Please join us for a special celebration of faculty research and academic achievement on Thursday, April 9, from 4–5:30 p.m. in the Cowles Reading Room. Faculty who submitted their recent publications will be featured on a rolling slide show, and their physical publications may be displayed. Please join us to celebrate the incredible contributions of our faculty.
Refreshments will include an assortment of light snacks and beverages.
— Anne Marie Greenwood, Office of the Provost
Some clutter is easy to overlook, especially the kind hiding on our devices or in desk drawers. Spring is a great time to clear out those forgotten spaces. To protect sensitive and personal information, start by reviewing your computer’s Downloads folder, which often becomes a catch-all for files you only need once. Delete old downloads, especially any containing private or confidential data, and move important files to intentional, secure folders with appropriate “share” settings. After deleting, remember to actually empty your computer’s recycle bin or trash to ensure those files are permanently removed. This not only makes your computer easier to navigate (and helps with performance) but also helps prevent accidental exposure of sensitive information. For more tips and guidance, check out our new Knowledge Base article: Spring Cleaning for Digital Security.
Spring cleaning season is also a good time to shred outdated physical paperwork, especially anything containing personal or sensitive information. Always follow University security best practices by securely destroying documents that contain data such as student records, financial information, or passwords. If a document is already stored securely online (using encrypted platforms like OneDrive or Teams), consider whether you really need a hard copy, and make sure your digital files are protected with strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
Finally, take a moment to reflect on what you actually use. Letting go of files, documents, and materials you haven’t touched in months can help reduce clutter (both digital and physical) and make your everyday work a little smoother. Regularly reviewing and removing unnecessary information from your devices and workspaces is an important part of maintaining security and safeguarding the sensitive data you have access to.
— Becky Klein, ITS
As we plan breakout sessions for the Learning Symposium this fall, we would like to hear your perspectives on the future of higher education. The Learning Symposium is a day with ample opportunitiesto reflect and reconnect, to socialize with colleagues, to focus on our community, and to center ourselves for the year ahead. Please share your thoughts in this brief survey by April 10 so we can design breakout sessions that reflect what matters most to our community. We appreciate your feedback.
— Anne Marie Greenwood, Office of the Provost
Drake University Head Start Ankeny Toddler Teacher Heather Stemsrud has been selected as the Region VII Head Start Association 2026 Teacher of the Year. Heather will be recognized at the Region VII Head Start Association Fall Leadership Caucus in Kansas City in October. Congratulations Heather and thank you for service to children and families.
— Lisa Proctor, Head Start Program Director
Mark your calendars for the Sapphire Awards and Provost’s Social April 14 in the Cowles Library Reading Room.
The Sapphire Awards, hosted by All Staff Council, will begin at 3:30 p.m. The Provost’s Social will begin immediately following the awards presentation at 4 p.m.
An assortment of snacks and beverages will be available. As a reminder, the Provost’s Social is a family friendly event. Feel free to bring your children or partner.
— Anne Marie Greenwood, Office of the Provost
Bergetta Beardsley from the Food Bank of Iowa will be presenting a BUILD session at Drake to discuss hunger myths and how we can all play a role in helping our neighbors in need. Learn the Food Bank of Iowa’s role and its relationship with supporting partners across 55 counties as well as locally in Polk County/Central Iowa. This session will be held Tuesday, April 7, from 2–3 p.m. in the Olmsted Center, Conference Room 310/311.
To register for this class, and any other upcoming BUILD classes or tours, there is an online registration link to a Qualtrics survey.
BUILD is a great platform for learning new ideas as well as an opportunity to collaborate with others from across campus.
Please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu with any questions.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
Come to the Bell Center Fitness Studio on Saturday, April 4, at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. for a fun, relaxing session of puppy yoga. The session will include 30 minutes of instruction, followed by 15 minutes of puppy cuddles and play. Spots are limited, so sign up now on the Drake Rec. App.
This event is in collaboration with Drake Student Activities Board (SAB) and the Animal Rescue League of of Iowa (ARL).
— McKinleigh Holland, PH
Join us for the Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS) on the afternoon of Thursday, April 16.
DUCURS is an annual event that celebrates faculty-mentored student research across STEM disciplines. Students are invited to submit abstracts for poster and oral presentations by April 3. This is an excellent opportunity to share research, gain presentation experience, and engage with peers, faculty, and the broader scientific community. Learn more about DUCURS in this video, and visit the DUSCI website for details on abstract submission, conference registration, and the full schedule.
DUCURS 2026 will feature student-faculty collaborative research presentations, along with opportunities to connect at community partner tables, where local organizations will share information about internships, experiential learning opportunities, and STEM career pathways. The conference will also include a keynote lecture “Maternal Antibodies Protect Infants from Enteric Pathogens,” delivered by Drake alumna Dr. Kathryn Knoop (AS ’06), Associate Professor of Immunology at the Mayo Clinic.
All members of the Drake community are invited to attend DUCURS and celebrate student scholarship.
— Heidi Sleister, Professor of Biology
As part of Employee Appreciation Month, Human Resources encouraged everyone to submit a shout-out for a faculty, staff, or student employee. This is a great way to recognize others.
Thank-you to everyone who took time to thoughtfully submit one or more shout-outs. You certainly shared your “Generosity of Spirit”! The complete list of shout-outs, highlighting the best in us, can be found on the Human Resources Employee Recognition Page on myDrake, under “SHOUT-OUTS”.
We hope you continue to find ways to show your appreciation to staff, faculty, and student employees across campus. Sharing positive energy is contagious. When you look for the good in people, you strengthen relationships, improving both their lives and your own.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
For the first time in 12 years, the University is undertaking the work of a comprehensive website redesign for drake.edu. This process has been informed by significant audience and usability research and has entailed collaboration between our partner Carnegie, University Communications and Marketing (UCM), and Information Technology Services (ITS)—all with input from individuals in each college/school and nearly every University department.
Evaluating the need for a website redesign began in 2024, at which point the site had not only grown to more than 5,000 pages—many of which were outdated, duplicative, or contained errors—but more broadly, the site had significant room to grow in terms of accessibility, usability best practices, and ease of navigation. The new site will improve the experience for prospective students and families seeking information to aid in their college search decisions, while providing the opportunity to streamline access to content most relevant to faculty, staff, and students via a refreshed internal site structure. The end result will be an enrollment-first destination for prospective students and families with a focus on usability best practices, enhanced content and functionality, updated branding, and modern accessibility standards.
The new site will launch in Summer 2026—prior to which we will issue further communications and introduce a new internal resource site to keep faculty, staff, and students informed of progress and next steps.
While this site will become more robust in time, in the short-term, you can find information about the five-phase approach for the new website, including a detailed description of what’s been completed, what’s underway, and what comes next. Before the end of the semester, we will update this internal resource site and communicate need-to-know information about how the new site will be managed, as well as where some of the previously housed information on the current site is being moved to internal sites.
The UCM and ITS teams would like to thank the many individuals across the University who have contributed to this project’s success.
Learn more at our internal resource site.
— John Krantz, University Communications & Marketing