Top officials from Drake and the Republic of Kosovo held a signing ceremony on April 5 to formalize a new partnership. The renewable, five-year partnership outlines a number of specific programs and initiatives that Drake and Kosovo could embark upon together, including faculty, staff, and student exchanges, research collaboration, and training and professional development activities. Learn more in the Drake Newsroom.

Anna Steenson, a sophomore digital media production major, won two first-place Emmys in this spring’s Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Upper Midwest Region contest. Steenson won awards in the public affairs/community service and editing categories.

Senior public relations major Kelly Leatherman has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar. Leatherman will be traveling to Malaysia for her scholarship.

Teams of senior PR students recently presented campaigns to their capstone client, Young Women’s Resource Center. The advertising seniors will present their campaigns for the National Pork Board later this month. The pork industry group is also flying a team of students to Arizona to present their plans to the organization’s national board.

—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

Michael Haedicke, associate professor of sociology, has received an honorable mention in the Midwest Sociological Society Distinguished Book Award competition for his 2016 book Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market. The Distinguished Book Award recognizes new works of scholarship that make exemplary, original, and substantive contributions to sociological understanding.

Organizing Organic traces the history of different visions of sustainable agriculture within the U.S. organic farming sector and investigates how members of the organic industry navigate these cultural understandings in everyday life.

Alexander Maciejewski’s (PharmD candidate 2020) wrote about his service-learning experience in Anisa Fornoff’s FYS: Exploring the Portrayal of Mental Illness and Intellectual Disabilities in the Media. His article, “Leadership Development through Service-Learning: My Drake Experience” was accepted and is the first Drake student manuscript to published in the International Undergraduate Journal for Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change. Read Alex’s article at: http://opus.govst.edu/iujsl/vol6/iss2/6/

—Renee Sedlacek, Office of Community Engaged Learning & Service

Debra Bishop, associate professor of practice in management and international business, received was named Sigma Phi Epsilon’s University Partner of the Year for her work as faculty adviser to Drake’s Iowa Delta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Our new postal operations mail manager position has been filled by Tim Reger. Tim came to us from Grand View University where he worked for 4.5 years as their print shop/mail room supervisor. Anticipate Tim to meet with department heads in the near future to discuss campus needs. We look forward to the improvements and changes he will bring to the campus-wide postal services.  Welcome to Drake, Tim!

—Tricia McKinney, Drake Public Safety

The Office of Community Engaged Learning (formerly Community Engagement & Service-Learning) is proud to present the 2015–2016 Impact Report. The document provides a record of outstanding community engagement efforts and accomplishments across the University.

Given this was compiled as a project from the lens of our office we recognize that it is limited in scope and is not comprehensive of ALL Drake is doing around community engagement. If you have a project or initiative that should be included, please reach out to renee.sedlacek@drake.edu. We hope this can be a benchmark project that continues to grow and helps Drake tell our story of partnership and reciprocity with the community.

—Renee Sedlacek, Community Engaged Learning

David Senchina was recently invited to co-author a consensus statement on the relationship between exercise, nutrition, and the immune system for the journal Exercise Immunology Review, one of the top-ranked journals in the “sports science” category according to Thompson Reuters. The statement comprises multiple sections, each written by different specialists from eight different countries. David’s portion of the article was on herbal supplements (such as echinacea and ginseng) and how they influence athletes’ immune systems. The statement also applies knowledge from these categories to specific clinical populations beyond athletes, such as military personnel and the elderly. Download the article for free here.

Drake Community Press’ latest book, A Spectrum of Faith: Religions of the World in America’s Heartland, is slated for release on April 6. The book, a 134-page coffee-table-style paperback, is a culmination of more than two years of work by Drake students and faculty, as well as numerous academic courses, an editorial board, a local photographer, donors, community-involved committees, and an interfaith partner. Read more—and see some of the stunning photography from the book—in the Drake Newsroom.