All posts by Evan Favreau

For Students Archive

Drake Student Personality Workshops

On Oct. 2 Drake will be hosting on-campus workshops for undergraduate students. The goal of these workshops is to learn more about the personality of the Drake student body. To accomplish this we need your input!

You are invited to attend one of the three one-hour workshops and help us get a clearer picture of who makes up our student body. A facilitator from outside the university will lead the workshops, but this is not a focus group—it will be a fun and engaging conversation about your experiences and viewpoints. Food and drinks will be provided and students who attend have a chance of winning one of ten $50 gift cards to Starbucks or select Dogtown restaurants.

There are three opportunites to attend a workshop on Oct. 2 in Parents Hall:

  • 9:00-10:00am
  • 4:00-5:00pm
  • 7:00-8:00pm

Registration and additional details are available here. All undergraduate students are welcome as long as you have completed at least one term at Drake. Please contact Evan Favreau at evan.favreau@drake.edu with any questions.

–Evan Favreau, Office of Admission

HR Information Archive

Walk the Bulldog Mile Oct. 2 as part of the Healthiest State Walk

Grab your walking shoes and join the Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 2.  All faculty, staff, and students are invited to meet at noon at the start of the Bulldog Mile where you will receive a token. At the end of the 1-mile walk, turn in your token for a raffle ticket and chance to win a prize. If that’s not enough, you can earn additional raffle tickets with the lucky roll of some dice.

If it is raining, we will move the event to the indoor track at the Knapp Center.  Come alone, bring a friend, or make it a team or department event!  Let’s get moving!

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Generative AI guiding principles resource

The library faculty have created a set of guiding principles to consider when using generative AI tools in the research and scholarship process.  This was done in an effort to help educate the students, staff, and faculty of Drake University on the benefits and risks of generative AI, especially with regards to searching, finding, and evaluating information.

The library faculty have also created a concise version of those guiding principles.

Please contact Priya Shenoy at priya.shenoy@drake.edu or Dan Chibnall at dan.chibnall@drake.edu if you have any questions.

–Teri Koch, Cowles Library

Campus Announcements Archive

Religion, Disability, Work: The Comparison Project Lecture & Dialogue Series

Cody Dolinsek, adjunct professor of philosophy at Drake, will deliver a lecture titled “Disability and Religion: A Dialogue of Dissonance in Search of Harmony” on Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. in Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center. The event will be accessible via Zoom. The lecture is part of The Comparison Project’s Lecture and Dialogue Series.

— Catalina Samaniego, senior, College of Arts & Sciences

For Faculty Archive

DU England semester Faculty-in-Residence position open for Fall 2025

Drake University is seeking interested faculty to apply for the DU England Faculty-in-Residence position to teach and support student learning on Drake’s semester-long, cohort-model, study abroad program at Harlaxton College.

The DU England Semester Faculty-in-Residence application is live through Qualtrics for Fall 2025. To learn more about this opportunity including eligibility, compensation, responsibilities, and to officially apply, please go to this form.

Submissions are due Sunday, October 27th. If you have questions or want to learn more about this opportunity, please reach out to Maria Rohach, director of education abroad, at maria.rohach@drake.edu to schedule time to meet.

— Maria Rohach, Global Engagement

HR Information Archive

NAMIWalks Iowa 1K or 5K event

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Iowa serves as a catalyst around advocacy, education, support, and public awareness to help all Iowans affected by mental illness lead better lives.

In recognition of our continued partnership with NAMI Iowa, Drake is a supporter sponsor of the 2024 NAMIWalks Iowa event, on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Terra Park, 6400 Pioneer Pkwy, Johnston, IA from 8:30 a.m. to noon. 

You are welcome to participate on your own or form a team. And you can choose to walk either a 1K or 5K route.  Friendly leashed dogs, strollers, and wagons are welcome, but no bicycles or rollerblades.

Funds raised during this walk support NAMI’s free programs and the walk is a great way to get some fresh air, exercise, socialize, and support others.

If interested, please go to the NAMIWalks Iowa website to register yourself or your team. If you have questions, please contact Amanda Huppert, NAMI Iowa events manager, at amanda@namiiowa.org.

–Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Strategic Updates Archive

2024 Faculty and Staff Survey Results

This past spring, faculty and staff were invited to participate in an internally developed survey on our campus workplace culture. This was in place of the annual Great Colleges to Work For survey. This internally developed survey focused on growth areas from prior ‘Great Colleges’ surveys while also saving the university money on external survey costs. Thank you to the 351 people who participated.

We collectively use survey results to define focus areas for improvement that will advance creating a stronger workplace culture. Survey results for each major unit on campus were shared with the respective unit leaders earlier this summer. Throughout the summer, each leader worked with their teams to develop specific focus areas for continuous improvement in their unit. In turn, these focus areas helped inform university focus areas overall.

As prioritized by university leadership, our prioritized areas of collective improvement are:

  • Robust and transparent communication
  • Positive relationships and connection, across departments and within
  • Supporting faculty and staff well-being and support
  • Cultivating a culture of resiliency

In reviewing the results across the university, the units with the most positive responses were: The Ray Center, Advancement, Administration, the Provost’s Office, Global Engagement, and ITS.

Many areas of strengths and improvement were shared in the survey results. As an example, suggestions to improve on cross-department collaboration on campus included:

  • Intentional interactions
  • Breaking down silos through communication and understanding
  • Creating cross-departmental teams
  • Hosting workshops
  • Rewarding collaboration
  • Setting clear expectations for common goals

Thank you for your commitment to creating a great workplace culture. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the survey, please reach out to Nate Reagen.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Acrobat Reader installation changes

On September 26, ITS will automatically uninstall outdated Acrobat Reader applications from Drake-owned computers. Built-in PDF reader applications on both Windows (Microsoft Edge) and macOS (Preview) will not be impacted by this change. We’re taking this step to increase the security of our network and improve the overall efficiency of Drake-owned computers. 

After Acrobat Reader is uninstalled, you may reinstall it on your own by using the preconfigured installation app in Company Portal (Windows) or Self Service (macOS). Using these installation methods will ensure that the applications are automatically updated. 

If you have questions or need assistance after this change, contact us by submitting a ticket though the ITS service portal or by calling the Support Center at 515-271-3001. 

–Becky Klein, ITS

HR Information Archive

Join Drake’s Walktober step challenge with DMU and Wesley Life

If you are looking for a way to motivate yourself to get up and move more, join this year’s Walktober step challenge.  Drake is competing with Des Moines University and Wesley Life to see which site’s competitors can achieve the highest average step total during the month of October.  The winning site claims the Walktober traveling trophy for a year and bragging rights.  DMU won the trophy last year and we want to bring it back home!

You are welcome to register as an individual or create a team (adding a little internal competition to our already external one).  If you would like participate, please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.  If you are putting together a team, please include your team’s name, team captain, and team members (4-8 people per team).  This event is open to all faculty, staff, and students.  Registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 27.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Blackboard security certificate update

On Thursday, September 19 at 4:30pm, ITS staff will be updating an SSO security certificate related to Blackboard logins. The update will not make Blackboard unavailable, but it may cause your course materials to appear unavailable. If you experience issues accessing your course materials, fully quit your browser, restart it, and log back in to Blackboard. 

If you have any access issues with Blackboard after this update, contact us by submitting a ticket though the ITS service portal or by calling the Support Center at 515-271-3001.

–Becky Klein, ITS