Archived Messages From the Dean
February 2017
Tulane and SCS have a long history of providing access to high-quality education for working adults, stretching back to the university’s first evening courses for adults in the 1880s. We offer a broad range of academic programs, typically in applied fields directly relevant to our students’ career paths. As a relatively new member of the Tulane community, I’m working with SCS staff and faculty to even more effectively support academic excellence and meaningful access to higher education for adults, while significantly expanding the school’s size and scope.
The 2017 re-launch of the SCS website is just one of many changes underway. Those who care about the school and its mission can look forward to creative new academic programs, enhanced support for students and faculty, and improved communications with our constituents. Perhaps the most visible change will be a new name for SCS – we are right now consulting with students, alumni, faculty and staff to choose a school name that directly reflects our focus on excellence in applied learning and access for adult students.
April 2017
I want to welcome you to the web site of the newly renamed Tulane University School of Professional Advancement.
One of the hallmarks of a school like this one is its responsiveness to changes in the world and in the workplace. Tulane’s commitment to serving working adults goes back to 1884, when the university first offered courses to school teachers and to young men in need of skills in the trades. In 1942, Tulane established University College as its locus point of academic programs for working adults; that school was transformed into the School of Continuing Studies in 2005 as part of the university’s post-Hurricane Katrina Renewal Plan. Now, we are entering a promising new era.
Our name, the School of Professional Advancement, represents our focus on educating working adults and offering “applied” learning, which essentially means an education that is relevant and applicable to work and to daily life. We want to prepare our students and graduates for opportunities in the 21st century workplace, where deep analytical skills and a solid grounding in the arts and sciences are just as valuable as technical skills in a specific field.
I know we will look back on today as the point at which we unleashed a whole new level of possibility and opportunity, both for us and for the many thousands of people who will flock to our growing and flourishing school, and to its excellent undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the classroom and online.
February 2019
Tulane is unusual among private research universities for its long-term commitment to serving working adults and offering educational programs that are relevant to the workplace. The university first offered courses to school teachers and to young men in need of skills in the trades back in the 1880s.
Today we are reinterpreting and expanding that great history, and are positioned for the future. I’m excited for the new opportunities ahead of us at the school, including an exciting new Digital Design program, new master’s degrees in Emergency Management, Security Management, and Cybersecurity Management. Expanded services for students, including a dedicated career advisor working directly with SoPA students. And new faculty and staff in a range of roles and fields.
I hope you will join us as we grow!
June 2020
Welcome to the School of Professional Advancement at Tulane University. We are proud of Tulane’s long history of educating working adults, and build on that history by continuing to introduce and support academic programs that reflect evolving technologies and practices in the field. In choosing SoPA you are choosing up-to-date curricula, faculty who are experts in their fields, peers with whom you can grow professionally, and access to highly responsive academic and career counselors, all of these worthy of the Tulane University name.
In addition to all of this, our school and its mission and values are in part shaped by the history and culture of New Orleans and our geographic location at the mouth of the Mississippi River Delta. New Orleans’ challenges are the challenges of our world in the 21st century, among them navigating diversity, building economic vibrancy in a globalizing world, and managing climate change. Coming to SoPA is one way to benefit from the expertise, experiences and events of this special region. This is equally true online and on-ground, whether you live in the city’s Garden District or are fitting in degree study while deployed overseas.
So join us!
August 2020
Welcome to the School of Professional Advancement at Tulane University. During an incredibly challenging time, Tulane SoPA is here for you, with up-to-date and relevant curricula; expert, supportive faculty who offer you their experience and networks; ambitious and intelligent peers; highly responsive academic and career counseling; and the career-changing power of degrees and certificates with the Tulane name.
We continue to build on Tulane’s long history of educating working adults with excellent academic programs that reflect evolving technologies and practices from the field.
In addition to all of this, our school and its mission and values are in part shaped by the history and culture of New Orleans and our geographic location at the mouth of the Mississippi River Delta. New Orleans’ challenges are the challenges of the 21st century; successfully addressing demands for addressing racial equity, building economic vibrancy in a globalizing world, and managing and adapting to climate change. Coming to SoPA is one way to benefit from the expertise, experiences and events of this special place.
We look forward to your becoming a lifelong member of this community!