The two parking lots north of Opperman Hall will reopen on Saturday, Dec. 16, to allow for parking during graduation.

—Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning and Management

Drake will experience a water shutdown on Tuesday, Dec. 20. The shutdown will last approximately seven hours. The shutdown will begin at 10 p.m. on Dec. 20 and the water will be back on at approximately 5 a.m. on Dec. 21. The buildings included in the water shutdown include Howard Hall, Old Main, Carnegie, Harmon Fine Arts Center, Opperman Law Library, The Knapp Center, Cartwright, Jewett Residence Hall, Collier Scripps, Olin Hall, Drake Fieldhouse, Bell Center, and Facilities Planning and Management.

—Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning and Management

Drake men’s basketball team will host the ever-popular Toddler Trot presented by Iowa State Bank on Saturday, Jan. 13, during halftime of its game against Evansville. Children ages three and under are eligible to compete. This is a walking, waddling, and/or trotting only competition.

Registration is open until Jan. 7 or until all spots are filled. Space is limited and contestant slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis so be sure to register early.

There will be two separate races based on age. Contestants will receive two complimentary tickets to the game for parents/guardians. Additional tickets for friends and family will be available at a discounted rate. All contestants will receive a plush miniature Spike doll. The top three finishers in each race will receive prizes for their efforts.

Register online at www.draketix.com/toddlertrot. For more information, contact Aimee Lane, director of athletics marketing, at aimee.lane@drake.edu   or 515-271-3647.

—Ryan Harris, Drake Athletics

An awards ceremony and reception, celebrating students graduating with honors, will be Friday, Dec. 15, at 3:30 p.m. in the Olmsted Center, Rooms 311–313. Faculty, family, and friends of the following students graduating with honors are invited to attend.

Mollie Clark
Clarissa Davison
Chayce Glienke
Amanda O’Malley
Alexandria Porter
Johanna Smith
Katherine G.G. Smith
W.A. Chamindi Wijesinghe

A light reception and poster presentation session will follow the ceremony. Congratulations to all of Drake’s December graduates.

—Charlene Skidmore, Honors Program

Blackboard will be migrating to a different kind of environment without much change to its users. In order to complete the migration, Blackboard will be unavailable from Dec. 23 to 27. Please be sure to plan accordingly for this migration timeline. After the system is available, faculty may generate course materials and finish their preparations for J-Term and spring courses.

Our move to Blackboard’s SaaS (Software as a Service) will make new tools available and position Drake to provide better online offerings for years to come. The planned migration from managed hosting, which is housed on Blackboards servers, to SaaS, hosted on Amazon Web Services data centers, will occur during winter break to have the least amount of impact.

Once the migration takes place, we will continue running the current experience on Blackboard known as version 9.1. By moving to SaaS, we gain some major benefits from the new environment, which will also allow us to make future upgrades and patches to our environment with little to no downtime.

—Karly Good, ITS

Please join us in celebrating Gloria Lawless’ retirement from Drake on Monday, Dec. 11, between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Student Life Center, Olmsted Center. Gloria, better known as Glo, has served Drake students, faculty, and staff for almost 30 years. Gloria’s commitment to teamwork, communication, and service has made a huge impact on the Drake community. She will be dearly missed. Stop by the Student Life Center on Dec. 11 for coffee, treats, and to congratulate Glo.

—Marina Verlengia, Academic Excellence and Student Success

Last spring, Drake completed a facility feasibility study of Cowles Library. As a result, the University decided to move forward with improvements to the east side of the library’s main floor. One of these improvements includes new furniture.

To help determine what furniture to purchase, Cowles staff are soliciting feedback from the campus community. Furniture is set up and on display now through Dec. 15 for students, faculty, and staff to test out and provide feedback. Please stop by the library during this time to have a say in determining the new furniture.

—Leslie Noble, Cowles Library

Do you know someone who should earn an alumni award? Drake and the National Alumni Association Board are proud to honor exceptional graduates each year during the Drake Relays at the Alumni Awards Reception. These awards recognize the significant contributions of our alumni to their alma mater, their profession, and their community. Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2018 Alumni Awards. Submissions must be completed by Monday, Dec. 11.

Submit a nomination

Please direct questions to Nicki Kimm in Alumni Relations at nicki.kimm@drake.edu or 515-271-2463.

—Meredith Ponder, University Communications

Surprise the Bulldog fan in your life this holiday season with one of our Bulldog Basketball Holiday Gift Packs. For just $44, you will receive four tickets to a basketball game, four hot dogs, four souvenir sodas, and one miniature basketball. This package is perfect for fans of all ages, especially the little Bulldog fans in your life.

Offer is valid for all men’s and women’s basketball games from Dec. 9 through Jan. 14. To purchase, visit draketix.com/holiday or The Knapp Center Ticket Office.

For more information, contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or tickets@drake.edu.

—Ryan Harris, Drake Athletics