The start of a new academic year is an exciting and busy time. Efforts across campus are underway to provide a warm welcome back for all Drake students—and you are invited to join in the fun! You can find the whole calendar of events here for the week of Aug. 28 through Sept. 1.
It’s not too late to be part of the effort. Hang a welcome sign on your door, set out some treats for students in your office area, invite a student to lunch … get creative! Here’s to an excellent new year.
— Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success
The Slay Fund for Social Justice welcomes a new faculty director, Jill Allen, for the 2023–2024 academic year. The Slay Fund for Social Justice is a wide-ranging endowed fund which aims to (1) support programs and initiatives which directly advance social justice and (2) continue important ongoing efforts around advancing social justice work in the Drake community. This fund is made possible through the generous support of Drake alumni, Brent and Diane Slay, who have shared in Drake’s commitment to elevate diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice conversations and encourage social justice action.
Allen, an Iowa native and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, joined the Drake faculty in 2015 and specializes in prejudice reduction interventions related to STEM education and understanding the social consequences of sexual objectification among women and men. In addition to teaching courses which resonate with social justice themes, such as Psychology of Gender and Psychology of Prejudice, Allen’s scholarly pursuits target key psychological mechanisms (i.e., belonging, motivation) to mitigate the negative consequences of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination for stigmatized groups. “It is privilege to carry forward the Slays’ vision to provide exceptional social justice opportunities on Drake’s campus and within the Des Moines community,” adds Allen. “The types of experiential learning opportunities, leadership development, and mentoring programs sponsored by the Slay Fund have the potential to change a student’s trajectory, as well as to open hearts and minds toward diverse viewpoints.”
To learn more about the Slay Fund for Social Justice, or to discuss a possible grant proposal, please visit https://www.drake.edu/slay/ or reach out directly at slayfund@drake.edu.
Join All Staff Council on Wednesday, Sept. 6, from 2–4 p.m. to spruce up the Sprout Garden and Food Forest. Help with weeding, harvesting, and other important tasks.
No experience is necessary. Gloves and tools will be provided and you can come and go as your time allows. Please dress for the weather and wear something you don’t mind getting a little dirty. Close-toed shoes are recommended. Bring sunscreen and a hat if you prefer.
Refreshments will be provided by the All Staff Council Events & Community Service committee. The Sprout Garden is located at 1270 30th Street in Des Moines.
The Drake community mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus Daniel L. Power. Dan served as director of the Drake Legal Clinic from 1971 to 1994. He was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice when he joined the Drake Law faculty as the founding Executive Director of Clinical Programs. An early proponent of clinical education, Dan was purposefully looking for a law school that would allow him to start a legal clinic.
Dan’s vision and dedication helped grow the clinic program from handling clients’ simple criminal and civil matters in an old house in the Drake neighborhood into the nationally recognized program it is today. His partnership with the late Congressman Neal Smith and his wife Bea led to the building of the state-of-the-art Neal and Bea Smith Law Center that now houses the clinic programs. Last fall, the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center courtroom was named the Daniel L. Power Courtroom in his honor.
Faculty, staff, and alumni will remember Dan’s generosity of spirit. His commitment to every student who came through the Legal Clinic helped launch many successful careers. And his annual St. Patrick’s Day green carnation deliveries to the Law School and Clinic will be long remembered.
“We celebrate Dan’s pioneering vision for clinical legal education but even more so his passion for helping students be better prepared for the practice of Law,” said Drake Law Dean Jerry Anderson.
The family has planned a visitation at Iles Dunn’s Funeral Home, 2121 Grand Avenue in Des Moines on Sunday, Aug. 20, from 4–7 p.m. A funeral mass will be held on Monday, Aug. 21, at 10 a.m. at Saint Augustin Church. Dan’s full obituary can be found here.
Facilities Planning and Management is excited to welcome Heather Winslow to the Capital Projects team. Heather will be joining the team as a project administrator assisting Michelle Huggins and Rob Ebel in the management of building construction projects large and small, furniture procurement, signage, and office moves. Heather joins the team from Finance where she has been an integral part of their team for the last three years.
You will see her out-and-about on campus, as well as included on meeting invites as we complete projects for the start of classes, and gear-up for the next phase of new projects. We have created a new email for our Projects team capitalprojects@drake.edu. Please feel free to contact our team using this email, and Heather will help to get your project idea captured and answer questions on your existing projects.
