Welcome the following new faculty and staff to Drake:
Dana Walton, Residence Life
Betsy Collins, Residence Life
Kevin Moran, Facilities Planning & Management
Patrick Tomka, Athletics
Molly Wuebker, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Jonathan Walker, Information Technology Services
Brian Lucas, Athletics
Erin Austin, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement
There’s still time to participate in reading the third book of the University Book Club! We are reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown this summer—a New York Times bestseller sure to put you in the mood for the Summer Olympics.
Cowles Library has nine copies (hint: ask for the book on reserve at the circulation desk). The book is also available in audio format from Audible.com, at various Des Moines-area public libraries, and Amazon. You can find more information on the University Book Club here: The Boys in the Boat Book Discussion
Contact Sara Heijerman if you have any questions or interest in discussing; the group discussion will be July 21 at 4:45 p.m. at Louie’s Wine Dive, 4040 University Ave. Happy reading!
—Sara Heijerman, Manager, Campus Card Office
A new book by Drake Associate Professor of Sociology Michael Haedicke explores how farmers, small business owners, regulators, and other stakeholders navigate conflict in the organic food industry.
Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market (Stanford University Press, 2016) leverages 10 years of research to explain how key players balance competing narratives within the industry: one that positions organic farming as a social and political movement poised to shake up big, traditional agricultural institutions; and another that emphasizes organic food’s potential for market growth and profit. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.
Jeffrey is joining the Office of Community Engaged Learning as an AmeriCorps VISTA; he will collaborate with other Drake departments to develop a campus tour program for area youth from the University’s community partners. He will also help develop tools and processes to track community-engaged learning at Drake and work on other projects to support the mission of the office and University.
Jeffrey is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in political science and a minor in theatre arts. In 2014 he participated in the Great March for Climate Action, an eight-month cross-country march from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Jeffrey began his yearlong term of service on June 27 and his office is in Old Main 319—please feel free to stop by and say hello!
—Renee Sedlacek, Director of Community Engaged Learning
Girls outperform boys in digital literacy skills
Lindsay Woodward is the co-author of a Reading Research Quarterly article that has been gaining national attention in a couple different forums. Her co-author summarized their findings for Education Week and School Library Journal websites.
Student honored
Drake doctoral student Kim Wayne was selected to represent Iowa at the #NationofMaking event at the White House.
Professor quoted
Todd Hodgkinson was interviewed and quoted by the Desert News in an article on summer learning.
Visitors from Venezuela
On Thursday, June 30, the SOE hosted seven English teachers from Venezula and their hosts from the U.S. State Department and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. SOE graduate Ana Cara Van Dyck and students Kelli Carter and Kate Brightwell joined Associate Professor Shelley Fairbairn in presenting to and talking with the teachers about how we prepare ESL at Drake, with Assistant Dean Catherine Gillespie as host. The teachers asked many questions about teacher training, supervision, and evaluation and learned a great deal from their brief visit.
Student Research Assistants
Madeleine Emrich and Sydney Staudt have been selected to assist Sally Beisser, recipient of the Ronald Troyer Research Endowment Fellowship for 2016–2017, to write a book on early childhood giftedness. Their efforts include writing and editing chapters on myths of the gifted learner, recognizing gifted behaviors in preschool and primary classrooms, and effective curriculum design for high-ability children. Research funds will support their attendance at the Iowa Talented and Gifted (ITAG) conference and travel to the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in Orlando, to be a part of an accepted research presentation at this conference. Both Maddie and Sydney are completing the TAG endorsement at Drake and will graduate Spring 2017. Professor Beisser directs the online TAG endorsement program available for undergraduate and graduate students. Students in this program represent 27 states and 8 countries since 2007, when the endorsement was first offered.
—Catherine Gillespie, Associate Dean, Mary Collier Baker Endowed Professor
Central Iowa is embarking on its next five-year strategic plan, Capital Crossroads 2.0. A survey has been developed to gather public input to help identify key opportunities and challenges for our region. As Drake plays a crucial role in the community, your voice is important—click here to take the Capital Crossroads 2.0 survey.
