Faculty and staff are invited to register for the Faculty/Staff Golf League, which takes place Wednesday evenings from May 25 to July 27. Costs range from $90 to $135 per person. Registration is due by May 6—click here for more details. Questions can be directed to jordan.grindeland or 515-271-3522.
—Jordan Grindeland, Intramural Coordinator
Who: All faculty and staff
What: Kickball Tournament and Summer Social (refreshments and additional lawn games will be provided)
When: Wednesday, May 18, 2–4 p.m.—come and go as you please
Where: Helmick Commons (rain location will be the Fieldhouse)
Why: All Staff Council would like to thank YOU for another great year of service. Join us for an afternoon of fun, and start drafting your kickball team! Watch for the team sign-up in May.
We hope you can join us, contact Kerwin Dobbins (kerwin.dobbins@drake.edu) with any questions about this event.
—All Staff Council Communications Committee
All faculty and staff are invited to join President Martin for a special reception immediately following inauguration. The reception will begin after the ceremony, around 3 p.m., and take place on the Wifvat Plaza in front of the Turner Jazz Center. Join us for refreshments and to congratulate President Martin.
—Joseph Schneider, Inauguration Co-Chair
Faculty and staff who are wearing academic regalia and sitting with the floor party, please note that robing for the inauguration ceremony will begin no later than 12:30 p.m. in the women’s gym of the Shivers Basketball Practice Facility. To access the gym, enter through the Bell Center and proceed to The Knapp Center court. Walk across the Knapp floor, behind the stage curtain to the east, and you will see an entrance titled “Women’s Basketball.” Proceed straight ahead down the corridor to the women’s gym. Once inside the gym, there will be personnel and signage to direct you. All wearing regalia should be at the gym no later than 1 p.m. The procession onto the Knapp Center floor will commence at 1:15 p.m.
If you have ordered or rented your regalia from the University Bookstore, you will need to pick it up from the University Bookstore prior to the event.
—Joseph Schneider, Inauguration Co-Chair
Fulbright offers several kinds of grants for students to study, conduct academic research, engage in the creative and performing arts, or teach English in a range of countries after they earn their bachelor’s degree. The most common types of student awards are: 1) Study/Research Grants, in which graduates design their own projects to conduct abroad; and 2) English Language Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs, which place graduates in classrooms abroad to assist in teaching English while serving as cultural ambassadors for the U.S.
Faculty, I seek your help in identifying potential applicants and encouraging them to contact me for further information.
For Study/Research Grants, the student must also:
For the English Teaching Assistant Program, the student must also:
If a promising student comes to mind, please suggest the Fulbright program and encourage him or her to contact me to learn more about available opportunities. If you have further questions about the Fulbright program for students, please contact me at karen.leroux@drake.edu.
—Karen Leroux, Asssociate Professor of History and Coordinator, Post-Graduate Scholarships – Drake International
The regular meeting of Faculty Senate will be held on April 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Cowles Library Room 201. The agenda and materials can be found online. Following the business meeting, the Senate will hold a discussion on two Drake Curriculum proposals.
—Nancy Geiger, Student Information Analyst
Nominations are invited from Drake faculty and staff for the Principal Financial Group Global Citizenship Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to global engagement and internationalization of the campus and curriculum on the part of faculty or staff. The selected awardee will receive a plaque and up to $3,000. The winner will be announced at the Aug. 19 Learning Symposium. A screening committee, appointed by the provost, will review all nominations and make recommendations to the provost.
The nominee must be a faculty or staff member in at least the fourth year of service at the University. The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. Faculty and staff members who report directly to the vice provost for international programs are ineligible.
The letter of nomination is due no later than May 16. The letter should be sent as an attachment to Denise Ganpat (denise.ganpat@drake.edu). See guidelines and more information at: www.drake.edu/cgc/faculty/award
—Drake International
Applications are now open for 2016–2017 Faculty Development and Enrichment Grants. Please visit the Faculty Development & Support Programs page, and scroll down to see the link for the information about Development and Enrichment Grants. They are available for activities to be undertaken in the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, ending June 30, 2017. Proposals are evaluated on a rolling basis until all money has been exhausted. On that page you will also find a link to an FAQ document that you might find helpful, and the Uniform Cover Page and Budget Forms that you will need should you decide to apply for one of these grants.
—Art Sanders, Associate Provost
Drake faculty and staff can enjoy lunch for just $5 on Thursday, April 7, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at Hubbell Dining.
—Jennifer Bowersox, Sodexo
Drake University maintains a consistently high one-year retention rate for entering first-year students. Over the past four years, the one-year retention rate averaged 88 percent. While the overall one-year retention rate is high, there are several student groups that experience lower retention rates. The faculty proactive advising project will implement and assess the practice of proactive advising to support success for identified populations of students at Drake in order to improve retention rates for those populations.
The proactive advising project is now in its third year and served close to 100 students in Fall 2015. The project has demonstrated significant impact on student success. For the 2014 cohort of students who participated in the project, 80 percent returned for their second year compared to 88.8 percent for all other first-year students. Given the high level of retention risk represented in the proactive advising group, this is an excellent outcome. Faculty participants have also reported positive results from participation, most notably a change in approach to advising for all of their students.
Students will be identified for participation in the project based on analysis of several combined risk factors: high school GPA and ACT score, failure to attend summer orientation, commuter status, and scores on the non-cognitive factors section of the Foundations of Learning assessment that will be administered at summer orientation.
Faculty advisers who participate in this project will have a one-semester commitment that will include:
After the first two workshops, participants will receive a stipend of $500. After completing the project and submitting a final report, participants will receive an additional $500.
Participation will be limited to 10 individuals.
If you are interested in participating, please respond to Sandra Harris (sandra.harris@drake.edu) by Monday, April 11, at 4:30.
If you have questions about the project, contact either Melissa Sturm-Smith (melissa.sturm-smith@drake.edu) or Wade Leuwerke (
wade.leuwerke@drake.edu).
—Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success
