Category Archives: Campus Announcements Archive

Campus Announcements Archive

Parking changes on 27th Street

Drake will soon assume ownership of 27th Street (between Carpenter and Forest avenues) and Carpenter Avenue (between 25th and 27th streets). Effective Aug. 17, there will be significant changes to parking on 27th Street. Parking on the east side of the street will be considered commuter lot parking, requiring a commuter permit. The west side of the street will be treated as a fire lane and no parking will be permitted.

Parking and traffic flow on Carpenter Avenue will remain unchanged; however speed bumps will be installed to slow traffic and enhance safety. The speed bumps will help regulate traffic speed on streets that are no longer regulated by city ordinance or patrolled by Des Moines police.

The purchase of these two streets was approved by the board of trustees in preparation for the next phase of the STEM@DRAKE project. Construction of the School of Education and Math and Computer Science facility and the new science connector building between Olin and Fitch Halls will require that 27th Street be available for construction access and equipment. Thus, once construction begins, it is likely that 27th Street will close. In the long term, 27th Street and Carpenter Avenue will become an integrated part of campus, with plans for a pedestrian-orientated plaza and enhanced green space.

Gates will also be installed along 27th Street to allow for street closure when work begins. Access to the Jewett parking lot will continue for at least the fall semester.

For more information about the changes affecting Carpenter and 27th Street please see our frequently asked questions.
Thank you to members of the advisory group whose input is critical to working through these issues: Jolene Schmidt (Chair), Gary Johnson (HR), Scott Law (Public Safety), John Edwards (Law School), Laura Linn (Admission), Brady Randall (Athletics), Matt Miller (Events Management) Linda Ryan (President’s Office), and Lorissa Lieurance (Residence Life).

If you have any questions or concerns about this information, please contact Venessa Macro, chief administration officer, at Venessa.macro@drake.edu.

Campus Announcements Archive

University Bookstore sees changes

This summer, Follett Company acquired the University Bookstore. While this won’t affect students, faculty and staff who work with the Bookstore should note that email addresses for personnel there have changed. Katie Wilz can now be reached at kwilz@follett.com and Donna Hallstrom, textbook manager, at 1623txt@follett.com.

Hallstrom highlighted some potential issues for those who work with the bookstore on stocking books for courses:

  • There is a known issue with the linking from textbook express to the bookstore site. This is causing viewing from MyDusis not to show books OR to show books, but not allow them to be added to a shopping cart. There are technical people working on the issue with a high priority to fix it. For now the link is going to redirect directly to the bookstore website, which is working fine. If a student reports to you that they can’t see or can’t select books for their courses and they say they are accessing via MyDusis, suggest they go directly to the bookstore site.
  • Textbook adoptions were sent from the old system to the new. While many records transferred fine, some did not. Bookstore staff are manually comparing lists between what is now listed and what was listed before the transition, but the process is tedious and not error proof. Therefore, instructors and administrative support personnel are highly encouraged to use the website to look at the books listed and reach out to Donna via email if you see anything that needs added, deleted, or edited. This double-checking will be required this term to make sure nothing has fallen through the cracks.
  • The process for submitting online adoptions is different and changed with little notice, but is better in many ways. If you need to submit an adoption OR re-submit an adoption, the online form is near the bottom of the bookstore homepage. The first time you use the page you will need to register as a new user. You will be asked for a bookstore password, which is our store number, 1623. You will know the answers to all the other questions.