Drake Human Resources is thrilled to share that Teresa Downs made the move to HR on Aug. 23. Many of you are already familiar with Teresa as she has worked in the Admissions Department for more than five years, where she will surely be missed.

In her new role with HR, Teresa will serve as a data entry and process specialist. HR is pleased not only to welcome such a talented individual to the team but also to provide an existing Drake employee with the opportunity to try something different and learn new skills. Teresa will be a wonderful addition to HR.

We are equally pleased to share that Anthony Leto is taking on new responsibilities within HR. Effective Aug. 1, Anthony shifted into the role of talent acquisition specialist after having served as an HR systems and recruitment coordinator. Anthony has also explored varying opportunities at Drake—having worked in Student Accounts for several years prior to joining the HR team in 2019.

A hot topic in HR is examining and modernizing talent acquisition strategies. HR wants to be a better and more strategic partner in recruiting (and also retaining) talented faculty and staff. Anthony is very excited to take a larger role in those efforts—including targeted strategies designed to increase the size and diversity of the candidate pools, providing more structured guidance for onboarding new employees, and defining ways to support existing employees advance their careers within the institution. These initiatives will take time (and we’ll need help from campus for ideas and suggestions), but we are excited to start focusing on efforts such as these.

Additional announcements about personnel changes in HR and how we plan to support employees moving forward will be shared in the coming weeks. Thank you for your encouragement, feedback, and patience as we fill vacancies and realign our priorities to better serve you.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources