Drexel Names Meg Arnold Director of Community Partnerships

SACRAMENTO – Drexel University, which in January will begin offering nine master’s programs geared to the region’s economic future at its new Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, has announced the appointment of Meg Arnold as its Director of Community Partnerships.

Carl ‘Tobey’ Oxholm III, Executive Vice President of Drexel University and the acting director of its Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies, said Arnold will be in charge of arranging visits by business leaders to Drexel’s graduate classes and continuing to build economic partnerships between Drexel and the region’s business and professional organizations.

‘Since its founding in 1891, Drexel’s mission has been to provide a practical education to its students,’ said Oxholm, ‘and it has earned its international reputation because of the value it has added to the business, non-profit and government sectors.  Meg’s leadership of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) and her years of working with the Greater Sacramento business community make her the ideal person to help us create those partnerships here in Sacramento,’ Oxholm said.

Drexel, the 16th largest private university in the United States, recently was ranked among the top private universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine ranked Drexel second among private universities on its list of ‘up and coming’ universities for innovation.  The University is considering opening a residential undergraduate campus in Placer County.

Arnold comes to Drexel after serving six years at UC Davis InnovationAccess, where her most recent position was Director of Business Development and Entrepreneurship. She was responsible for developing programs and events to showcase research and foster campus-originated startup companies.

‘I’m excited to be able to help Drexel establish its unique brand of education in the Sacramento region,’ Arnold said. ‘There is a tremendous amount of excitement in the business community regarding Drexel’s decision to locate here, and it’s clear Drexel feels the same way.’

Arnold is deeply involved in the community, including currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) and as a member of the CleanStart Advisory Board. In 2009, she will become Chair of SARTA.  In addition, she continues to work with regional startups in a consulting capacity.

Drexel will offer nine master’s programs to working adults in the weekday evenings at its Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies, in business, information sciences, library and information systems, , engineering management, nursing leadership, nursing faculty role, science of instruction (K-12), higher education administration, and human resources development. The university has established a $10 million fund to support Sacramento Leadership Fellowships for students with strong academic records, and has also established fellowship programs with the local Hispanic and Asian Pacific chambers of commerce.

The University’s One Capitol Mall facility will be fully wireless, and have cutting edge video capabilities that will facilitate programs with students on the East Coast and allow classes to be recorded and podcast so they don’t have to be missed. The facility also will be available for businesses and non-profit organizations to use for conferences and meetings during the day.