The Triangle

Issue date: 5/16/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs Drexel University President, Constantine Papadakis, spoke to Drexel faculty and staff about the elections process, new faculty titles, the California campus expansion plans and Drexel's green initiatives.

Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis spoke to Drexel faculty and staff at the University Assembly May 13 about elections processes, new faculty titles, Drexel's California campus expansion plans and Drexel's green initiatives.

As an extension of re-energizing the University and introducing Drexel to a "broader network," Papadakis discussed the Placer County extension of Drexel's campus. Opening a campus in California would be an effective way of making the University's name known nationally, he said.

Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff Tobey Oxholm detailed the campus' environmental efforts and spoke about the new Drexel Green committee. Oxholm presented the committee's current undertakings, including weekly meetings, his goals for the committee and suggestions on how the University community can get involved.

Papadakis also introduced new plans for the election process for new members as well as alternates to the University Tenure Appeals committee, and reviewed the approval of qualified candidates for the College of Medicine as well as the University at large for 2008.

During the assembly, Provost Stephen Director also reviewed the introduction of new titles for auxiliary faculty but did share specifics.

"I meet a lot of really talented people, so I think that designation is really appropriate; it gives them the proper status they deserve. I'm very supportive of that," Scott Warnock, director of the Freshman Writing Program and associate professor of English, said. "Drexel has so much to offer. It's a pretty energizing place to be."

According to Papadakis, these variations in Drexel's policies are part of a series of policy tweaks necessary for the University's progress and ongoing success.

Papadakis added that part of these changes would be an attempt not only to continually familiarize people with Drexel's name, but also to make Drexel's impact stronger, through making the campus environmentally.

With the new changes, some dissent would not be hard to imagine, according to Warnock.

"It's a big university, so there's always a different way of looking at things, different ways of looking at, maybe, how to spend your money. But overall, these are all great changes," he said.

The majority of new policies, including the conferral of new titles on faculty and staff members, will be introduced this year, starting with the faculty and staff who have had the longest periods of service at the University. Newly appointed faculty and staff members will receive such titles upon appointment.

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