Category Archives: For Faculty Archive

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Stand Up, Speak Up

Save the date for “Stand Up, Speak Up: A Drake University Women & Leadership Symposium.” This unique, all-day event will take place on March 8 in the Olmsted Center’s Parents Hall. The symposium will feature some of Des Moines’ most accomplished female leaders as they share information on forging your leadership presence, building your network, and creating a concrete action plan.

As an added bonus, attendees will receive credit toward the Excellence in Learning & Development Certificate. Faculty and staff are welcome to join for all or part of the day, and lunch will be provided for registered attendees.

RSVP for the event at www.drake.edu/womenleaders by this Friday, Feb. 19. For questions, please email any of the event organizers listed below.

Drake University Women and Leadership Committee:
Cris Wildermuth
Annique Kiel
Eliza Dy-Boarman
Stephanie Cardwell
Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp
Shelley Hurst
Debra Wiley
Alyssa Young

—Submitted by Eliza Dy-Boarman, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice

For Faculty Archive

Writing Workshop opens Feb. 8

DESCRIPTION OF THE WRITING WORKSHOP: The workshop is staffed by peer tutors, all of whom have taken at least one course to train them and familiarize them with writing theory and pedagogy. Tutors help students identify areas of difficulty and work with them on a range of issues including fluency, organization, development, analysis, and argument. Tutors also help students copyedit their work as needed. Tutors do NOT write papers for students, nor do they simply act as proofreaders. All work on development and copy reading takes place within the context of the student’s own writing.

HOW TO SIGN UP: Students can sign up online at https://library.drake.edu/writing. This site is also linked to the English website. The website itself will give students directions on how to proceed. Typically, an appointment is for one half hour. Students can sign up for more than one session if they choose. They may also request that a tutor keep a regular time slot available for them if they would like to come in each week. If students are having difficulty signing up, have them call the Writing Workshop at 271-4712. They could also email me with any concerns (jody.swilky@drake.edu).

LOCATION: The Writing Workshop is located in
Cowles Library, Room 47, on the lower level. Hours:

  • Monday through Friday during the day
  • Monday through Thursday during the evening
  • Saturday afternoon
  • Sunday afternoon and evening

COMMUNICATION WITH PROFESSORS: If you refer your student to the workshop, please let us know via email (jody.swilky@drake.edu). Have them bring the assignment they are responding to, as well as any writing they have done to complete the assignment. As part of the first visit, tutors always ask students if they have been referred. If a student is referred, the tutor will send an email letting you know that your student has attended and will briefly describe what work was done. If you do not receive an email from us, your student did not attend. If a student attends on his or her own, we do not inform professors unless the student specifically asks us to.

WORKSHOP SERVICES: In addition to tutoring students, workshop tutors are available to speak briefly to classes about the workshop. If you would like a tutor to come to your class, please call or email me. Please also feel free to call or email me with questions about writing, about working with students for whom English is not a first language, or with questions about any student who is having particular difficulty with writing.

—Submitted by Art Sanders on behalf of Jody Swilky, Writing Workshop Director

For Faculty Archive

Attention advisers: Changes in education abroad

Drake International is in the process of hiring a new education abroad adviser. In the interim, students may email questions to studyabroad@drake.edu or make an advising appointment with Emily Enquist or Gretchen Beckley by calling x2084. They may also visit the International Center to pick up information and fill out an interest form.

Until a new person is hired and trained, Annique Kiel will make education abroad presentations to classes or at special events. Contact annique.kiel@drake.edu or call her at x3039. Annique is also available for questions about the Horizons system.

—Submitted by Drake International

For Faculty Archive

Faculty Senate recap

Faculty Senate met Jan. 27. Highlights of the meeting included updates regarding the recent board of trustees meeting; approving the 2016–2017 spring break as March 13–17, 2017; and approving the 2019–2020 academic calendar. Faculty Senate’s next meeting is Feb. 17.

—Nancy Geiger, Student Information Analyst

For Faculty Archive

Faculty notes from the Associate Provost (Jan. 25)

2017 on-campus J-Term scheduling will begin soon:
Schools and colleges will begin creating the 2017 on-campus J-Term schedule early in the spring semester. If you do schedule a J-Term class, please also send that information to me at arthur.sanders@drake.edu so that we can post the information on the J-Term website. Also, if you have questions about J-Term classes, please feel free to contact me.

First Year Seminar requests are due Feb. 5:
If you would like to offer an FYS in the fall of 2016, please fill out the FYS request form on the FYS Resource website. The course submission form is at the bottom of the page, which also includes other resources you might find useful, including syllabi from previous FYS classes. Please fill this out even if you are a full-time faculty member who is teaching FYS as part of your regular teaching load. Note that if you have taught the particular FYS you are proposing since 2012, you will not need to provide any information except for your time preferences.

Drake Research Grants and Undergraduate Assistantship Program applications due in dean’s offices by Feb. 5:
Applications for 2016–2017 Drake Research Grants (DRG) and 2016–2017 Undergraduate Assistantship Program (UGA) are due in the office of your dean by Friday, Feb. 5. Deans will provide their comments and ranking to my office by Monday, Feb. 15. For information about the DRG and UGA programs, go to the Faculty Development Grant website. You will find information about the DRG and UGA programs, an FAQ about all of the grant programs run through the Provost’s Office, and the forms you need to submit the grant applications. If you have questions, please contact me.

—Art Sanders, Associate Provost

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive, HR Information Archive

Add learning & development to your New Year’s goals

Are you curious about the “Generation on a Tightrope”? Would you like to learn about the balanced scorecard? How do YOU manage change? These are just a few of the topics that remain as part of the 2015–2016 Excellence in Learning & Development program. Check out this program, as well as other development opportunities, on the Learning & Development website. Pre-registration is requested, but not required.

—Submitted by Debra Wiley, Assistant Director, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive

Faculty notes from the Office of the Associate Provost

2017 on-campus J-Term scheduling
Schools and colleges will begin creating the 2017 on-campus J-Term schedule early in the spring semester. If you do schedule a J-Term class, please also send that information to me at arthur.sanders@drake.edu so that we can post the information on the J-Term website. Also, if you have questions about J-Term classes, please feel free to contact me.


First Year Seminar requests
If you would like to offer an FYS in the fall of 2016, please fill out the FYS request form on the FYS Resource website. The course submission form is at the bottom of the page, which also includes other resources you might find useful, including syllabi from previous FYS classes. Please fill this out even if you are a full-time faculty member who is teaching FYS as part of your regular teaching load. Note that if you have taught the particular FYS you are proposing since 2012, you will not need to provide any information except for your time preferences. Please submit these applications by Friday, Feb. 5.


Drake Research Grants and Undergraduate Assistantship Program applications
Applications for 2016–2017 Drake Research Grants (DRG) and 2016–2017 Undergraduate Assistantship Program (UGA) are due in the office of your dean by Friday, Feb. 6. Deans will provide their comments and ranking to my office by Monday, Feb. 15. For information about the DRG and UGA programs, go to the Faculty Development Grant website. You will find information about the DRG and UGA programs, an FAQ about all of the grant programs run through the Provost’s Office, and the forms you need to submit the grant applications. If you have questions, please contact me.

—Submitted by Art Sanders, Associate Provost

For Faculty Archive

Important: Changes to merging courses in Blackboard

In an effort to better serve you, DTS is making some changes to how we merge courses in Blackboard. I am excited to report that instructors will no longer have to worry about merging their own courses. I am currently working with our Banner-Blackboard integration to automatically merge courses.

While we work on finalizing this process, I will be merging your courses so you can concentrate on what matters to you the most, teaching your courses. Please email me at maryjane.blystone@drake.edu and include the following information:

  •  Course CRN to be merged (e.g., COUNT-123-4567)
  • Name of the course to be merged (e.g., Accounting Spring 2016)
  • Which content to copy to the new course if any already exists.

Let me reassure you, this is a temporary solution until we are set to have the system merge courses automatically. We will notify you once this process is complete.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

—Submitted by Mary Jane Blystone, LMS Technology Specialist

Campus Announcements Archive, For Faculty Archive

Deadline to submit final grades

Instructors, your ability to submit final grades will end at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 23. (Online grade entry for the Law School will remain open until Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.) This deadline was set by the faculty and appears in Section 2.135 of the faculty manual.

I greatly appreciate your efforts to submit your grades by the 10 a.m. deadline.

From that point, staff from your dean’s office and the Student Records Office will work together—expeditiously—to reconcile grades for courses that students have repeated (for a better grade) and to calculate students’ GPAs. This work must be done quickly yet carefully so that, among other reasons, informed decisions can be made with regard to students’ academic probation/suspension.

We will begin this process promptly at 10 a.m. on Dec. 23, as we must complete it by close of business, before the University adjourns for winter break.

If you have any questions about how to submit your final grades, please contact your dean’s office or Kevin Moenkhaus (kevin.moenkhaus@drake.edu or 271-3902) in the Student Records Office.

Thank you, and best wishes as your semester draws to a close.

—Submitted by Kevin Moenkhaus, Director, Student Records and Academic Information