Aliber Hall is undergoing a renovation of its main level near the elevator and east stairwell. Construction is set to begin today, May 30. Please use the south doors (University Avenue) to enter the building beginning today. The north doors will be unavailable.
To access the east stairwell and the elevator, walk through the west doors of Room 101 and exit through the east doors of Room 101. You may also use the stairwell on the west side of the building to access the lower level. Construction is not anticipated during evening class hours, so no noise disturbance is expected during class hours.
Drake Online Programs has successfully completed its first semester with 27 new students enrolled in classes. We have more students starting this summer, including in four new online classes, which started this month. We are well above our projected enrollment numbers and are excited to see what summer and fall bring.
Continuing our growth and momentum, two more graduate degrees—The Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration—launched earlier this month. Digital marketing campaigns and social media ads to promote the programs were also rolled out. You can find more information on these two programs on our website under the programs tab. Many thanks to the faculty and staff of the College of Business and Public Administration for their efforts at getting these programs ready for students.
Remember that you can visit with Online Programs to discuss and ask questions regarding the programs at the Olmsted coffee shop on the third Thursday of every month between 1 and 2 p.m. If that time doesn’t work, please contact Christina Trombley at christina.trombley@drake.edu or extension 2506.
Someone leaves, and credentials are passed on. A student worker uses their supervisor’s login. A staff member goes on vacation and asks a colleague to check their emails. It seems inconsequential enough, but it’s not.
Sharing login credentials (whether you are the person doing the sharing or the person receiving the access) is specifically prohibited by Drake’s Responsible Use of IT Resources policy.
Given the steadily rising threat of security breaches and the sensitive nature of campus information, we can no longer use inconvenience or past history as a reason to practice poor information security habits.
Sharing passwords has two major implications:
It’s an internal breach of confidential information that opens the University to significant financial and legal liability, and increases the risk of an external data breach.
When a password is shared, we have no way of knowing who is actually performing actions using the account. If the account is hacked or if unauthorized activity takes place, the account owner is responsible.
Better enforcement of this policy is one of many steps we are taking to continuously improve campus information protection. Going forward, ITS staff members will be resetting shared passwords they encounter and I encourage you to pre-emptively change any of your passwords that may be known to others.
I’m happy to discuss this issue further, or any information security related questions or concerns you may have.
Late last week, University Communications became University Communications and Marketing. This involved some difficult decisions and staffing changes in order to streamline operations. A smaller in-house staff and this new name are part of a comprehensive effort to improve efficiency and more effectively promote the Drake University brand. There will be an intentionally strong focus on marketing going forward, to help the University remain viable and vibrant in these challenging times.
The UC&M team strives to be audience-focused, data-driven, and also digital-first whenever possible. (Note: The amount of printed materials has been reduced by more than 35 percent in the past 18 months.) Priority audiences are faculty/staff, prospective students, alumni, and other stakeholders in the public realm.
Turn to UC&M for guidance and support. More tools are in place now to empower campus partners to fulfill their own needs; see the department website and click on the Toolkit tab. When you have more complex needs that require strategic planning and/or full-service support, the UC&M team will step in directly.
Need help from UC&M? Your three primary points of contact will be:
Communications: For help communicating with faculty and staff, or sharing significant stories with the public via news media, contact Jarad Bernstein, Director of Communications, x3119 or jarad.bernstein@drake.edu.
Marketing: For help in marketing academic programs to prospective students or in engaging former students who are now alumni, contact Betsy McKibbin, Director of Marketing, who joins Drake on Monday, May 21. Her phone number will be x4501, and her email address will be betsy.mckibbin@drake.edu.
Brand Integration: For questions pertaining to creative execution of the Drake brand, including the University website and all forms of printed, digital and other tools, contact Jeremy Sievers, Director of Brand Integration, x2795 or jeremy.sievers@drake.edu. (Note: A smaller in-house staff that’s more focused on digital and social media means that graphic design for printed materials will largely be outsourced. Whenever possible, digital solutions will be presented and provided first.)
Other staff may be assigned to work with you directly (view organizational chart); however, to help the UC&M team manage workload and workflow, please contact one of the three directors listed above first. Also, new requests must have been pre-approved and prioritized by a President’s Council or Deans Council member. This will help ensure the UC&M team remains focused on the highest-priority needs of the University.
Thank you for your patience and flexibility during this time of transition.
OnCampus will move to a biweekly distribution schedule through the summer months. The newsletter will be delivered to faculty, staff, and student inboxes every other Tuesday starting May 15. It will resume to a weekly distribution schedule Aug. 21.
Summer distribution dates:
Tuesday, May 15
Wednesday, May 30 (Publication moved to Wednesday due to holiday)
Tuesday, June 12
Tuesday, June 26
Tuesday, July 10
Tuesday, July 24
Tuesday, Aug. 7
Tuesday, Aug. 21
The Drake softball team won its fourth Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title Saturday at Buel Field with a 4-1 victory over Southern Illinois. The win grants the team an automatic berth to the 2018 NCAA Tournament scheduled to begin with regional play this weekend.
Knowing that meant the team’s three seniors, Kailee Smith, Kelsey Wright, and Ashlie Chambers, would miss Sunday’s commencement, President Martin held a special ceremony on Buel Field following Saturday’s game. Congratulations, graduates!
