ITS staff will be performing maintenance on our Oracle databases on Sunday, March 23, between 7–9 a.m. During this time, Drake systems including Self Service, Banner, ProcessMaker, eTranscripts, and Touchnet may be unavailable. This work is necessary to maintain the security of University data.

If you experience issues after the maintenance is complete, contact the ITS Support Center for help by visiting service.drake.edu/its, calling 515-271-3001, or visiting the lower level of Carnegie Hall.

To see the full 2025 maintenance schedule, visit drake.edu/its/maintenanceschedule.

— Becky Klein, ITS

The Summer and Fall 2025 schedule of classes and related registration information is available online. Registration begins Monday, April 7.

View registration information, including the registration time table that shows when you become eligible to register. View the schedule of classes.

Some courses will be temporarily reserved for students who have declared a certain field-of-study (major, minor, concentration, or endorsement). On Monday, April 21^st, those reservations will be removed. Note that some courses have restrictions that are permanent.

If you are an undergraduate or pharmacy student intending to make any changes to your field-of-study and have those changes take effect before registration begins, file your changes via the change of record request no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 31^st. Requests submitted after this date may be delayed.

The change of record request can be found by navigating to myDrake, selecting Self-Service under commonly used apps, and clicking on the link for the change of record request under Student Records.

— Ryan Trump, Registrar

Drake Law School is pleased to welcome Todd Pettys as this year’s Judge James Grant Constitution Lecture Series speaker on Thursday, April 10, from 3-4 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Room 213.

Todd Pettys serves as Interim Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law where he teaches courses in constitutional law, federal courts, and a seminar on pending supreme court cases. Before joining the faculty at Iowa, he was an attorney with Perkins Coie, LLP, in Seattle, Washington. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk for Judge Francis Murnaghan, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Pettys’ recent publications include “Serious Value, Prurient Interest, and ‘Obscene’ Books in the Hands of Children,” in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal (2023), “Constructing Students’ Speech Rights, from College Admissions to Professional Schools” in the San Diego Law Review (2022), and “Hostile Learning Environments, the First Amendment, and Public Higher Education” in the Connecticut Law Review (2022). He has appeared on Iowa Public Radio, Bloomberg Law, and local media outlets, discussing Supreme Court cases and other legal developments.

For more information and to register, visit
drake.edu/conlaw/events. This program is free and open to the public. Iowa Continuing Legal Education Credit pending approval.

— Taylor Johnson, Law School

In order to complete some testing of new electrical equipment, a building-wide electrical power outage at Johansen Student Center is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18.  The electrical outage will begin at 6 a.m. and is expected to be complete by early afternoon the same day.  No Drake students, faculty, or staff will be allowed in the building during this time.

The Iowa Statewide Tornado Drill will take place on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at 10 a.m. The statewide drill allows us to test our planning and readiness and practice seeking appropriate shelter in case of a tornado. Faculty, staff, and students should participate in the drill by following campus severe weather plans and going to the lowest level of their building, away from doorways and windows.

March 24-28 is Severe Weather Awareness Week in the State of Iowa. Every year on the fourth Wednesday of March, the State of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department in conjunction with the Governor’s office run a statewide tornado drill. Drake University will participate in this drill to test our own procedures and protocols. The University will test its campus notification systems, consisting of the sirens located on the blue light phones and the Bulldog Alert system at the same time the City of Des Moines and Polk County test their emergency sirens.

Know these terms to help identify a tornado hazard.

Tornado Watch: Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and
stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

Tornado Warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter
immediately! Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to
protect your head.

Tornado Preparedness Checklist:
https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/get-help/pdfs/tornado/EN_Tornado-
Safety-Checklist.pdf

Tornado Facts:
• Tornadoes can last from mere minutes to several hours.
• Tornadoes have touched down on every continent except Antarctica.
• Most tornado activity occurs in the afternoon and evening.
• The average tornado moves southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to
move in any direction.

— Scott Law, Executive Director for Public Safety and University Operations

Beginning Sunday, March 16, most campus buildings (with the exception of Cowles Library, the Law Library, and Athletic facilities) will have limited hours for Spring Break.  Buildings will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and remain closed on weekends. Normal access plans will still function during Spring Break and buildings will return to their normal schedules on Monday, March 24.  If you will need to access a building during Spring Break, and do not normally have an access plan to enter the building on your own, please check the with the building manager before break to double check their Spring Break hours. 

 In addition, the Safe Ride Bus will stop operations on Saturday, March 15,  at 2:45 a.m. and resume on Sunday, March 23.

— Sara Heijerman, Student Services

Global Engagement is excited to announce the launch of a new, more streamlined study abroad application portal! Students interested in studying abroad fall 2025 and beyond will submit their applications through the new portal, Via Global!

You will see our updated curated portfolio of semester and year-long study abroad programs, inclusive of Drake’s cohort programs, DU Spain and DU England. These high-quality offerings support ongoing student interest while still providing geographic diversity. Students can determine programs of interest by utilizing the Program Match feature in Via Global or by using the Program Search. If you have any questions about the application process or would like to review program options, please schedule a meeting through Starfish with Emily Erschen, Education Abroad Coordinator.

J-term 2026 travel seminars to be unveiled at Drake’s J-term Fair on Wednesday, March 12^th 4:30-6:30 pm in Upper Olmsted. These programs will be available to apply to through Via starting on March 12^th at 4:30 pm.

As a reminder, the deadline to apply to study abroad Fall 2025 is April 1, 2025. Apply for DU England now!  Want to learn more? Information session on DU England held tomorrow, March 5^th at 12 pm through Zoom (Passcode: 826896), with an additional session offered Tuesday, March 11^th at 5 pm in Olmsted CR 310. Questions? Contact studyabroad@drake.edu.

— Maria Rohach, Global Engagement

Drake Dining will have modified hours during the week of Spring Break.

Friday, March 14

Hubbell Dining Hall

• Breakfast 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM
• Lite Breakfast 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
• Lunch 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Lite Dinner 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Dinner 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Spike‘s Convenience Store: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Starbucks in Olmsted: 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Saturday, March 15

All dining locations closed

Sunday, March 16

All dining locations closed

Monday, March 17–Friday, March 21

Starbucks in Olmsted: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Saturday, March 22

All dining locations closed

Sunday, March 23

Hubbell Dining Hall

• Lunch 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Lite Dinner 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Dinner 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
• Late Night 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Spike‘s Convenience Store: 1:00 PM – 12:00 AM

Starbucks in Olmsted: 9:00 AM – 7:30 PM

Join Drake Rec for a new jazz dance class at the Bell Center on Saturdays at 11 a.m. The class involves exercises across the floor, choreographed combinations, and more. All dance levels are welcome.

Drake Rec will also be hosting an adaptive dance class for all fitness and ability levels on March 27 at 2:30 p.m.

Visit the Drake Rec App for details and to sign up.

— Gail Witte, Rec Services

Join Drake Rec to celebrate Women’s History Month with an empowering Circus Arts Workshop, featuring the women-owned business Cirque Wonderland.

The workshop will be at 5 p.m. on March 28; check the Drake Rec app for details.

— Gail Witte, Rec Services