All posts by Taylor Johnson

News & Achievements Archive

Drake Law’s legal writing program ranked 11 in the nation

Drake University Law School has been named among the best legal writing programs in the country in U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 rankings of accredited law schools. This year, Drake’s legal writing program is ranked eleventh in the nation and tied with the University of Michigan for best in the Midwest. The Law School is often recognized for the strength of its legal writing program, consistently ranking among the top 20 in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

Drake Law School equips students with the legal writing and research skills they need to succeed in the profession. “We have always been proud of our legal writing program,” said Drake Law Dean Jerry Anderson, “and this ranking is evidence of our continuing strength and leadership in this area. Our mission is to prepare ‘complete professionals’ and the ability to communicate effectively and present precise legal analysis are key components of any successful legal career,” said Anderson.

Drake’s legal writing faculty members, Professors Melissa Weresh and Danielle Shelton, are respected leaders in their field who continually engage with other professionals and ensure that Drake’s program is up to date and meets the standards of legal education. Last fall, Drake hosted the 2023 Central States Legal Writing Conference in September. The theme, Embracing New Challenges and Opportunities: Ready for Impact, explored how current trends such as student and faculty wellness, ABA Standard 303, and ChatGPT can enhance teaching and student development.

Professor Weresh has long been a leader in the legal writing community. She was awarded the 2023 Association of Legal Writing Directors’ (ALWD) Linda Berger Award for Excellence in Legal Writing Scholarship. Professor Weresh emphasizes the collaborative approach taken by the Drake faculty, noting “For many years the legal writing faculty have worked closely and effectively with one another to ensure that our students have excellent training in legal communication. Like the team-based learning approach we employ in the classroom, we enjoy a strong sense of collegiality and cooperation with one another.”

Professor Danielle Shelton, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, has taught Legal Writing at Drake since 2003 and uses her background as a litigator to contribute to Drake’s rigorous legal writing program. Professor Shelton was recently awarded the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award for her work in advocating for marginalized communities, evidenced by her efforts to overturn unfavorable court orders affecting victims’ rights, drafting legislation to address legal gaps, promoting inclusivity for victims with mental disabilities through research and legislative advocacy, actively supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Drake Law, and dedicating extensive volunteer service to animal welfare organizations.

Of Drake’s legal writing program, Professor Shelton says, “Drake is committed to creating practice-ready lawyers—lawyers who can effectively represent clients from Day 1 out of law school. Strong legal writing skills play a crucial role in that, and our legal writing program teaches students the fundamentals and rigors of how lawyers write.”

In the overall U.S News rankings, Drake Law continues to climb, reaching its highest ranking ever (#82) in this year’s list.

 — Taylor Johnson, Law School

Campus Announcements Archive

Electrical shutdown notice

Construction on the Johansen Student Center (formerly Morehouse Hall) is continuing as planned.  Significant upgrades to the main electrical service to the building are part of the project. To bring the new Johansen Student Center electrical equipment on-line, there will be an electrical shutdown on June 11 from 6 p.m. to midnight for the following buildings: Olmsted Center, Aliber Hall, Meredith Hall, Cowles Library, and the Johansen Student Center (Morehouse). No access or use of these buildings will be permitted during this time.

— Heather Winslow, Capital Projects, Facilities Planning & Management

HR Information Archive

Vacation policy, staff sick leave, and new rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act

In May, the Biden Administration released a new Final Rule tied to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) increasing the salary threshold for certain exempt (salaried) employees. While faculty, teachers, instructors, coaches, and a range of other positions are unimpacted by this new Final Rule, it will prompt the assessment of many staff roles.

The increase in the salary threshold (one increase is effective July 1, 2024, and another on January 1, 2025) will likely result in more Drake staff being reclassified as hourly. Simply put, we will have more hourly staff moving forward than in the past. Employers across the country will be experiencing the same shift.

In assessing the impact of the Final Rule on Drake, we are proposing changes to the vacation policy (and we made some clean-up edits to the sick leave policy while we were at it).

For vacation, we are proposing eliminating the distinction in annual vacation allotments for non-exempt (hourly) and exempt (salaried) employees. The proposed annual vacation allotment for all full-time staff and vacation-eligible faculty is as follows:

Annual Vacation Bank for Full-time/12-month Employees
Years of Service     Annual Vacation Allotment
0-14 Years160 hours
15+ Years200 hours

Both proposed policies are posted on the policy development page, per Drake’s normal policy review process. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please submit them through the policy development page or you can email drakehr@drake.edu.

Normally, we would have worked with a group on such edits, but the looming legal deadline of July 1, 2024 just did not allow for that. However, we can revisit these policies, as needed, based on the feedback we receive.

If your position is impacted by the new FLSA Final Rule, your manager will be in touch with you. We are still assessing positions and options and doing so as quickly as we can, given the tight timeline imposed by the Final Rule.

