Advising

Your academic, professional, and personal success is our priority. Each Dornsife student is assigned to a professional academic advisor, and graduate students are also provided with a faculty mentor. To ensure timely completion of the curriculum, students should meet with their academic advisor and faculty mentor at least quarterly or whenever questions about the plan of study arise. For general inquiries, please email dsphadvising@drexel.edu.

Academic Advising Relationship

The DSPH Student Success team is comprised of academic advisors that have specialized training on the school’s academic programs and school and university academic policies. Academic advisors focus on empowering students to make informed decisions and collaborate with student services and student success partners across the school to maximize student learning outcomes. They also can connect students to the rich academic support services available in the school and university to support student success. You can find your primary academic advisor in the table below.

Academic Advisor Responsibilities

You can expect your academic advisor to:

  • Understand and effectively communicate the curriculum, graduation requirements, and university and college policies and procedures.
  • Have regular times for walk-ins and appointments throughout the year.
  • Respond to you within 48 hours during the work week, Monday through Friday, by email or phone.
  • Treat you with courtesy and respect, listening carefully to your questions and concerns, maintaining privacy when possible.
  • Encourage and guide you as you define and develop realistic academic goals.
  • Provide you with information about and strategies for utilizing the available resources and services on campus, including your professors.
  • Provide referrals to tutoring and other academic support tools.
  • Monitor and accurately document your progress toward meeting your academic goals.
  • Assist you in assuming responsibility for your educational plans and achievements as you think through your academic program and overall goals for your Drexel education.
Advisee Responsibilities

In order to be a successful advisee, you should:

  • Understand and monitor your academic progress via your DegreeWorks record several times during each term, and contact your advisor with any questions or concerns raised by the audit.
  • Make regular contact with your advisor every quarter, and schedule appointments if you begin to experience academic difficulty.
  • Know and understand the University’s academic policies and procedures, deadlines, and your graduation requirements as outlined on the Provost’s Office webpage, the Drexel Central webpage, and your DegreeWorks record.
  • Attend all scheduled appointments on time, or call/email/use the Advisor Calendar tool to cancel, preferably 24 hours in advance.
  • Read and respond to your Drexel University email, in order to maintain efficient communication with your advisor and other members of the campus community.
  • Be an active learner by participating fully in the advising meetings, including asking questions, keeping notes, and bringing materials from previous advising sessions to each appointment.
  • Follow through with all instructions from your advisor.
  • Take responsibility for your academic decisions.

Meet Your Advisors

AdvisorKey ProgramsContact Information

Erin Durkin,
Exec. Director of Student Events & Engagement
Learn more about Erin.
  • MPH Environmental & Occupational Health
  • MS Environmental and Occupational Health
  • MD/MPH
  • Disability & Health Equity Policy Certificate
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics Certificate
  • Global Health Certificate
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health Certificate
  • Maternal and Child Health Certificate
  • Public Health Certificate
  • Urban Health Certificate
  • Non-matriculated
Email: eed57@drexel.edu
Phone: 267.359.6043
Schedule an appointment

Rachel Benjamin-Bannett,
Senior Academic Advisor
Learn more about Rachel.
  • BS in Public Health
  • BA in Global Public Health
  • BS in Health Data Analytics
  • 4+1 BS/MPH
  • MPH Community Health and Prevention
  • Executive MPH
Email: rb3383@drexel.edu
Phone: 267.359.6229
Schedule an appointment

Olivia Hamilton,
Academic Advisor
Learn more about Olivia.
  • MPH Global Health
  • MS Global Health
  • MPH Health Management and Policy
  • MPH Urban Health
  • MPH/MBA
  • JD/MPH
Email: osh26@drexel.edu
Phone: 267.359.6120
Schedule an appointment

Jessica Tortu,
Academic Advisor
Learn more about Jessica.
  • MPH Epidemiology
Email: jmt453@drexel.edu
Phone: 267.359.6127
Schedule an appointment

Ariel Varghese,
Academic Advisor &
Data Manager
Learn more about Ariel.
  • MS Biostatistics
  • PHD Biostatistics
  • DrPH Community Health and Prevention
  • PhD Community Health and Prevention
  • PhD Environmental and Occupational Health
  • MS Epidemiology
  • PhD Epidemiology
  • DrPH Health Management and Policy
  • PhD Health Services Research and Policy
  • MS in Infection Prevention and Control
  • Certificate Infectious Disease Prevention and Control
Email: ars536@drexel.edu
Phone: 267.359.6041
Schedule an appointment

Resources

For academic resources such as Drexel’s academic calendar, course catalogs, or the term master schedule, visit the Classes and Registration page.