The Office of Conference and Event Services is hiring student workers for the 2021–2022 school year. Responsibilities include setting up, tearing down, and working during a variety of events across campus. Scheduling is flexible, and there are opportunities for promotion. Prior events experience is not required. Email steve.ramsey@drake.edu for more information and to apply.
— Steve Ramsey, Events Management
Around this time every year, HR provides campus with a reminder of Drake’s policy prohibiting discrimination and discriminatory harassment. While it’s helpful to be regularly reminded that the policy exists, it is also worthwhile to periodically reflect on why the conduct prohibited in the policy is particularly incompatible with Drake’s Mission and Core Values.
Some framing may be helpful: one can think of work-culture as fitting on both sides of a coin. One side of the coin represents organizations telling you what not to do. Employers often bluntly and unartfully say: don’t do bad stuff (such as don’t discriminate), or you’ll get in trouble.
On the other side of the work-culture coin, organizations often emphasize the importance of cultivating a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming work environment. One can think of this side of the coin as encouraging you to do good stuff. This side is often more eloquent, but it doesn’t always give you great insight into how you are supposed to go about building or contributing to a positive culture.
At Drake, we have amazing Core Values that create a natural roadmap for building a better working—and learning—environment. If we can each commit to living these values to the best of our abilities, we’ll see the bad stuff squeezed out (okay, not all of it, but a lot of it) and we’ll see more and more space for the good stuff to grow.
Through Joyful Accountability we strive to be our best each day, share our successes, and take ownership when we fall short—we’re all human, it happens. Through our Generosity of Spirit, we cultivate and exude trust and respect—we embrace notions of equity and inclusion and celebrate what makes each of us unique. As we reflect on what it means to be All In This Together, we recognize the contributions of every member of the team and find value in collaborating. By sharing a Commitment to Mission, we are bound by our mutual purpose and a shared vision for the better future. Put them all together and you can see a culture recognizing that, by working together, our mutual efforts can represent something so much greater than the sum of our individual contributions.
One can hope that the more we resolve to both embrace and live these values, the less space we’ll see for discrimination and bias to subsist. We also know that any healthy culture still needs to actively root out, deter, and react to the bad stuff—including discriminatory conduct in all its forms. As an institution, we must be vocal and unequivocal in not tolerating this kind of conduct. Having a strong and visible policy is a basic building block for that. It will always be important for every member of the Drake community to know what to do if they have a question, concern, or complaint about suspected discrimination. You can learn more by reading the policy—which, by the way, is currently under review—and you can always reach out to these people who are ready and willing to help you:
FACULTY WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITY: In 2021-2022, the Office for Equity and Inclusion will offer a series of capacity-building workshops for members of the Drake campus community with Jennifer Harvey, Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion, and Jazlin Coley, Director of Equity and Inclusion. Attend the three-part faculty series on September 10, 17, and 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. All faculty are welcome. Learn more and register here.
STAFF SAVE THE DATE: Interested in taking part in training offering individual and collective tools, language, and habits to actively grow a more inclusive, equitable, and just racial environment in which we all can thrive? BUILD is offering a 2-part workshop titled: “S.T.A.R.T. – Standing Against Racism Together.” Dr. Jennifer Harvey, Associate Provost, Campus Equity and Inclusion, will facilitate those sessions on Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 from 1-3 p.m. In the meantime, keep an eye on additional learning opportunities offered by Dr. Harvey and related BUILD courses—we have more learning opportunities in the works.
Do you have specific ideas or suggestions on how HR can help foster a more positive and harmonious working environment? Please share, we’re always eager to listen (drakehr@drake.edu).
— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources
If you are interested in working in a Division I college athletics department, stop by the Drake Athletics Student Job Fair on Thursday, Sept. 9 in the Courtside Club from 4 to 6 p.m. to learn more about what types of jobs are available. Departments who will be in attendance are communications, marketing, video production, rec services, facilities, equipment, ticket operations, and more. Students who attend will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card. For questions, email spike@drake.edu.
— Aimee Lane, Athletics
As the need for public health professionals continues to grow, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (CPHS) launched a new undergraduate public health major within its Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. The CPHS is currently developing dual degree options for this major with other programs in the College.
Students pursuing the public health major complete courses that promote and support individual and community health and well-being. They will develop the critical thinking and analytic skills necessary to address topics such as access to health care, health promotion, disease prevention, health disparities, health economics, health policy, and others.
— Kaylyn Maher, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Several services and departments have relocated to Cowles Library:
Global Engagement is near the south (University Avenue) entrance. Use your Drake ID to enter the building, then go past the row of flags and turn right.
Community Engaged Learning is in the southeast corner of the lower level. Enter through the north (campus side) doors, go down the half-flight of stairs, turn left, then right.
Transfer and Veteran Student Services are in the northwest corner of the lower level. Enter through the north doors, go down the half-flight of stairs, turn right, go past the tutoring area, and turn right again.
Tutoring (including Writing Workshop and Speaking Center) will resume in the lower level, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7.
Staff from these areas and Cowles Library will be on hand to welcome visitors on Tuesday, Aug.t 31, from 3–5 p.m. While the “All In the Library” open house is directed primarily at students, faculty and staff are encouraged to stop by. The first 80 students to visit all the open house stops will receive a free Starbucks beverage.
—Jill Gremmels, dean, Cowles Library
Drake faculty members are invited to participate in a Faculty Writers’ Workshop (FWW) focused on working effectively on our writing and scholarship. We will meet virtually from 10 a.m.–11 a.m. on Fridays (Sept. 10, Sept. 24, Oct. 15, Nov. 19, and Dec. 10) to discuss issues with getting writing done and workshop work-in-progress, with optional additional meetings for writing quietly together. The FWW will be co-facilitated by Nate Holdren (LPS) and En Li (history). Our goal will be to help set ourselves up to make progress on our scholarship over the semester. To the degree faculty are interested, we will read and discuss Joli Jensen’s book Write No Matter What. The session will also include discussion/workshop of the faculty members’ own scholarship and on-site writing time.
This writers’ workshop is generously supported by the Provost’s Office, the Humanities Center, and the Dean of the College of the Arts and Sciences. There are spots for ten faculty participants. Should more than ten individuals express interest, priority shall be given to 1) Those who actively participated in the previous Faculty Writers’ Groups, 2) Tenure-track faculty who are not yet tenured, 3) Faculty who are members of groups under-represented.
Participants who attend all five sessions will receive a stipend of $150 (approximately$109+38% benefits).
If you are interested in participating, please complete the interest form by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8.
Drake University’s Greenhouse team is having a plant sale from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3 in Helmick Commons from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. A variety of plants will be sold while supplies last to support improvements to the greenhouse. These plants are perfect to freshen up a dorm room or office space and bring the serenity of nature inside. For questions, contact Ashly Frazier at ashly.frazier@drake.edu.
— Ashly Frazier’22
Faculty are invited to join Deputy Provost Renée Cramer for “Books for Breakfast.” Each month, we’ll engage a different reading related to work-life integration, thriving in the profession, the development of the neoliberal university, and the role of creativity and scholarship in our professional lives. Pick which readings and months work for you, and join us for lively conversation. Pre-registration for each book and set of sessions is required, so we can purchase books, and either order food (for in-person gatherings) or send a Zoom link.
The book for September is Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle; we will meet via Zoom on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27 from 8:30–9:30 a.m. Please pre-register by Sept. 10 (enrollment is capped at 12).
The book for October is The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy; we will meet via Zoom on Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 from 8:30–9:30 a.m. Please pre-register by Oct. 1.
If these days/times don’t work for you, but you’re interested, don’t despair—we’ll be repeating both books on different days in November and December.
— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost
The University Bookstore has undergone renovations to expand its apparel and gift areas, and new lighting was added to brighten the entire store.
Now is the time for a new change—a name change—and we need your help. We are currently named the University Bookstore, but we are more than a bookstore. We are a clothing outfitter, gift shop, graduation provider, and more, and we want your input on how to brand this store with Bulldog pride!
Over the next few weeks as you visit our newly renovated store, please give us suggestions on a new store name that is symbolic to Drake University. We will narrow the suggestions to a select few, and then the community will vote on a new name.
Each person to give us a suggestion will be entered to win a $100 Bookstore gift card.
— Kyle McVay, University Bookstore
We want to let you know of some protocols in place this fall as we are still navigating through COVID-19 restrictions and a new renovation changing our layout. Please see below for textbook best practices.
Online order pickup: To limit congestion, pickups will be done on the north end of Pomerantz stage in the Olmsted Center.
Buying books: To avoid a longer line or out-of-stock’s, order online at www.universitybook.com or through your class schedule in myDUSIS. We partner with 1,200 colleges and universities across the country to assist with order fulfillment.
If you want to buy your books in-store, there will be a link to enter your student ID to pull your syllabus in order by author. That will streamline how we find your books. This will also be done at the Pomerantz stage.
— Kyle McVay, University Bookstore
