All Drake faculty, staff, and students are invited and encouraged to nominate a Drake faculty member for the Madelyn Levitt Teacher Award, created in 1994 in honor of Madelyn Levitt’s commitment to Drake, and her ongoing interest in faculty and staff achievement and academic excellence.  

Each year this award recognizes commitment to student success on the Drake campus by honoring a member of the Drake University faculty for excellence in teaching.   To nominate an individual, please submit a letter that speaks to the following qualifications:   

•   an informed mind in inspirational dialogue with students.
•   integrity in personal relationships.
•   rigor in intellectual endeavors.
•   contagious enthusiasm for her/his subject matter.

A nominee must be a faculty member holding the rank of instructor, or above, and in at least her/his fourth academic year of service.  A nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. The letter of nomination is due to Deputy Provost Jimmy Senteza no later than February 16, 2024.  The letter should be sent as an attachment to jimmy.senteza@drake.edu and madison.bemus@drake.edu. 

The nominated individual will be notified by the Provost’s Office of her/his nomination and asked if they are willing to be considered.  

At the nominee’s acceptance, the nominator will be asked to collect the following supporting material and submit it to madison.bemus@drake.edu by March 16, 2024:   

• a curriculum vitae;
• a short statement, by the nominee, of educational philosophy or about methods of teaching;
• teaching evaluations for the nominee for the previous two semesters.

A minimum of one additional letter supporting the nomination must be submitted. At least one letter of support must be from a current student and at least one letter of support must come from a faculty member, and there may be no more than five letters including the nomination letter and letters supporting the nomination. 

Electronic submission of materials is required. Send all documents to madison.bemus@drake.edu. The 2024 recipient of the Madelyn Levitt Teacher Award will be announced at one of the spring 2024 commencements.

Additional information is available here.

— Jimmy Senteza, Deputy Provost 

In 1994, the Madelyn Levitt Mentor Award was created in honor of Madelyn Levitt’s commitment to Drake and her ongoing interest in faculty and staff achievement and academic excellence. Each year this award recognizes commitment to student success on the Drake campus by honoring a member of the Drake University faculty or staff for excellence in advising and mentoring students.  

You are invited this year to nominate a faculty or staff member for this prestigious award.

Process:

1.  A letter of nomination should be submitted recommending an individual for the award and explaining the context and way the nominator has come to know the faculty or staff member.  This letter should speak to the following qualifications:

· an outstanding commitment to student success in and out of the classroom in support of the Drake mission.

· integrity in personal relationships.

· typifying the ideal student mentor by providing for students the support they need to graduate and move forward to live productive, fulfilling lives.

The nominee must be a faculty or staff member in at least her/his fourth year of service at the University.  The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. 

The letter is due to Deputy Provost Jimmy Senteza, no later than Feb. 16, 2024. The letter should be sent as an attachment to madison.bemus@drake.edu.

2. The nominated individual is notified by the Provost’s Office of her/his nomination and asked of her/his willingness to be considered.

3.  At the nominee’s acceptance, the nominator is asked to collect the following supporting material and submit it to madison.bemus@drake.edu in the Provost’s Office by March 16, 2024: a curriculum vitae or resume, a minimum of one other letter supporting the nomination, and a description by the nominee of activities which illustrate her/his mentoring/advising involvement.  At least one of the letters must be from a current student and there may be no more than five letters supporting the nomination. Electronic submission of materials is required. Send all documents to madison.bemus@drake.edu. 

4.  A screening committee, appointed by the Provost, will review all nominations and make appropriate recommendations to the Provost.

5.   Any individual who was initially nominated for the award in 2022 or 2023 may be re-nominated if the nominator resubmits a letter offering the individual for consideration this year. Files of previous nominees are maintained for two years.  In the case of re-nomination, the nominator will be invited to review the file to ensure that the nomination is as current as possible. The limit of five letters of support, including one from a current student, also applies to re-nominations.

The 2024 recipient of the Madelyn Levitt Mentor Award will be announced at one of the spring 2024 commencements.

— Jimmy Senteza, Deputy Provost

Time is running out to submit a nomination for a True Blue Award. Submit your nomination by Friday, March 1, to make sure the individual or group you want to honor will be in the running for a coveted Sapphire Award in April. Nominations of any length are meaningful, and there aren’t any requirements about a specific number of paragraphs.

Read more about the award criteria and submit your nomination. Cheers to starting the New Year by reminding folks that they are appreciated.

— Betsy Wilson, On behalf of All Staff Council