University Communications welcomed three new staff members in June:

• Dani Edler, Senior Strategist, Digital Communications, Web Design & Development
• Ashton Hockman, Assistant Director of Campus Relations
• Jason Nunemaker, Assistant Director, Digital Communications, Content Management

As senior strategist for digital design and development, Dani will lead the creation of new templates, web designs, and interfaces as the department’s main front-end designer. She brings a deep understanding of user experience and user interface design, as well as experience with modern website accessibility standards.
Before starting at Drake, Dani was the digital marketing director for TRIO in Grimes. She received her bachelor’s in art and design and advertising from Iowa State.

Ashton will oversee internal communications for the University, including the weekly e-newsletter OnCampus. Ashton previously worked as a media relations representative at MidAmerican Energy, and also worked at Kemin Industries. She received a BA in journalism and mass communications, and in communication studies, from the University of Iowa.

Jason joins Drake from Wells Fargo, where he worked for more than 10 years in a variety of positions, most recently as a business applications analyst. He received his bachelor’s from the University of Iowa and his MFA in creative writing from The Ohio State University. Jason will focus on support for the content systems and the site architecture for the main University website and provide recommendations for the use and implementation of internal and external digital communications tools. He brings a wealth of knowledge managing enterprise content.

Please join University Communications and the entire University Advancement team in welcoming Dani, Ashton, and Jason.

—Dave Remund, Executive Director, University Communications

Drake has recently become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to further campus efforts toward building a healthy and sustainable campus. Through membership in AASHE, Drake will receive support in advancing its sustainability initiatives throughout the institution and in the community.

“AASHE counts on the support of progressive institutions like Drake University to fulfill its mission of facilitating leadership to transform our planet,” said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “As the gateways to knowledge, higher education institutions have a unique opportunity to make sustainability part of everyone’s agenda. I welcome Drake University to our family of colleges, universities, associations and businesses driving the transformation to a sustainable world.”

AASHE enables higher education institutions to meet their sustainability goals by providing specialized resources, professional development, and a network of peer support.  Membership covers every individual at an institution, so the entire campus community can take advantage of member benefits by using their Drake email to create an account under the membership tab at www.aashe.org.

“We are happy to have Drake University join AASHE and take an active role within this community as we all work to advance sustainability,” shared Zahniser. “We invite students, faculty and staff at the institution to visit our site and create an AASHE account. This will allow everyone to take advantage of the member-only resources, free webinars and discounts to our annual conference. AASHE also offers extensive online resources and discussion forums for professional development and sharing knowledge.”

AASHE hosts the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), a comprehensive campus sustainability rating system that enables institutions to measure their progress and learn from others, www.aashe.org/stars. With STARS as a roadmap, institutions can select meaningful and appropriate pathways to sustainability while conserving valuable resources, combating global warming, and building healthier communities.  Drake will be assessing the campus this fall to determine the STARS rating and sharing that information in a future OnCampus article.

– Kevin Moran, Facilities Planning and Management

Lisa West, associate professor of English, co-organized the 20th anniversary symposium of the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society, one of the first literary author societies to focus on the recovery of early American writings by prominent women writers of the 19th century. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Sally Haack, associate professor of pharmacy practice, was selected as an Iowa Campus Compact Engaged Scholars Research Fellow. The program builds on previous faculty fellowships with an added emphasis on the production of scholarship that moves the higher education community engagement and service-learning field forward. Sally’s interest lies in helping students see the numerous connections between the University and community partners with common goals of increasing social responsibility and offering support to those living in poverty. Her research will focus on the outcomes of service-learning experiences for pharmacy students in Mexico.

Erin Lain, associate provost for campus equity and inclusion and associate professor of law, has received the 2017 Gertrude Rush Award from the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys (IOWA) and the Iowa Chapter of the National Bar Association. Read more on Erin’s honor in the Drake Newsroom.

Eric Saylor, professor of music history, has published a new book that seeks to redeem a style of music that he says is gravely misunderstood and sorely underrated. English Pastoral Music: From Arcadia to Utopia, 1900-1955 was published June 26 by the University of Illinois Press. Read more about Eric’s work in the Drake Newsroom.

Edward Kelley, a 3D design instructor and studio assistant in Drake’s Department of Art and Design, has been selected for an exhibition at Art League Houston in Houston, TX. Kelley’s installation, titled “Speak of the Devil,” features an interactive installation of more than 250 surveillance cameras placed throughout the gallery, “playfully addressing the invasive qualities of CCTV surveillance, as well as its acceptance in our everyday lives.” Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Drake Magazine and Urban Plains are both finalists for the Associated Collegiate Press’ Online Pacemaker awards, often called the “Pulitzer Prize” of collegiate journalism.

Drake Magazine is an extracurricular activity, with both print and online publications. Urban Plains is the senior capstone website produced by the magazine media, news, and digital media production majors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Associated Collegiate Press chose 25 finalists from 105 entries; Drake and James Madison University in Virginia were the only institutions with two finalists. The winners will be announced at the ACP annual convention Oct. 28 in Dallas.

—Kathleen Richardson, SJMC

Six actuarial science students participated in the Traveler’s Case Competition with four other universities. The students were given a property and casualty insurance problem to research and model.  At the end of the day, each university’s team presented their recommendations to a panel of actuaries from Traveler’s. Drake’s team won first place this year; each student won a $250 cash award and the Department of Actuarial Science received a trophy. The competition benefits the students by giving them a hands-on experience solving actuarial problems and helps faculty by allowing them to learn about contemporary topics in the field.

The winning team included Praneeth Singh, John Richards, Ty Albrecht, Colin Piscitello, Hannah Hamilton, and YiFan Zhou.

Drake actuarial science and finance majors competed in the annual Brooks Case Competition for an opportunity to practice their academic skills in a real-world scenario. This year’s case study focused on the pending merger of Verizon and Yahoo. Drake students competed in teams of three or four over the course of one weekend. The Brooks Competition experience gave students insight into the real-life pressures and skills associated with their future actuarial science and finance careers. Drake faculty judges included Richard Long, Jimmy Senteza, Inchul Suh, and Toby White.

• 1st place: Trevor Carlson, Daniel Finn, Parker Foote, Samuel Klann
• 2nd place: Shayla Carey, Parker Henley, Priyanka Rao, Jessica Rebischke
• 3rd place: Nur Hanisah Abdul Rahman, Alwin Zhe Shuen Tan, Khai Wei Tan, Shao Ze Tan
• Special awards
  —Best Teamwork and Most Professional: Mohd Mathoridie Sobri, Amelia Quek, Yu Xiao
  —Most Creative and Best Q&A Responses: Nor Adlin Izurin Dzulkifli, Wei Ling Iriss Tan, Kumudhini Ujhoodha, Jade Vuong

Drake finance students finished 2nd in the 2017 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge. Local CFA societies select a publicly listed company in their geographical region to be analyzed by teams from competing universities and colleges. This year’s company was Rockwell Collins. The teams prepared a written report and a presentation recommending either a buy, sell, or hold on the selected company. The reports and presentations were judged by local investment professionals with their CFA designation. Drake’s team consisted of students Daniel Finn, Sam Klann, Jamie Zaine, Tyler Kern, and Neil Usry.

A group of Marketing Club students worked on a project for Coca-Cola this semester for their Dasani Sparkling product. Called Project Bulldog, the students developed a comprehensive integrated marketing communication plan based on research conducted by the team. Their recommendations were presented to executives in Atlanta via phone interview and elicited very positive comments from channel managers and national product managers alike. The new ideas for point-of-purchase and sales promotion were praised and are expected to be put into play by the company in the near future.  Professors Mary Edrington and Chip Miller co-advised the team, which was led by Marketing Student of the Year, Kaylynn Noethlich. Project Bulldog Team included the following Drake CBPA students: Kaylynn Noethlich, Margot Stevens, Rebecca Crepeau, Madelyn Vogt, Courtney Smith, Megan Richards, Tierney Sereika, Karter Smith, Matthew Lavery, Kyla Inderski, Lauren Riley, Jack Kennedy, Caroline West, Matthew Helmericks, David Pioske, and Max Zaug.

—Dianna Gray, College of Business and Public Administration

Instead of students throwing their stuff in dumpsters after the spring term when moving out, large crates were placed in the halls to collect donations for Goodwill. Stalnaker was by far the busiest donation bin over the week. Here is the bin count from each location.

Stalnaker: 8
Carpenter: 4
Herriott: 4
Morehouse: 5
Jewett: 2
Crawford: 3
Ross: 2
Goodwin: 4
Total: 32

The bins brought in around 8,000 pounds of donations—enough to provide 400 hours of training for people in Goodwill programs.

—Jerry Parker, Dean of Students