As part of Staff Appreciation Month, Human Resources is encouraging everyone to submit a shout-out for a staff member this week.  Deadline to send in your final shout out is this Thursday, March 25.  Simply submit a sentence of appreciation to Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

Read the shout-outs submitted this week!

“A shout-out to Jarad Bernstein: From the very beginning of the pandemic, Jarad has provided critical expertise and assistance on the University-wide communication effort.  Jarad continues to offer good suggestions and bring up questions or issues that the rest of the Emergency Operations team may not otherwise be thinking about.  Jarad has stayed resilient and engaged bringing new ideas and thoughts to the table when it would otherwise be easy to succumb to the fatigue of a year-long emergency response effort. Jarad’s insights and expertise, as well as all the work crafting communications, has been key to the overall work of the EOC.” — Venessa Macro

“A shout-out to Jessica Morgan-Tate: Throughout the pandemic response, we have had to quickly draft policy updates as well as updates to the FAQ section of the COVID-response web page. Jessica Morgan-Tate has provided key assistance in this effort, stepping up to contribute to ensure clarity around pandemic response decisions and policy. Offering this expertise has taken the burden off others with pandemic response responsibilities, so that they can concentrate their efforts on decision making and response. Jessica took on this work while the U.S. Department of Education issued comprehensive (and voluminous) new Title IX regulations. Not only did Jessica provide help to the EOC with important policy updates, but she did also so at a time when her role as Title IX Coordinator was particularly busy because of these new regulations.” — Venessa Macro

“A shout-out to Karen Pomeroy: Always embodying a student-first mentality, Karen’s commitment and service to Drake and the CBPA is unwavering. She has earned the trust, admiration, and respect among colleagues with her honesty, sincerity and commitment towards the important work she does!” — Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to Sophie Tibbals: Making work her passion is the reason she succeeds! Her enthusiasm and the positivity she brings to our work culture is something that cannot be taught or developed! She brings life to our team, and her presence, whether virtual or in-person, motivates each of us every day!” — Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to Charitie Schaer: “We are the best at what we do because we have the best employees” Charitie’s dedication to the CBPA and undergraduate students never waivers. Her ability to accept challenges and overcome them with efficiency and excellence is outstanding!” — Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to all CBPA faculty: Despite the current environment, the exceptionally high-quality education you deliver is inspiring and motivating. Your colleagues in the undergraduate office hold you in high regard and are truly honored to work alongside you supporting our business students!” — Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to Alicia Chilton: Alicia graciously went the extra mile to help me on a project that was beyond her realm of responsibilities. Thank you, Alicia, for your support! Your hard work and willingness to help without hesitation is very much appreciated!” — Ashton Hockman

“A shout-out to my colleagues in University Communications and Marketing: A BIG thank you to my UCM colleagues whose resilience, attentiveness, and hard work inspires me every day. Thank you for your unwavering support, for rallying and evolving in a time of crisis, and for supporting University-wide communications and marketing on a scale that is awe inspiring in normal times, let alone a pandemic. I couldn’t ask for better colleagues.” — Ashton Hockman

“A shout-out to Jon Walker: Thank you for helping me with my recent ITS requests! You always address my inquiries in a quick and timely manner. Thank you for your support, guidance, and joyful accountability.” — Ashton Hockman

“A shout-out to Nathan Jacobson: Nathan has been great to work with on getting the J-Term information fair up and running online this year. He is so easy to work with and I can’t say enough about his collaborative efforts. It is obvious to me that he is invested in giving students the best experience available. Thanks Nathan!” — Sandra Harris

“A shout out-to Drinda Williams: For those of you who do not know Drinda, you are truly missing out. Her spirit is infectious and working with her is always a joy because I come away from every meeting excited about what is next on our list. Thank you for all you do to keep things moving forward.” — Sandra Harris

“A shout-out to Chris Nickell:  He has helped us to navigate the pandemic over the past year, answering tireless questions, providing information and resources, and advocating for our staff to get vaccinated. He has supported the entire campus and has worked long days and even longer weeks to help keep us all safe and healthy. Thank you!” — Lisa Proctor

“A shout-out to the custodial teams: Thanks so much to our custodial teams that have continued to do work through a tough COVID year. Managing family and work has been tough for all but WE DID IT!!! It did not go unnoticed. Thanks again!” — Marla Johnson

“A shout-out to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication staff (Denise, Ray, Mallory and Carlyn) and the Meredith Hall facilities crew (Sammie, Sanda and Enisa), who do everything they can to support SJMC students and faculty. The pandemic has proven how important all of them are to our success as a School and an institution. We couldn’t do it without you!” — Kathleen Richardson

“A shout-out to Teresa Downs & Wendy Borst for processing and reviewing an all-time RECORD number of Fall 2021 undergraduate applications, including direct from high school, transfer, domestic and international applications. Not only did they efficiently address this historic volume, but did so while adjusting and splitting time between WFH and working from campus. Their combined attention to detail and sincere concern for timely information for prospective Drake students truly make them the Premier Admission Operations Dream Team!“ — Amy Nichols

“A shout-out to Grace Baumgartner: Grace has been a fantastic collaborator on a number of admission projects this year as we moved programs like National Alumni Scholarship to a virtual format. I’ve been especially impressed with her continued work on the Drake Physics Prize, which has helped promote a phenomenal opportunity to more prospective students.” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Megan Rush: Megan’s creative work with our presentations has been invaluable as our office has had to dive into virtual recruitment like never before. We’ve found success with virtual visit days, college fairs and other virtual events thanks to Megan’s skills. It hasn’t been the kind of recruitment we were used to, but Megan helped us transition as easily as possible.” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Grace Wenzel: I’ve been so impressed with Grace’s willingness to “embrace the awkward,” as she would put it, when trying new things and finding the best ways to engage high school students in the virtual setting. The warmth and authenticity she has when working with students, virtually or not, is a big reason for her continued success on our team.” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Lauren Sharp: Lauren was new to our team and only on campus for a week before we all moved to working virtually, yet she has still learned the ins-and-outs of Drake and successfully taken on a large recruitment territory with ease. I appreciate how naturally she is able to connect with students on an individual level while at the same time managing hundreds of applications and admitted students.” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Tyler Koehler: Over the course of a year Tyler has quickly become a skilled admission counselor on our team, even though he had to learn the job and Drake itself while being mostly off campus. Besides getting to know his own territory, he brings unique ideas and creativity to our entire team that allows us to connect with prospective Drake students in new ways. (His TikTok lessons have been especially valuable.)” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Lauren Selfridge: Lauren is our newest admission counselor and has been doing a great job working with our future students. I’m especially impressed that she successfully transitioned from being a Drake student to a Drake staff member, all in the middle of a pandemic. She has quickly become an essential member of the admission team.” — Evan Favreau

“A shout-out to Kailee Springer, Karen Pomeroy, Charitie Schaer, and Nic Jacobson: All are my colleagues in the CBPA Undergraduate Office, and I am so grateful to be working with such a great team during a challenging year. I’m appreciative of the strong communication in our office, everyone’s ability to step up to the plate and help each other out, and most importantly, the grace and compassion they have all shown to myself and one-another. Special thanks to Nic, our Undergraduate Assistant, who will be graduating from the College of Business and Public Administration this spring, and while finishing up his undergraduate degree, still manages to be a top-notch member of the team!” — Sophie Tibbals

“A shout-out to Amelia Klatt and the rest of the All Staff Council Recognition Committee (Erin Bell, Teresa Downs, Drinda Williams, Dianna Gray, Cathy Williams): Amelia has done a terrific job leading the ASC Recognition Committee as they administer Bulldog Applause, present Called to be True Blue awards, write welcome notes to new staff, and organize the annual Sapphire Awards.” — Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to Tyler Spoon, Kevin Saunders and the rest of the All Staff Council Events & Community Service Committee (Lynne Cornelius, Sydni Jennings, Kim Jones, Sara Hughes, Aimee Lane, Mariah Mohler):  This committee has been instrumental in organizing our team trivia, and other water cooler events this past academic year.  They have done a wonderful job finding creative ways to keep employees connected despite the difficult challenges related to COVID.” — Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to Kevin Moran, Sophia Siegel, Annie Spadt, and Jeremy Sievers for their collaborative efforts with Human Resources wellness to create the Bulldog Mile. Their resources and hard work helped make this walking path a great addition to the Drake campus.” — Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to Carla Herling: Carla is always quick to respond when help is needed with a Microsoft Teams question, both individually as well as inquiries on the Microsoft Remote Workers Chat Group.  It is great to know that she is there to help!  Carla has also been a valuable collaborator in adding Microsoft classes to BUILD.” — Linda Feiden