Category Archives: Campus Announcements Archive

Campus Announcements Archive

2018-19 Basketball season ticket deposits

Both men’s and women’s basketball have had tremendous success this season and are primed for even more excitement in 2018-19. Fans will notice unique changes inside The Knapp Center prior to next season. New energy-efficient LED lights will be installed in May followed by a new game floor this summer.

All fans who place a deposit by April 2 will receive a piece of The Knapp Center floor in appreciation for their support of Drake Basketball. To secure your season tickets, a deposit of $50 per seat is required and will be applied to your season ticket balance. At the time of seat selection, you will have the option to pay for your tickets in full or enroll in a payment plan.  Drake faculty and staff also qualify for discounted season tickets.

Join the ascent of Des Moines’ hometown teams by making your 2018-19 season ticket deposit today. Deposits can be made at The Knapp Center Ticket Office by calling 515-271-3647 or visiting www.draketix.com.

— Ryan Harris, Athletics

Campus Announcements Archive

Nelson Institute Undergraduate Conference on Global Affairs

Register by March 30 to participate in the Nelson Institute Undergraduate Conference on Global Affairs on April 6 and 7 at Drake. The purpose of the conference is to recognize and share high-quality undergraduate research on global topics. Ambassador John K. Menzies, former chief of mission at the U.S. Office in Kosovo and U.S. ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Xhavit Gashi, consul general for Kosovo in Des Moines, plan to share their expertise and offer a simulation on the Balkans. Students and faculty are encouraged to participate even if not presenting a paper.

— Denise Ganpat, Center for Global Citizenship

Campus Announcements Archive, For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Why should you be All In?

All In, Drake’s annual 24-hour giving campaign, is next Thursday and Friday, April 5 and 6, from noon to noon. It marks a day when faculty, staff, alumni, students, parents, and friends unite to show their support and pride for the University. The campaign raises funds to support Drake’s greatest needs. The donations made will affect every area of campus and impact the life of every student, current and future.

https://www.facebook.com/allinDrake/videos/768465180030326/

VIDEO: For more videos and campaign updates follow the All In Facebook page.

As Drake employees, we commit ourselves to making Drake a better place every single day—and nobody knows Drake’s needs better than we do. Last year, 183 faculty and staff went All In, and overall, the campaign raised more than $150,000 from 852 donors. This year we aim to be even more successful.

In fact, this year three generous alums have joined together to offer a challenge. If 1,000 members of the Drake community make a gift during All In, they will collectively donate $50,000. This is a tremendous opportunity to make your gift go even further and help unlock a substantial amount of support for Drake.

Here are five more important reasons to give:

  1. Your gift supports Drake students as they forge their path toward meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship.
  2. Your gift is an investment in Drake, and as an employee, an investment in your work and future.
  3. Giving demonstrates our united support for the University and makes an impressive statement to our constituents, alumni, and all Drake supporters that we believe in the work we do.
  4. By making a gift, you can support your passion. Give back to something at Drake that inspires you.
  5. Giving can be pretty sweet. If you make your gift before 2:30 p.m. on April 5, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a homemade apple pie from Provost Mattison. The winner will be picked at the faculty and staff social.

Think your gift won’t make a difference?

Think again. Collective giving makes a huge impact. Every gift, no matter the size, makes a difference, and puts us closer to achieving our goal of 1,000 donors and $50,000 for Drake.

You can make your gift during the event at drake.edu/all-in.

Attend the social and show your Drake pride

Attend a social on Thursday, April 5, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the lower level of Collier-Scripps Hall to celebrate All In. A drink ticket and snacks will be provided. This is an opportunity to learn more about All In. Don’t forget to wear your Drake gear to celebrate All In on April 5 and 6.

Want to know more?

If you have any questions about the event and how you can be All In, contact Becca Widmer, director of annual giving, at becca.widmer@drake.edu.

— Becca Widmer, University Advancement

Campus Announcements Archive

Beautiful Bulldog lottery tonight

More than 135 English bulldogs from 18 states registered to compete in Drake’s world-famous Beautiful Bulldog Contest set to take place April 22. From this record-breaking pool of bulldogs, only 40 (and 10 alternates) will be selected to compete in the contest, which crowns the official mascot of the 2018 Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee.

A public lottery drawing will be held tonight, March 20, at 6 p.m. in The Knapp Center lobby to determine the contestants. During the lottery, an exciting panel of contest judges will also be announced.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend both events—tonight’s lottery and the April 22 contest. The events are free and open to the public, and will be live-streamed on the Beautiful Bulldog Contest at Drake University Facebook page.

In conjunction with the contest and lottery, pet lovers are invited to contribute to the “Griff Gives Back” pet food drive. Last year the pet food drive, hosted by Griff, raised more than 5,000 pounds of food for the nonprofit Pet Project Midwest. Donations of adult dog and cat food are accepted on-site at the contest and lottery, or they can be taken to Drake Postal Operations located in the Olmsted Center.

— Niki Smith, University Communications

 

Campus Announcements Archive

Online Programs hits application milestone

Online Programs hit an important milestone. It received its 100th application, which is well ahead of enrollment projections. Currently, there are 23 admits and 38 applicants for the online Master of Art in Communication program. The online Master of Science in Education: Effective Teaching has admitted five students, and in just a month, received 18 more applications.

Drake’s online programs will begin its second part of term (six-week session) on March 26, with Preview Week set to begin on March 19. Preview Week allows students to look at their classes, review syllabi, prepare their schedules, and view an introductory message from their instructor. This introductory look gives students the chance to make sure their class fits both their academic goals and personal schedule. If not, they can drop the course early, saving time and money.

Two more faculty have completed the Online Teaching Certificate through Quality Matters—quite a milestone. Several others have completed the two required modules for teaching online. Our instructional designers have met with many faculty to begin and support the process for designing their online course.

Finally, the instructional designers have developed several resources regarding designing and teaching online classes. These resources are available in Blackboard. If you would like access, please contact Christina Trombley at christina.trombley@drake.edu or at extension 2506. Christina is happy to answer questions or discuss online education with faculty and staff anytime.

— Christina Trombley, online programming

Campus Announcements Archive

New cybersecurity enhancements coming Friday

ITS is implementing two new security features to better protect campus information and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks.

Starting this Friday, March 23, Faculty, staff, and students receiving messages from outside the drake.edu domain, will see the label [External Email] at the beginning of the message. View a FAQ to view examples of the new notification and learn more.

This is an automated process that does not examine message content, only the message sender. This labeling does not indicate whether or not a message is malicious; its primary objective is to inform recipients that the message is not from a Drake sender. Every email you receive—especially those from unknown senders and/or containing links or attachments—should be carefully reviewed.

The second new security enhancement is designed to protect employee direct deposit and bank information. The direct deposit update page on blueView will only be accessible while on campus. When away from the campus, the following message will appear: “This page is only accessible from the Drake University campus. If you need to modify your direct deposit information, please try again from campus or contact the Human Resources department for assistance.”

For questions about the new external email labeling, contact ITS at informationsecurity@drake.edu. For questions about the changes to the direct deposit page, please contact HR at drakehr@drake.edu.

— Peter Lundstedt, ITS and Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Student leadership awards, nomination deadline March 30

Today we opened the nomination process for the 2017-2018 student leadership awards. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to nominate individuals and student organizations that have shown exceptional leadership and contribution to the Drake community. Nominations are due by midnight on Friday, March 30. View criteria and Qualtrics nomination forms for the various awards.  The nomination form can also be found by visiting the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute’s website.

The recipients will be awarded at the Adams Leadership Convocation on Friday, April 20, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium.

Award categories include:

Individual Leadership Awards
Class Year Awards: Top First-Years, Sophomores, Juniors (P1), Seniors (P2)
Outstanding President/Chairperson
Outstanding Student Organization Officer
Outstanding Residence Hall Leader
Wanda Everage Peer Mentor Award
Drake Service Award for Individual
Organization Adviser of the Year
Ron & Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service-Learning Student Award

Student Organization & Programming Awards
Drake Service Award for Student Organization
Outstanding Student Organization
Outstanding Educational Program
Outstanding Social Program
Outstanding Equity & Inclusion Program
Outstanding Weekend Alcohol Alternative Program
Outstanding Collaboration Award

Oreon E. Scott Outstanding Senior of the Year
The Oreon E. Scott award nomination process requires a letter of nomination from faculty, staff, and/or students highlighting the senior’s achievements in the area of: scholarship, leadership, involvement and service. View more about the nomination process. Please send your letter of nomination to Jerry Parker, dean of students, at jerry.parker@drake.edu by Friday, March 30.

Be on a Selection Committee
I am looking for staff and faculty to sit on award review committees. The time commitment is about two hours of nomination reading and a 1.5 hour meeting (maximum) between April 3 and 10. Please let me know if you would like to review nominations.

— Jerry Parker, Dean of Students

Campus Announcements Archive

Volunteer at the 109th Drake Relays

The 109th Drake Relays presented by HyVee is right around the corner and we need you to help make it a success. Register to volunteer and invite your friends and family to join. Volunteers receive a free T-shirt, a free meal (if working over lunch), and free entry to the action. Volunteer opportunities begin Saturday, April 21, and run all week long. We hope to see you on the Blue Oval!

— Shannon Saunders, Athletics

Campus Announcements Archive

Get your tickets: Astronaut Peggy Whitson to speak at Drake

Peggy Whitson, a NASA astronaut who holds the U.S. record for total days in space, will speak at 1 p.m. Friday, April 13, in Sheslow Auditorium.

This event is open to the public, and a significant number of seats have been reserved for Drake students, faculty, and staff members. Due to venue capacity, seating is limited. Seats will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is required.

Whitson recently flew on Expedition 50/51 aboard the International Space Station and participated in four spacewalks (bringing her career total to ten). With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson holds the U.S. record, placing eighth on the all-time space endurance list.

The Iowa native also completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the station for Expedition 5 in 2002, and as the station commander for Expedition 16 in 2008. She accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any U.S. woman at the time of her return to Earth.

In the evening following her lecture, Whitson will receive the 2018 Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award from the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University.

— Aaron Jaco, University Communications