Our second episode features Dr. Pramod Mahajan. He speaks about his experiences with funding ranging from NASA dollars to state dollars. He also gives us a look into his future endeavors to expand pharmacogenomic education.
Our third episode features Dr. Klaus Bartschat, Ellis & Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Physics. He discusses his future goals after retirement and provides his decades worth of insight with the National Science Foundation.
If any individual is interested in discussing their research projects/endeavors on the podcast, please reach out to preston.miller@drake.edu.
— Preston Miller, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance
Thank you to all who have given time and input on the Drake.edu redesign project. We are excited to offer our future prospective students and families a website that helps them find the information they’re searching for quickly, and one that strongly positions our brand with compelling imagery and content.
Over the summer months, external partner Carnegie will be working on front-end development, while internally, we’ll be focused on content updates and creation. The content audit is nearing completion, thanks to the help of many. As was noted in the last update, the evolution of internal sites and Teams has provided a more intuitive home for external-facing content that is better suited for our internal audience. With that in mind, our project team will be reaching out to those campus partners who have been involved in the audit process to talk through the next phase of the work. This phase will involve talking through the best options available for that content in the future, as well as the training necessary to move the content into the selected destination.
Our website receives more traffic than any physical space, so we are incredibly grateful to all who are helping ensure it serves us strongly as a warm and helpful welcome to the transformative Drake experience that lies beyond its “doors.”
— Leslie Maynes, executive director, University Communications and Marketing; and Keren Fiorenza, deputy CITO & chief information security officer
Drake is excited and honored to be an Institute Partner for the 2025 Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Beginning in mid-June, Drake will host twenty-five of Africa’s bright, emerging business leaders for a six-week program on our campus. One of the highlights for Fellows during the Institute are the Home-Hosted Meals and 1-on-1 time with Focus Project Coaches to develop action plans to identify and address a need in their business, organization, or community.
Applications for both Home Hosts and Focus Coaches are now officially open!
Have you used your Community Service Leave benefit for this fiscal year?
Let’s make the most of this benefit, which strengthens ourselves and our communities!
What is Community Service Leave?
Drake University recognizes the importance of community involvement and encourages employees to participate in volunteer and service activities. Community Service Leave (policy) allows staff the opportunity to participate in community service activities that occur during regularly scheduled work hours, without using vacation or personal time. Full-time, regular employees can request paid leave for up to 8 hours per fiscal year to spend time supporting your favorite not-for-profit.
Community service leave is a paid time off benefit and can be used for:
Volunteer or service work for non-profit community service organizations
Volunteer work at a school, including the school your children or grandchildren attend (including field trips, events and school-related projects)
Participation in a Drake-sponsored community service activity
Blood, bone marrow, and organ donation
Disaster relief and emergency volunteer activities
Why volunteer?
Volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for the volunteer. The right match can help you find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career. You do not need to make a long-term commitment or take a huge amount of time out of your busy day to reap the benefits of volunteering. Giving in even simple ways can:
Improve physical and mental health – research shows that volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine.
Connect you to others – volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make it a better place.
Teach valuable skills – the training and hands-on experience you gain while volunteering can help you learn new skills, as well as build upon ones you already have.
Boost your resume – potential employers are often impressed by applicants who have taken the time to volunteer as it shows that you’re dedicated and have a strong work ethic.
Expands your perspective – whether local or abroad, when you volunteer, you work with different age groups, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Where can I find volunteer opportunities?
Drake’s online community engagement platform, DUgood, connects students, faculty, and staff across campus with partners in Des Moines and beyond. Use the DUgood platform to find opportunities to get involved in our community, track your impact, and explore what your fellow Bulldogs are doing to make a difference.
Opportunity Spotlight – Meals on Wheels Hydroponic Farm
The Meals on Wheels Hydroponic Farm is a 3,000 square foot indoor farm capable of producing approximately 20,000 pounds of leafy greens a year. The farm provides some of our most at-risk populations in the metro with a source of fresh, healthy greens year-round. They also provide greens to other WesleyLife and local communities. Training is provided for every task, and there is no gardening or farming experience necessary, simply an open mind and drive to help feed others.
The Meals on Wheels Hydroponic Farm has shifts available through August 29, 2025, and is conveniently located right across from Drake at 3206 University Avenue. Each shift can support up to 10 volunteers, so make it a team-building event with your department and sign up here today!
You are invited to join us at the next Provost’s Drake Social on Monday, May 12, in Schickler Club, adjacent to the Knapp Center, beginning at 4 p.m.
During this event, faculty and staff who celebrated (or will be celebrating) a milestone service anniversary or retirement between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, will have their names scrolled on video screens around the room. There will be assorted beverages and light snacks.
Please take a moment to stop by and congratulate your co-workers!
The Office of Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance is happy to announce a new tool to assist with seeking funding for your projects. The new SPARC profile form will allow us to better understand you and your funding needs. It will also assist us with finding potential collaborators for your project(s).
If you are interested, click here to fill out the form (please reserve 10-15 minutes to complete).
Once the form is complete, a member of SPARC will reach out to you to begin discussing your funding goals and potential opportunities.
Please join the All Staff Council in congratulating our most recent recipients of the True Blue award. Here is a little information about our honorees with excerpts from their nominations.
Laura Shell, Access & Success – nominated by Lauren McCarthy
“LauraShellexemplifies Generosity of Spirit every time I interact with her. One of Laura‘s key responsibilities is overseeing Starfish for the university. As an advisor, I use Starfish daily for keeping track of my advisees, scheduling, making referrals, running reports, and more. I often have questions about a particular function that isn’t working as I expect, and I send those toLaura. She is always quick to respond and troubleshoot (typically it’s a user error), so that I can go on my merry way. What I most appreciate aboutLaurais that she never makes me feel bad about asking a question. She has a positive, affirming style and I always feel welcome to reach out. This helps me do my job better, and I appreciate the way Lauradoes hers!”
Kristi Longtin, Law School – nominated by Dawn Brown
“Kristi’s commitment to keeping our department’s mission running smoothly is truly inspiring. This year she was tasked with training a new employee in addition to all of her many duties. She successfully balanced this with several duties. She was the key person in scheduling visiting professors who were applying for three openings in our department. The intricate puzzle work of communicating with multiple visitors, and scheduling at least 2 or 3 “job talks” with our faculty for each candidate is a time-consuming task that can change on a dime when a conflict pops up. She is always “in this together” though and finds time to help her co-workers with numerous questions always with a chipper demeanor and smile. She has a great rapport with the faculty she supports, as well as an unending stream of students. She always makes each student feel heard and acknowledged even when they are interrupting a time-sensitive activity. She meets any challenge with a brave and creative attitude and never gives up. She rocks!”
John Kippes, John Dee Bright College – nominated by Sofia Turnbull
“John Kippes has shown himself to be a vital go-to person for the John Dee Bright College. He’s there for our students whether they want him to be or not. He’s always on the search for internship opportunities to enrich the students’ experience and has the general welfare of the College and students in mind.
John is also very engaged with the classes and is usually attending one meeting or another that is geared toward enriching the John Dee Bright College. He is our priceless Batman! We are the better for having him at our institution. He is generous with his time, knowledge, and is a very integral part of our team!
Thank you for all you do, John!”
Grounds & FPM Team, Facilities – nominated by Mark Vitha
“This is a recognition of the excellent job that Facilities did on Feb. 12-13 responding to the bad weather/snow accumulation on campus. Their dedication and hard work, under difficult conditions, helped keep the campus community safe.”
Lisa Proctor, Head Start – nominated by Candice Hyler
“Lisa is the picture of civility, caring, and respect. She provides a safe space for staff to air grievances and does not shy away from difficult conversations. She is quick to jump in when emotions run high and provides a calming presence. When meeting with her, she is intentional about making sure every voice is heard and even when she can’t ‘fix’ the issue, she does not forget about it, continually working towards a solution. She has also made great strides in providing robust communication and transparency. She has regular office hours and encourages people to ask her the difficult questions. She also writes a report that she sends out in an effort to provide transparency about the leadership team and decisions they are making to avoid people hearing news through the rumor mill. She started in her position right before COVID in 2020 and we have been struggling with staffing since; however she does not appear to get overwhelmed and continues to believe that her team can solve any problem.”
Anthony Squire, ITS – nominated by Kevin Saunders
“Anthonyresponded to an incident where my laptop would not start. While this may seem like a stressful event at the start of a workday, Anthonybrings a sense of calm and dedication to his work. He stopped his regular workflow to respond quickly, assured me that there would be a solution, and thought ahead to set up a loaner machine. During that process, he carefully worked to set up a different machine to optimize my functionality by taking time to ask critical questions, test functionality, and consistently asking about other potential software needs. In other words, he thought carefully about my work and showed clear commitment to the highest level of service. After I left the help desk, he worked diligently to find a solution and achieved success in a short amount of time. When I returned to pick up my machine, he again took time to test the functionality and demonstrated a next level of service when he asked if there were any other issues that needed attention. I cannot think of another service experience on this campus that matches this level of dedication, commitment, drive, and effort. Anthonydoes this with such a calm and easy going fashion that you forget you are in the middle of a technical incident.”
In Loving Memory
Gerardo Aguilera-Rodriguez, FPM – nominated by Tammy Eltayb
“I want to nominate this employee for the true-blue award. As they follow all four core values.
They show leadership among all staff members and Drake faculty. Every day when they walk through the doors, they always have a smile on their face whether they are not feeling good or upset. They always give their 100% when they are working. They are willing to accept criticism and will admit when they have made a mistake, and they will learn from it. They make sure everyone is treated equally and that each staff member works together. They have a big heart for the people here at Drake. Thank you, is not enough to say but thank youGerardo, for everything you do. We all appreciate everything you do for us here at facilities and around campus. You are a true bulldog.”
April 14-18 is National Student Employment Week! Student employees perform invaluable services to the campus community.
Supervisors, would you like to recognize your student employees? Here are a few low- to no-cost ideas:
Bring in treats for your student workers or put together a goodie bag
Write a hand-written note expressing your appreciation
Help students with their career preparation – offer to review their resume or write a letter of recommendation
Decorate office doors, desks, or bulletin boards with signs expressing your appreciation
Highlight students on your social media pages, or submit a student/group spotlight to Career Services to be highlighted on Instagram – just send a photo and quote to Amanda Martin, amanda.martin@drake.edu
We are also thankful to the many on-campus supervisors who support the development of Drake students every day!
— Amanda Martin, Academic Excellence and Student Success
