Dear Colleagues,
As we begin our first virtual spring quarter, I am heartened by our Engineering community and the ways in which faculty and staff have come together to prepare during this unprecedented time. Collectively, we have risen to the challenge and stand ready to welcome back our students to a virtual campus and to deliver the quality educational experience they have come to expect.
Each of you plays a critical role in the success of the quarter, and I acknowledge what a great responsibility it has been to transition our academic and business operations to a remote environment. Drexel Engineers are nimble, responsive and innovative, and I am grateful to each of you for the work you do each day. I’d also like to give a quick shout-out to the leadership team who, on short notice for weeks now, has played a crucial role advocating for each department’s needs, finding inspiring ways to virtually engage colleagues, responding rapidly to a multitude of requests for information, providing insight and answers on topics that impact our entire college, and of course, keeping our virtual meetings entertaining (see photo above).
Our Dragons are also making an early mark on the local and regional response to healthcare needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kudos to our researchers who have been lending their expertise and stepping up to make a difference.
I invite you to share the ways you are making the most of our current situation – whether that be on the research-front or the remote work-front – by sending your news and images to
engineering@drexel.edu
as we plan for a creative project to release later this spring.
In the meantime, a few brief announcements:
- MSE Department Head Search: After a long and distinguished career at Drexel, Dr. Michele Marcolongo will join Villanova University as the Droswick Endowed Dean of the College of Engineering effective July 31. We are launching the search for a new Department Head of MSE and I ask that you keep an eye out for more information in the coming days.
- Save the Date: please hold Wednesday, April 22, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. for our virtual college faculty and staff spring meeting and celebration. Additional details to follow soon.
- Resource Consolidation: Remember to check the Drexel Response to Coronavirus website, and bookmark the college repositories we announced last month (our Engineering Staff Teams site and the CoE Academic Continuity BBLearn site) for the latest news and information.
Wishing you and yours health and positivity as we begin spring term.
Sincerely,
Sharon
