All posts by Heidi Weiss

Drake student wins prestigious science fellowship

Katrina Sletten, a public relations, astronomy, and physics triple major, has received a summer internship designed to mentor undergraduate women in aerospace.

The 36 Brooke Owens Fellows are selected for “their talent, their experience, their commitment to service and their creativity.”

Fellows are matched by industry leaders to intern positions based on their area of interest and expertise. Katrina will intern next summer at the National Museum of Flight in Seattle, working with the museum’s executive director.

Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Couch to 5K program

If you would like a special challenge this spring, then Couch to 5K may be for you. This program is designed to take almost anyone from the couch to completing a 5K (3.1 miles) in nine weeks. You just need to commit to training 30 minutes a day, three days a week, at a time that works for you.

You will receive a training plan and weekly emails with tips and encouragement for those times when you may need an extra nudge. In addition, when you finish the program, we will form a team and complete the Drake Road Race 5K on April 22. This year’s course finishes on the iconic Blue Oval in Drake Stadium.

If you are interested in this challenge, please email linda.feiden@drake.edu. There will be an informational meeting Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 11:30 a.m. in the Olmsted Center, Drake Room. The training program will begin the following Monday, Feb. 12.

One more note: Registration is open now for the Drake Road Races and Grand Blue Mile. On Feb. 6 only, you can register for the Grand Blue Mile for only $10 at www.grandbluemile.com, which is half off the regular registration price and includes a commemorative technical shirt. If you complete both the Drake Road Race 5K and the Grand Blue Mile (called the Bulldog Double), you will be awarded a special commemorative medal.

Linda Feiden, Human Resources

30-minute CPR class

Do you want to learn CPR but don’t have time for a four-hour class? The American Heart Association is offering a free Hands Only CPR class. This is not a certification course.

Hands only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest. The AHA still recommends CPR with compressions and breaths for infants and children, victims of drowning, drug overdose, or people who collapse due to breathing problems. However, with this class you will learn two easy steps that can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

Join us on Friday, Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. in Olmsted Center, Rooms 310 and 311, for this quick and simple training class. In 30 minutes, you will learn a skill that could save a life.

Participants will earn BUILD (Bulldogs United in Learning Drake) credits and be entered into a drawing at the end of the semester. Additional BUILD information, including an online registration form, is accessible under the blueView Employee tab in the Learning and Development section of Human Resources.

Email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu for more information.

Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Send a colleague a kudos

Drake’s online recognition tool, Peerceive, is a quick and simple way to show recognition to colleagues. Recognizing employee contributions, and creating meaningful recognition and awards programs, are an important part of the Drake culture.

The Peerceive dashboard includes easy-to-use tools to send electronic kudos or e-cards. Kudos are a way for co-workers to express gratitude for a unique contribution to the workplace. They can be sent as often as you wish and to any employee (or group of employees) in any department. E-cards are an electronic version of a hand written note. Use these to tell an employee happy birthday, thank you, congratulations, or wish them well.

Recipients will receive an email letting them know they received a kudos or e-card. A link will take them to the site where they can view the message.

You can access Peerceive on blueView under the Employee tab. Peerceive is located in the right-hand channel. It can be bookmarked for easy access. Your username is your Drake email address and your initial password is your employee number, including any leading zeroes.

The portal is simple to use, but if there are questions, a Peerceive User Guide is available.

For additional information, contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Welcome new Bulldogs

In January, Drake welcomed six full-time staff members:

Molly Painter, Teacher Associate Substitute, Head Start

Ariadna Gonzalez Agostini, Teacher, Head Start

Bonita (Bonnie) Ehler, Budget Coordinator/Administrative Assistant, International Center

Julie Yankey, Director of Partnerships and Special Programs, International Center

Jeffrey (Jeff) Currie, Classroom Support Technician, ITS

William (Bill) Winslow, Assistant Duty Engineer, Facilities Planning and Management

— Laura Schwarz, Human Resources

Discussion on inclusive learning environments

The next in a series of meetings focused on creating inclusive learning environments will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Olmsted Center, Drake Room. These meetings provide an opportunity for anyone on campus to come and discuss the challenges, successes, and failures we have faced as we try to navigate the difficult issue of creating inclusive learning environments. For questions, contact Art Sanders at arthur.sanders@drake.edu.

