Please join the All Staff Council in congratulating our most recent recipients of the True Blue award. Here is a little information about our honorees with excerpts from their nominations.

Laura Shell, Access & Success – nominated by Lauren McCarthy

“Laura Shell exemplifies Generosity of Spirit every time I interact with her. One of Laura‘s key responsibilities is overseeing Starfish for the university. As an advisor, I use Starfish daily for keeping track of my advisees, scheduling, making referrals, running reports, and more. I often have questions about a particular function that isn’t working as I expect, and I send those to Laura. She is always quick to respond and troubleshoot (typically it’s a user error), so that I can go on my merry way. What I most appreciate about Laura is that she never makes me feel bad about asking a question. She has a positive, affirming style and I always feel welcome to reach out. This helps me do my job better, and I appreciate the way Laura does hers!”

Kristi Longtin, Law School – nominated by Dawn Brown

“Kristi’s commitment to keeping our department’s mission running smoothly is truly inspiring. This year she was tasked with training a new employee in addition to all of her many duties. She successfully balanced this with several duties. She was the key person in scheduling visiting professors who were applying for three openings in our department. The intricate puzzle work of communicating with multiple visitors, and scheduling at least 2 or 3 “job talks” with our faculty for each candidate is a time-consuming task that can change on a dime when a conflict pops up. She is always “in this together” though and finds time to help her co-workers with numerous questions always with a chipper demeanor and smile. She has a great rapport with the faculty she supports, as well as an unending stream of students. She always makes each student feel heard and acknowledged even when they are interrupting a time-sensitive activity. She meets any challenge with a brave and creative attitude and never gives up. She rocks!”

John Kippes, John Dee Bright College – nominated by Sofia Turnbull

“John Kippes has shown himself to be a vital go-to person for the John Dee Bright College. He’s there for our students whether they want him to be or not. He’s always on the search for internship opportunities to enrich the students’ experience and has the general welfare of the College and students in mind.

John is also very engaged with the classes and is usually attending one meeting or another that is geared toward enriching the John Dee Bright College. He is our priceless Batman! We are the better for having him at our institution. He is generous with his time, knowledge, and is a very integral part of our team!

Thank you for all you do, John!”

Grounds & FPM Team, Facilities – nominated by Mark Vitha

“This is a recognition of the excellent job that Facilities did on Feb. 12-13 responding to the bad weather/snow accumulation on campus. Their dedication and hard work, under difficult conditions, helped keep the campus community safe.”

Lisa Proctor, Head Start – nominated by Candice Hyler

“Lisa is the picture of civility, caring, and respect. She provides a safe space for staff to air grievances and does not shy away from difficult conversations. She is quick to jump in when emotions run high and provides a calming presence. When meeting with her, she is intentional about making sure every voice is heard and even when she can’t ‘fix’ the issue, she does not forget about it, continually working towards a solution. She has also made great strides in providing robust communication and transparency. She has regular office hours and encourages people to ask her the difficult questions. She also writes a report that she sends out in an effort to provide transparency about the leadership team and decisions they are making to avoid people hearing news through the rumor mill. She started in her position right before COVID in 2020 and we have been struggling with staffing since; however she does not appear to get overwhelmed and continues to believe that her team can solve any problem.”

Anthony Squire, ITS – nominated by Kevin Saunders

“Anthony responded to an incident where my laptop would not start. While this may seem like a stressful event at the start of a workday, Anthony brings a sense of calm and dedication to his work. He stopped his regular workflow to respond quickly, assured me that there would be a solution, and thought ahead to set up a loaner machine. During that process, he carefully worked to set up a different machine to optimize my functionality by taking time to ask critical questions, test functionality, and consistently asking about other potential software needs. In other words, he thought carefully about my work and showed clear commitment to the highest level of service. After I left the help desk, he worked diligently to find a solution and achieved success in a short amount of time. When I returned to pick up my machine, he again took time to test the functionality and demonstrated a next level of service when he asked if there were any other issues that needed attention. I cannot think of another service experience on this campus that matches this level of dedication, commitment, drive, and effort. Anthony does this with such a calm and easy going fashion that you forget you are in the middle of a technical incident.”

In Loving Memory

Gerardo Aguilera-Rodriguez, FPM – nominated by Tammy Eltayb

“I want to nominate this employee for the true-blue award. As they follow all four core values.

They show leadership among all staff members and Drake faculty. Every day when they walk through the doors, they always have a smile on their face whether they are not feeling good or upset.
They always give their 100% when they are working. They are willing to accept criticism and will admit when they have made a mistake, and they will learn from it. 
They make sure everyone is treated equally and that each staff member works together. They have a big heart for the people here at Drake.
Thank you, is not enough to say but thank you Gerardo, for everything you do. We all appreciate everything you do for us here at facilities and around campus. You are a true bulldog.”

April 14-18 is National Student Employment Week! Student employees perform invaluable services to the campus community.

Supervisors, would you like to recognize your student employees? Here are a few low- to no-cost ideas:

• Bring in treats for your student workers or put together a goodie bag
• Write a hand-written note expressing your appreciation
• Help students with their career preparation – offer to review their resume or write a letter of recommendation
• Decorate office doors, desks, or bulletin boards with signs expressing your appreciation
• Highlight students on your social media pages, or submit a student/group spotlight to Career Services to be highlighted on Instagram – just send a photo and quote to Amanda Martin, amanda.martin@drake.edu

We are also thankful to the many on-campus supervisors who support the development of Drake students every day!

— Amanda Martin, Academic Excellence and Student Success