Colleagues: In conjunction with the First Gen Student Organization, the Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is seeking a faculty or staff member to assist in the creation of a faculty/staff first generation college student group. If you have any interest in being part of this group, please contact me at terrance.pendleton@drake.edu.
— Terrance Pendleton, Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion
Mike Fucaloro will be retiring on April 5, 2024. Please join us to honor 26 years of dedicated service to the University. A farewell reception will be held from 2–4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, in Levitt Hall, Old Main. Come thank Mike for all he has done to support Drake and its mission through the years.
— Chris Mielke, ITS
As a reminder, employees on Drake’s health plan who wish to continue receiving the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2025 need to complete a physical exam with an in-network provider between Dec. 1, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2024, and submit a Premium Discount-Annual Physical Form by Nov. 30, 2024. This is an annual event.
If you already had your physical since last December, please fill out the form and turn it in now. If you have not scheduled your annual physical yet, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Some physician’s offices require a long lead time for appointments. Also note that our Wellmark health plan allows for one physical per calendar year, so you should not need to wait a year and a day between physicals.
Besides receiving a premium discount, an annual physical is a great way to receive important health information through age and gender specific examinations, schedule recommended preventative screenings, and create a doctor-patient relationship.
Please contact linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions on the wellness premium discount physical form and marlene.heuertz@drake.edu with additional benefits questions.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
If you are involved with contracting on campus, we want to make sure you have the support and resources you need to perform this important function. Plan to attend the following virtual meeting where we will discuss contracting at Drake. We will answer questions and provide an overview of where to find resources and advice.
WHEN: Thursday, March 21, 11–11:45 a.m.
WHERE: Remote via TEAMS
Please send an e-mail to ducontracts@drake.edu to register.
— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
The Principal Global Citizenship Award was presented during the 2024 Global Citizen Forum. 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 Professor Susan Pritchett, director of clinical and experiential education at the Law School.
Professor Pritchett arrived at Drake University in 2018, and from the beginning she has contributed to a multitude of programs at Drake that have shaped the global mindset of students and built their intercultural capacity. She is a teacher, a mentor, and an advocate. Her work is centered on international human rights in action and creating experiences for her students that will not only be transformative for them, but that have tremendous community impact as well.
When Professor Pritchett arrived here, Drake Law did not have any kind of immigration clinic or services and no faculty expertise in the area. In this absence, Prof. Pritchett pioneered opportunities for Drake law students to gain meaningful global experiences. In 2019, she co-created an Applied Immigration Law Course that is still being offered to this day. This course traces the history of the Burmese conflict, allowing student to more deeply understand war and ethnic violence that perpetuates refugee flows. She invites members of the local Burmese community to class to share their experiences fleeing persecution in Burma and starting over in the US through refugee resettlement programs. The capstone experience involves partnering with a local NGO that serves Burmese refugees. As an outcome of that capstone, Drake law students have assisted 45 of the non-profit’s clients in applying for immigration benefits including green cards and citizenship.
In 2020, Professor Pritchett worked to secure a half a million dollar grant to launch Drake’s Refugee Clinic. This Clinic now provides 2nd and 3rd year law students the opportunity to represent non-citizens for asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief. The clinic and Prof. Pritchett’s work has provided meaningful experiences for nearly 50 law students and served over 60 clients, some of whom have been Drake international students and employees. Because of the tremendous impact the clinic has had, it was recently awarded a $1M grant by the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services to provide representation and legal service to the nearly 1K Afghan refugees who live in Iowa.
Her work and passion go beyond the classroom and the clinic. Professor Pritchett has created volunteer experiences for students to work with green car holders to apply for naturalization. As the director of our externship program, she trains all students taking internships for credit in multicultural lawyering. She is also currently helping explore a collaboration with Drake’s partner university in Uganda, Makerere University Business School, to train faculty in experiential pedagogy and to help them develop a Business Clinic as part of their curriculum.
In the words of her nominator: “Talking about global human rights in the classroom is one thing. But when a student is sitting across from someone who has escaped persecution in their country and is desperately trying not to be sent back, they will never forget it and their perspective is forever altered. Those transformative experiences happen every day in our clinic and in other settings because Suzie Pritchett has created them. She believes so strongly both in the power of this type of education and in the public service we provide to those in need, who truly have no other place to turn. She is the quintessential global citizen and is helping to create dozens more of them every year.”
— Kaiya Kielb Young, Senior, Arts & Sciences
Keep an eye out for the new stickers the Office of Sustainability is placing throughout campus. The stickers will serve as friendly reminders to practice energy-saving behaviors. The goal is to ensure lights are turned off when occupants leave a room, and the Temperature Set Point Policy is being adhered to when there is local thermostat control. It is also important to turn off and unplug all appliances when not in use!
The FPM team is constantly working to upgrade building and appliance efficiency, but action on the user’s end is needed to maximize the energy and monetary savings, especially with rising utility rates.
Small actions on a campus wide scale add up. It is vital for Drake to maximize our behavioral related savings so we can achieve our 2050 goal of carbon neutrality and our 2033 goal of a 65% reduction in scope one and two emissions.
Stickers are being strategically placed in buildings that will have the highest impact first. If there is a location you think would benefit from having a sticker, reach out to hannah.remke@drake.edu.
— Hannah Remke, Sustainability Coordinator
The Office of Sustainability will be piloting an Office Supply Collection and Reuse (OSCAR) shopping day event. It will be a two-day event taking place March 27, 2–5 p.m. and March 28, 10–4 p.m. on Pomerantz Stage in Olmsted.
Staff and faculty are welcome to stop by to drop off and pick up free gently used office supplies. You do not need to bring an item to take something. All gently used office items are accepted; please do not bring junk. Possible items to bring:
This event will take place Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday, items will be opened up to students. Reach out to hannah.remke@drake.edu with any questions and follow @drakeu.sustainability on Instagram for more information.
— Hannah Remke, Facilities Planning & Management
Attention grads: Mark your calendars for Bulldog Shop’s Grad Fair on Wednesday, March 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pomerantz Stage. Pick up or order, your regalia (cap & gown, tassel, stole, etc.), and meet with specialists who can help you with everything you need before and after graduation: Herff Jones class rings and announcements, Alumni Relations, and Career Services.
All grads will also receive a free alumni decal with cap and gown purchase and they can save $24 on diploma frames during the event. Plus, your favorite bulldog, Griff II, will make an appearance to share in the celebration and say congratulations.
— Bulldog Shop
Since 1990, March has been celebrated as Employee Appreciation Month across the U.S. While we recognize that this March our campus faces both challenges and opportunities, we strongly believe that now, more than ever, it is important to take time to show appreciation. We are so grateful to have amazing faculty and staff at Drake University.
Human Resources and All Staff Council invite you to take some time to gather with others for any of the following Employee Appreciation Month events. Details on these events and other appreciation month resources can be found on this temporary Employee Appreciation Month webpage.
March 1-13: Build a Bulldog
You have all probably seen the colorful bulldog statues around campus. Now it is your turn to get creative in decorating a bulldog. Not a bulldog statue or an actual bulldog, but a PICTURE of a bulldog. Click HERE to print off an outline of Griff II for the contest. Decorate the picture using whatever artistic materials you wish and send your completed picture to Linda Feiden, HR, 3rd floor Old Main, by Wednesday, March 13. Don’t forget to put your name on the back. All entries will go through a preliminary screening and the finalists will be on display during
the BINGO event on March 20 for faculty and staff to vote on for prizes.
March 20: Pizza and BINGO!
Join All Staff Council and Human Resources on Wednesday, March 20, from 12-1 p.m. (note the NEW time) in Parents Hall South, Olmsted Center to enjoy some free pizza and play BINGO. Prizes include gift certificates to Lucky Horse and Lachele’s, Drake Relays apparel, Bulldog Shop gift basket/goodies and more. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite “Build a Bulldog” picture.
March 28: Recess
As part of employee appreciation month, we invite faculty and staff to take a break from work on Thursday, March 28, between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and join us in the Bell Center Courts 1 & 2 for recess! Play nine holes of miniature golf, try pickleball, or challenge a colleague to a game of cornhole (bags). All equipment will be provided.
In addition, we have brought back the popular Shout-Out program for Employee Appreciation Month. This is a great way to recognize your colleagues. Write a sentence or two thanking a colleague or team for going the extra mile or showing support to others and submit it to linda.feiden@drake.edu between now and March 27. You are welcome to submit as many as you wish. All shout-outs will be compiled and posted in OnCampus.
Finally, All Staff Council will be sending 50 lucky staff a magnet in March with a picture of Griff II ‘high-fiving’. If you receive one, keep it for a few days, then pass it along to another colleague who also deserves a high-five. The magnets can be handed off again and again with the hopes of reaching as many of Drake’s amazing staff members as possible.
Please take some time this month to let others know you appreciate their efforts and know that YOUR efforts are appreciated.
The application deadline for The Harkin Institute D.C. Experience Scholarship and the Robert J. Waters and Patricia J. Beneke Endowed Washington, D.C. Experience Scholarship has been extended! Applications are now due April 1, 2024.
Our scholarships help cover the costs of housing and travel expenses for those completing an internship in Washington, D.C.
Haven’t secured an internship yet? No problem. You can still apply for our scholarship while searching.
Click here to learn more and apply!
— Kathryn Kuckelman, The Harkin Institute