— Art Sanders, Associate Provost

Griff joins Drake Choir to deliver singing valentines

Looking for a unique Valentine greeting for friends, colleagues, or family? The Drake Choir will deliver singing valentines on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Each singing valentine is a special delivery and can be presented at work, a restaurant, a retirement center, home, or wherever you designate; the choir has sung at construction sites, schools, offices, hospitals, and many more venues, so creativity is welcome.

We deliver to the entire Des Moines metro, including West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the day and 5:30 to 8 p.m. during the evening. In Ankeny, Altoona, Waukee, and Norwalk, we deliver from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

To order a singing valentine, visit http://www.drake.edu/valentines/ or call 515.271.3024. The deadline is Feb. 9.

Choose from one of our three great packages:

True Romance—one rose and a song, $30
Cupid’s Favorite—six roses and a song, $45
Hopeless Romantic—one dozen roses and a song, $65

Add an appearance from Griff for an additional $25
A new feature of our singing valentines is the opportunity to have Griff join the Drake Choir singers in presenting your order. You can add a Griff appearance to any order package for an additional $25. Griff is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Please note that Griff is a certified therapy dog and loves people. However, if you’re having us deliver a valentine to a building in which security clearance is needed to gain entry, you’ll need to work out those details ahead of time with a building supervisor. Our students will not have time to negotiate that aspect of things when they arrive, so please make sure that Griff is expected and welcomed.

Why a singing valentine?
In addition to winning brownie points with your valentine, you’ll be supporting the Drake Choir’s May 2019 international tour. No University funds are used for these tours, so your support is important and greatly appreciated.

— Aimee Beckmann-Collier, Music

 

 

Bulldog Applause: spotlight on University Communications

University Communications team (front row): Ashton Hockman, Justice Simpson, Jeremy Sievers, Jill Brimeyer, and Emma Daily. (Back row) Sara Sommerlot, Jason Nunemaker, Dexter Jacobs, Meredith Ponder, Dave Remund, Jarad Bernstein, Aaron Jaco, and Tim Schmidt. Not pictured: Beth Wilson, Niki Smith, and Heidi Weiss.

Last week, Drake’s All Staff Council Recognition Committee celebrated the University Communications (UC) team with a surprise cookie delivery (compliments of Drake Dining). The following spotlight provides facts about UC and how they make Drake a better place.

Primary function: The Office of University Communications works to advance the image and reputation of Drake. The team focuses on the University’s key priorities, developing and implementing comprehensive communication strategies tailored to key stakeholder groups: faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, community members, and the media. They also support campus partners by providing valuable tools that enable them to be strong brand ambassadors.

Staff:  There are 16 members of UC. Currently, there are two open positions.

Longest serving team member: Jeremy Sievers, director, digital communications. Jeremey started in August 2004 (13 years).

Newest team member: Dexter Jacobs, senior strategist, digital communications. Dexter started in November 2017.

What has University Communications been working on that the Drake community should know about?

  • UC is in the midst of implementing a new brand platform, with initial efforts focused on admission projects and key advancement needs.
  • So far this fiscal year, they have 696 jobs on the books, with 284 active jobs currently in the queue. This doesn’t count PR or internal communication projects.
  • They’re launching more self-service tools for campus partners every day.
  • Academic websites are in the process of being redesigned and relaunched (see news websites for CBPA, SJMC, and SOE).
  • UC planned and executed 31 print pieces in fall 2017 to push applications and encourage prospective students to visit, and helped Admission hit their target of 6,000 applications!

Resources: For great self-service tools, be sure to check out the Toolkit, which contains the recently updated Brand Style Guide as well as editorial guidelines, design standards, templates, social media tips, and more.

The Office of University Communications is located at 1229 25th Street, which is next door to Public Safety and across 25th Street from Old Main.

Terri Howard, Law School/All Staff Council