Thank you to everyone who has already completed the Great Colleges To Work For survey. We have not yet reached our participation goal, but we’re getting closer! Currently, 63% of faculty and staff have participated. We are striving to have 67% respond. The good news is, there is still time to complete the survey. The survey period ends today, so if you have not completed the survey, please consider taking this opportunity to make your voice heard.  

If you have not received an invitation to complete the survey, please check your junk or spam folder.  If it is not there, please let Nate Reagen or Maureen De Armond know right away.   

We will follow-up before the fall semester with the overall university results of the survey. All unit-leaders (with greater than five employees) will have the results to share by then as well.   

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Nate Reagen, Office of the President

• Ryan Stoldt received $9,809 from the US Department of Defense in support of his research titled Algorithmic Personalization and Online Radicalization:  A Mixed Methods Approach.
• Amanda Martin received $250 from the Sodexo Foundation to support her Sprout Garden Global Youth Service Day

• Danielle Shelton received $17,000 from the Nellie Ball Trust Research Fund in support her research titled Legal Accommodations for Individuals with Mental Disabilities.

• Richelle Williams received $1,000 from the Midwest Association of Athletic Trainers of America in support of her research titled Exploring Police Officers’ Perceptions of a Health/injury Risk Management Program Involving Athletic Training Educators

— Mary P Wohlford, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance

Do you enjoy spending time with students?  Looking for a new opportunity to interact? If you would enjoy being a key part of welcoming new students and supporting their transition to the Drake community, please consider joining the Blueprint for Success team and teaching a section of Drake’s first-year student success course. Jenny Jones, Director of Graduate Programs in the Zimpleman College of Business, shared the following about her experience: “I’ve taught several sections Blueprint for Success/Bulldog Foundations over the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the incoming students. As an instructor, you get to help the student acclimate not just to Drake University but to college life as a whole. You can create an environment where the students help each other adjust and learn from each other’s experiences. Each section I’ve led has had a different personality, but each section has been rewarding.”

Blueprint for Success helps students consider concepts and develop skills that are crucial for the development of meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship. Students will explore the elements of an equitable and inclusive community, consider life skills necessary for success, and refine academic strategies. This course helps students transition into the Drake community with ease.

The course meets for 11 sessions, 50 minutes each session.  The sessions will be spread out through the fall semester. Instructors will be given all curriculum, materials, and facilitator guides for the course, and will not need to develop any curriculum on their own. In addition, instructors will partner with a peer mentor, and upper-class student leader who can help facilitate class sessions, support discussion, and be a valuable resource to your students.

In addition to assigned class time, chosen instructors will need to attend an all-day training the week of Aug. 1, a check-in meeting the week of October 15 and a wrap-up meeting during the week of Fall 2023 finals. Instructors will be paid a $1000 stipend for teaching Blueprint for Success unless this course serves as a part of your full-time teaching load.  Applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent, and teaching experience is preferred but not required. Have questions?  Sign up for a short consultation session. 

To apply, fill out the google form. The application is due Friday, April 7.

— Blueprint for Success Planning Team

All Staff Council is holding a Bulldog Connect networking lunch on Wednesday, April 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The  Recognition Committee is hosting this month. Enjoy learning what staff on this committee focus on throughout the year. Anyone is welcome to come for a $5 lunch at Hubbell. Look for the table with the Drake swag and a special Bulldogs Connect table tent in Hubbell.

Also a reminder that All Staff Council invites you to share any suggestions, concerns, or other feedback you’d like us to look into using this form. (If you’d like us to respond to your feedback directly, please include your name and contact information, otherwise let us know your thoughts anonymously.)

