All posts by Melissa Sturm-Smith

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Student Success Spotlight: Timm Pilcher

Welcome back to the Student Success spotlight, an opportunity to recognize the people and resources that make a difference in Drake students’ lives. Each week, we’ll shine a light on the outstanding individuals and initiatives that contribute to the success and growth of our community.

This week features Timm Pilcher, Professional and Academic Support Specialist in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, who takes an innovative approach to office hours.

Tell us a little bit about your creative approach to office hours:

Tuesdays with Timm came about because of my love of walking the Bulldog Mile. Ideally I try to get out daily and walk a couple of laps, although some days are better than others. My Associate Dean, Dr. Kelly Bruhn, noticed this and asked if I would be willing to put it out there for students to join as an alternative way for them to connect to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) and their academic and career advisor.

What prompted you to make the change?

Most know I’m a pretty non-traditional person in many ways, and any alternatives that I can use to connect with students, I’ll try. Especially for EFRs, the college transition can be daunting, and I used to tell my high school students that they needed to bridge any barriers between themselves and their professors and advisors to ease that transition. This is just one bridge to use.

Talk about any differences you experienced in level of participation, student engagement, etc.

I think students can really relate to being approachable by any means, and I know that Tuesdays with Timm and the “open door” policy of everyone the SJMC make for a family-like atmosphere within the school, allowing for students to have better relationships and thus better outcomes and achievement.

What is your favorite thing about teaching and advising Drake students?

Oh my gosh, that’s a tough question. Coming from 30 years of working in public education (a field I never would have imagined myself getting into when I first went to college) I realized that I absolutely love working with students. They are smart, funny, and creative, and they bring a lot of energy! I consider myself a pretty high-energy person, so it’s a good fit!

Please share your student success spotlight ideas!  Email Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Student Success.

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Neighborhood Playwright Series: Call for submissions

Drake University Department of Theatre Arts seeks new, original plays by local playwrights as part of the 2024 Neighborhood Playwrights Series. Entries will be read by a committee of Drake Theatre students and faculty. The writer of the winning entry for this year’s Series will receive a prize of $500 and have their work produced as a public reading for two performances as part of Drake Theatre’s Main Stage Season.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 8th, 2024.
The winning entry will be announced on or before Monday, June 3rd, 2024. Rehearsals will begin Monday, August 26th, 2024 with performances on Friday, September 13th and Saturday, September 14th, 2024.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail Michael Rothmayer at the address listed above, or contact Jacob
Lemons, Administrative Assistant for the Department of Theatre Arts at (515) 271-2018 or jacob.lemons@drake.edu.
To see the complete list of rules online, go to: https://www.drake.edu/theatre/productions/drakeuniversitytheatreneighborhoodplaywrightsseries/.

— Jacob Lemons, Fine Arts

HR Information Archive

Complete your physical by Nov. 30 to receive wellness health insurance premium discount

Employees on Drake’s health plan who wish to receive a wellness health insurance premium discount in 2024, must complete a physical with their Primary Care Physician (PCP) between Dec. 1, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2023. The monthly savings in premiums for 2024 will be approximately $34.00.

Besides receiving a premium discount, an annual physical is an important way to receive health information through age and gender specific examinations, schedule recommended preventative screenings, and create a doctor-patient relationship.

If you have not yet scheduled your annual physical with your PCP, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

If you are already looking to 2025, physicals completed between December 1, 2023, and November 30, 2024, will cover that plan year.

You can read more about the discount program and download the form for 2024 (or 2025) on this new webpage: Wellness Premium Discount.

Please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Benefits and Wellness Fair Nov. 3

This year’s Benefits and Wellness Fair will be held Friday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Levitt Hall, Old Main.  Please mark your calendars.

We will have benefits and wellness partners and vendors on hand to answer questions. There will be snacks, freebies, and the chance to win prizes. We hear Griff may make an appearance, too.  Most importantly, this is an opportunity for you to be sure you understand and take advantage of the benefits and perks offered to you as an employee of Drake University.

The Fair is an important annual event to help prepare you to make benefit elections during the month of November, which will take effect on January 1, 2024.

To entice attendees to meet with our guests, we’ll hand out bingo cards that will be stamped by the visitors you meet. If you secure a blackout (stamping all of the vendor spots), we’ll enter your name in a drawing for prizes.

The entire month of November is open enrollment month.  Throughout the month you can enroll in benefits for 2024.  In next week’s OnCampus, you’ll learn more about information sessions that will be held on November 10 (one live and one virtual).  Please check OnCampus all month and review HR communications for additional benefits-related information and events throughout the month of November.

— Maureen De Armond and Marlene Heuertz, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Jennifer Kray, author of “My Other Half,” to deliver Pi Theta Epsilon lecture

Plan to attend the Pi Theta Epsilon lecture by Ms. Jennifer Kray entitled “Redemptive Suffering” at Levitt Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. Kray, author of the text “My Other Half,” will describe her experience as a graduate student who experienced an eating disorder, to a brainstem hemorrhage. The lecture will provide insights into the importance of patient connection and the impact of hope in healthcare. 1.0 CEU available for OT practitioners.

— Christine Urish, Professor of Occupational Therapy

News & Achievements Archive

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority selected for national leadership program

Two Drake students who are members of the Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. were selected for their National Leadership Delta Program.  This is a competitive program that is offered to collegiate members across seven regions. The women submitted applications, letters of recommendation and participated in an interview process and were selected as two of the 38 women in this year’s cohort.

The Leadership DELTA (Defining Emerging Leadership Through Advocacy) program is an eight-month leadership development program for collegiate members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. focused on personal, professional and leadership development, self-care; and networking.

Please help us congratulate Trinity Harris and Jade Sklar!

— Liz Cadwell, Director, Fraternity and Sorority Life

Campus Announcements Archive

Artists Duane Slick and Martin Smick on campus for several events at the Anderson Gallery

Contemporary artists Duane Slick and Martin Smick will be on campus on October 27 and 28th for two events in conjunction with their site-specific installation What the Night Tells Us at the Anderson Gallery. The exhibition opening reception is on October 27 from 5-7 pm and the artists will lead an exhibition tour on October 28 from 1-2pm. Both of these events are free and open to the public.

Duane Slick is an artist of Native American descent, the Meskwaki Nation of Iowa and the Ho-Chunk Nation of Nebraska. His acrylic paintings blend the subjects of oral and visual Native American traditions with a focus on trickster strategies and modernist/post-modernist painting histories. Martin Smick is an artist who has been living and working in Rhode Island since 2007 and has taught in the Painting Department at Rhode Island School of Design since 2013. Both artists have exhibited nationally and have collaborated on two previous exhibitions. As collaborators, Slick and Smick are conscious of their respective cultural identities and have been able to create exhibitions that engage in issues surrounding Native culture.

The exhibition is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts grant. More details can be found on the Anderson Gallery webpage andersongallery.wp.drake.edu.

— Lilah Anderson, Anderson Gallery