As part of Employee Appreciation Month, Human Resources is encouraging everyone to submit a shout-out for a faculty, staff, or student employee.  Simply write a sentence of appreciation for a colleague and submit it to Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu. Deadline to submit a shout-out is March 24.

Read the shout-outs submitted this week!

“A shout-out to the Drake Law School admission office team of Jill Costanzo, Chris Miller, and Brianna Leistikow: This group has done an amazing job of upholding our core values while navigating the challenges of a pandemic and staff shortages in our office over the past two years!”– Kara Blanchard

“A shout-out to Ashley Rasmussen: Ashley gives very clear and detailed information when I work with her.  She makes it easy for me to understand my piece of the puzzle in my role.” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Nate Reagen: Nate always has a smile on his face and is easy to work with.  He is part of what makes Drake a great place to be.” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Marlene Heuertz: Marlene is so easy to work with and is always helpful and friendly.  She also has a great sense of humor.” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Linda Feiden: Everyone who knows Linda enjoys working with her.  She is an ever-smiling, positive face in all situations.  We are lucky to have her here at Drake.” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Maureen De Armond: Maureen has been doing great things for Drake ever since she joined us this summer.  I can’t wait to see what great initiatives are in store for Drake in the future!” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Heather Winslow: Heather really dives in and does great detailed work in payroll.  And she does it all with a smile.” – Anonymous

“A shout-out to Trevon Smith: Trevon is always so helpful and professional.  He is friendly and quick with his replies to my many, many inquires!  He is an exceptional addition to HR team.” – Susan Dittmer

“A shout-out to Kristi Longtin: Kristi has the most positive, friendly attitude!  She goes above and beyond working tirelessly on many projects, including assisting with faculty recruitment.  This is a big undertaking with a lot of moving parts.  She is so organized and efficient and handles it all brilliantly!” – Susan Dittmer

“A shout-out to Sara Hughes & Kris Magill: Sara & Kris recently stepped in last minute for a co-worker to assist with the live stream Q&A event with astronaut Raja Chari from the International Space Station.  Astronaut Raja is the husband of Holly Schaffter Chari, LW’02.  Just one of the many ways they demonstrate daily “All in this Together”.” – Susan Dittmer

“A shout-out to Emily Fleming: Emily started at Drake in March 2020, just as the pandemic hit and we were shutting down to work remotely.  She didn’t know her co-workers and learned her job completely in a remote setting.  I applaud her tenacity.  She is always friendly and willing to do whatever is needed.  I appreciate her organizational skills and attention to detail.  She is helpful to students, faculty, and staff.  She has become an integral part of our team.” – Susan Dittmer 

“A shout-out to Ashley Rasmussen: Ashley is always going above and beyond to make sure the faculty and staff get their questions answered. She has been diligent in her help for the Administrative Assistants and the Assistant Deans in the College of Arts and Sciences, even if it’s beyond her purview. She is a collaborative colleague, and she deeply cares about the experiences with training, onboarding, workload, and support for our staff. The college functions as well as it does thanks in part to Ashley’s support and hard work! Thank you!” – Anonymous

 “A shout-out to our Work Study friends in the Office of Student Financial Planning – Allison, Maggie, Maria and Emma: You guys are FABULOUS! Thank you for stepping in and learning new things to help out the Front Desk during busy packaging and awarding season. I appreciate all of you and your hard work that helps keep the OSFP running as smoothly as possible!” – Laney Guintard

“A shout-out to Chris Nickell: CPR Certification class was informative and enjoyable. 10/10 – would take the class again (In 2 years). Thank you for taking the time to teach the class!” – Laney Guintard

“A shout-out to the Office of Student Financial Planning Team – Kristi, Ryan, Michele, Chris, Brandi, Denise, Suman, Sheila, Merrie, and Matt: Relative to most of the team, it’s only been a short time since I started in the OSFP and everyone made the transition so much better than I could have hoped. I learn new things from each of you every week, and I love being a part of working together to overcome challenges and always looking for ways to improve the Financial Aid process for students and their families. This is an All-Star team who wants to set students up for success at Drake and beyond. You are appreciated and YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!” – Laney Guintard

