Category Archives: News & Achievements Archive

News & Achievements Archive

Faculty accomplishments

Eric Saylor, associate professor of music, recently edited and contributed to The Sea in the British Musical Imagination, a collection of essays published by The Boydell Press. The essays are organized around three main themes: the Sea as Landscape, the Sea as Profession, and the Sea as Metaphor, covering an array of topics drawn from the 17th century to the 21st. Featuring studies of pieces by the likes of Purcell, Arne, Sullivan, Vaughan Williams, and Davies, as well as examinations of cultural touchstones such as the BBC, the Scottish fishing industry, and the Aldeburgh Festival, The Sea in the British Musical Imagination will be of interest to musicologists as well as scholars in history, British studies, cultural studies, and English literature.

Eric is a specialist in music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing particularly on the life and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

—Submitted by Eric Saylor

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Week of Dec. 21

Times-Delphic Editor-In-Chief Tim Webber and Rachel Paine Caufield, associate professor of politics and associate director of citizen engagement at The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, were featured on a recent edition of the Iowa Public Radio talk show River to River. Webber and Caufield discussed the issues important to millennial voters and how they might shape U.S. politics. Also featured were interviews of Drake students conducted by SJMC Associate Professor Jill Van Wyke’s audio and public affairs reporting class.

Students in the reporting class also produced their first podcast, “Des Moines: A Day in the Life,” with profiles of some of the people in the Drake neighborhood that students run into every day.

Master of Communication Leadership students presented research they conducted this semester for the city of Perry; public relations seniors presented research they conducted for their spring capstone client, the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the communities of Perry and Manning. PR writing students presented work they had done for the Spina Bifida Association of Iowa, and advertising students presented qualitative research they conducted related to the spring advertising capstone client, DuPont Pioneer.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

Human Resources welcomes Katie Northness

20151209_20151209 Northness_Katie_HR_0011Drake Human Resources welcomes Katie Northness to the role of assistant director, wellness and engagement, today. Katie has her B.S. in Health, Leisure and Sport Studies from the University of Iowa and is a Drake alumna with a Master of Public Administration.

Her background includes creating, implementing, and evaluating wellness and health education programs for employees. Katie has more than 10 years’ experience in the wellness field and has spent the past several years at UnityPoint Health as a wellness coordinator.

She will play a vital role in developing and executing strategies to promote employee health and wellness that target the overall health, wellbeing, and productivity of faculty and staff, and the promotion of programs that enhance employee engagement and job satisfaction.

Please feel free to reach out to Katie to welcome her to Drake. Her email address is katie.northness@drake.edu and her extension is x1880. Her office is located at The Point, LL3, in Human Resources.

—Submitted by Cindy Adams, Associate Director, Human Resources

News & Achievements Archive

A&S news: Week of Dec. 14

Joan McAlister, associate professor of rhetoric, with editorial assistance from Drake students Ana Salgado and Hanna Howard, produced the most recent edition of Women’s Studies in Communication, the premier journal addressing the relationships between communication and gender. You can peruse the journal here.

—Submitted by Emily Kruse, Assistant to the Dean, Arts & Sciences

News & Achievements Archive

CBPA news: Week of Dec. 14

The Department of International Business is celebrating another successful semester, including the following accomplishments:

  • The department has seen a 23% annual growth in International Business majors over the last three years.
  • Study abroad among CBPA students has seen 28% annual growth.
  • Drake International Management students worked with Iowa-based organizations such as the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Principal Financial Group, and DuPont-Pioneer on internationalization issues.
  • Professor Kappen received honors for best international dissertation research at the Academy of Management and was named program chair of the largest national Academy of International Business chapter.
  • The department signed an agreement with Universidad de los Andes and visiting Chile with Dean Terri Vaughan to expand internship and study abroad opportunities.
News & Achievements Archive

DUSCI upcoming events

As the semester inches close to the end, the Drake Undergraduate Science Collaborative Institute (DUSCI) extends a big THANK YOU to all who attended and/or supported the Colloquium Series and also the Life After Drake Series this Fall semester. It is because of you that DUSCI continues to grow as an institute that enhances collaboration among the students and faculty in the sciences.

