Drake’s chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha, a global honor society for public affairs and administration, inducted 25 new members and recognized a few students with special honors during an awards ceremony last month. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

APPA, the association dedicated to leadership in educational facilities, is proud to announce that Manny Toribio at Drake has received the Educational Facilities Professional (EFP) credential. The EFP is a way to validate the unique knowledge and competency required of an accomplished professional in the educational facilities field.

“The APPA EFP designation is a knowledge-based credential for educational facilities professionals and industry suppliers looking to validate their depth-of-knowledge in the core educational facilities management topics deemed critical by employers,” said John Morris, chair of APPA’s Board for Educational Facilities Professionals Certification. “Aspiring educational facility professionals who obtain the must-have EFP credential demonstrate their understanding of the core knowledge and skills, enhance their career opportunities, and gain immediate credibility with employers, clients, and peers.”

“The EFP credential is an exciting standard for educational stewardship. It represents core knowledge, talent, and skill, underscoring accountability and commitment to growth and mastery,” said Lander Medlin, APPA executive vice president.
 
– Kevin Moran, Executive Director Facilities Planning and Management

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