The Office of Community Engaged Learning and Service is partnering with Monsoon Youth Program to collect donations for their Homelessness Prevention Donation Drive. The items collected will be donated to youth and families at the Iowa Youth Homeless Center on Sunday, Dec. 9. See below for their most needed items. Donations will be collected at the Office Of Community Engaged Learning, 1213 25^th St (next to Varsity Theater) until Dec. 7.

Top donations needed:

Laundry detergent pods (free and clear/hypoallergenic recommended)

Laundry detergent (free and clear/hypoallergenic recommended)

Dryer sheets (free and clear/hypoallergenic recommended)

Deodorant (primarily women)
Brand new socks (adult small-XXL)
Brand new sweatshirts and sweatpants (adult small-XXL)

Brand new underwear (adult small-XXL)
Diapers (newborn to 5)
Pads
Panty liners
Tampons
Hand warmers
Flashlights and batteries
Brand new hats
Brand new gloves

Renee Sedlacek, Community Engaged Learning 

The University is coming to the end of its first year offering online programs.  In the first year, 95 new online students enrolled in four new online programs.  Online Programs is set to offer two new programs in 2019, the Master of Data Analytics Leadership through the College of Business and Public Administration and the Master of Jurisprudence in Compliance and Risk Management through the Law School.  We expect that we will have our 100th online student enrolled in the first term of Spring.

This past fall was our largest enrollment yet, with 53 students starting either in Term 1 or Term 2.  As we continue to add programs, these numbers will grow.  We also already have four graduates.  The Master of Art in Communication has had one student graduate this past summer and three are graduating in December.

We are often asked where are our online students living?  Our numbers don’t vary much from national averages.  The majority of online students come from the Des Moines area and Iowa, although we do have a nice mix nationally.  Forty-six percent of our students come from the Des Moines metro area and 22 percent come from the rest of Iowa.  The remaining third come from outside of our state, from as far away as Texas and Florida to right next door in Illinois, Missouri, and Minneapolis.

It will be exciting to see if we can get students from every state in the future. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding our student make-up, please let me know.

Christina Trombley, Online Programs

Did you know 40% of food goes to waste in the U.S. each year? At Drake alone, Next Course Food Recovery has recovered over 28,000 pounds of food this year, saving it from going into the landfill and sending it to local agencies who could use it instead. Be a part of this food movement. Attend a training Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 4–5 p.m. in lower Olmsted, TMR132, to learn about Next Course, what we do on campus, and general food waste and ways to fight it—all while getting trained in how to do a food recovery at Drake. Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend as we often need additional volunteers over winter break and J-Term when there are fewer students on campus. Staff are eligible to use their community service leave hours with supervisor permission.

Learn more by visiting the Facebook event. For questions, contact Catie Mullen at catie.mullen@drake.edu.

Catie Mullen, AS’21, Next Course Food Recovery SLA

Three days only, from November 13–15, the University Book Store is having a sale. Outerwear, sweatshirts, sweatpants, ¼ zips, long sleeve tees, diploma frames, and more will be 25% off.  Shop in-store or online www.drake.bkstr.com.  The Book Store is open from 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. in the Olmsted Center.

Katie Wilz, University Book Store

Campus building hours will be adjusted for the Thanksgiving holiday. Most of campus will close at noon on Wednesday, November 21, and will remain closed to the general public through the end of the week.  Card access will still allow you to enter your authorized buildings, and most regular door schedules will resume on Sunday, Nov. 26.

Please contact Public Safety (515-271-2222) if you have a door access emergency during this time. Feel free to email studentservices@drake.edu if you have a general (non-emergent) card access question or concern.

Cowles Library open hours/after-hours are listed on their website.

Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

Dreaming of roasted turkey, smoked ham, and pumpkin pie? Join us for our annual Thanksgiving Feast on Wednesday, Nov. 14, beginning at 11 a.m. in Parents Hall. It is a come and go buffet that lasts until 2 p.m. Those attending the Solidarity Event are encouraged to come to the meal following the event.

The feast will include all of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes. The Drake Chamber Choir will be performing music from the Renaissance as well as Christmas Carols during the meal. This will also be a Zero Waste event, in which all tableware, food and waste will be composted.

Jennifer Bowersox, Drake Dining

ITS is making updates to Banner. As a result, access to Banner 9, Banner/DUSIS INB, MyDUSIS, Workflow, ODBC, eTranscripts, Online Balloting, and DSAP will be completely unavailable between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 17. This upgrade is being made to apply security and functionality upgrades and patches.

We appreciate your patience while we perform this necessary work. If you continue to have any issues after the planned maintenance window, please contact the Support Center at 515-271-3001 or visit service.drake.edu/its to report your issue.

Carla Herling, ITS

The safety of our students and the entire campus community is of the highest priority at Drake University.  In response to comments in the recent Administrative Service Survey, Public Safety is offering a series of monthly programs for the campus community on campus and personal safety.  The first program is tomorrow, Nov. 14, from 12–1 p.m. in the Olmsted Center. The topic of the program is “What to do if there is an active shooter on campus.”

If you have any questions about these offering or any security or safety issues, please contact Scott law at scott.law@drake.edu.