“A shout-out to Scott Law, Kayla Bell, Maureen De Armond, Christine Marchand, Samantha Matt, Kristin Economos, Alanah Mitchell, Jennifer Harvey, Jazlin Coley, Sarah Derry, Marlene Heuertz, Erin Lee Schneider, Chris Nickell, Angela Shultz, Christine Urish and the Occupational Therapy students: They have all taken time out of their busy schedules to lead BUILD classes for faculty and staff this academic year.  Our offerings would not be as robust and informative without their expertise.  They truly exhibit a ‘Generosity of Spirit’!” – Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to Carla Herling for helping to organize additional Microsoft Teams training classes for faculty and staff.  We would not be able to offer these types of technical classes without her help. Thanks Carla!” – Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to Teresa Downs for her ‘Generosity of Spirit’ in taking time to sit down with me and help explain any technical questions I have.  Her teaching style is perfect, and she always does it with a smile.  Thank-you Teresa!” – Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to All Staff Council: Thank you for collaborating with HR on a number of projects and events this academic year.  Most recently – the GRIFO (BINGO) event for faculty and staff.  It was a huge success!  Although these events require extra work, in addition to your regular workload, you do it with “Joy” and “Generosity”.  We are lucky to have such quality individuals working at Drake!” – Linda Feiden

“A shout-out to the SPARC team: Thank you for your dedication in service to growing our grants portfolio and in supporting research compliance!” – Mary Pat Wohlford

“A shout-out to the faculty and staff who have written grants this year or who have received awards: Thank you for all you do to grow Drake’s extramural portfolio!” – Mary Pat Wohlford

“A shout-out to the OTD program faculty for their dedication to excellence in teaching and ongoing commitment to our students. What is more remarkable is their laser focus following the unexpected resignation of two of our faculty before the start of the spring semester. I am blessed to work with such a talented group of people!” – Leslie Jackson

“A shout-out to Teresa Downs: Teresa has a true gift and talent for instructing others. International admission credentials have an industry reputation of being daunting and complicated.  Afterall it is a big world.  But Teresa made this once ‘mysterious’ portion of admission credentialling much less intimidating to our newest admission processing team members.  She delivered the topic with a direct approach combining practicality and comfort.  Thus, our team not only has the knowledge but now also the confidence on how to dive into reviewing these abundant credential types from around the globe.  All in this Together.” – Amy Nichols

“A shout-out to Gerardo Rodriguez, Anthony Doss and Dale Purdy: Thank you for assisting me whenever or wherever it is needed. You have been a tremendous help through all our staff and supply shortages. It has not gone unnoticed. I appreciate all of it. Thank You!!!” – Marla Johnson

“A shout-out to Kyle Schura in Admissions for being my Slate go-to. I know Kyle is managing many projects but is always willing to provide timely customer service with a positive attitude!” – Amanda Martin

“A shout-out to Grace Wenzel in Admissions for volunteering her time on a selection committee in our office and going above and beyond to gather information. Always a joy to work with!” – Amanda Martin

“A shout-out to Renee Sedlacek Lee for putting on an innovative Changemakers event during the Global Citizen Forum. It was fun and inspiring!” – Amanda Martin

“A shout-out to Reb Ebel in FP&M for all of his courteous and timely help in our office move and the Sprout Garden move – Rob is amazing and brightens my day!” – Amanda Martin

“A shout-out to Karen Pomeroy: It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, but the work you do matters. Your dedication to your work is helping lead us to success. Thank you for all that you do, Karen!” – Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to Maddie Kovach: You have transitioned so well into the Drake community and into the CBPA family. We are fortunate to have an innovator like you working alongside us and I am so appreciative of all your efforts to catch up to speed in the middle of a semester. I’m looking forward to watching you grow in your new role!” – Kailee Springer

“A shout-out to Charitie Schaer: Even in your new role, you are excelling. Thank you for helping guide us through the awards ceremony this spring semester and ensuring our prospect students are well taken care of!” – Kailee Springer