Visit our temporary FLSA website for more information. Please reach out to drakehr@drake.edu if you have any questions or comments.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Self Service/Banner planned outage June 30 at 12 p.m.

Due to required maintenance for the end of the fiscal year, Admin Pages, Touchnet, and portions of Self Service will be unavailable from 12 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, through 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 1.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you experience issues after the maintenance is complete, contact the ITS Support Center for help by visiting service.drake.edu/its, calling 515-271-3001, or visiting the lower level of Carnegie Hall. 

— Heather Travis, Finance

News & Achievements Archive

Drake Legislative Practice Center awarded sub-grant to develop model state drug law

The Law School’s Legislative Practice Center (LPC) was awarded a sub-grant from the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association (LAPPA) to develop a model state drug law addressing involuntary commitment for substance use disorders. The sub-grant is part of a grant to LAPPA from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, to work with law schools in developing a model law on a subject determined by ONDCP. ONDCP and LAPPA have developed several model state drug laws that serve as a resource for states in developing effective substance use disorder statutes.

Julie Smith, director, and Sydney Gangestad, assistant director of the LPC, serve as leaders of the project. Their work is supported by Peter Larsen, LW’19, secondary investigator, and four LPC student interns, now 2024 graduates: J.T. Harris, Ami Penquite, Jacob Schrader, and Emma Terrell.

The team researched existing laws in all fifty states and the District of Columbia and drafted a model law addressing involuntary commitment. They will submit the draft to LAPPA in June for review by subject-matter experts across the nation.

“I was thrilled to play a part in this in this important work through the grant,” said Jacob Schrader. “The opportunities students have through the Legislative Practice Center makes Drake Law unique.”

“It is an honor to work on a project that will potentially improve the health and lives of people throughout the country,” said Sydney Gangestad. “Working with this team on such an important issue is incredibly gratifying. The students have been very engaged, and we are really proud of all they have accomplished.”

This year marks Julie Smith’s last as the director of the LPC. She will retire at the end of June. Gangestad will assume the role of director effective July 1. This project served as Smith’s bittersweet ultimate contribution to Drake Law School and the LPC.

“This has been such a great way to end my career,” said Smith. “It is important for students to talk about policy and put law together, because it impacts everybody. We are excited that this could potentially be something that states would adopt.”

— Taylor Johnson, Law School

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Mandela Washington Fellowship: Project coaches and home hosts needed

Drake is excited and honored to be an Institute Partner for the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Beginning in mid-June, Drake will host 25 of Africa’s emerging business leaders for a six-week program on our campus. One of the highlights for Fellows during the Institute are the Home-Hosted Meals and one-on-one time with Focus Project Coaches to develop action plans to identify and address a need in their business, organization, or community.

Applications for both Home Hosts and Focus Coaches are now officially open.

Home Hosts: https://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9pD3Sff2lec0IXs 

Focus Coaches: https://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_72vxzAMQ8GYXDNQ 

To learn more about the YALI program, visit https://www.drake.edu/yali/.If you have any specific questions about the YALI program and how to get involved, please contact Jorona Johnson (jorona.johnson@drake.edu) or Lance Noe (lance.noe@drake.edu). 

— Jorona Johnson, Global Engagement

Campus Announcements Archive

Parking passes for sale starting July 8

Parking permit sales for the upcoming academic year will begin Monday, July 8.  Please visit https://www.drake.edu/publicsafety/parking/ and select “Online Parking Registration” to register for your pass. Please make sure to have your license plate number available at the time of registration.

Permits will be available on a first come, first serve basis, and we ask that all permit sales be done online. The payroll deduct process can also be completed online, and is available to full-time, benefit-eligible part-time, and adjunct employees. Credit/debit card is also accepted for any pass purchase. An email confirmation will be sent to you when your pass is ready to be picked up at the Student Services Desk in Olmsted, please bring an ID for verification.

Resident passes: $400 (blue, 24/7 parking)

Premium passes: $290 (yellow, Olmsted lot; red, Ray Promenade lots)

Perimeter passes: $130 (all orange and purple lots)

Evening/Weekend passes: $100 (valid from 4:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., Monday through Friday, and all day on weekends)

Passes are valid from August to August, and will be available to pick up in the Student Services Center (Olmsted) in August.

Please visit drake.edu/map to see where the lots are located, and contact studentservices@drake.edu for questions.

— Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

Campus Announcements Archive

Iowa state high school track and field championship parking and travel

The Iowa State High School Track & Field Championship brings thousands of High School athletes, and guests to the Drake campus.   This year the Championships occur on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of finals week.

As a reminder, parking and travel on and around campus will be impacted during finals week from Thursday, May 16—Saturday, May 18.

