned from presenting at a conference in Sweden and spoke to the students about current and emerging trends in the employment sector. Her presentation gave students great information about the value of their education and how having a master's degree really increases their marketability in the current economy. The MSHE students were pleased to have the opportunity to meet with these esteemed speakers and look forward to more speaking engagements that Drexel has to offer. If you are interested in learning more about employment trends and the presentation she gave, contact Dr. Kristen Betts.
Dr. Eric Parks Joins the HRD Faculty
Dr. Eric Parks has recently joined the HRD team as an Adjunct Faculty member at Drexel University's Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento. Dr. Parks joins us with over 20 years' experience in e-learning, human resource development, and workforce leadership. He's held faculty and administrative positions at several institutions of higher education including the California State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and most recently the University of California, Merced, as their chief learning officer. Dr. Parks received his PhD and MSED in Instructional Technology from the University of Southern California and his BA in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
"Dr. Parks will have an instrumental role in teaching our workplace learning-and performance-related technology courses," said Dr. Salvatore Falletta, associate clinical professor and associate program director for Human Resource Development. Recruitment is under way for the next HRD cohort in Sacramento, which will begin in March 2010. Contact Dr. Salvatore Falletta or call him at the Graduate Center at 916-325-4600 if you have questions.
Drexel Receives Leadership Award
On January 22, 2010, the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce presented interim Drexel President Chuck Pennoni with an award recognizing Drexel for its "commitment to leadership and to our underserved communities." The recognition notes, "Within a year of its arrival in the greater Sacramento region, Drexel University has made a tremendous impact in our community," and applauds Drexel for its "commitment . . . to diversity and inclusion." Thanking the SACC Board, President Pennoni said that these were core values for Drexel in Philadelphia, and that he was personally very pleased that Drexel had been able, in such a short time, to become a full partner in the community. Drexel had received a similar commendation from the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in May 2009. You can find the letter of commendation on our website.
Top 10 Reasons You Should Go For It with Drexel in 2010
10. The timing couldn't be better. A slow economy provides time for studies, and a graduate degree will make you more competitive in a tough job market. Think about it — two years from now, when the boom economy is back powering this region, will you be positioned for success?
9. Classes scheduled to fit your life. Classes at the Center once or twice each week, after work, Mondays through Thursdays or one Friday/Saturday a month, with online courses and assignments when convenient for you. In addition, many of our classes are fully recorded and available via podcast two hours after they end if your job or family obligations keep you from getting to a class (or if you didn't quite get it the first time).
8. Drexel's growing, not cutting back. In one year, we have doubled the number of the programs we are offering in Sacramento, and we guarantee you'll get the classes you need to complete your degree requirements on time — 100 percent Drexel courses approved by our Faculty Senate and taught by Drexel faculty, not TAs.
7. Worldwide career development support. From the moment you enroll to the moment you decide to retire, you will have the resources of our Steinbright Career Development Center to help you succeed with your current employer or find your next one, as well as a network of over 110,000 alumni, 9,000 of whom are in California!
6. First-class facility with cutting-edge technology. Our Graduate Center is a state-of-the-art facility with $1 million in technology and places to catch a bite, make a call, read some email (we're completely wireless), meet with your classmates or professors, and even exercise. As part of your degree program, you'll master the technology you'll need to succeed in your careers.
5. Practical, practical, practical. You'll start applying what you learn the morning after you learn it — it's knowledge you can use, not just initials after your name. As our founder A.J. Drexel said in 1891, the education we offer is "not just good, but good for something"!
4. Focus on leadership. With the greater Sacramento region's business, government, and civic leaders within sight of retirement, there is huge opportunity, and with Drexel, you'll learn the substantive knowledge and practical skills you need to step up and lead.
3. Personal attention. You'll have the resources of a top-ranked private, nonprofit university behind you, including expert financial aid counselors who can help you beginning right now; your own faculty advisor from the moment you enroll; and wonderfully credentialed faculty who will know your name, answer your telephone calls, and help you succeed.
2. Reputation. U.S.News & World Report ranks Drexel in the top-50 private comprehensive universities in the country and, for two years in a row, among the 10 most up-and-coming. The programs we are offering in Sacramento are themselves highly ranked. And you'll be sure to benefit because we are in Sacramento to expand our reputation for excellence.
1. The price is totally right. Our tuition is competitive with other graduate programs in the region, but we've made it even more accessible to you thanks to our tuition assistance programs, including Sacramento Leadership Fellowships worth $10 million awarded on the basis of academic merit, Papadakis Fellowships for those in government and nonprofit service, and Bridge to the Future Grants for those who have been laid off from full-time employment.
So what are you waiting for? Apply today!
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