Director meets to discuss concerns of students, faculty
Chirag Desai
Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: News
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University President Constantine Papadakis opened the student meeting with an introduction to Director's career. He explained the outcome of the provost search, described Director's career and was appreciative of Interim Provost Ali Houshmand, whose work has received praise from faculty and students alike.
He then handed the stage over to Director, who introduced himself before opening the floor to questions.
"Clearly, I have a lot to learn about Drexel," Director said, while recommending to students "The World Is Flat" by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman stating that Friedman talks about how the world has fundamentally changed and that one needs to think about how the education you're getting is preparing you for the world we live in.
Director was asked numerous questions ranging from the reason he wanted to join the University to his plans for research and his opinion on the University's co-operative education program.
"[Director] has excellent qualifications and seems to be one who can make the hard decisions," junior Edward Asbury, majoring in architectural engineering, said after the meeting.
"He brings a fresh perspective and does not have any internal political biases...He does seem to be quite interested in moving back to Pennsylvania and into the driver's seat here at Drexel."
Director stated that as a University, Drexel has three primary missions: the dissemination of information, the creation of new knowledge and the transfer of the new knowledge into the society. He believes that the University is unique and can provide and serve these missions with the help of strong undergraduate and graduate programs.
"Universities, such as Drexel, provide undergraduate students with a great opportunity to engage in research and experience the excitement of creating new knowledge," he added.
When asked about his plans on assuming office July 1, Director mentioned that he had a few items in mind with different priorities. Among these included visiting all departments and their faculty and students, continuing Houshmand's work by meeting with students and student leaders on campus and setting up open hours where any student can go up to meet him. He also invited students to contact him by e-mail at director@drexel.edu. A student inquired about his plans for making students "feel like they are somebody and not a revenue source" to which Director said that it was important to think of the whole experience - both inside and outside the classroom. He added that he was looking to build on Houshmand's successful efforts to improve student service and said that a lot of University graduates he has had an opportunity to meet seemed to "truly value their Drexel education," and that students should not forget that higher education is expensive to provide as well.
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