All posts by Taylor Johnson

News & Achievements Archive

Drake University Law School advances to National Moot Court Competition

Not one but two Drake Law National Moot Court teams rose to the top of their recent regional competition to compete against each other in the final round. Both teams demonstrated their hard work and excellence in written and oral advocacy but only one could win and move on to compete in the National competition in New York City early next year. The Drake Law team of Elizabeth Boyer, Ben Wolf, and Catherine Dukelow narrowly beat the second Drake team of Steffi Lee Dwyer, Caleb Piersma, and NaRayah Runyon in the finals to advance to nationals. Both teams are coached by Louis Sloven, LW’15.

The regional competition was held virtually and hosted by Drake Law School on Nov. 7. This event invites two competition teams from each participating law school, including Drake, the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, and the University of South Dakota.

The Drake Law teams excelled throughout the competition. During preliminary rounds, Piersma, Dwyer, and Boyer ranked in the top five best oralists. Elizabeth Boyer was recognized as best oralist in the final round and named best oralist of the overall competition. The team of Dwyer, Piersma, and Runyon won best brief honors for the competition.

When asked about the preparation process leading up to the team’s win, Catherine Dukelow said, “It has been stressful, but I can tell it has helped improve my persuasive writing and oral advocacy … Elizabeth has been an absolutely amazing team captain and it is wonderful to work with and learn from her.”

“It was a great opportunity to learn from experienced advocates and judges, including justices from the Iowa Supreme Court,” Ben Wolf said. “I’m truly grateful to all the people who invested their time and energy into our team.”

Drake Law School is recognized as a Top School for Trial Advocacy by preLaw magazine, due in part to the strength of our Moot Court programs. Drake Law offers numerous opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience and hone their trial and advocacy skills through moot court and mock trial team participation, in addition to intra-school competitions. These experiences help students learn to work well under pressure and think on their feet and gives them the self confidence they need to become successful advocates.

Please visit our website for more information.

— Taylor Johnson, Law School

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Deadline extended: Funding for faculty-student research

The Nelson Institute is seeking proposals for a two-year grant that will fund interdisciplinary faculty-student research addressing a global issue of broad public importance. Deadline: Jan. 27, 2023.

Background

The purpose of this initiative is to enhance Drake’s direct involvement in addressing pressing global issues, thus helping position Drake as a “global knowledge hub” in service to local, national, and international communities.

Over the last several years, the Nelson Institute has funded the following projects. Visit our website here to learn more about these projects:

  • Cross-cultural Community-based Strategies for Sustainable Urban Streams: Lessons from Des Moines and Jakarta.
  • Exploring complementary approaches to combat global non-communicable diseases in India.
  • Religions of Beijing book project with Minzu University of China in Beijing.
  • Assessing, Collaborating, and Empowering to Improve Water Quality in Rural Uganda.
  • Transnational Des Moines: Reframing Des Moines Immigrant and Refugee Narratives through Collaborative Research with Youth.
  • Drake University’s Presence in the Toledo District of Southern Belize: Maximizing Our Impact While Minimizing Our Footprint.

Call for Proposals

One project will be funded for the period from February 1, 2023 – January 31, 2025. The Nelson Institute will provide $20,000-$30,000 in support of the selected project, depending upon demonstrated need. Project leaders are encouraged, if necessary, to seek additional funding from on- and off-campus sources.

How to Submit a Proposal

Send your proposal to the Nelson Institute Faculty Director, Professor Jimmy Senteza, by January 27, 2023.

The review committee typically consists of the Director of the Nelson Institute, the Executive Director of Global Engagement, two additional faculty representatives from the Global Engagement Advisory Committee (GEAC), and a staff member from the Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance office. Award notification will occur by January 31, 2023.

Teams are encouraged to consult with the Director of the Nelson Institute as they prepare their proposals. The successful grant team will be expected to submit a formal progress report by January 31, 2024, and a final grant report by January 31, 2025.

Successful proposals will feature the following elements/criteria:

Explication of Research Topic

  • A clear identification of the pressing global issue to be addressed and an explanation of its public significance.
  • An exposition of the research objectives and methods related to the project.
  • An explanation of how the project takes advantage of particular strengths Drake and the community bring to addressing the issue.

Identification of Interdisciplinary Research Team

  • Commitments from an interdisciplinary faculty research team consisting of three or more faculty members (at least two of whom must be Drake affiliated). One or more Principal Investigators must be identified.
  • Evidence that the team members possess the requisite qualifications to successfully carry out the project (please attach CVs).
  • The project must involve two or more paid student research assistants with appropriate qualifications.
  • The research may be joint or parallel (i.e., a single joint project or several individual projects that each address related aspects of a common theme).

