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.

To sign up, visit https://givepul.se/a64btj.

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.

— Elissa Johnson

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!

— Michelle Huggins, Facilities Planning & Management

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.

— Lauren McCarthy, Zimpleman College of Business

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. 

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.  

— Adam Voigts, Chief Financial Officer

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.

— Bret Sikkink, Office of the Provost

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.

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer

Please join us for the 2023 Learning Symposium on Thursday, Aug. 17.  We are planning a day with ample opportunities to reflect and reconnect, to socialize with colleagues, to focus on our community, and to center ourselves for the year ahead.  

This year’s Drake Learning Symposium will allow faculty and staff to gather as one, bringing with us our unique and shared experiences, while focusing on our way forward as a community.  

At the Learning Symposium, we will dive into cultivating the skillsets behind effective communication, conflict management, empathy, resilience, and personal power through activities led by speaker Whitney Warne of Evoke EQ.  

Lunch will be provided by two food trucks; Mactopia and Bearded Jackal. Mactopia items will include Perfection, Garden of Eden, 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. A voucher for a free entrée and beverage will be provided to all Symposium attendees. Vegetarian and gluten free options will be available. 

Please register for the Learning Symposium on Eventbrite. Those registered will receive a voucher for their lunch at the trucks. 

We are excited to offer this year’s Learning Symposium as a wonderful opportunity for building community. As with all campus events and activities, we ask managers to actively encourage their employees to consider attending—this applies to faculty and both hourly and salaried staff. 

—Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost

Please join us for the next Provost’s Drake Social on Friday, Aug. 18 in the Turner Jazz Center beginning at 4 p.m. As the first Social of the academic year, this will be a chance to reconnect with colleagues, meet new faculty members, and celebrate the start of another great year!

Refreshments will include wine, beer, soft drinks, cake, and an assortment of light snacks. Keep in mind that this is a family friendly event—please feel free to bring your children and partner!

— Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost