All posts by Kelly Foster

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake Dining improvements and new meal plan options coming soon

Some significant changes are in the works for Drake Dining.  Beginning in April, improvements to Hubbell Dining Hall will begin, impacting the kitchen and serving areas for both Hubbell South and Quad Creek. The project will be complete by the start of the 2020–2021 academic year. The refresh of Hubbell will complement a meal plan redesign, including the introduction of an unlimited dining meal plans. The unlimited plan options allow for unlimited trips to Hubbell to accommodate busy student schedules and a variety of food preferences.

The unlimited meal plan option, as well as new plan options with increased flex dollars, were developed after two years of study and gathering feedback from students. Several focus groups during the 2018–2019 academic year were instrumental in bringing a fully licensed Starbucks to campus. Follow up meetings with students in 2019 helped inform the new meal plan options.

Watch for more information about the Hubbell Dining Hall update and schedule.

— Kelly Foster, Finance and Administration

News & Achievements Archive

Chelsea Steffens accepted to Institute for Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy

Chelsea Steffens (O2) was accepted to the Summer Institute for Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy by the American Occupational Therapy Association.

Steffens will meet doctoral and post-doctoral mentors during the program to discuss research and opportunities in occupational therapy science on June 18 in Fort Collins, CO. She will attend the Occupational Therapy Summit of Scholars at Colorado State University June 19–20.

“I chose to pursue the Summer Institue for Future Scientists in OT because I want to be a therapist driven to question practices, discover, and challenge treatments for the best patient outcomes, and to do so in light of the philosophy of the OT field,” said Steffens. “This will assist me in my drive to use previous and current practices in the field to guide future research and to contribute to the growing body of knowledge and practices of the field.”

— Kaylyn Maher, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

News & Achievements Archive

Students and faculty honored at Health Professions Day

Students and faculty received awards at the annual Health Professions Day (formerly Pharmacy and Health Sciences Day) on Thursday, Feb. 27.

  • Richard Morrow Transformational Leadership Student Award – Eddie Mueller (P4)
  • Mentor of the Year – Kim Huey, professor of health sciences
  • Faculty Preceptor of the Year – Geoff Wall, professor of pharmacy practice
  • Teacher of the Year – Shankar Munusamy, associate professor of pharmacology
  • Boyd Granberg Professional Leadership Award – Kristin Meyer, associate professor of pharmacy practice
  • Richard Morrow Transformational Leadership Faculty Award – Cassity Gutierrez, health sciences department chair and associate professor
  • Hartig Distinguished Professor Award – Brian Gentry, associate professor of pharmacology
  • Non-CPHS Teacher of the Year – Mark Vitha, professor of chemistry

— Kaylyn Maher, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Campus Announcements Archive

Summer, Fall, J-Term schedule and registration information

The Summer 2020, Fall 2020, and J-Term 2021 schedule of classes and related registration information is available online. Registration for all three terms begins Monday, April 6.

View registration information, including the registration time table that shows when you become eligible to register. View the schedule of classes.

Some courses will be temporarily reserved for students who have declared a certain field-of-study (major, minor, concentration, or endorsement). On Monday, April 20, those reservations will be removed. Note that some coursed have restrictions that are permanent.

If you are an undergraduate or pharmacy student intending to make any changes to your field-of-study and have those changes take effect before registration begins, you must file your changes at your dean’s office no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 30. Requests submitted after this date may not be accommodated until Wednesday, April 22.

For specific questions, including how to change your field of study, please contact your dean’s office.

— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

HR Information Archive

Wellness premium incentive program guidelines for 2020

This is a reminder that those employees wishing to participate in the wellness program and receive the reduced premium for the 2021 plan year will need to complete an annual physical with a primary care doctor between Dec. 1, 2019, and Nov. 30, 2020, and submit a Physician Exam Completion Form by Dec. 2, 2020. We extended our timeline for receiving a physical back to Dec. 1, 2019, to include those employees with December physicals.  Any employee who completed their physical last December should have their physician fill out a Physician Exam Completion Form and return it to the Drake Human Resources Office, attention Linda Feiden.

The on-campus UnityPoint screening and Hy-Vee screening options will no longer be available.  Also, we will continue to offer voluntary on-campus screenings with the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, but they will not take the place of the annual physical with a primary care provider.

Should you have questions, please contact Linda Feiden in Human Resources at linda.feiden@drake.edu.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Free smoking cessation program

If you are ready to quit smoking but need a little help, the American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking program may be the answer. This free at work program features a step-by-step plan for quitting smoking. Participants will meet once a week for eight weeks. Each 60- to 90-minute class is designed to help smokers gain control over their behavior. Four to 10 participants are needed to hold this series.

Send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu to register.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources