All posts by Mitch Wieczorek

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus heating and cooling update

The recent forecast has called for warm, sunny days, followed by cool nights in the 40s. The University heating and cooling system does not allow us to cool during the day and then heat at night, or vice versa.

The system consists of miles of underground pipes which are filled with steam to heat and chilled water to cool, but not both at the same time. The process to change from heating to cooling, or from cooling to heating, takes days due to the need to drain and refill the pipes.

With drastic temperature swings this time of year, we stick with heating but monitor the 14-day forecast looking for the optimal time to changeover to cooling, typically around April 15.

In the meantime, we’ll do our best to adjust the building systems so they are as cool as possible. Please keep blinds closed whenever possible to keep your space from absorbing the heat from the sun.

For questions or concerns, contact Brett Lovelady at brett.lovelady@drake.edu.

— Mitch Wieczorek, Facilities Planning and Management

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Famous Last Words retirement celebration

On Thursday, April 15, we will honor six of our faculty colleagues retiring from Drake at the end of this academic year.

Professors Sally Beisser (Education), Ed Bell (Pharmacy), Ramesh Dhussa (Geography), Dorothy Pisarski (Advertising), Nancy Reincke (English), Michael Rieck (Computer Science), and John Rozycki (Finance) have amassed nearly 200 years of collective experience and wisdom about Drake and higher education. On Thursday, April 15, we’ll honor their service to Drake and mark their retirement at an online event co-hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching Excellence.

“Famous Last Words” will air from 3:00-5:00 pm and will allow us to spend some time with Sally, Ed, Ramesh, Dorothy, Nancy, Michael, and John. Drawing on their experience and observations over the years, they will briefly share their insights about how Drake, as an institution, can continue to thrive in the midst of new and pressing challenges to higher education in the U.S. Following their remarks, we’ll open the (virtual) floor for Q&A.

Too often, we have allowed our departing colleagues to take their wisdom with them. Please take advantage of this opportunity to hear this year’s retirees’ “Famous Last Words,” to learn from them one last time, and to wish them well.  Click here to register for this free event using your Drake email address.

Log-in information will be sent by email prior to the event.

— Sandra Harris, Office of the Provost

Campus Announcements Archive

Nominate students for the Adams Leadership Awards

The Adams Leadership Awards are an annual, campus-wide tradition to celebrate the achievements of student leaders and organizations at Drake University. Each spring we honor students and organizations who have made valuable contributions to the campus community through their outstanding commitment to leadership.

Please consider nominating any Drake students and student organizations who have exhibited strong leadership and excellence throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. Nominations can be submitted by any Drake student, faculty, or staff member. Award categories include:

  • Outstanding First Year Student
  • Outstanding Student Organization
  • Outstanding Equity and Inclusion Program
  • Oreon E. Scott Outstanding Senior of the Year
  • …and many more!

View a full list of awards and the nomination form here. The nomination deadline is Sunday, April 18th at 11:59 p.m.

In place of this year’s Adams Leadership Convocation ceremony, the nominees and recipients of each leadership award will be announced online via the Adams Leadership Institute Facebook page the week of May 3rd. If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Economos, director of student leadership programs, at kristin.economos@drake.edu.

— Kristin Economos, Office of Student Involvement and Leadership

News & Achievements Archive

Forty Under 40

The Business Record has announced the 2021 Forty Under 40. You can see all the names here: https://www.businessrecord40.com/. You might be particularly interested in learning that at least one Drake graduate (from our SOE counseling and doctoral programs) and one Drake employee are being honored. We are so proud of you, Anthony and Gregory—Congratulations!

Anthony Ferguson Jr. – Director for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity | West Des Moines Community Schools

Gregory Lin – Assessment Coordinator | Drake University

— Catherine Gillespie, Associate Dean, Professor of Education

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

‘Famous Last Words’ faculty retirement celebration

Due to an email editing error, those who are looking for All Staff Council election information were directed to this page. Information about the election is available at this link.

On Thursday, April 15, we will honor six of our faculty colleagues retiring from Drake at the end of this academic year.

Professors Sally Beisser (Education), Ed Bell (Pharmacy), Ramesh Dhussa (Geography), Dorothy Pisarski (Advertising), Nancy Reincke (English), Michael Rieck (Computer Science), and John Rozycki (Finance) have amassed nearly 200 years of collective experience and wisdom about Drake and higher education. On Thursday, April 15, we’ll honor their service to Drake and mark their retirement at an online event co-hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching Excellence.