Activities and Outcomes

  • The project timeline will allow for completion of the primary research products within a two-year period.
  • The project participants will engage in at least two team activities (e.g., summer campus workshop, international travel as a team, cooperative field work, etc.) during the grant period.
  • Team members will collaborate with other campus entities (e.g., Principal Center for Global Citizenship, Humanities Center, DUSCI, the Harkin Institute, Engaged Citizen, etc.) to schedule co-curricular events (e.g., speakers, films, panel discussions, etc.) related to the theme during the two-year grant period.
  • The project will plausibly lead to externalization in the form of publication, presentation(s) at a professional conference, submission as a report to relevant public or non-governmental bodies involved with policy-making, or other outputs of similar import.
  • The student members of the grant team are expected to participate in the annual Nelson Conference held on campus each Spring. Additionally, we encourage organizing an on-campus conference related to the theme to be held during (or soon following) year two of the grant involving Drake faculty and students and relevant off-campus experts from academia, government or the professions.

Preferences

  • Preference will be given to projects that draw upon connections with partners at the local, national, or international level (e.g., overseas university partner).
  • Preference will be given to new projects that have not been funded in prior years by the Nelson Institute.

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

News & Achievements Archive

Drake Theatre’s Carrie the Musical selected to perform at regional festival

Drake University Theatre Arts Department to remount Carrie at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Region 5 Festival held in Des Moines in January.

Carrie, the musical version of the Stephen King novel, explores the senior year of Carrie White, a teenage outcast who longs to fit in. At school, she’s bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she’s dominated by her loving but cruelly controlling mother. What none of them know is that Carrie’s just discovered she’s got a special power, and if pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it.

The Drake Theatre Department’s production ran Oct. 27–30 to a sold out crowd. The show was adjudicated by a team from KCACTF and then was chosen as the only musical to perform out of many schools for this great honor.

“The trust the KCACTF Festival leadership has placed in Drake Theatre is a testament to our students’ commitment and skills,” shared Adam Yankowy, assistant professor of theatre and director of Carrie. “Our students will have the opportunity to bring this show back to life, sharing it with over one thousand college theatre students and professors. This is one of the greatest collegiate theatre honors.”

The show will be presented as part of the KCACTF Region 5 Festival with the performance at the historic Hoyt Sherman Place on Jan. 25, 2023.

— Adam Yankowy, Theatre Arts

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Drake Basketball Faculty and Staff Appreciation Days

To thank faculty and staff for all they do, the Athletics Department is hosting faculty and staff appreciation days during the Drake basketball games on Jan. 24 and March 2. Faculty and staff can claim four complimentary tickets to attend the games listed below.

Tickets must be claimed online and are not available at the ticket windows on the day of the event.

  • Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. – Men’s Basketball vs Indiana State
  • March 2 at 6 p.m. – Women’s Basketball vs Missouri State

How to Redeem:

  1. Press on Claim Tickets below or go to draketix.com/facultystaffdays.
  2. Enter your Drake email as the password to claim your tickets.
  3. Tickets will be sent to your AXS MobileID. For help with the AXS App please go to draketix.com/axsmobileid

Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day Men’s Basketball: Claim Tickets
Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day Women’s Basketball: Claim Tickets

For questions, email tickets@drake.edu.

— Logan Krause, Athletics

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake Theatre Neighborhood Playwright’s Series

Drake Theatre seeks new plays written by playwrights from the Des Moines Metropolitan area.  Plays will be read and evaluated by Drake Theatre students and faculty.  The writer of the winning entry selected will receive a prize of $500 and have their play performed as a staged reading for two performances next fall on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, 2023, as part of Drake Theatre’s Main Stage Season.  Rules for entry are as follows:

  • Full length plays only – one hour or more reading/performance time
  • Playwrights must reside within 40 miles of downtown Des Moines
  • Eligibility extends to Drake students, staff, and alumni as well as any member of the Des Moines community. Drake faculty are ineligible to compete.
  • Plays may be of any style or genre. No musicals, please.
  • Plays must be wholly original work. No translations or adaptations of existing plays.
  • There are no restrictions in regards to characters with the understanding that the winning play will be performed as a staged reading by Drake Theatre students. All attempts will be made in casting to preserve the integrity and representation of characters, but compromises may be necessary.
  • Submissions must be made electronically. Print copies will not be accepted.
  • Submissions are limited to one play per playwright
  • Submissions must be formatted as either a separate .docx file or a .pdf attached to an e-mail. The body of that email must include the following:
    • relevant contact information (name, address, phone number, email address) for the playwright
    • the title of the play
    • a brief (one paragraph) synopsis of the plot
    • a dramatis personae listing the characters.
  • The attached copy of the play itself must have all references to the playwright (name, contact info, etc.) removed so that plays can be judged anonymously. Only the title of the play itself should be visible.
  • If your play is chosen as the winning entry, know that you are granting Drake University Theatre permission to perform two staged readings of that work with no royalty or copyright restrictions attached. Those readings will be open to the general public and advertised as part of our Main Stage Season.
  • Following each performance, the winning author is invited to participate in a talkback session with the cast, crew, director and audience to discuss the play and receive feedback.
  • All submissions must be emailed to Michael Rothmayer at rothmayer@drake.edu

Failure to follow these rules may result in disqualification of your entry.  Submissions are due on or before by 5 p.m. CST, March 10, 2023.  The winning entry and playwright will be announced on or before June 1, 2023.  For questions or additional information, please contact the Drake University Department of Theatre Arts (515) 271-2018.

