All posts by Heidi Weiss

News & Achievements Archive

PR students selected as international award finalists

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication has nominated two public relations seniors for the annual PR News international PR People Awards, who have become finalists. Maddy Gildersleeve has been selected as a finalist for PR Student of the Year and Sarah Mondello has been selected as a finalist for PR Intern of the Year.

PR News‘ PR People Awards is an international competition that recognizes the top talent whose work is making an impact in the communications field. The recipients of this award represent the professionals who are responsible for outstanding PR achievements made in the past year. PR News wants to meet the best in PR and introduce them to the thousands of readers of PR News and their key stakeholders.

The winners of the PR People Awards will be profiled online and at an awards luncheon on Dec. 5 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

News & Achievements Archive

Mondello wins PRSA scholarship

Drake public relations major Sarah Mondello won the Ferne Bonomi and Dr. Henry Milam Scholarship, awarded by the Central Iowa chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Bonomi is a longtime Iowa public relations professional and Milam is a beloved retired SJMC PR professor.

Annually, the Central Iowa PRSA chapter offers the scholarship to assist a student in the pursuit of public relations education. The winning student is selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement in addition to commitment to the public relations profession.

Kristin Sunde, PRSA Central Iowa past president, selected Mondello as this year’s winner. Sunde said Mondello’s “application, resume, and transcript were incredibly impressive. [She’s] got a bright future.”

Ferne Bonomi, public relations professional, and Kristin Sunde, PRSA Central Iowa Past President, present Sarah Mondello with the Ferne Bonomi and Dr. Henry Milam Scholarship.
Featured Events Archive

Lecture addressing the North Korean nuclear threat

Scott Snyder, of the Council on Foreign Relations, will give a lecture on the North Korean nuclear threat Monday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves as co-chair of the advisory council of the National Committee on North Korea and has provided advice to non-governmental organizations and humanitarian organizations active in North Korea. His newest book is South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (Columbia University Press, 2018).

The lecture is sponsored by the Principal Center for Global Citizenship, East Asian studies minor, and the Department of Political Science.                                                          

Kayla Jenkins, College of Arts & Sciences

Featured Events Archive

Guitars under the stars

A unique event, combining classical guitar music and stargazing, will take place Saturday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. at Drake’s Municipal Observatory located at Observatory Road in Waveland Park, Des Moines.

The event is free and open to the public. It will consist of a classical guitar concert by members of the Heart of Iowa Classical Guitar Society followed by a tour of the observatory and stargazing using the historic refractor telescope. The tour will be conducted by Charles Nelson, professor of astronomy. Classical and contemporary guitar pieces will be performed.

Please note, the telescope dome is kept at ambient temperature and may be cold at night. The conference room where the concert will be held is heated. For questions, contact Athan Petridis at athan.petridis@drake.edu.

Sharyn O’Connor, College of Arts and Sciences

Featured Events Archive

The Comparison Project: “Buddhist Views on the Enlightenment”

The Comparison Project is hosting an unplanned event on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater. Reverend Heng Sure, the director of the Institute for World Religions at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, is in town visiting a local Buddhist temple, and therefore, able to speak at Drake. He will present “Buddhist Views on the Enlightenment.”

Tim Knepper, Professor of Philosophy/Director of The Comparison Project

Featured Events Archive

This weekend: A Course in Miracles and Meet My Religious Neighbor

The College of Arts and Sciences is featuring two events this weekend––a workshop titled “A Course in Miracles” on Saturday, Dec. 2, and an open house as part of the Meet My Religious Neighbor series on Sunday, Dec. 3.

“A Course in Miracles” will be led by Debra Landwehr Engle and other CiM instructors. The workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Meredith Hall.

The Meet My Religious Neighbor open house will be held at Burns United Methodist Church located at 1909 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Des Moines from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Burns United Methodist is the oldest African-American church in Iowa.

The church’s Sunday service begins at 11 a.m. Guests can dress as they desire––Burns’ parishioners wear everything from suits to sweats. Guests who want a brief orientation of the service and tour of the facilities should arrive by 10:45 a.m.

Monique Rodriguez, College of Arts & Sciences

HR Information Archive

Wellness presentation: “How to Stay Young the First 100 Years”

Do you suffer from chronic headaches or back pain? Have you ever wondered why your body is able to heal some problems so quickly, while others never seem to get back to 100 percent?  Join Dr. David Krohse on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 12 p.m. in the Olmsted Center, Rooms 310/311, for the presentation, “How to Stay Young the First 100 Years.”

Attendees will learn the most effective strategies to keep their body healthy and symptom-free, including exercises to reduce neck and back pain.

A free pizza lunch from Biaggi’s will be provided. There are limited seats available, so advance registration is required. To attend, email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

Although this session is not listed on the BUILD enrollment form, participants will earn BUILD credits and be entered into a drawing at the end of the semester.

Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Last chance to make benefit elections for 2018

Drake’s annual open enrollment period for the 2018 plan year ends this Thursday, Nov. 30.

Complete a new enrollment form if:

  • You wish to participate in Drake’s flexible spending account plans during 2018.
  • You wish to make a change to your current medical, dental, or wellness elections.

If you wish to continue your current medical, dental, or wellness elections, you do not need to do anything; your participation will automatically continue.

Completed forms may be hand-delivered to Human Resources (3206 University Ave.), submitted via USPS/campus mail, faxed to 515-271-4546, or emailed to drakehr@drake.edu.  Enrollment forms are located in the Forms Library on the Employee Tab in blueView. All forms must be received by Human Resources no later than 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Marlene Huertz, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Digital faculty member of the month: Maura Strassberg

Maura Strassberg, professor of law, was selected as ITS’ digital faculty member of the month for November. Read a brief interview between Strassberg and ITS.

What type of technology (hardware/software) do you use? 

Peerceptiv website/software

What course do you use it in? 

Contracts I

In what context do you use this technology? 

Guided peer review of answers to problems testing understanding and written communication of application of the law to facts.

How does this type of technology align with your teaching pedagogy? 

Students learn the most from active use of what they learn, but need considerable feedback to recognize deficiencies. Peerceptiv allows me to guide students’ review of their peers’ work in a way that approximates my own review, which is important for a class of 50+ students. I especially appreciate the way it exposes them to a wide range of peer answers anonymously, which allows them to start differentiating better, worse, and alternative ways to address the problem. It handles all the administration of this, from submission of student answers, distribution of anonymized peer answers for their review, and an algorithm-based grading mechanism that I used more to identify students who were behind their peers than to generate grades.

Where did you get the inspiration to make a change? 

I started taking an online course in evidence-based pedagogy in the STEM fields and stumbled on a reference to it.

How long did it take for you to implement this technology?

A fair amount of time. I worked online over the summer with a small group of law professor pioneers attempting to adapt this STEM-oriented program to the law school setting, creating rubrics and exercises and then testing them on ourselves. Once I started to adapt my old problems and answers to this platform, it took several hours a week to redesign the materials and input materials into the platform. Next time will be much easier. I hope that having my experience to support them will make it easier for my colleagues to give it a try.

Are you interested in trying out new technology in your classroom? Want help from ITS staff? Schedule a technology adoption consultation.  

—Erin Ulrich, CPHS, and Carla Herling, ITS