All posts by Aaron Jaco

Featured Events Archive

“Behind the Numbers: Polling in Campaign 2016”

Public opinion pollster J. Ann Selzer will discuss the roller coaster U.S. presidential campaign at Drake on April 5. “Behind the Numbers: Polling in Campaign 2016” will begin at 7 p.m. in the Cowles Library Reading Room.

The conversation, which is free and open to the public, will include time for audience questions.

Selzer, president of the public opinion research firm Selzer & Company that runs The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll, will discuss the current chaotic political climate and what the polls have taught us this presidential campaign season. The conversation will be facilitated by Professor Jennifer Glover Konfrst, who leads Drake’s new strategic political communication program.

Selzer’s appearance is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Drake’s new multidisciplinary data analytics program.

—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

Featured Events Archive

Drake Community Press 2nd Annual Story Slam

Come out to Mars Cafe at 7 p.m. on April 1 to watch some amazing local storytelling talent, and share your own at the Drake Community Press 2nd Annual Story Slam! Bring a story to read out loud (five minutes or less) that includes the following words: reflex, trace, and labyrinth.

Stories will be judged by 3Elements Literary Review, Drake Community Press, and celebrity judge, author Wini Moranville.

For the slam portion of the event, contestants select three words from a hat and have thirty minutes to spin a story to deliver on stage, while Drake’s own “The Faculty Members” band (Kirk Martin, Charlie Nelson, Tim Knepper, Pat Bell, JJ Butts) and students perform live.

Winners will be announced at 9 p.m. with cash prizes.
Admission: $1
Entry fee: $10

Prizes:
1st: $50
2nd: $15 Mars Cafe gift card
3rd: $10 Mars Cafe gift card

Contestants will be considered for publication in 3Elements Literary Review‘s summer issue, out July 1.

—Carol Spaulding-Kruse, Professor of English

For Students Archive

Share your thoughts on the VIP program

Please follow this link to complete a survey on student perceptions toward the Violence Intervention Partner (VIP) peer advocacy program on campus. The information gained from the survey will be used to improve the VIP program’s outreach to students on campus. There is also an opportunity to register to win a gift card following completion of the survey. Please direct any questions to jessica.rick@drake.edu or alysa.mozak@drake.edu.

—Jessica Rick

For Students Archive

Drake Information Technology Services is hiring!

Drake Information Technology Services is looking for hard-working students to work at the help desk with future opportunities for promotions and raises for good performance. The job will include customer service, problem solving, and communication. All majors are encouraged to apply. We will train you on all technology issues you may need to know, and we provide incentives exclusive to ITS. Hours will be between 10 to 17 per week, working weekdays. ITS is committed to your success as a student at Drake, and we will help you learn.

If interested, please send your résumé to jake.miller@drake.edu by April 7. No new applicants or additional résumés will be considered after April 7.

—Jake Miller, Student Technician Lead

For Students Archive

Changes to grading at Drake: Graduate students

In March 2013, Faculty Senate passed a motion to change the grading policy in the Faculty Manual: “That Drake University extends to all instructors the ability to assign plus/minus grade modifiers in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs beginning with the Fall 2016 semester.” In order to prepare for the approaching implementation of the plus/minus grading policy, common questions about the new policy will be featured each week for the next several weeks. You can also access a full set of resources on the Student Records website.

Q:  I am a graduate student. How will this affect me?
A:   The new policy applies to graduate students the same way it applies to undergraduate and professional pharmacy students (learn more here).

Q:  I am a student in the Law School. How will this affect me?
A:   The Law School follows its own grading scheme. Contact the Law School for more information.

—Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success

For Faculty Archive

Faculty proactive advising project

Drake University maintains a consistently high one-year retention rate for entering first-year students. Over the past four years, the one-year retention rate averaged 88 percent. While the overall one-year retention rate is high, there are several student groups that experience lower retention rates. The faculty proactive advising project will implement and assess the practice of proactive advising to support success for identified populations of students at Drake in order to improve retention rates for those populations.

The proactive advising project is now in its third year and served close to 100 students in Fall 2015. The project has demonstrated significant impact on student success. For the 2014 cohort of students who participated in the project, 80 percent returned for their second year compared to 88.8 percent for all other first-year students. Given the high level of retention risk represented in the proactive advising group, this is an excellent outcome. Faculty participants have also reported positive results from participation, most notably a change in approach to advising for all of their students.

Students will be identified for participation in the project based on analysis of several combined risk factors:  high school GPA and ACT score, failure to attend summer orientation, commuter status, and scores on the non-cognitive factors section of the Foundations of Learning assessment that will be administered at summer orientation.

Faculty advisers who participate in this project will have a one-semester commitment that will include:

  • Attend two half-day workshops for all participants in the program: Thursday, May 19, and Friday, May 20, 1–4 p.m.
  • Work with project coordinator Wade Leuwerke, associate professor of education, to develop an advising plan for assigned advisees.
  • Advise 3–5 students identified to participate in the project for Fall 2016 semester; assigned students may be outside of faculty adviser’s discipline.
  • Submit a final report.
  • Optional group meeting and individual consultation and support will be available throughout the project.

After the first two workshops, participants will receive a stipend of $500. After completing the project and submitting a final report, participants will receive an additional $500.

Participation will be limited to 10 individuals.

If you are interested in participating, please respond to Sandra Harris (sandra.harris@drake.edu) by Monday, April 11, at 4:30.

If you have questions about the project, contact either Melissa Sturm-Smith (melissa.sturm-smith@drake.edu) or Wade Leuwerke (
wade.leuwerke@drake.edu).

—Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Ron and Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service-Learning Student Award

Nominations are now being accepted for the Ron and Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service-Learning Student Award. Nominations are due Friday, April 8, at 5 p.m. The selected awardee will receive $500 and will be recognized at the Adams Leadership Convocation April 22 at 12:15 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium.

A letter of nomination should be submitted speaking to the award criteria.

Ron and Jane Olson established the Outstanding Global Service-Learning Award to recognize outstanding participation in global-service learning initiatives. Criteria for the award include:

  • Engaged in intentional global service-learning opportunities
  • Demonstrated an on-going commitment to global service-learning
  • Exhibited values that encourage global service-learning
  • Supported continuation of global service-learning efforts

The nominee must be a current student at Drake.

Nomination Process

The letter of nomination is due to Global Service-Learning Coordinator Maria Rohach no later than April 8. The letter should be sent as an attachment to maria.rohach@drake.edu. A committee of faculty and staff will review all nominations and make recommendations to the vice provost for international programs.

—Maria Rohach