This is a reminder that those on Drake’s health plan can save $300 in 2017 by simply completing a biometrics screening and online wellness assessment.
There are three options for completing your biometric screening:
Option 1—Available through Aug. 31
Complete a physical/screening (with bloodwork) with your physician by Aug. 31. Your physician’s office must complete, sign, and submit the Health Care Provider Biometric Screening Form by Sept. 30.
Option 2—Available NOW
Complete your screening at a participating Hy-Vee location July 1 through Sept. 15. View instructions and a list of participating Hy-Vee stores.
Option 3—Schedule your appointment online starting Sept. 2
Complete your screening on campus at the Olmsted Center through UnityPoint health between 6:30 and 10:45 a.m. on one of the following dates: Oct. 6–7, 12–14, or 18–20. You can schedule your appointment online starting Sept. 2. Sign in with username: DRAKE and password: SCREEN. Find additional information in the On-campus Health Screening Scheduling Guide.
Once your screening results are uploaded, you will also need to complete the online wellness assessment on wellmark.com by Nov. 15.
Questions may be directed to Linda Feiden, assistant director, wellness & engagement, at linda.feiden@drake.edu or 271-1880.
—Linda Feiden
The Drake University Social Media Directory displays the URLs for every official Drake-affiliated social media page. Take a look around to see which departments have pages, follow them, and invite your friends to follow along. While you’re looking around, let us know if your department page has changed. Maybe you have a department name change, want a new cover photo, or don’t see your URL on the directory at all. Either way, let us know by emailing Niki Smith at niki.smith@drake.edu.
If you want to learn more about creating an official presence on social media for your department, reach out to Niki Smith.
—Niki Smith, Digital Media Strategist
In the June 27 edition of OnCampus, I provided an overview of several ongoing ITS initiatives designed to keep Drake in compliance with regulations and enhance security of confidential information. This week, I’m sharing additional information about one of our key initiatives, Security Information Event Monitoring (SIEM).
SIEM is a technical term for an early warning system. ITS configures it to collect log information from campus servers and other locations where confidential information is stored and accessed. It establishes a baseline of standard behavior, such as how and when these locations are normally accessed, and will alert ITS when any anomalies in behavior or activity occur. This allows ITS to further investigate to determine if an individual computer or any data has been compromised by an attacker.
This tool is a crucial component in helping to detect the early steps in a cyber attack, such as reconnaissance, lateral movement, or remote actions. It also aids in forensic investigation to determine the extent of any previous breaches.
Drake’s computing environment is under constant attack, making systems like the SIEM a valuable detection method. The charts below show Drake’s current vulnerability levels and why we are adding SIEM to help protect our computing environment.
Phishing/spam:
Cyber attacks starting with a phishing email make up almost 40 percent of successful data breach incidents. This chart showing the total volume of email received in June illustrates that 77 percent of the email sent to individuals with a drake.edu email address that month was malicious!
Reputation filtering
Internet traffic—information that is transmitted to and from our computers when we visit websites—can contain malicious information without us even realizing it. This chart shows attempts to connect to campus systems in the month of June.
Do you have any questions or concerns? Contact informationsecurity@drake.edu and let us know. And watch OnCampus for more information about how ITS is working to keep Drake’s data safe.
—Peter Lundstedt, Information Security Manager
ITS has been making significant progress on this summer’s wireless upgrade project. The core network equipment that supports the wireless environment has been installed, configured, and tested. In addition, contractors have been working on the wiring needed to increase the number of campus access points. Wiring work is complete in all residence halls and many academic buildings.
All wiring is scheduled to be completed by the end of July. Installation of new and replacement access points will begin the week of July 11, starting in the residence halls. ITS staff and contractors are working together to finish the installation of all access points prior to the start of the fall semester while continuing to avoid impacting summer campus activities.
Progress updates will be provided in future issues of OnCampus as well as on the ITS Major Projects page.
—Carla Herling, ITS Communications Manager