All posts by Aaron Jaco

Campus Announcements Archive

Construction update

The pre-construction project to move an electrical distribution line and to move a communication duct is nearly complete; this project needed to be completed prior to construction of the new Science Connector Building and the new School of Education. A portion of sidewalk is currently closed on the west side of 27th Street, just east of Medbury Hall. This sidewalk should be poured early next week. The project is approximately two weeks ahead of schedule. The construction will continue for the next week or two in a grassy area between Medbury and Jewett Hall parking lot, but will not close any sidewalk.

—Submitted by Jolene Schmidt, Director, Operations and Support Services

Campus Announcements Archive

Contracts reminder

All fully executed contracts need to be sent to ducontracts@drake.edu.

The following agreements should be kept at the department level:

  • Independent Contractor Agreements including entertainers, speakers, and artists
  • Agreements for transportation, hotels, entertainment, or room rentals for one-time events at non-Drake locations

—Submitted by Kelly Foster, Administrative Services Specialist

News & Achievements Archive

Risky Business Week

University Risk Management and Insurance Association (URMIA) has developed a number of free risk management webinars to help bring information about the value of risk management to our campus during Risky Business Week. Drake University is a member of URMIA and as such, all faculty, staff, and students can register to take the free risk webinars below. Consider participating on your own or in a group (discussion group, lunch and learn, etc.).

Webinar 1: Managing Risks with Student Groups (Monday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.)

Webinar 2: Mitigating Travel Risks with University Policies and Procedures (Tuesday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m.)

Webinar 3: Can It Begin with Me? Risk Leadership on Campus. (Wednesday, Nov. 4, 11 a.m.)

Webinar 4: Working with Researchers to Manage Laboratory Risks (Thursday, Nov. 5, 11 a.m.)

Webinar 5: Data Breach 201 (Friday, Nov. 6, 11 a.m.)

Register for Risk Management Week webinars here. You’ll find full descriptions of each webinar on the register page. (NOTE: when you register, it will look like you are placing an order but the webinars are free so $0 will show on the order form). If you have any problems registering, contact Donna Blunck at x3116.

—Submitted by Donna Blunck, Director, Risk and Insurance

News & Achievements Archive

Drake news: Oct. 26

The former head of digital strategy for the Obama White House and the president of production for the website Funny or Die are among the confirmed participants in “Digital Democracy: The Yahoo Conference on Technology and Politics” to be held at Drake on Nov. 12.

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University celebrated CHARACTER COUNTS! Week in Iowa with a proclamation by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and the announcement of a high-profile award for former Major League Baseball player Casey Blake.

Plus, three Drake students were quoted in an article in The Washington Post, “What is a democratic socialist? Bernie Sanders tries to redefine the name.”

Strategic Updates Archive

From the President: Continuous improvement

You may recall that in September I shared with you the effort by Drake leadership to introduce continuous improvement planning as an new approach to institutional strategic planning. To recap, continuous improvement is an ongoing, flexible planning process designed to deliver outcomes that improve communication, resource prioritization, and alignment with mission. This approach is a fusion of traditional strategic planning—we are drawing on the work done over the past few years—and HLC reaccreditation efforts, and offers an innovative strategy to improve our University.

Since my email in September, I have met with a number of stakeholders on campus, including Faculty Senate, All Staff Council, and the Board of Trustees to present the idea of continuous improvement and how we envision it working for us. I’m happy to now be able to share this information more broadly.

The campus at large can learn more about continuous improvement and what this means for Drake in one spot online. (You can also access the site via the blueView Homepage or Employee tab.) To give you a brief overview of the process and how it is being integrated across different areas of our University, I encourage you to view the following videos:

  1. Overview of continuous improvement
  2. Continuous improvement and academic operations—Joe Lenz
  3. Continuous improvement and HLC reaccreditation—Kevin Saunders & Craig Owens
  4. Continuous improvement and campus technology—Chris Gill
  5. Continuous improvement and budget planning—Teresa Krejci

I invite your ongoing feedback as we make this transition. While we will no doubt have our growing pains with this change, it is a shift that will provide great benefit to the University.

Sincerely,
Marty

Featured Events Archive

Fine arts events week of Oct. 26

Princeton University faculty pianist Francine Kay will perform the opening concert of the third season of Drake University’s Keys to Excellence Piano Series, which raises awareness of Drake’s fundraising efforts for the purpose of purchasing 70 brand new Yamaha pianos for the music department.

Kay’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in Sheslow Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
Noted for innately original and artistic interpretations, Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America, and Asia, and at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Salle Gaveau, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and Bargemusic. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, Radio France, and the CBC.

Learn more about Kay and the Keys to Excellence Piano Series here.

More fine arts events this week:
Faculty recital, Sarah Plum, violin
7:30–9 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium

Student Theatre Production Showcase
Oct. 30–31, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1, 2 p.m.
Studio 55
Get tickets here

News & Achievements Archive

Take part in Recreational Services’ Murder Mystery

Murder Mystery is a wellness incentive program coordinated by Recreational Services as a way to promote a daily fitness routine. It will take place at the Bell Center starting today, Oct. 26, and run through Friday, Oct. 30. Each day participants should sign in at the front desk of the Bell Center to access a clue. By the end of the week, each participant will have enough clues to solve the murder mystery. Each participant to correctly solve the mystery will receive a coffee mug. This program is free for all Drake students, faculty, and staff. Just sign in at the desk today, and start collecting your clues!

—Submitted by Ellen Lowe, Assistant Director Recreational Services – Wellness

News & Achievements Archive

Klaus Bartschat receives Will Allis Prize from American Physical Society

Klaus Bartschat, the Ellis & Nelle Levitt Professor of Physics, was awarded the 2016 Will Allis Prize for the Study of Ionized Gases from the American Physical Society (APS). APS represents over 51,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

Klaus received the award “for fundamental theoretical and computational contributions to the understanding of charged-particle and photon collisions with atoms and molecules and for providing critical data and insight to the plasma modeling community.” His research is of fundamental importance for basic physics and has broad applications in many areas of research and industry.

The Will Allis Prize was established in 1989 in recognition of the outstanding contributions of Will Allis (1901-1999), an American theoretical physicist, to the study of ionized gases. It is awarded in even-numbered years.

Klaus is the 14th honoree in the award’s history; recent recipients hail from noted research institutions including the University of California at Berkley (2014), the Queen’s University of Belfast (2012), and the University of Michigan (2010). More information can be found at www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/allis.cfm.

Klaus will receive $10,000 and deliver an invited talk at the 47th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, in June 2016. He will also be honored at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), to be held in Bochum (Germany) in October 2016.

Read more about Klaus here.

Featured Events Archive

Cheer on the Bulldogs!

Below is a list of the home athletic events this week.

Volleyball
Drake vs. Indiana State
Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
Knapp Center

Volleyball
Drake vs. Illinois State
Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
Knapp Center
*Kids in costume receive free admission and a Halloween treat

—Submitted by Thomas Florian, Assistant Director of Ticket Sales

Featured Events Archive

Comparison Project examines the Cult of Santa Muerte

El Día de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—is a lively holiday celebrated in Latin America in honor of the deceased. This year, Professor Eduardo González of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Gudalajara, will discuss, “La Migración y el Culto a la Santa Muerte: Asirse a lo que Sea” (Migration and the Cult of Santa Muerte: Hanging onto Whatever). Professor González’s talk will take place Thursday, Oct. 29 starting at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater.

This event is part of The Comparison Project. The “cult of Santa Muerte” (Saint Death) is the fastest growing and most prominent religious movement in Mexico today. Professor González’s lecture explores the worship of Santa Muerte in the city of Guadalajara, focusing both on the general ways in which the church of Santa Muerte offers “a place for everyone” and on the specific ways in which Santa Muerte serves the needs of migrants attempting the crossing to the United States.

Eduardo González Velázquez is a research professor at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. He won the Jalisco Journalism Award in 2009 and 2007 for reporting and writing, respectively. He has published 30 articles and book chapters, including “Ciudadanos a la Mitad.” His current area of research is U.S.-Mexico migration.

Further details can be found at the Comparison Project website.

—Submitted by Drake International