Helping our students to be successful is a team effort. Depending on your role within the institution, however, you will likely have very specific priorities and goals in mind when you think about how to best support students. Drake will launch a new student success platform, called Starfish, in August 2018. Starfish works with all members of our institution to address their specific needs. Overall, the vision of Starfish is to help students succeed and graduate. It is an easy to use tool with a great user interface that gives faculty, students, and staff the opportunity to connect and communicate. The planning team has just started its work on the project, look for more updates as we approach the end of the school year.
— Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success
Visit the SAB Facebook event page for a full list of Relays events and activities.
It’s Relays week! The week-long festivities include so much more than world-class athletic competition on the Blue Oval. Here are a few ways to make the most of your Relays experience.
Carnival Day
The Relays Carnival is today from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in Helmick Commons. Come enjoy the sunny weather, free food, fun activities, and things like bucket hats, fanny packs, pins. Lots of Relays gear will given away.
Lace up your shoes
You don’t have to be an elite athlete to run at the Drake Relays. Hit the pavement during the Grand Blue Mile today, April 24. The one-mile street run is for runners of all ages and aspirations and starts in front of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park before making its way down Locust and Grand.
Grab lunch from a food truck on Forest Avenue
Students looking to grab a bite to eat on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 28, can dine at food trucks parked on Forest Avenue. The street will be closed to traffic between 27th Street and 29th Street from Thursday, April 26, at 2 p.m. to Saturday, April 28, at 5 p.m. The closure will allow Relays vendors, such as food trucks, to set up outside of the stadium and safely interact with students and the community. No vehicles will be allowed through the area during this time.
The Vault at Capital Square
A must see event, The Vault at Capital Square allows you to get up close and personal with world-class vaulters as they take to the skies inside the atrium at Capital Square tomorrow, April 25, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Alumni Awards Ceremony
The entire campus community (no need to be a Drake grad) is encouraged to attend the Alumni Awards Ceremony. The ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate our most distinguished alumni. This year’s award winners demonstrate outstanding professional accomplishments and loyal leadership to Drake and their communities. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to register to attend the ceremony on Thursday, April 26, at 5:15 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium.
Relays Distance Carnival
On Thursday, April 26, distance runners take the track with the 800-meter race beginning at 4:30 p.m. Don’t miss the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 7 p.m.—think seven-and-a-half laps with hurdles and water jumps.
Spot an Olympian
Keep your eyes peeled for greatness. The Drake Relays attract some of the world’s best athletes. On Saturday, April 28, catch a glimpse of Andre De Grasse, a three-time Olympic medalist, set to compete in the men’s invitational 100 meters. In 2016, De Grasse won three medals at the Rio Olympics, including bronze in the 100 meters, behind Usain Bolt.
Relays Concert
This year’s Drake Relays concert will feature two artists. Marc E. Bassy and AJR will perform Friday, April 27, at 9:15 p.m. on Forest Avenue. To get hyped up for the concert, listen to this playlist with all the artists’ best songs.
So, whether you are enjoying a paint fight or cheering on your favorite athlete, Relays has something for everyone. Visit the SAB Facebook event for a full list of activities.
Starting next month, after graduation ceremonies, pre-construction activity will begin at the southwest corner of 25th Street and Forest Avenue, the future site of the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Club.
Drake and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa are partnering to bring the new Club to campus. Scheduled to open fall 2019, the new Club will be the third in the country to be built on a private college campus. It will provide after-school and summertime programs focused on education, healthy lifestyles, and character and leadership development to more than 170 K-12 students in its first year.
On May 21, a perimeter construction fence will be erected surrounding the site and access to parking lots 9 and 10 will no longer be available. Pre-construction activity includes the removal of paving, relocating of utilities, grading, and tree removals.
In 2015, Drake’s campus tree care policy was revised for the purpose of identifying standards pertaining to procedures and practices used in establishing, protecting, maintaining, and removing trees on campus. The goal of the plan was to ensure a safe, attractive, and sustainable campus urban forest.
Complying with the plan, and as part of the Boys & Girls Club project, an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist with Perficut Companies completed a tree evaluation in collaboration with Drake’s Grounds Department to assess the health of existing trees, assist in determining the impact of the proposed improvements, and to develop recommendations for tree protection.
Following the evaluation, it was determined that 29 trees must be removed to complete the construction project. However, once construction is complete, 38 new trees will be planted around the new building and streetscape. These trees include: White Pine (4), Prairie Gold Aspen (22), Red Oak (5), and Japanese Tree Lilac (7).
Visit bgcci.org/club-pathways1 to learn more about the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Club. View more information on the project or the Drake Campus Tree Care Plan policy below.
In March, Drake welcomed seven new individuals to the Bulldog family.
Ann Guddall, Academic Affairs Budget Manager, Provost’s Office Mollie McKenzie, Compliance Coordinator, Pharmacy & Health Science Jared Butler, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacy & Health Science Sri Sai “Navya” Mannengi, Admission Counselor, Office of Admission Patrick Bourgeacq, Assistant Director, International Admission, Office of Admission Ethan Fickau, Admission Counselor, Office of Admission Darian DeVries, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Athletics
Starting next month, after graduation ceremonies, pre-construction activity will begin at the southwest corner of 25th Street and Forest Avenue, the future site of the Gregory & Suzie Glazer Burt Club.