Please join me in welcoming Heather to this new role!
Two food trucks, Mactopia and Bearded Jackal, will be on campus Thursday, Aug. 17, as part of the Learning Symposium to offer lunch to Drake faculty and staff. Food will be ready at 11:30 a.m. for Learning Symposium attendees (lunch voucher provided at the symposium).
Register for the Learning Symposium through EventBrite. Faculty and staff not attending the Learning Symposium are invited to join for lunch at their own cost (anticipated $12–15, including food and beverage) starting at 12:30 p.m. Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be available.
Mactopia items will include Perfection, Garden of Eden (vegetarian), Bliss, and Paradise, as well as soft drinks. Bearded Jackal items will include Peruvian Chicken, Bulgogi, Skirt Steak with Chimichurri, or Thai Curry Tofu (vegetarian). This will come with a side of street corn and Dragon Fruit Lemonade.
The Drake University Procurement Office, with the assistance of an evaluation committee of cross-representative faculty and staff, conducted a competitive RFP process to evaluate travel management service providers. As a result of the evaluation, Drake University will be transitioning all non-athletic travel management services to Travel Leaders beginning August 22, 2023. Over the last few months, we have been working closely with Travel Leaders to ensure a seamless transition with minimal impact to our travelers. Please note this change does not impact our current travel policy.
Travel Leaders/Destinations Unlimited (TLDU) has over 35 years of experience managing higher education travel and is familiar with the various types of travel we have and our unique challenges. This partnership will provide numerous benefits to our traveling faculty, staff, and students.
Traveler Benefits: · Access to air, car, hotel discounts · Quick and simple reservations · Expert agent team – NOT a call center · 24/7 traveler support · Online booking tool help desk
University Benefits: · Savings – air, car, hotel · Spend Analytics & Reporting · Enhanced Duty of Care · Carbon emission reporting · Travel industry guidance
Travel Leaders will be offering several virtual training sessions to prepare travelers for this change and answer questions you may have about the program.
August 22, 10:30-11:30am August 23, 9-10am and 2-3pm August 24, 1-2pm
If you have not already received a meeting invitation and would like to attend a training session, email procurement@drake.edu to request an invitation. Please indicate in the email the date that works best for you.
The Procurement website is currently under construction and is scheduled to be updated with FAQ and other travel specific information prior to scheduled training noted above. Please check back to the website for pertinent information in the weeks to come. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email procurement@drake.edu.
University Communications and Marketing is sponsoring a professional portrait day Monday, Aug. 21, from 12–1 p.m. in Old Main, Conference Room 115. The photo session is free and open to all faculty and staff. High-resolution portraits are made available for download through SmugMug.
There is no advanced sign up. Photos will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis.
— Jimmy Hoover, University Communications and Marketing
Drake Online will hold Ultra Hours throughout the month of August to help you prepare for the start of term. Ultra Hours is an informal working session with our instructional design team that allows you to ask questions about your presence on Blackboard Learn Ultra.
Join us in Cowles Library, Room 201 any time from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following days:
Wednesday, August 9
Thursday, August 10
Tuesday, August 15
Wednesday, August 16
Thursday, August 17
Tuesday, August 22
Wednesday, August 23
Please sign up to indicate when you plan to come and what types of questions you have. Your feedback helps us adequately staff and prepare to assist you.
If you prefer to meet virtually, our team is available to meet with you on request. Please fill out a service request and include 1-2 windows of time that you would be available to meet. Remember that you can always request just-in-time help from Drake Online or reference our help guides.
The Capital Project Approval Process policy was first approved in 2021. The policy establishes a formal process for the identification, prioritization, approval, development and delivery of capital projects.
After working with the policy for two years, several recommendations are being made to further improve the policy. The revised policy is now posted for comment here. The key changes to the policy are (a) to provide additional opportunities for departments to submit requests throughout the year; (b) eliminate unclear language about pre-construction processes (referred to as the feasibility phase); (c) clarify the budget approval process; and (d) broaden the group charged with authorizing projects to include the Provost since most projects touch the academic units in some way.
We invite comment on the policy revisions through Aug. 11.
