Nearly 3,000 elementary and middle school students attended the Drake women’s basketball game on Dec. 8 to Pack the Knapp for CHARACTER COUNTS! Griff made a special appearance and debuted a new video showing how he demonstrates the Six Pillars of Character. The Ray Center provided every student with an activity booklet for the game plus educational materials so that teachers could continue lessons on sportsmanship and character back at school.
—Amy Smit, Robert D. and Billie Ray Center
Door schedules will change for the holiday break. We will adopt “administrative hours” for most of the buildings following graduation on Saturday, Dec. 17. Buildings will be open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Dec. 22. Doors will then be locked for the holiday break from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2. Faculty and staff will still be able to utilize their authorized access plans (for example, 24/7 access to their office buildings), but student plans will be shut off during this time. Regular building hours will resume at the start of January Term, Jan. 3.
Please contact Public Safety (515-271-2222) if you have a door access emergency during this time, or contact the Student Services Center (515-271-2000 or studentservices@drake.edu) if you have a general card access question or concern.
Happy Holidays!
—Sara Heijerman, Campus Card Office
The student editorial board of the Drake University Social Science Journal (DUSSJ) is now accepting submissions for its 17th edition, to be published in the spring. Submissions may be short(er) analytical essays or long(er) research papers, but the board particularly welcomes submissions that display strong analytical and writing skills and offer interesting, original analysis of the author’s chosen topic/field. Any paper that gestures to ideas, claims, and questions of interest and importance to the social sciences (very inclusively understood!) are welcome. Contributions will be blind peer reviewed by a six-member student editorial board.
Submissions are due Feb. 15, 2017, and should be submitted electronically in Word format to advisor.dussj@gmail.com. All questions should be directed to this address, as well. When submitting a paper, please indicate if it is a research paper or short analytic essay. Also, please indicate the primary discipline and any secondary discipline(s). Only one submission per person will be accepted.
Past editions of DUSJJ are available for viewing at http://www.drake.edu/dussj/
—Denise Ganpat, Drake International
Google has announced an initiative that partners the tech giant with journalism programs around the world, and Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) is part of the initial cohort of 48 institutions. The Google News Lab University network aims to “provide journalism educators with the same level of training and support that we’ve provided to journalists in newsrooms for years.” The partnership will provide SJMC students and faculty with on-campus and online training “on topics ranging from Google tool fundamentals, trust and verification, immersive storytelling, data journalism, advanced search and Google Trends, data visualization, mapping, and more,” according to the news release. The first on-campus training session is scheduled for early February.
—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC
Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) recently released the DART Forward 2035 draft plan after receiving considerable public input. Drake employees and students are encouraged to visit dsm2.dartforward2035.com to complete DART’s online survey and weigh in on what you would like to see Des Moines’ public transportation system look like. Your feedback is critical to helping shape the future of public transportation offerings in the region. Feedback is due by Dec. 20.
Come out and cheer on your Bulldogs!
Men’s Basketball
Drake vs. South Dakota State
Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
Knapp Center
Men’s Basketball
Drake vs. Mississippi Valley State
Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
Knapp Center
Men’s Basketball
Drake vs. Loyola
Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.
Knapp Center
In November, Drake’s All Staff Council Recognition Committee celebrated Drake’s Information Technology Services (ITS) staff with a surprise cookie delivery. We continue the celebration here by spotlighting the department and providing a few fast facts about how they make life at Drake better.
Purpose Statement: “Drake ITS exists to empower Drake University to thrive in a digital world.”
Where they live: The department is spread among several buildings on campus: administration, network infrastructure, and professional services teams are in the Dial Center; campus relations and support center teams are in Carnegie; and the academic technology team is in Meredith Hall. The classroom build team is currently in the old ROTC building, plus each college/school has dedicated techs.
Staff members: 47
Student employees: 26
Longest-serving employee: Senior Solutions Engineer Joe Scavo (since 1983)
Newest team member: Jonathan Walker, Application Developer 2 (Joined in June 2016)
What has ITS been busy with lately? Plenty:
Kudos to ITS staff for leading the charge to provide and support innovative use of technology, and for helping enhance the Drake experience for students, faculty, and staff.
—All Staff Council Recognition Committee
We are happy to announce the fifth book of the University Book Club. We’ll be reading Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. Cowles Library has books available for checkout on a weekly basis. (Hint: ask for the book on reserve at the circulation desk.)
Click here for more information: Winter Book Club Info
Contact Sara Heijerman if you have any questions, would like to receive future book club info directly to your email, or would like to RSVP for the discussion, which will be Thursday, Jan. 12, at 4:45 p.m. at Gateway Market Cafe. We’ve had a lot of fun at these, please feel free to join us!
If you can’t make the discussion, we hope you’ll enjoy the book recommendation—as a bonus, this book has been turned into a movie and will be in theaters on Jan. 6! We’ve also pre-selected our Spring Break book, if you want to get a jump start on the next great read—our spring book will be The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan.
Have a great winter break, and happy reading.
Drake Book Club—previous selections:
—Sara Heijerman, Campus Card Office
Recreational Services will conduct fitness assessments for interested faculty and staff the following dates and times in the Bell Center Fitness Testing Room:
A fitness assessment is a valuable tool for evaluating your overall health and fitness, including your cardiovascular, strength endurance, and flexibility. Tests include the YMCA Step Test, push-ups, curl-ups (sit-ups), and a sit-and-reach test. A body composition is included as well. The entire assessment takes approximately 30 minutes.
For more information please email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.
—Linda Feiden, Human Resources
Weight Watchers’ unique mix of face-to-face interaction with a trained leader, group support, accountability, digital tools, and the convenience of meetings in the workplace have been a winning combination for many of your co-workers at Drake. It is time to bring it back!
The cost is normally $156 for the 12-week or $186 for the 17-week renewable series, but Weight Watchers is holding a special limited time offer. From Jan. 1 through Jan. 31, anyone who joins a Weight Watchers at Work series will receive a 15 percent discount off the regular price. A minimum of 15 participants is required to hold 12-week series and 20 for the 17-week a program.
Weekly meetings include a confidential weigh-in followed by a 30-minute class. Class dates, times, and locations TBD.
If you are interested in attending a Weight Watchers at Work series, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.
—Linda Feiden, Human Resources
