As we approach the end of my first year as CITO, I want to provide you with a status update on some of ITS’ accomplishments this year as well as a sense of our priorities and projects for the near future.

Since our reorganization in January, we have focused internally on building a culture of service excellence, becoming more collaborative, improving communication to campus, and ensuring that we provide a reliable and robust technology infrastructure. We have received positive feedback, both internally and across campus, on our reorganizations and redoubled efforts.

We are investing in project management to deliver results to campus. Keren Fiorenza, IT project manager, is coordinating several high-priority summer projects and designing and implementing a solid project management methodology for the future.

I am also pleased to share with you that Carla Herling is the new IT communications manager. Carla is developing communication plans for all our major summer projects and implementing an overall strategy to ensure that ITS communicates regularly and effectively with campus.

In January, the Drake University Board of Trustees approved a $2 million one-time allocation for a variety of information technology capital improvements. Following this funding, ITS has begun planning and implementing a number of deferred maintenance projects:

• Managed printing—Working with a committee that included broad representation from both faculty and administration, Drake selected Laser Resources Inc. (LRI) as our new managed print vendor. A project team is working with LRI to address many of the challenges identified by the committee and our students, and they will be integrating solutions to improve printing and print accounting as they install new devices across campus.
• Network renewal and updates—ITS is finalizing the plan for wireless network improvements to take place over the summer. Wireless network equipment will be replaced in all residence halls and administrative/academic buildings across campus. Several key components of the wired central campus network are also being replaced.
• Computer standards and renewal/replacement—ITS is working with Deans’ Council and President’s Council to develop consistent, standardized processes for renewal and replacement of campus-owned faculty, staff, lab, and classroom computers. The process includes developing comprehensive inventories and reducing the number of supported machine types by creating standard configurations.
• Classroom technology upgrades—Improvements are planned in Meredith, Olin, Fine Arts Center, and Medbury. Additionally, a substantial technology upgrade is scheduled this summer for Sheslow Auditorium.
• Anti-phishing protection—ITS is also implementing a new system to minimize the potential for ongoing phishing attacks on the University’s email systems. We anticipate this system will substantially reduce (although not completely eliminate) the number of future phishing attacks on the University.

Regular status updates on these and other upcoming projects will be provided in OnCampus and posted on the ITS major projects website page at http://its.drake.edu/major-projects/.

—Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer

Drake is pleased to announce a new concentration in East Asian Studies.

This new concentration provides opportunities for students to develop in-depth knowledge about China and Japan from multiple disciplinary perspectives, and prepares students for future life and work in the region. Students will gain an understanding of the factors underlying Asia’s rising influence in the world and the possible consequences of this growing role.

Available courses stretch across the fields of history, politics, sociology, philosophy, religion, language, and fine arts. The concentration complements a major in any of these disciplines as well as others, e.g., international relations and international business. Students concentrating in East Asian studies are strongly encouraged to study abroad in Asia.

In addition, Drake announced earlier this year the establishment of a Spanish minor.

Drake also offers a Latin American Studies concentration, as well as a language interdisciplinary minor which requires study abroad.
If you have questions about any of these programs, contact Marc Pinheiro-Cadd at marc.pinheiro-cadd@drake.edu.

—Drake International

Cowles Library has started a process that will lead to a revamp and updating of the master plan for the library facility. Drake has contracted with FEH Design, a major Midwest architectural firm, to undertake the design study. FEH will employ a highly collaborative process to develop the master plan. Initial conversations with the Drake community have started and will continue through the summer and early fall. The results of the planning process are slated to be completed during the latter part of 2016.

—Rod Henshaw, Dean, Cowles Library

Tenure and Promotion
At its meeting on Friday the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the tenure and/or promotion of the faculty listed below. They are all to be commended and congratulated for meriting this distinction.

Tenure, Promotion to Associate Professor
Natalie Bayer, History (A&S)
Will Garriott, Law, Politics & Society (A&S)
Leah Kahlmanson, Philosophy & Religion (A&S)
Nanci Ross, Biology (A&S)
Matthew Mitchell, International Business (CBPA)
Lori Solsma, Accounting (CBPA)
Liping Zheng, Economics (CBPA)
Michael Andreski, Social and Adminstrative Pharmacy (CPHS)
Brian Gentry, Pharmacology (CPHS)
Andrea Kjos, Social and Adminstrative Pharmacy (CPHS)
Andrew Welch, Librarian, Discovery Services & Systems (Library)
Jerrid Kruse, Teaching and Learning (SOE)
Cris Wildermuth, Leadership (SOE)

Tenure, Promotion to Professor
Anthony Gaughan, Law
Shontavia Johnson, Law

Tenure, at rank of Professor
Ann Burkhardt, Occupational Therapy (CPHS)
Renae Chesnut, Pharmacy Practice (CPHS)
Sue Mattison, Epidemiology (CPHS)

Promotion to Professor
Charisse Buising, Biology (A&S)
Renee Cramer, Law, Politics & Society (A&S)
Heidi Sleister, Biology (A&S)
Jill Caton Johnson, Literacy Education (SOE)

Distinguished Professorships
The Academic Affairs Committee also recognized the accomplishments of three distinguished faculty by awarding them endowed professorships. Please join me in congratulating Phil Chen, Steve Scullen, and Gholam Mirazal:

Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor: Philip Chen, Professor of Art
Professor Chen joined Drake as an associate professor of printmaking and drawing in 1996. His recent solo exhibitions include the Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Beijing, and, last year, the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Chen’s work has been selected for permanent art collections in museums nationally and internationally. These include Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum; San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts; Art Institute of Chicago; Carnegie Institute Museum of Art; New York Public Library; and the Brooklyn Museum. He has received the Louis B. Comfort Tiffany Award in the Visual Arts, and, just weeks ago, the 2015/2016 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant.

Windsor Professor of Science: Steve Scullen, Professor of Management and Gholam Mirafzal, Professor of Chemistry
Professor Scullen, current associate dean of CBPA, came to Drake in 2004. His primarily research interests are in job performance measurement and personnel selection in the context of small applicant pools, areas in which he is regarded as one of the top researchers. He has published numerous articles in top-ranked journals, and his research has been cited in such places as the Harvard Business Review and Fortune. He sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Management, Personnel Psychology, and Organizational Research Methods.

Professor Mirafzal joined the Drake faculty in 1999. He has been the recipient of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Teacher of the Year Award in 2007 and College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year Award in 2013. Professor Mirafzal’s scholarship relates to the fields of synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry and chemical education. He has published in well-respected peer-reviewed journals including 13 articles with students as co-authors. As the Drake faculty representative for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in Sciences he has coordinated the nomination of 23 students, with eight winning the Goldwater Scholarship and four receiving honorable mention.

Finally, I also want to recognize and congratulate Sally Beisser, professor of education, who has received the Ronald Troyer Research Fellowship. This Fellowship was established by the Drake University Board of Trustees in 1999 to honor former provost Ron Troyer and to recognize both scholarly accomplishment and future promise. Professor Beisser has the distinction of being the first woman and the first faculty member from SOE to receive this award. In the past five years she has published 36 juried publications in peer reviewed journals, 24 juried conference publications in national and international Proceedings, and presented 145 juried conference presentations at state, national, and international conferences. This fellowship will advance her current research on early childhood practice in gifted education.

—Joe Lenz, Interim Provost