On behalf of DUSCI, allow me to bring your attention to and also to invite you to our upcoming events in spring and summer 2016. The complete information of these events is available on our website.

  • 13th Annual DUCURS Conference will be on Thursday, April 14
  • 2016 Summer Research Program application information is now available.
  • Colloquium Series: We will host three speakers on Feb. 12, Feb. 26, and March 4. Titles and abstracts will be available on the website very soon.

Lastly, DUSCI wishes you a successful end of the semester and a very enjoyable holiday season.

—Submitted by John Gitua, Director of DUSCI

News & Achievements Archive

University Book Club

Join faculty and staff from all corners of campus to read The Kind Worth Killing with the University Book Club. Borrow the book from Cowles, read over your holiday break and through January, then meet with your co-workers on Tuesday, Jan. 19, to discuss the book (time and place TBD). Learn more here: Additional Book Club information

More information to come in a future OnCampus!

—Submitted by Randy Boelkes, Student Loan and Collections Specialist

News & Achievements Archive

Office of Alumni Relations welcomes three new staff members

The Office of Alumni Relations is excited to share the addition of three new staff members to our team.

Heather Hendrix is the administrative assistant/receptionist to the Alumni Relations team. She is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, with a degree in elementary and early childhood education. Prior to Drake, she served as a patient service representative at UnityPoint.

Kim Jones joins the team as the assistant director of alumni relations. Kim returns to Drake having previously served on the publications team from 1985 to 1992. Her responsibilities include student and campus engagement and working with young alumni and the Young Alumni Committee. She holds a B.F.A. from Arizona State and previously served as the head women’s softball coach at AIB College of Business from 2012 to 2015.

Nicki Kimm is joining the Office of Alumni Relations following 10 years in the Dallas Center – Grimes Community School District. She serves in the role of administrative assistant supporting the Alumni House team.

—Submitted by Blake Campbell, Director, Alumni Relations

News & Achievements Archive

2016 Baby Bowl

Drake women’s basketball will host the 2nd annual Baby Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, during halftime of its game versus Missouri State. Children 12 months and younger are eligible to compete. This is a crawling-only competition.

We invite you to register your baby or encourage friends and family to do so. Be sure to sign up early, as space is limited. Registration is open now until Jan. 8, or until all slots are filled. Contestants will be notified on Jan. 11. Racers will receive two complimentary tickets to the game for parents/guardians. The winner of Baby Bowl 2016 will take home $125; 2nd and 3rd place will take home $75 and $50 respectively. All contestants will receive a Drake Bulldogs baby bib for their efforts.

Visit www.draketix.com/babybowl for more information.

Questions? Please contact Tom Florian, assistant director of ticket sales, at 515-271-4949 or thomas.florian@drake.edu.

—Submitted by Tom Florian

News & Achievements Archive

College of Arts & Sciences news

Renee Cramer, associate professor and chair of Law, Politics, and Society (LPS), traveled with four LPS students to San Quentin prison to attend a LiveLaw event in early December. The trip follows these students’ successful efforts to bring LiveLaw, a legal storytelling event, to Des Moines for the first time in spring 2015. Students partnered with national producers and oversaw story curating, event planning, grant writing, and publicity of the event, which was featured on the Life of Law website and podcast. Their efforts led to an invitation from Life of Law Executive Producer Nancy Mullane—a journalist and author of Life after Murder: Fine Men in in Search of Redemption, which the students read in class—to join her and 300 inmates and civilians for LiveLaw San Quentin, which will be podcast on Christmas day. They will bring their experience at San Quentin back to class and will also put on a public program in the spring to discuss what they observed and learned.

The trip also complements students’ ongoing learning about the nation’s correctional system and social justice issues. Students ahve engaged in ride-alongs with Des Moines police and made a trip to the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville.

—Submitted by Emily Kruse, Assistant to the Dean