It is highly recommended that if you are coming to campus from off grounds, that you use public transportation, if possible.  If you do plan on driving, give yourself plenty of time to find parking.  Please remember that cars that are parked on the grass, illegally in handicap spaces, or blocking operations will be towed without notice.

All valid commuter permits will be honored throughout the week and may be used in any commuter lot with the exception of lot 16 (Olmsted) and lot 13 (Ray Promenade) regardless of color throughout the day and in all commuter lots after 4:30 p.m.

Only residential permits are valid in residential lots. 

Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18 – Forest Avenue will be fully closed from 27th Street to 29th Street and will allow for only limited access from 24th to 27th Streets and from 29th to 31st Streets, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day (5 p.m. on Saturday).  No street parking is allowed along Forest Avenue.

Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18 – 27th Street will be closed to through traffic between Forest Avenue and Clarke Street between 7 a.m.–7 p.m. (5 p.m. on Saturday).

Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18 – Lot 18 S (Studio Arts) will be closed/no parking allowed.

Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18 – Clarke Street will be posted No Parking from 27th Street to 25th Street.

Residential Students needing to move out of the Quads have received separate information in regard to move-out.  All residential students should familiarize themselves with restrictions that will be in place for move-out on Thursday and Friday.

— Scott Law, Executive Director, Public Safety & Operational Services

HR Information Archive

Wear green on May 16 for Mental Health Awareness Month and be kind to your mind

Wear Green Day is Thursday, May 16.  Everyone is encouraged to wear something green as a reminder to take steps to address their own mental health challenges and to help others take steps in finding the help they need.  If the weather is nice, invite others to join you in a walk around the Bulldog Mile.

As we continue to highlight Mental Health Awareness Month, and approach the end of the academic year, now is a great time to reflect on your personal mental wellbeing.  It is not selfish to take care of your own mental health needs–it is imperative.

Take some time to watch today’s “NAMI Central Iowa Presents: In Our Own Voice” or the May 16 “Make it OK to Talk about Mental Illness” presentation. You can find a full schedule of upcoming webinars and presentations on the Mental Health Awareness Month website.

Self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical and mental health. This can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a big impact.

Start with a few things you can incorporate into your daily routine.  Be physically active, eat a healthy, balanced diet, get enough sleep, and explore relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing.

Next, take some time to recharge.  Studies have shown that taking time away from the job can have physical and mental health benefits.  People who take vacations have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and time away can even spur greater creativity.

Here are some guidelines to help you reap the benefits of vacation, wherever you go.

Get a change in scenery. Vacation doesn’t need to entail extensive travel. The fun of it is going somewhere that is different from your daily life. This may be a short drive from home, an extended road trip, or an excursion to the other side of town. For day and weekend trips, consider checking out one of Iowa’s amazing state parks.

Plan. Being spontaneous on occasions can be exciting, but pre-planning gives you something to look forward to, creating a sense of joy.  Even if you’re only going across town, you can still identify which days you’re going to take off and plan what you’re going to do in advance. Not interested in a long drive? Check out the events highlighted on the Catch Des Moines website.

Identify the type of experience you want to have. The ideal vacation is different for everyone. For some, it’s soaking up the sun by the water. For others, it’s a creative pursuit, exploring a new location, trying new cuisine, or engaging in an adventure sport. Knowing this will help you decide potential destinations and activities.

Spend time outdoors. Spending time in nature can benefit you both mentally and physically. Whether you’re traveling or staying home, build in time outdoors as part of your vacation.  Take a morning walk, fish on a lake, watch the waves crash at the beach or enjoy a picnic in a park. If you are looking for a new walk adventure, check out a Des Moines trail that you haven’t explored before. There are plenty to choose from!

Unplug. Unplugging from work can be difficult, but it is a big part of what makes vacation feel like vacation. It’s down time for your brain, creates the space for creativity to emerge and allows you to be fully present with your family and travel partners. Unplugging is easier said than done. Here are a few tips that may be helpful.

Create memories. Vacations are a great opportunity to create lasting, positive memories.  Recalling those happy memories can head off stress, anxiety, and depression. Capture fun moments with your smartphone, through journaling,  or start a gratitude jar. You’ll enjoy revisiting these memories in the months and years to come.

As easy as it might be to keep on working and skip a vacation, don’t. Taking some time away can provide you with an experience that leaves you refreshed and re-energized, and you don’t have to go very far to do it. So, get packing and go. You’ll be glad you did.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

News & Achievements Archive

Professor Mary M. McCarthy discusses U.S.-Japan relations

In a news-rich month in U.S.-Japan relations, Mary M. McCarthy, professor of politics and international relations, was called on to provide her expertise on the BBC program The Context, through authorship of an article in The Conversation, and in a quote for the Washington Post. For the former two, she analyzed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s April state visit to the US. In the last, she commented on President Joe Biden’s subsequent (and unfortunate) comment about a “xenophobic” Japan at a campaign event on May 1.