“Famous Last Words” will air from 3–5 p.m. and will allow us to spend some time with Sally, Ed, Ramesh, Dorothy, Nancy, Michael, and John. Drawing on their experience and observations over the years, they will briefly share their insights about how Drake, as an institution, can continue to thrive in the midst of new and pressing challenges to higher education in the U.S. Following their remarks, we’ll open the (virtual) floor for Q&A.

Too often, we have allowed our departing colleagues to take their wisdom with them. Please take advantage of this opportunity to hear this year’s retirees’ “Famous Last Words,” to learn from them one last time, and to wish them well.  Click here to register for this free event using your Drake email address.

Log-in information will be sent by email prior to the event.

— Sandra Harris, Provost’s Office

For Students Archive

There’s still time to start the Dogtown Dash

We’re only halfway through the Dogtown Dash, which means there’s still plenty of time to get started (or finish) visiting eight neighborhood businesses. Either use your ID card for payment at a Bulldog Bucks merchant (see participating locations), or tag yourself on social media using #dogtowndash to enter at any other local establishment.
 
We want to see your favorite places in Dogtown, and give you a free T-shirt! Tracking will end May 2.
 
Reminder: Participating merchants can only accept your Bulldog Bucks, not Flex Dollars. If you’re running low, Bulldog Bucks can be added in myDrake or at acceptinglocations.com/drake.  Balances will carry forward to next year. 

— Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Drake faculty/staff golf league

Drake Faculty/Staff Golf League will be a doubles league held at Grandview  Golf Course/A.H. Blank Golf Course in Des Moines. Nine holes will be played each week.

League play is scheduled on Wednesdays with tee times starting at 4pm for Grandview and 4:30pm for A.H. Blank. The first day of play will be May 19th and will continue through July 28th (10 weeks). League play may be extended depending on the number of rain-outs.

The league will be administered on a handicap basis, with 80% of the difference between a person’s average and scratch used as the handicap.

Spouses and/or significant others are welcome to play in the league. Sport will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register email Ryan Parriott at ryan.parriott@drake.edu.

— Emily Madsen, Rec Services

For Students Archive

Staff appreciation celebration

Celebrate the employees on campus that make a difference in your life. For three days, Student Senate and Sodexo will be facilitating an appreciation program to allow you to purchase $5 Starbucks gift cards and create thank you notes for any staff member that you want to thank (Facilities, Sodexo, Res Life, etc.).

When: March 31–April 2 from 4–7 p.m. each day
Where: Olmsted Starbucks

You can use your Flex Dollars, Bulldog Bucks, cash, or card to purchase the gift cards. Senate is providing thank you notes for you to fill out, and will deliver them via campus mail for you. If you’re not sure who to give a card to (but want to participate), you can donate without addressing the card, and we’ll give it to someone who hasn’t received one.

Feel free to send any questions to sydnei.washington@drake.edu.

— Sydnei Washington, ED’22

Campus Announcements Archive

Sprout Garden ribbon cutting

Join Community Engaged Learning April 7 at 3:30 p.m. for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the start of a new growing season at the new Sprout Garden location. The garden moved from its long-time location at Forest Avenue and 25th Street this past fall, to its new location of 30th Street and Carpenter Avenue. All are invited to come out and see the new space, hear remarks from those involved with the project, and learn about ways to get involved. RSVPs are encouraged by March 30 so we can prepare for refreshments.

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Blackboard Learn Ultra instructor orientation course module 6 now available 

About Module 6: This newly released self-paced module is expected to take about 2–3 hours and is focused on the most widely used Ultra Course View features. This Module will start a new layout where you will see our suggested route of learning features, but you can still choose your own learning path if there are features you don’t plan to use. You can always return to this course and review features you don’t need for the Fall 2021 switch to Ultra Course View for all courses.  

Activities included in the training encourage you to practice using the newly learned features in your sandbox courses. As you learn your way around the Ultra Course View, the sandboxes provide you with a student-free working space where you can begin developing and designing courses in the new look and feel. If you build things you want to use in the fall, remember that you can copy items from course to course, or copy entire courses for future semester offerings (reusing content was covered in Module 5). 

Need assistance with your Ultra sandbox courses? 
If the sandbox courses in Ultra course view are not showing in your Courses list, please request assistance by submitting a Blackboard Site Creation request in the IT Service Portal. 

What’s Next? 
Next week, Module 7 will be released, and it will introduce attendance, grading and feedback, and touch on analytics for instructors in the Ultra Course View.   

— Karly Good, ITS