All posts by Amanda Martin

Campus Announcements Archive

Get involved during Civic Action Week April 10–15

Civic Action Week is a campus-wide week of events for students, faculty, staff, and the broader community to learn, engage, and encourage collective responses to persistent societal challenges. This year’s Civic Action Week will be April 10–15.

There’s many options for getting involved during the week!

Monday, April 10

  • Kick-off in the Olmsted Breezeway, 8–11 a.m. Stop by to learn about the events of the week, share why you serve, and grab snacks and CEL swag! Sponsored by Office of Community Engaged Learning.
  • APO Blood Drive, Pom Stage in Olmsted.
  • Emmenecker Challenge, 6–8 p.m. The Student Alumni Association’s “Emmenecker Challenge” is a sandwich-eating competition. This event supports food security initiatives in the Drake Neighborhood, as a portion of proceeds go to local food pantries. Spectators can attend to receive free food and participate in a kahoot game. Entrance fee is $1 dollar or a canned food item. There will also be information about food insecurity at the event. Spectators do not need to register in advance, but anyone interested in competing does.

Tuesday, April 11

  • Careers in Social Change Virtual Panel: 4-5pm on Zoom. Hear from local professionals on how they have used their career to create change. Panelists include Jacob Nastruz, Coordinator for Volunteer Services and Community Engagement at Children & Family Urban Movement; Elizabeth Talbert, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Drake University; Corey Lewis, Founder of My City My Health.  Register on Handshake. Contact amanda.martin@drake.edu. Sponsored by Office of Community Engaged Learning and Professional and Career Development Services.

Wednesday, April 12

  • Food Security: What do you know? A conversation with Aubrey Alvarez, Executive Director of Eat Greater Des Moines. 4-5pm, Olmsted 310/311. Sponsored by Next Course Food Recovery. Snacks will be provided.

Thursday, April 13

  • Lunch and Learn: Developing Your Impact Plan. 12-1pm, Olmsted 310.  Take the lunch hour to reflect on how you want to create change over the next few years. Are there certain experiences you’d like to have? What do you want to do in the short-term and long-term? This guided activity will give you a template for coming up with action steps, goals, and resources. Pizza will be provided. All are welcome, but advanced registration by April 5th will help plan for food. Sponsored by the Office of Community Engaged Learning.
  • Harkin on Wellness Symposium. 9am-4:45pm, Parents Hall or virtual. This year’s Harkin on Wellness (HOW) Symposium will showcase the work being done at state and local levels to improve people’s lives by reimagining the food system from farm to table and everywhere in between. Free to attend. Registration is required. Sponsored by The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement

Friday, April 14

  • Findley Elementary School First-Grade Visit to Drake. Drake has adopted the first grade class at Findley Elementary School and on April 14 the students will visit campus for a morning full of activities. Start your day off the best way! Anyone from the Drake community is invited to welcome the students when they arrive around 9:30am with a “Welcome Tunnel” at the University entrance of Cowles Library (check the Civic Action Week website for an updated time as the day gets closer). Form a line from the front doors down the sidewalk. Drake students have the opportunity to promote a college-going culture for youth in Des Moines. Contact kirby.nelson@drake.edu for more information.  Hosted by the Office of Community Engaged Learning.
  • Sprout Spring Volunteer Day. 1-3pm. Help prepare the beds for spring planting and plant some colder-weather crops.

Saturday, April 15

  • 2023 Constitutional Law Symposium. 8:30am-1pm. Cartwright Hall Room 213 or Zoom. Speakers will analyze a variety of current issues from multiple viewpoints.  Register in advance. 

All Week

  • Stock the Block – Donate to the Little Free Pantries in the Drake Neighborhood – Drop off your donations of non-perishable goods and personal hygiene items to one of the 9 Little Free Pantries in the Drake Neighborhood.
  • Griff Gives Back – Donate Adult Dog and Cat food to the Griff Gives Back project.
  • Volunteer! Visit www.drake.edu/dugood for other volunteer opportunities.
  • Follow along with @DrakeService on Instagram to see daily challenges you can do to be a more responsible, active citizen and have a chance to earn prizes!

Share your Impact

Tag us on social media @drakeservice #DrakeServes to let us know how you’re participating in the week. For each tag, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win prizes such as a Griff #DrakeServes T-shirt!

Visit drake.edu/community/learningservice/studentopportunities/civicactionweek/ for more information on how to register for each event.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

For Students Archive

Office of Admission is hiring student ambassadors

Applications are open for student ambassadors through the Office of Admission for positions beginning Fall 2023, with potential to begin this summer. Student Ambassadors share their campus experience with prospective students and parents during tours and student panels and assist with office projects. The paid position requires a minimum of four hours per week, with flexibility in scheduling. For more information, and to apply, click here.

Applications are due at midnight on April 10th.

Student Ambassadors represent the wide variety of academic majors, student involvement, and diversity within the Drake student body. Reach out to admissioncoleition@drake.edu with any questions.

— Deneen Dygert, Admission

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Seeking first-year student success course instructors

Do you enjoy spending time with students?  Looking for a new opportunity to interact? If you would enjoy being a key part of welcoming new students and supporting their transition to the Drake community, please consider joining the Blueprint for Success team and teaching a section of Drake’s first-year student success course. Jenny Jones, Director of Graduate Programs in the Zimpleman College of Business, shared the following about her experience: “I’ve taught several sections Blueprint for Success/Bulldog Foundations over the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the incoming students. As an instructor, you get to help the student acclimate not just to Drake University but to college life as a whole. You can create an environment where the students help each other adjust and learn from each other’s experiences. Each section I’ve led has had a different personality, but each section has been rewarding.”

Blueprint for Success helps students consider concepts and develop skills that are crucial for the development of meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship. Students will explore the elements of an equitable and inclusive community, consider life skills necessary for success, and refine academic strategies. This course helps students transition into the Drake community with ease.

The course meets for 11 sessions, 50 minutes each session.  The sessions will be spread out through the fall semester. Instructors will be given all curriculum, materials, and facilitator guides for the course, and will not need to develop any curriculum on their own. In addition, instructors will partner with a peer mentor, and upper-class student leader who can help facilitate class sessions, support discussion, and be a valuable resource to your students.

In addition to assigned class time, chosen instructors will need to attend an all-day training the week of Aug. 1, a check-in meeting the week of October 15 and a wrap-up meeting during the week of Fall 2023 finals. Instructors will be paid a $1000 stipend for teaching Blueprint for Success unless this course serves as a part of your full-time teaching load.  Applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent, and teaching experience is preferred but not required. Have questions?  Sign up for a short consultation session. 

To apply, fill out the google form. The application is due Friday, April 7.

— Blueprint for Success Planning Team

Campus Announcements Archive

Self Service/Banner admin pages planned outage April 8 at 7 p.m.

ITS will be applying upgrades and patches to Banner Saturday, April 8, starting at 7 p.m. and lasting until Sunday, April 9, at 2 a.m. During this time, Self Service, Admin Pages, Workflow, eTranscripts, TouchNet, and other connected systems will be unavailable. These updates are necessary to keep our University data secure and to install the latest features from our vendor.

If you experience issues outside of this window, please call the Support Center at 515-271-3001 or visit https://service.drake.edu to report your issue. Thank you for your patience as we continue to strive to provide superior service.

— Tyler Spoon, ITS

For Students Archive

Federal student loans for Summer 2023

Undergraduate and pharmacy students who wish to borrow federal student loans for the summer semester must complete the Summer Financial Aid Application.

Graduate and law students who are registered at least half-time (5+ credits) for summer and who have completed the 2023–2024 FAFSA will automatically be offered their federal student loan eligibility for the summer semester.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid

Campus Announcements Archive

Contribute to the Griff Gives Back pet food drive

Our live mascot, Griff II, is once again collecting donations of adult dog and cat food to benefit The Pet Project Midwest, a local pet food pantry. There are many easy ways to donate. Find all the info on how and where to contribute here.

The collection runs through the Beautiful Bulldog Contest on April 24. Thank you for support of Griff II and his annual initiative to help the greater Des Moines community!

News & Achievements Archive

Professor Kappen receives Principal Global Citizenship Award

The Principal Global Citizenship Award was presented during the 2023 Global Citizen Forum in early March. The award recognizes Drake faculty or staff who have made outstanding contributions to global engagement and internationalization of the campus and curriculum.

The 2023 recipient of the Principal Global Citizenship Award is Jeff Kappen, associate professor of international business in the Zimpleman College of Business.

Kappen arrived at Drake University in 2012, and from the beginning he has contributed to a multitude of projects and programs at Drake that have shaped the global mindset of students and built the global and intercultural capacity of Drake faculty and staff. Kappen has been active in engaging with many of Drake’s international partners. He has conducted collaborative research, taught faculty seminars and short-term courses on their campuses, and developed joint curricular programs. His work in this area has significantly contributed to Drake’s profile as a global university.

Kappen also provides direct advising support to more than fifty students each year on how they can achieve their study abroad goals. He has led short-term travel seminars for Drake students on programs to China, Italy, Uganda, and Mexico – impacting over 200 students. Many of these program participants have been student-athletes, beginning with the men’s and women’s soccer teams travelling to Mexico in 2015 as part of a unique model pairing international competition with academic experiences using the foreign destination as the classroom. He returned to Mexico with the soccer teams in 2019, led a women’s basketball trip to Italy and traveled with the entire football team to China.

Kappen has also notably supported the Mandela Washington Fellowship at Drake, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that Drake has hosted since 2016. Kappen has taught leadership and international business curriculum to 150 Fellows from across sub-Saharan Africa. He has also served as a mentor to many Fellows and continues to monitor some of their projects virtually. Kappen was awarded a Reciprocal Exchange by the U.S. Department of State in 2021 and spent two weeks in Ivory Coast delivering seminars on entrepreneurship while working with the U.S. Embassy to promote higher education.

On the Drake campus, Kappen has taught “Business 070: Globalization” since he arrived in 2012. He has worked collaboratively with students on global research and takes part in the Drake iBiz Young Scholars Program. Off-campus, Kappen has helped position Drake as a global hub in the Des Moines community through working with the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa International Center.

“Dr. Kappen’s efforts to develop responsible global citizens at Drake, and his work in creating impactful global partnerships have been transformative. His lifelong commitment to internationalization and his embodiment of a global mindset is a contagious inspiration to campus. We are very fortunate to have Kappen as a member of the Drake community, and he is very deserving of this prestigious award.” – Provost Sue Mattison, in her remarks at the Global Citizen Forum

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

All Staff Council Bulldog Connect networking lunch

All Staff Council is holding a Bulldog Connect networking lunch on Wednesday, April 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The  Recognition Committee is hosting this month. Enjoy learning what staff on this committee focus on throughout the year. Anyone is welcome to come for a $5 lunch at Hubbell. Look for the table with the Drake swag and a special Bulldogs Connect table tent in Hubbell.

Also a reminder that All Staff Council invites you to share any suggestions, concerns, or other feedback you’d like us to look into using this form. (If you’d like us to respond to your feedback directly, please include your name and contact information, otherwise let us know your thoughts anonymously.)

— Megan Franklin, On behalf of All Staff Council

For Students Archive

Drake Cheer tryouts May 6

Drake Cheer tryouts for the 2023–2024 year will be held May 6 at 8 a.m. in the Knapp Center. The Drake Cheerleading Team consists of men and women whose primary purpose is to support Drake athletics and Drake University. The purpose of the squad is to boost school spirit, promote good sportsmanship, develop positive crowd involvement, and help student participants and spectators enjoy the athletic event. Cheer squad activities should center on leading and directing the cheering of fans. Find more information about Drake Cheer and tryouts.

— Megan Franklin, Athletics