The Drake Principal Center for Global Citizenship is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations  from the Drake campus community for the annual Global Citizenship Award, recognizing one current Drake student for their outstanding global and intercultural competency. The selected awardee will receive a plaque and an award of up to $1,000.

Eligibility

The nominee must be a current student enrolled in any Drake degree program and who is in good academic standing. This individual must be at Junior (third year) standing or higher at the time of nomination. Full-time international students and students enrolled in graduate/professional programs are eligible for this award. The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years.

Timeline

Nominations for this award will be accepted from November 7, 2023, through February 11, 2024. Nominees will be reviewed by the Global Engagement Advisory Council (GEAC), and the selected awardee will be announced at the Global Citizen Forum in March 2024.

Nomination

A letter of nomination should be submitted recommending an individual for the award and explaining the context and manner in which the nominator has come to know the student. This may be submitted by any member of the Drake campus community, including faculty, staff, administration, current students, and alumni.

Students may self-nominate for this award, which will require that a letter of support from a member of the campus community be included in their nomination form.

Pursuant to the University’s mission to prepare students for “responsible global citizenship,” the nomination or support letter must explain how the nominee has made outstanding contributions toward enhancing their global and intercultural competency during their Drake career. Preference will be given for demonstrated leadership and impact.

Nominees who indicate a willingness to be considered will be invited to submit a resume/CV and a brief statement. One or two additional letters of support from faculty, staff, or students may be submitted to support the nomination; this is optional.

Any individual who was nominated for the award in the preceding year may be re-nominated. A record of previous nominees is maintained for two years. If a student is re-nominated, the nominator will be invited to review the file from the previous year to ensure that the nomination details are current.

Nominations should be submitted via this online form.

Please direct questions to global@drake.edu.

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, students, faculty, and staff will be invited to participate in the Healthy Minds Study (HMS), which will be delivered via email. Two versions of the survey will be administered concurrently—a student version and a faculty/staff version.

The Healthy Minds Network (HMN) is one of the nation’s premier research organizations contributing to adolescent and young adult mental health.  HMN is dedicated to improving the mental and emotional well-being of young people through innovative, multidisciplinary scholarship.

Be assured: all your answers will remain confidential. You will not be identifiable as an individual and your participation in this project is completely voluntary. The HMS will conduct the study to prevent anyone at Drake University from having access to the raw data and HMS will not share your individual responses with any 3rd parties. Once the survey is complete, HMS will only provide aggregate data sets to relevant individuals on campus. This data will then be used to identify areas that should be targeted during the quality initiative as well as informing other related projects being conducted by several colleges/schools.

By participating, you will be contributing to a full understanding of where our campus is relative to well-being and mental health. This information will be used to improve campus life and you will be contributing to a broader goal of promoting well-being within higher education.

Drake will be completing weekly prize drawings for anyone who completes the survey. One student will be randomly selected each week and will be able to choose AirPods, a sunrise alarm, or a weighted blanket. One faculty/staff member will be randomly selected each week and will be able to choose a student to take to lunch (using a $40 Bulldog Bucks credit). Additionally, all invited participants will be entered into the national sweepstakes and have a chance to win a gift card of up to $500.

More information about the Healthy Minds Network is available here: https://healthymindsnetwork.org/

Questions about the survey can be directed to Laura Shell, Strategic Director for Student Retention & Success.

— Laura Shell, Academic Excellence and Student Success

Nov. 8 is National First Generation Student Day. Drake defines a first-generation student is a college student whose parents/legal guardians have not received a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university. At Drake, about 20% of our incoming students are first generation students. The Office of New Student and Family Programs and Drake First Gen Student Organization are partnering to celebrate Drake first generation students, staff, and faculty.

Here are some ways you can get involved in the celebration:

Wednesday, Nov. 8:

• We will be tabling on Helmick Commons or Olmsted Breezeway (depending on weather) from 1–4 p.m. passing out snacks and First Gen Bulldog stickers. We hope you can stop by for a sticker and some snacks!
• Zimpleman College of Business Students: Join us in the Aliber 1st floor lobby starting at 9 a.m. to celebrate National First-Generation Day! If you are a first-generation student, we encourage you to stop by for your “I am FIRST” button and a treat. If you are faculty or staff and a first-generation student, please come get a button to show your first-gen pride. Everyone is invited to grab a donut to help us celebrate this special day.
• College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Students: Join us in the Cline Hall lobby at 10 a.m. to celebrate National First-Generation Day! First-gen students, faculty, and staff are invited to contribute quick notes of encouragement and pride to the first-gen community on the “Why I’m First” wall. Everyone is invited to grab a donut to help us celebrate this special day. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, Nov. 9:
We will have an opportunity to meet and mingle with other first gen faculty, staff, and students during a social hour from 5-6 p.m. in Olmsted Center Conference Rooms 312-313. Snacks will be provided!

Friday, Nov. 10:

Drake First Gen Bulldogs student organization will be hosting a panel from 5-6pm. This will be an opportunity to hear from first gen faculty and staff about their experiences. The panel will be live streamed from the Drake Broadcasting System youtube channel and available to watch afterwards. There is limited seating at the panel, email Erica Sawyer (erica.sawyer@drake.edu), if you are interested in seeing the panel in person.

We encourage First Generation students, staff and faculty to join our Facebook group and follow on Instagram.

We look forward to seeing you at some of the First-Generation Student Day events!

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs

The Iowa Refugee Summit, sponsored by the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa, will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at Drake’s Olmsted Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This annual event is open to the public and brings community partners together to learn how to better serve Iowa’s immigrant and refugee communities. Attendees are often educators, health and mental health providers, direct support professionals, volunteer organizations, economic development boards, municipal/state officials, community leaders, and students. Session topics include health/mental health, employment, economic development, refugee resettlement and post-resettlement services, supporting ethnic community-based organizations, K-12 and adult education, legal/advocacy work, and much more! 5 CEUs will be offered. All are welcome!

Register: Tickets are available here through Eventbrite for $50

Discount: Discounted tickets (as well as volunteer opportunities) are available to anyone who requests them by emailing Stepahnie@RefugeeAllianceOfCentralIowa.org.

— Mallary Allen, Director of Community Engaged Learning