Q&A: What Happens Now After Drexel and Salus Have Merged?

Two Drexel and Salus leaders who have been heavily involved in the integration and accreditation processes talked about what comes next with operational, academic and clinical enterprises between the two universities.

By Alissa Falcone

It’s official: Drexel University and Salus University have formally received approval to complete the corporate merger bringing Salus under Drexel’s enterprise. The merger recently received approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) accrediting body, and the next step of this two-step process is expected to be completed within this upcoming year when the U.S. Department of Education approves the completion of the merger. 

So much progress has been made since the presidents of the two universities signed the merger agreement in June 2023. In the fall, leaders from both institutions began preparing for the two-step process, which was announced over the summer, by establishing an integration council that has worked on the logistical elements of phase 1 of the integration process. The work groups are now exploring the integration of the academic programs, which will be completed after the Department of Education approval. The operational, non-academic units of Salus, however, will begin to be integrated into the Drexel enterprise now that the Middle States approval has gone through. 

There’s a lot to keep track of, and so much more ahead. No one knows that better than two of the driving forces of the integration between the two institutions: Beth Moy, chief of staff at Salus University, and Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, PhD, Drexel’s senior vice president, chief strategy officer, dean of the Graduate College and founding dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies in the College of Medicine. These two leaders behind this monumental effort explained more about what has happened and what is coming up next between Drexel and Salus universities.

Q: What changes have happened as of July 1 with the Middle States approval?

Beth Moy (BM): As of July 1, 2024, Salus employees are now employees of Drexel. Some of the operational areas that fall outside of the academics can now be integrated into Drexel’s operational areas, like marketing and communications and institutional advancement. Academic operations cannot combine for students until the U.S. Department of Education approves the merger, which could take, we estimate, about a year.

Elisabeth Van Bockstaele (EVB): We are continuing to deepen relationships across our institutions. Beth and I continue to plan events that bring people together. For example, Beth is organizing a visit for Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) faculty, especially the clinicians, to visit Salus’ Elkins Park campus. Many of Salus’ graduate programs will move into CNHP so it’s critical for the faculty to get to know each other. Starting in January 2024, we organized a Drexel Speaker Series at the Elkins Park campus to bring diverse Drexel administrative offices to meet Salus faculty and professional staff to explain how they support the Drexel community. These events were extremely helpful in building camaraderie and enabling professional staff to exchange ideas on how to best support students.

BM: We are also planning a flag raising ceremony in August to celebrate the change in ownership on the Salus Elkins Park campus. Our faculty, staff and students are beginning to meet, socialize and collaborate with their peers. It’s an exciting time to see what we can build together.

Q: So, academics will not be impacted immediately after July 1, and only after the Department of Education approval sometime in the next year or so?

EVB: Technically, it will be business as usual at the Elkins Park campus this coming year. However, there remains a lot of work to do behind the scenes. 

For example, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) will become a stand-alone college at Drexel and will need to develop its bylaws and processes for tenure and promotion. Research activities need to be integrated within that college as well and follow Drexel’s policies and procedures. Although PCO enrolls the majority of students, representing 53 percent of total enrollment, other students will be enrolled in programs that will live in other colleges and schools such as the College of Nursing and Health Professions and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies in the College of Medicine. These academic programs have separate accreditation requirements and must follow defined curricula and clinical experiences. The next several months will see significant efforts in mapping academic programs to the various academic units so they can grow and thrive.

By continuing our events to bring people together, faculty will have the opportunity to collaborate over the course of the next year, which will be very exciting.

BM: Salus University will continue to grant degrees and students will earn diplomas bearing the Salus University insignia. It will be critical to ensure continued support of the student experience at Elkins Park while working to integrate services such as registration, admissions, recruitment and academic policies. We’ll be working on that even as we continue to recruit for next year’s classes and develop new programs. We’re laying the foundation as we continue building a new enterprise together.

Q: How will this impact undergraduate and graduate education at Drexel?

EVB: The merger allows for increased opportunities for Drexel undergraduate students to enroll in these graduate health science programs. Faculty will be working on developing pipeline programs where students coming to Drexel as undergraduates could have a direct path into one of these graduate programs. Often, pipeline programs are designed to be accelerated, allowing students to obtain an undergraduate and graduate degree in a shorter timeframe. Development of these pipeline programs and accelerated degrees will take place over the course of the coming year. 

Q: Where does Drexel Health come in?

EVB:  Salus has a number of clinical facilities as part of its clinical enterprise, including The Eye Institute, Pennsylvania Ear Institute and the Speech-Language Institute. The Salus merger into Drexel has given rise to a new initiative called Drexel Health. Drexel Health is being established to integrate all healthcare-related entities by developing a collaborative health framework that enhances clinical and interprofessional healthcare education, research and patient care and optimizes shared services across Drexel University.

Q: Have you heard from Salus students about this merger?

BM: When we’ve spoken with our student leaders, two things come to mind. One is, what will the new Drexel ID badge allow us to do? We know, for example, that they will be able to access the libraries, which is great. But to what other benefits will students have access? Our student life deans are working through this. We’ll be sure to share these when we have more light on that. The second, which has consistently been expressed, is they’re interested in doing more research, which is something that can now happen through Drexel’s Areas of Excellence & Opportunity (AEOs), a recently launched faculty-student research initiative.

EVB: We’ve been talking with Subir [Sahu, PhD, senior vice president for student success at Drexel] and Jim [Caldwell, EdD, associate provost of academic affairs, dean of student affairs and associate professor at Salus] to plan social activities and bi-directional travel across the campuses to bring our student communities together.

Q: Beth, is there anything else you’d like to say to Drexel Dragons?

BM: The only other thing I would add, which we always say but it’s worth noting, is that probably the best part of this integration has been getting to work, learn and have fun with our Drexel colleagues — you’re passionate, engaged, collaborative and mission-driven. And while there is significant work ahead in integrating our programs, the sky’s the limit in what we can achieve together for our students, patients and the community at large. We’re excited to work with you!

First published on the Drexel University website drexel.edu on July 23, 2024.