All posts by Heath Henderson

For Students Archive

Summer 2024 Uganda travel seminar

The Summer 2024 Uganda travel seminar is a three-week, six-credit course where Drake students visit Uganda to study sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. The course will take place in the first three weeks of Summer 2024.

Interested students can learn more about the program by attending information sessions on the following days/times:

  • October 9th @ 5 PM in Aliber 112
  • October 10th @ 5 PM in Aliber 112
  • November 15th @ 5 PM in Aliber 112
  • November 16th @ 5 PM in Aliber 112

Please contact Professor Henderson (heath.henderson@drake.edu) with any questions.

— Heath Henderson, Zimpleman College of Business

For Faculty Archive

Cowles Library OERR grant stipend opportunity

Deadline Approaching: Sept. 27

Cowles Library is still accepting applications for full-time Drake faculty interested in learning more about using open educational resources (OER) in their courses. After successfully offering these grants last fall, the Provost’s Office is generously supporting them again this fall. These open resources replace costly textbooks and are beneficial to students in your courses in so many ways.  The Drake Faculty Open Education Grant Program is offering $500 stipends to participants who complete the program, which comprises a workshop, self-paced learning modules, and peer discussion.

This program will be limited to six (6) participants in fall 2023, and participants must complete all required components to receive their stipend. We expect the time commitment for the program to be ten to twelve (10-12) hours, which includes the virtual kickoff workshop on Friday, October 6, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Apply now: Drake Faculty Open Education Grant Program Application

Deadline: Applications are due by Wednesday, Sept. 27. Individuals will be notified of the status of their application by Monday, Oct. 2. Grants will be awarded based on representation of a wide range of disciplines and the alignment of application responses to the proposed content of this program.

Questions? Contact the project leads: Teri Koch, at teri.koch@drake.edu or Andrew Welch at andrew.welch@drake.edu.

— Teri Koch, Cowles Library

For Students Archive

Community Engagement Peers office hours

Are you interested in getting involved in the local community? Are you/do you want to be a changemaker but you’re not sure how to get started? The Community Engagement Peers (CEPs) in the Office of Community Engaged Learning want to meet with you!

CEPs are trained in best practices for community engagement and are highly connected to the campus and Des Moines’ communities.

They can:

  • Share about current/potential partnerships and volunteer opportunities
  • Provide perspective on community engagement opportunities
  • Offer insight into the student service experience
  • If you’ve taken the Pathways for Civic Action & Social Change survey, they can review your results with you
  • Discuss possible collaborations

Each of the Community Engagement Peers hold office hours in the Office of Community Engaged Learning (lower level of Cowles Library) and would be thrilled to meet with you.

Learn more about the CEPs and their interest areas and schedule a 1-1 meeting in Starfish. Contact servicelearning@drake.edu for more information.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engagement

Campus Announcements Archive

Immersive opera to premiere at the Anderson Gallery

Cadence of Life is a new one act immersive opera commissioned by the Anderson Gallery in collaboration with Drake Opera Theatre.

The performance will be held Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Anderson Gallery.  Attendance is free, but a reservation is required.

The opera was composed by Nathan Felix, inspired by the works of Judy Pfaff currently on exhibition at the Anderson Gallery. This commission was made possible by a generous grant from the Friends of Drake Arts.

In this unique interdisciplinary event, Drake Opera Theatre and Chamber Music students will perform the world premiere of Cadence of Life in the Anderson Gallery, surrounded by the works of Judy Pfaff. This immersive experience brings together music and art.

Attendees will stand and walk throughout the performance. If seating is required, please contact andersongallery@drake.edu beforehand to request assistance.

For more information about the Anderson Gallery and Judy Pfaff’s exhibition Freehand, visit the Anderson Gallery website.

— Lilah Anderson, Anderson Gallery Exhibitions and Community Engagement Manager 

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

2023 Great Colleges to Work for Survey: Focus areas

As a reminder from President Martin’s email to campus, the results of our 2023 Great Colleges to Work For (GCTWF) survey are available here. Thank you to the 600 faculty and staff who participated in the survey this past spring.

Our overall percent positive score on the 2023 survey improved 4%. The qualitative responses in the survey serve as a reminder of our strengths: working well with colleagues, supportive supervisors and department chairs, the flexibility to work from home, and more.

Based on our survey results, Drake University has been officially recognized as a “Great College to Work For” by ModernThink, the company that delivers and manages the survey. Our recognition areas are “Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness” and “Faculty & Staff Well-being.” It is wonderful for the institution to be recognized in this way.

We use our GCTWF results to define and focus on areas for improvement that will advance creating a strong workplace culture. For the current academic year, our areas of collective improvement are:

  1. Robust and transparent communication
  2. Professional development and annual evaluations
  3. Extending a generosity of spirit to colleagues across campus

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the survey, please reach out to Nate Reagen or Maureen De Armond.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President; Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

National Wireless Emergency Alerts test Oct. 4

Drake University Emergency Management would like to inform the campus that on Wednesday, Oct. 4, FEMA, in coordination with the FCC, will conduct a nationwide test of both Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System at approximately 2:20 p.m.

Most people will received the WEA test message on their mobile phones.  This is NOT a test of the Bulldog Alert system but a FEMA and FCC test.

Find more information.

— Scott Law, Public Safety & Operational Services

Campus Announcements Archive

Walk the Bulldog Mile Oct. 4 as part of Healthiest State Walk

Grab your walking shoes and join the Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 4. All faculty, staff, and students are invited to meet at noon at the start of the Bulldog Mile. This one-mile path begins outside the Olmsted Center (just southeast of the building). Along the route there will be stops where you can pick up playing cards and stickers.  At the end of the walk, those with the highest ‘poker hands’ will be placed in a drawing for a chance at prizes.

If it is raining, we will move the event to the indoor track at the Knapp Center.  Come alone, bring a friend, or make it a team or department event. Let’s get moving!

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

COVID reminders; free government-provided COVID tests

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has not gone away. In fact, in recent weeks, we have seen an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations both nationally and within the State of Iowa. We want all of our employees and students to remain healthy and be in the best position to recover quickly if they do get sick.

Sharing Is Not Caring…During Flu Season: Whether the cause is COVID-19, the flu, or a strong cold, if you have active symptoms (a fever, runny nose, cough, congestion), please do not come to campus. Have a plan: test for COVID. Call in sick, if you need to. Work from home if you are feeling okay but concerned you could be contagious. Visit our COVID-19 and Other Contagious Illnesses page for additional guidance.

Have COVID Tests on Hand: Starting on Sept. 25, the government is once again allowing households four COVID free tests that can be ordered from Covidtests.gov. If you do not have COVID tests at home, we encourage you to order more free test kits to have on hand.

Get Your COVID Booster: Boosters are now available and the CDC recommends updated COVID-19 vaccine for fall/winter virus season. It is easy to schedule online a time to get your booster with CVS or another pharmacy.

Get Your Flu Shot, Too: You can get your flu shot when you receive you COVID booster. Thanks to our friends in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Hy-Vee, there are also still flu shot dates available to receive your shot on campus.

As we head back into cold and flu season, please be thinking about both yourself and others.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Students Archive

Admission Cole-ition Volunteer opportunity

As you will recall from your own college search, the most influential person you talked with during your college visits were current students. The interaction that you have with prospective students and family members will impact their future interest in Drake and ultimately play a significant role in the student’s decision-making process. 

The goal of the Office of Admission is to articulate and communicate Drake’s mission statement which serves as a promise. As a representative of Drake, it is critical that you know, understand and communicate the tenets of the mission of the University through information and stories. As a member of Cole-ition you will provide tours to families, interact with prospective students, meet Drake staff and students, get service hours, develop speaking skills, and have a great resume builder!

If you are interested fill out this form with your information:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2jSVnZdysnZkexJTxJPoIDL6qv3DqpPzft26VCVz6OUmn-A/viewform?fce_id=bd75ed72-d919-4544-b0eb-3c0e94ce726b

An informational session will be held on Friday, Sept. 29, from 1:30–2:15 p.m. in Sussman Theatre.

For questions, email admissioncoleition@drake.edu.

— Reed Nenonen, Senior, School of Education

HR Information Archive

ESF e-form overview and training

Human Resources is excited to officially roll out the new intuitive, easy-to-use and track Employee Status Form (ESF) e-form supported by ProcessMaker.

During the past several months, Human Resources has worked with Tyler Spoon, assistant director, enterprise applications in ITS, to convert this commonly used Word doc form into a digital process that automatically routes information to the appropriate approver.  We also appreciate the time, patience, and insights of staff within Drake University Head Start and the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences as they agreed to be our testing population in the soft launch of this form.  ESFs are a form that is primarily used by Budget Office Managers and other authorized employees to change an employee’s status. (Learn more about ESFs on our ESF webpage)

Are you interested?  We would love to provide the campus community an opportunity to learn more about the new e-form—and begin using it.  We have scheduled two opportunities (a virtual and an in-person) for you to see—and begin using—this form, both occurring during the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 28.  If Thursday doesn’t work for you, no problem. We can also schedule ad hoc times on the registration form below.  We know that once you see it, you will love it.

Thank you in advance for your interest in this enhanced form.  Please let us know which session you would like to attend by completing the registration.

— Debra Wiley and Teresa Downs, Human Resources