If you have not lately, I’d encourage you to review Drake’s Continuous Improvement Plan site. As a reminder, this is our strategic plan and lists out all of the objectives in each of the plan’s commitment areas.  Please take time to explore how each of those objectives are embodied in many ways across our campus life. You can do so by clicking on the “+” in each objective area or the “Learn more” link to see more on student, faculty, and staff successes.  

In addition, you’ll see more information on all the major initiatives the University has underway as well. This site is continuously updated and can be also found any time by going to the drake.edu home page, clicking on ‘Campus Links’ at the top and selecting “Strategic Plan”. Thanks for your review and engagement.

— Nate Reagen, President’s Office

Job Description
The Post-Graduate Global Scholarships Coordinator position seeks to assist current undergraduate and recent graduates from Drake University in discovering and applying to prestigious scholarships with a global focus. In this position, one can expect to assist mainly in Fulbright applications, but also in other global oriented scholarships such as the Rhodes scholarship or Boren scholarship when requested.

The position runs on an annual, renewable contract, and will be effective from July 1–June 30, beginning in summer 2023. Faculty will receive two course reassignments or a combination of a course release and a stipend for serving in this capacity. Candidates must be full-time (tenured or consecutive term) faculty members at Drake University at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor.

Primary Job Responsibilities

• Maintaining familiarity with the various fellowships—the award types, eligibility, different country programs, and selection process—to effectively advise students
• Promoting scholarship opportunities via outreach such as information sessions and classroom visits
• Helping students determine the fellowships that best suit their qualifications and interests
• Providing guidance and support to students on their application essays and revisions
• Giving constructive, developmental feedback to students on their writing
• Managing various online application systems and uploading documents
• Coordinating institutional responsibilities for student applicants, such as: panel interviews, institutional endorsements or evaluation documents, and letters of recommendation
• Celebrating successes and helping unsuccessful students manage their disappointments and pursue alternatives
• Helping students recognize what they learn/gain from the process, especially when their work does not succeed in winning a fellowship
• Working with University Marketing and Communications to assist with press releases and publicity to celebrate student awards

Key Qualifications/Skills

• Grant writing skills and an ability to teach those skills to mostly undergraduates for writing statements of grant purpose and personal statements
• Mentoring skills
• International/intercultural experience to advise students about country decisions
• Strong faculty/staff network to recruit for panel interviews and mock interviews
• Ability to run efficient meetings, lead panel interviews, give outreach/recruitment presentations
• Ability to write letters of recommendation and draft institutional endorsements

Additional Information

• The heaviest workload can be expected in August and September
• Workload will vary depending on familiarity with the application process and number of applicants
• As the position mainly assists in Fulbright applications, it may be of interest to visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/fulbright-program-advisers

Questions concerning the position should be direct to Annique Kiel, Executive Director of Global Engagement and International programs at annique.kiel@drake.edu.

Application Process

• Interested individuals should submit a statement of interest, outlining strengths in key areas of responsibility, as well as how the position supports their growth and development as a professor at Drake University. The statement of interest should also reference prior experience with or commitment to internationalization efforts and Drake as a global university.
• Applicants must include a letter of support from the individual’s college/school dean
• Files must be submitted to Annique Kiel (annique.kiel@drake.edu) by May 31, 2023. Interviews will take place June, with a July 1 start date.

— Annique Kiel, Global Engagement

Drake University seeks a Deputy Provost for Academic Affairs to provide leadership for faculty success initiatives and strategic academic affairs priorities.   

The DPAA reports to the Provost, and has direct supervisory responsibilities of an administrative assistant and the director of the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration.  The DPAA works strategically and collaboratively across campus, and is an integral member of Provost’s Council (OIRA, Global Engagement, Registrar, Student Success, Online, Admissions, Campus Equity and Inclusion) and Academic Affairs Council (Provost’s Council and Academic Deans).

This position is a three-year renewable appointment. Please submit cover letter, CV, and diversity statement by Monday, June 12, to Madison Bemus.

Primary Functions:

Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) (60%)
— Support faculty success:  
— Articulate a vision for the CTE. 
— Plan and implement data-informed initiatives to support successful teaching, research/scholarship, and service. 
— Support faculty honors and awards functions.  
— FYS staffing, training, and evaluation.
— Quality Initiative for reaffirmation of HLC accreditation: 
— Co-direct campus-wide QI initiative that is integrally connected to FYS and CTE. 
— Honors program, Speaking Center, and Writing Center. 
— Oversight of budget and administrative roles, and strategic support.

New Faculty and Academic Chair orientations and mentoring (20%)
—Develop programs and activities to support and mentor new faculty onboarding and retention.  
— Develop programs and initiatives to support and mentor new and continuing department chairs.

Other strategic priorities (10%)

Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (5%)
— Lead and oversee strategic growth in external funding for scholarship and innovative teaching.  
— Oversight of the Office of Sponsored Programs director, three additional staff, and budget.

Communications to campus (5%)

Minimum Qualifications:

• Be a full-time (tenured or consecutive term) faculty member at Drake University at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. 
• Provide evidence of leadership (formal or informal) by collaborating, problem-solving, and capacity-building.    
• Demonstrate high-level communication skills, including listening, writing, and speaking. 
• Demonstrate informed decision-making using data. 
• Demonstrate commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through concrete actions.

—Sue Mattison, Provost

Dr. Richard Deming is the Medical Director of Mercy One Cancer Center, and his compassion and desire to create positive change, and his ability to help others find joy will be an enduring legacy with the lives and organizations he has touched.

Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Deming and his gift to The Ones Campaign, we are pleased to announce the availability of grants of up to $2,500 for faculty teaching community-engaged learning courses or student organizations whose proposed initiatives aim to advance social change and ultimately spark joy for those impacted by the work.

Criteria:
—Spark joy for those being served and those who are serving
—Projects should have a long-term impact; addressing systemic challenges preferred
—Be tied to a CEL course or student group/organization working with off-campus partners

Funds can be used on supplies, equipment, food, etc.

We are currently accepting applications for the 2023–2024 academic year.

Ready to spark joy and ignite change? Read more about the criteria and apply.

Contact Amanda Martin, amanda.martin@drake.edu and Ryan Arnold, ryan.arnold@drake.edu with any questions or to discuss an idea.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

The Des Moines Corporate Games are a great way to have fun with co-workers, celebrate your health, skills, and knowledge, and represent Drake while doing so.

We need help filling upcoming teams with June deadlines.  Please consider joining us.

Track & Field.  Deadline to register is June 7 before 10 a.m.  Events are held Tuesday, June 13, at the Drake stadium beginning 5:30 p.m.  Events include 100 meter dash, 400 meter run, 800 meter run, long jump, shot put, and a couple relays. All ages welcome.

Dodgeball.  Deadline to register is June 7.  Event held Wednesday, June 21, at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Columbus Community Center. Need at least two more men and women—more are welcome.

Kickball.  Deadline to register is June 7.  Event held Saturday, June 24, at Savage Softball Fields beginning at 9 a.m. Need at least four more men and five more women—more are welcome.

Trivia.  Deadline to register is June 14. Event held Tuesday, June 27, at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. Check-in at 5:30 p.m. and competition begins at 6:30 p.m. Opening for up to three more men or women.

Bowling (coed, women’s, men’s). Deadline to register is June 28.  The coed team plays Tuesday, July 11, and the men’s and women’s teams play on Wednesday, July 12, at Bowlerama Lanes, beginning at 8 p.m. Five players per team. Plenty of openings on all teams.

In addition to the team events, there are several individual events coming up in June that you may be interested in, including yoga (June 17 at Gray’s Lake Park at 9 a.m.) a virtual fitness walk (anytime from June 16–19), and a virtual fitness class (June 29).  If you are not into sports, they also have an opportunity for you to donate blood or package meals at Meals from the Heartland.

Signing up is easy—email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu if you are interested in participating in any (or many) of the events above.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Staff upgrade requests and limited market adjustments are included in the fiscal year 24 budget.  Managers will be notified in the next week if their requested upgrades were approved. If so, job upgrade adjustments will be effective July 1, 2023. A limited pool is also available for some staff market adjustments. In addition to our standard formula for assessing market adjustments, we are also faced with a potential change in the law that could inform market adjustment decisions.  

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced over a year ago that they would be proposing a new a new salary threshold for overtime eligibility. The anticipated proposal was originally supposed to be published last April, then last October, and it has most recently been pushed to this current month of May.  

If the DOL raises the salary threshold for exempt (salaried) status, employers will need to evaluate whether to increase a position’s salary to meet the threshold or adjust positions to non-exempt (hourly) status.  Clearly, without knowing what the new salary threshold will be, we cannot project what we will be able to do for each impacted position.  

We hope the coming months will bring with them answers—what the new threshold will be, when it will take effect, and what our approach to the new threshold will be.   

The waiting game will impact the decisions we need to make regarding staff market adjustments. As soon as we have more concrete information to share we will. Please know we understand this is a topic of both great interest and importance to staff. If the Department of Labor does not issue a new threshold by early June, we will determine whether to proceed with limited market adjustments effective July 1. Watch for additional information about this process from Human Resources.

At present, we are not far enough into the budget process to have any substantive update regarding staff merit adjustments. Going forward, the plan is to roll out any merit increases as of January 1 of the relevant fiscal year (January 1, 2024, for the next fiscal year).  

Please note that faculty salaries are being actively reviewed by the Provost’s Office, with support from Drake HR. Faculty fall under a different exemption category under the FLSA, so a change to the hourly threshold will not impact anyone holding a faculty position. Faculty market salary letters will be sent in June from the Provost’s Office, and faculty promotion salary letters will come from their respective deans. 

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Don’t be fooled by the name, the ‘corporate games’ are a great way to have fun with co-workers, celebrate your health, skills, and knowledge, and represent Drake while doing so! Here are the events we need broad participation in:

• Yoga
• Cycling tour ride
• Cross country races (4K & 8K)
• Road race (5K)
• Duathlon
• Triathlon
• Blood donation
• Meals from the Heartland

You don’t need to be an elite athlete to participate in any of the above.

For those of you looking for athletic competition in a team setting, we still need people for:

• Women’s 3 on 3 basketball (register by May 24^th!)
• Pickleball (co-ed, women’s) (register by May 24^th!)
• Track & field events (by age bracket, don’t worry!  Even 60+ age brackets!)
• Dodgeball
• Bowling (co-ed, women’s, men’s)
• Golf (men’s & women’s)

Sign-ups are easy – just email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu if you are interested in signing up for any (or many!) of the events above.

We’ll see you out there!

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

The All Staff Council Governance Committee congratulates each of the newly elected members of the Drake University All Staff Council!

Governance/Policy Committee

• Suzanne Wisslead

Recognition Committee

• Madison Bemus
• Kristine Plagman
• Amber Welsh
• Betsy White

Special Events/Community Service Committee

• Dillon Beckmann
• Ellie Bullock
• Tiffany Hach
• Lila Johnson
• John Kippes

Special Interests Committee

• Kris Brewster
• Teresa Downs
• Mady Nachtman

Chair Elect

• Kevin Saunders

— Sara Schilling, On behalf of All Staff Council

At its April meeting, the Drake Board of Trustees voted to approve the newest cohort of tenured and promoted faculty, the Sammons Endowed Professorship of Actuarial Science, the inaugural Flapan Professorship of Biology, and Troyer fellow.  Our colleagues’ hard work and passion as educators are truly extraordinary.

College of Arts & Sciences:

• Vira Babenko, associate professor with tenure
• Adam Case, associate professor with tenure
• Jerry Honts, professor and inaugural Flapan Professorship
• Erin Horst, associate professor with tenure
• MaryAnn Huey, professor
• Shauna Kaplan, associate professor with tenure
• Vince Kenney, associate professor with tenure
• En Li, associate professor with tenure
• Kieran Williams, associate professor with tenure

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

• Stacy Gnacinski, associate professor with tenure, Troyer Research Fellow
• Cassity Gutierrez, professor
• Jon Hurdelbrink, associate professor with tenure
• Abebe Mengesha, professor
• Shankar Munusamy, professor
• Nate Newman, professor
• Jamie Pitlick, professor of pharmacy practice

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

• Lakshmi Tirumala, associate professor with tenure

School of Education

• Tonia Land, professor

Zimpleman College of Business

• Doug Bujakowski, associate professor with tenure, Sammons Professorship of Actuarial Science
• Lendie Follett, associate professor with tenure
• Alanah Mitchell, professor

— Sue Mattison, Provost