Historically, University Advancement has managed the recognition of alumni and their degrees. In the past, undergraduate degrees were the two letters for the college and then the class year (AS’09), all graduate degrees (except Law and Pharmacy) were changed to GR for graduate degree and then the class year (GR’09).

We have evolved as a University and have added degrees, and this recognition has not been updated for quite some time. We have heard from you throughout the years with questions. We also spoke with the Registrar’s Office who supports this update.

Recently we have updated this recognition that mirrors much of what is in Banner degree-wise.

 We will continue to recognize Liberal Arts (LA) and Fine Arts (FA) since we have living alumni from those schools (they merged in 1987 and became AS).

Undergraduate recognition will not change (but we have added some), graduate degrees will now be recognized by their degree. We believe this comprehensively gives us a better update of the current offerings at Drake and correctly identifies how these alumni should be recognition.

New rules:

• Undergraduates are recognized by their College and Year (this includes John Dee Bright College students with their associate degrees)
• Non-Degreed Alumni are recognized by their anticipated graduation year only
• Graduate and Honorary degrees are recognized by their specific degree abbreviation

New/changes to undergraduate degree recognition.

Undergraduate from former 4- or 5-year Pharmacy Programs	PH
Undergraduate from John Dee Bright College	JB
Undergraduate from Pharmacy & Health Sciences**	HS

** Note the change from the previous standard for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Since Pharmacy degrees are now graduate degrees only, they will be recognized according to the graduate degree table as PharmD. Those who graduated with a 4- or 5-year undergraduate Pharmacy degree in the past will be recognized with PH. Those with other undergraduate degrees (Health Sciences, Kinesiology, Nursing) from the College of Pharmacy & Health Science will be recognized with HS.

Also note, there is always a comma after the name, and then no spacing between degree and year.

Example	CY Salutation
Undergraduate with degree from single college or school	John Smith, AS’04 John Smith, BN’07
Undergraduate with degree(s) from two different colleges or schools	John Smith, AS’04, BN’04 John Smith, JO’07, HS’07
Undergraduate with associate degree only	John Smith, JB’23
Undergraduate with associate degree and bachelor’s degree	John Smith, JB’23, BN’25
Alum who received an undergraduate pharmacy degree through the 4- or 5-year program	John Smith, PH’92
Non-degree student who would have graduated with UG degree in 2007	John Smith, ‘07
Non-degreed student who would have graduated with a graduate degree in 2007	John Smith, ‘07
Alum with only a Juris Doctor	John Smith, JD’07
Alum with both a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor	John Smith, HS’05, JD’08 John Smith, ED’17, JD’20
Alum with degrees from two different undergraduate colleges or schools and a PharmD	John Smith, AS’00, BN’00, PharmD’07
Alum with several graduate degrees	John Smith, MBA’07, MPH’09, JD’11
Honorary Degree	John Smith, HLLD’14
Alum with degrees at all levels	John Smith, JB’23, AS’25, BN’25, MBA’28, MS’30, JD’33, OTD’36

We will share this with the alumni in the fall issue of Blue magazine. We encourage you to share this with alumni as well.

Update your name badge and email signature

Should these changes apply to you, we ask that you work to get an updated nametag and business card to reflect the change. These can be ordered by your department staff through Image Solutions (badges) or Woolverton, Mfg. (business cards). Your division’s Budget Manager can direct you to the appropriate person to place those orders.

This links to the Image Solutions e-store  –  https://www.promoplace.com/drake-university

And this to the Woolverton, Mfg. e-store –https://printshop.drake.edu/

Also, you need to update your email signature block with these changes.

— Pam Pepper, University Advancement

As election season approaches, a reminder that faculty and staff are free to engage in political advocacy as individuals but should never do so using any Drake University-affiliated resources or as a representative of Drake University. As a tax-exempt institution, it is vital that we maintain political neutrality to maintain our tax-exempt status with the IRS. Faculty and staff are encouraged to review and familiarize themselves with Drake’s Political Activity Policy.

This means that any Drake-affiliated social media channels are subject to scrutiny and cannot be used to like, post, share, or comment on any content that could be perceived as Drake showing support of (or opposition to) any political party or candidate. We ask that anyone responsible for a Drake-affiliated social media page carefully monitor your content/likes in the months ahead to ensure that it cannot be interpreted as showing support or opposition to any political candidates, positions, or viewpoints.

For questions, contact John Krantz, director of strategic communications, University Communications and Marketing.

— John Krantz, University Communications and Marketing