— Michael Rothmayer, Theatre Arts

Campus Announcements Archive

Browser health and Blackboard access

A reminder, Blackboard Learn Ultra only supports the two most recent versions for the four major web browsers. The current versions, as of today are:

Chrome – 108 (12-03-2022)

Firefox – 107 (11-29-2022)

Safari – 16 (8-18-2022)

Edge – 106 (10-2022)

To see what your current browser version is, you can use this resource to check https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Ultra/Getting_Started/Browser_Support/Browser_Checker

If your browser version is more than two behind the current version, you may experience issues when working within Learn Ultra. This may include not being able to access courses, viewing resources within a course, or odd behavior when working in a course.

It is recommended to keep your browser up to date as security patches are applied on a continual basis. For Chrome, Firefox, & Edge, you can update to the current version by restarting the browser. For Safari, you will need to visit the app store and check for an updated version.

— Clayton Mitchell, ITS

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Finance report on the Survey of Administrative Services

The Offices of Finance and Student Financial Planning would like to thank everyone for taking the time to complete the Survey of Administrative Services earlier this fall.  We have gained valuable feedback to help us maintain and improve the services we provide to students, faculty, and staff.

Ratings for every question were very consistent with prior year ratings.  Each of the departments individually scored between 4.5 and 5.0 on the 5-point scale.  The overall satisfaction with the services provided by the Offices of Finance and Student Financial Planning score was 4.57 compared to 4.59 in 2021.  While there is always room for improvement, the unit’s staff are clearly doing their best to meet our service-oriented objectives to:

  • Ensure our constituents are engaged and informed,
  • Ensure integrity and transparency,
  • Process university resources timely and accurately, and
  • Improve service excellence.

The comments included in the survey were very helpful.  We appreciate the many positive comments that recognized outstanding service provided by staff.  The following are items noted that we hope to improve over the coming year.

  • Dissatisfaction with travel management vendor – I am pleased to share that Finance staff are in the initial stage of conducting a thorough review and request for proposal process to consider other vendors and models of providing travel services. A working group including faculty, budget/office managers, athletics, and administrative offices with higher volumes of travel will provide valuable input to the process and vendor selection.
  • Confusion on who does what in Finance and who is on campus or working from home under a flexible work arrangement – We plan to update information on MyDrake and share communications with applicable constituents to more clearly articulate roles within Finance and working location. We also plan to update office signage regarding the availability of staff and backup support options.

Thank you again for participating in the Survey of Administrative Services and please know that your input is reviewed and analyzed by the entire staff of the Offices of Finance and Student Financial Planning.

— Adam Voigts, Chief Financial Officer

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Attend the Holiday Cheer event Dec. 15

All Staff Council and Human Resources invite faculty and staff to attend this year’s Holiday Cheer gathering this Thursday, Dec. 15, near the Pomerantz stage in the Olmsted Center. Faculty and staff are welcome to come and go as they please from 9 to 11 a.m.

Guests can enjoy a hot chocolate bar and cookie decorating station. Griff II will also be in attendance and ready for photos.

If you bring at least one non-perishable food or other goods for Drake’s Free Little Food Pantries, you will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

This event is a chance to give back to others in the Drake community, while mingling with coworkers.  Please take a moment to stop by, grab some cheer, and drop off a donation.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Nominations being accepted for Newman Civic Fellowship

The Office of Community Engaged Learning is now accepting nominations for the Newman Civic Fellowship. 

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a national year-long program that recognizes and supports community-committed students who are changemakers and public problem-solvers. Students should engage in collaborative action with others from campus or from surrounding communities in order to create long-term social change, take action in addressing issues of inequality and political polarization, and demonstrate the motivation and potential for effective long-term civic engagement.  Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides students with training and resources that nurture their assets and passions and help them develop strategies for social change. 

 Benefits include: regular virtual events focused on skill development and professional learning, an annual in-person convening of Fellows, one-on-one leadership development with a local mentor of their choice, connection to a nationwide network of engaged student leaders, public national recognition, special scholarship and career opportunities, opportunities to present or publish work.

Nominees must be enrolled at Drake University for the spring semester 2023, and the 2023-2024 academic year. 

 To nominate a student, please complete this short nomination form by Jan. 9 at 12 p.m. 

 A committee will review nominations to select one student from Drake University to be nominated for the Fellowship. That student will need to complete additional paperwork.  

 More information about the Fellowship can be found at https://compact.org/newman-civic-fellowship/.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning