All posts by Ashton Hockman

For Students Archive

Free basketball tickets for students

Drake undergraduate, graduate, and law students are admitted free to all home Drake basketball games. Tickets will be automatically added to students’ valid Drake Card. All students must present their Drake Card to receive admission. Below is the necessary information for attending basketball games at the The Knapp Center.

Drake Men’s Basketball

  • Enter The Knapp Center Southwest Student Entrance.
  • Present your Drake Student ID to the Drake Athletics staff person. Your ticket will be printed at the gate.
  • Student seating is available in sections J–K and S–T for men’s basketball games and sections J–K for women’s basketball games.

Students will receive their tickets directly to their valid Drake Card via Flash Seats. Your personal information remains confidential as Drake Athletics has partnered with Flash Seats to help give you the most convenient method to attend Bulldog athletic events. You will receive a confirmation email from Flash Seats that your tickets have arrived on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Once you have received the email, all you need to do is head to the game and cheer on the Bulldogs. If you do not receive an email from Flash Seats, please visit or contact the Drake Athletics ticket office at 515-271-3647 or tickets@drake.edu. Additional student ticket information is available at DrakeTix.com/student.

—Tom Florian, Drake Athletics

For Students Archive

Data visualization workshop: An introduction to Tableau

Attend a workshop on Oct. 25 from 5 to 6:15 p.m., in Cowles Library, Room 45, on Tableau information visualization software. Tableau is a drag and drop software for transforming Excel or .csv files into graphical formats. The workshop provides a hands-on experience, starting with data cleanup and ending with the creation of an online geo-referenced dashboard.

Details and registration information can be found here. Seating is limited to 20. Drop-in’s are welcome if space is available.

—Cameron Tuai, Cowles Library

For Students Archive

Join the Mentors in Violence Prevention Peer Educators

Are you passionate about violence prevention and making Drake a more inclusive and safe community? If this is you, join the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) team. The program is a great opportunity for students to develop skills in presenting, networking, and community outreach. Drake’s MVP program inspires leadership by empowering individuals with tools to lead and with concrete options to effect change in their peer cultures and across campus. Peer facilitators receive 12 hours of training, serve on our full MVP team, and present the curriculum on campus. Applications are due this Wednesday, Oct. 25.

The MVP team is hosting a train-the-trainer event the evening of Friday, Nov. 3, and during the day on Saturday, Nov. 4. Can’t attend the full training but still interested in learning about MVP or being a supporter? There is an option for supporters to attend part of the training. Supporters can be faculty, staff, or students. Supporters help open doors and make connections to further the MVP program. To attend a portion of the training as a supporter, send Tess Cody an email at tess.cody@drake.edu. Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the training and be a part of the implementation discussion on the second day. Faculty and staff who are interested should also email Cody.

—Tess Cody, Violence Prevention Coordinator

For Students Archive

Drake recognizes Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and now, more than ever, it is vital to talk about healthy and unhealthy relationships. The following events and activities will be held in the coming weeks to raise awareness for domestic violence:

Oct. 24–26: Violence Intervention Partner (VIP) to host a table in Olmsted. Stop by to learn more about their services and healthy versus unhealthy relationships. Follow the VIP page and get a cupcake.

Nov. 7: Speak Out and Poetry Slam at Mars Café at 7 p.m. hosted by SAGE

Nov. 9: “Help I’m Bad At Dating: A Discussion Of Pop Culture, Healthy and Unhealthy Dating Practices” at Shivers Courtside Club at 7 p.m. hosted by VIP.

Nov. 12: Bulldogs Against Abuse Conference hosted by IFC and PanHel. Time and location to be announced.

Also, look for purple ribbons displayed around trees near Helmick Commons.

If you or a friend experience emotional, physical, or financial abuse in a relationship, help is available. Violence Intervention Partner is a 24/7 confidential helpline to listen and safety plan. Text/call 515-512-2972. The Drake Title IX office and Public Safety are also available to help. Contact Katie, Title IX coordinator, at 515-271-2982 or email: kathryn.overberg@drake.edu or titleix@drake.edu. Contact Drake Public Safety at 515-271-2222.

—Tess Cody, Violence Prevention Coordinator

News & Achievements Archive

CBPA scholarship winners

Drake faculty of the College of Business and Public Administration awarded scholarships to five students to take the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 exam in 2018.  Drake is able to award these scholarships because it is an Affiliated University of the CFA Institute. Drake obtained this designation because its undergraduate finance program incorporates at least 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge and places emphasis on the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)® designation is the most respected and recognized investment credential in the world with almost 140,000 charter holders worldwide. To become a CFA Institute charterholder, candidates must pass three rigorous exams and complete four years of professional work experience.  The pass rate for each exam is about 35–40 percent.

Congratulations to the following scholarship recipients:

  • Davis Heck, finance (and first semester MBA)
  • Maggie Mueller, finance
  • Amelia Quek, finance
  • Ali Smith, finance
  • Kahmun Yap, finance

—Dianna Gray, College of Business and Public Administration

News & Achievements Archive

SOE professor awarded Collier Baker Endowed Professorship

Professor Robert Stensrud was awarded the Collier Baker Endowed Professorship, a four-year award that carries a stipend and research fund, by the Drake Board of Trustees on Oct. 7. He plans to use the award to continue research on the Clubhouse model of employment and training for special needs populations.

Stensrud is serving his 30th year as a professor in the Leadership and Counseling Department of the School of Education. He has served as department chair from 1991 to 1995, redesigning the counseling specializations that have become national accredited by two major governing boards. He was the director of the School of Education’s Collaborative Leadership in Education, which included the oversight of an $8 million budget. From 1989 to 1999, he was director of the National Rehabilitation Institute, and in 1994, he received the Outstanding Program Award from the U.S. Department of Education Rehab Services. Since coming to Drake, Stensrud has received $15.7 million to support the training of rehabilitation counselors, research on disability, and projects serving the Drake and Greater Des Moines communities. To date, he has written more than 60 refereed publications on disability, health care, and employment.

—Janet McMahill, School of Education

News & Achievements Archive

Kent named Iowa Women of Innovation Award finalist

Deborah Kent, associate professor of mathematics, is a finalist for a state award that recognizes innovation in STEM education.

The Technology Association of Iowa announced that Kent is one of five educators in the running for a 2017 Women of Innovation Award in the category of Academic Innovation and Leadership.

Students in Kent’s courses benefit from her strategic approach to incorporating classroom technology into the educational experience.

“Mathematical ideas must be powerfully integrated with technology in the modern world and I work hard to do this in the classroom,” Kent said. “I use technological tools to support the strengths of traditional thinking and to enable students to do things they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.”

For example, Kent recently introduced a Numerical Linear Algebra course in which students used MATLAB, a high-performance language for technical computing—including data analytics and algorithm development. The MATLAB software empowers students to manipulate and visualize large data sets.

The award nomination also recognizes Kent’s national reputation for excellence in mathematics writing and her emphasis on teaching students effectively to communicate technical information.

See the news release for more.

Featured Events Archive

Visiting Professional Series: Joe Pulizzi

Author, entrepreneur, and founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi is excited to share his expertise with the Drake community. Pulizzi recently published his fifth book, Killing Marketing, that explains why many companies are dismissing old marketing methods in favor of a new, content-driven system. Join the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine Studies in the Cowles Library Reading Room on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. to hear Pulizzi talk about his new book, the color orange, and all things content marketing. The event is free and open to the public.

For questions, email katie.bandurski@drake.edu.

—Katie Bandurski