— Megan Franklin, On behalf of All Staff Council

This spring the Student Counseling Center launched a new FREE mental health resource for students called UWill. Uwill provides a variety of resources that can instantly help students improve their mental health:

1. Immediate Teletherapy with a licensed counselor
2. 24/7/365 Crisis hotline for drake students
   1. Students can call the line with students as well: 833.646.1526
3. Fifty to sixty self-help videos on mindfulness, self-care, self-esteem, and more
4. Students can sign up at app.uwill.com or scan any QR code on a Uwill poster

Although this resource is available to students, many students have denied awareness to this resource and its benefits. We need your help sharing this resource with your students during classes, through emails, in 1:1s, and in any student interactions when a student presents a mental health concern.

Here is a 10-minute Panopto Video that explains this resource more.

For questions about this resource, contact Kayla Bell-Consolver, director, Student Counseling Center, at kayla.bell@drake.edu.

— Kayla Bell, Student Counseling Center

Do you enjoy spending time with students?  Looking for a new opportunity to interact? If you would enjoy being a key part of welcoming new students and supporting their transition to the Drake community, please consider joining the Blueprint for Success team and teaching a section of Drake’s first-year student success course. Jenny Jones, Director of Graduate Programs in the Zimpleman College of Business, shared the following about her experience: “I’ve taught several sections Blueprint for Success/Bulldog Foundations over the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the incoming students. As an instructor, you get to help the student acclimate not just to Drake University but to college life as a whole. You can create an environment where the students help each other adjust and learn from each other’s experiences. Each section I’ve led has had a different personality, but each section has been rewarding.”

Blueprint for Success helps students consider concepts and develop skills that are crucial for the development of meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship. Students will explore the elements of an equitable and inclusive community, consider life skills necessary for success, and refine academic strategies. This course helps students transition into the Drake community with ease.

The course meets for 11 sessions, 50 minutes each session.  The sessions will be spread out through the fall semester. Instructors will be given all curriculum, materials, and facilitator guides for the course, and will not need to develop any curriculum on their own. In addition, instructors will partner with a peer mentor, and upper-class student leader who can help facilitate class sessions, support discussion, and be a valuable resource to your students.

In addition to assigned class time, chosen instructors will need to attend an all-day training the week of Aug. 1, a check-in meeting the week of October 15 and a wrap-up meeting during the week of Fall 2023 finals. Instructors will be paid a $1000 stipend for teaching Blueprint for Success unless this course serves as a part of your full-time teaching load.  Applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent, and teaching experience is preferred but not required. Have questions?  Sign up for a short consultation session. 

To apply, fill out the google form. The application is due Friday, April 7.

— Blueprint for Success Planning Team

The tenth All In Giving Challenge on March 2–3 was an amazing 24 hours! 

Nearly all of the matches and challenges were completed, donations from more than 40 states and 1,396 gifts made. All of this helped unlock $110,000 for Drake! 

More than 200 faculty and staff and more than 170 students went ALL IN this year! Thank you to everyone who went All In by sharing, supporting, and celebrating this incredible University! Your support made this All In the best and biggest ever. 

Mark your calendars for the next All In on March 7–8, 2024! 

All faculty and staff who made a gift during All In were entered into a drawing for a parking pass and JONI KINNAN, administrative support specialist for the College of Arts & Sciences is the lucky winner! 

The winning department of the Griff II headshots or treats delivered by Griff is the Drake Law School! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do every day to make Drake the exceptional educational institution that it is!

— Laura Roling, University Advancement

• Ryan Stoldt received $9,809. from the US Department of Defense in support of his research titled Algorithmic Personalization and Online Radicalization:  A Mixed Methods Approach.
• Amanda Martin received $250. from the Sodexo Foundation to support her Sprout Garden Global Youth Service Day
• Danielle Shelton received $17,000. from the Nellie Ball Trust Research Fund in support her research titled Legal Accommodations for Individuals with Mental Disabilities.
• Richelle Williams received $1,000. from the Midwest Association of Athletic Trainers of America in support of her research titled Exploring Police Officers’ Perceptions of a Health/injury Risk Management Program Involving Athletic Training Educators

— Mary Pat Wohlford, Director, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance