On April 19, Erin Lain, associate provost of campus equity and inclusion, and Gary Johnson, director of HR operations, hosted the 2018 Central Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) annual conference at Shivers Courtside Club. Drake is a founding member institution of Central Midwest HERC, which recently completed its second year.

According to its website, Central Midwest HERC’s vision is to promote equity and excellence in higher education recruitment worldwide and to be a premier resource for recruitment and retention of highly trained, diverse applicants to higher education institutions and community partners in the region.

The group seeks to:

• Create a robust, multi-institution network that strengthens participating institutions and the region as a whole;
• Serve as a recruiting, marketing, and professional development resource for HERC member institutions;
• Enhance the ability of member institutions to connect spouses/partners of candidates and new hires to regional employment opportunities, including through partnerships with key partners from business and industry;
• Generate cost savings and efficiencies for member institutions through education regarding the national discount and cooperative advertising programs, partnerships, and services; and
• Evaluate HERC’s qualitative and quantitative return on investment.

Read more about HERC and the resources available to members on the Central Midwest HERC website.

— Gary Johnson, Human Resources

Kieran Williams, adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science, was featured on the cover of the May 4 issue of The Times Literary Supplement.

Williams contributed a full-page essay on Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring of 1968. His book on that topic, titled “The Prague Spring and its Aftermath,” (Cambridge University Press, 1997) is regarded as one of the definitive works on those events, and recently was cited in an article in The Economist.

The Times Literary Supplement, published in London since 1914, is one of the world’s top publications for book reviews, essays and commentary. The issue in which Williams was featured included a special section dedicated to the 50th anniversary of 1968.

Williams has taught at Drake since spring 2004. Previously he taught for nine years at University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he was an associate professor in politics and a frequent consultant to the UK Foreign Office.

A comparativist and specialist in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe, he has authored or co-authored three books, serves on the editorial boards of four journals, and is a regular reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement.

Maria Valdovinos, professor of psychology, has been invited to present at the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s 44th Annual Conference later this month.

Valdovinos will hold a session titled “The Elephant in the Room: Addressing Psychotropic Medications When Assessing Behavior,” on May 28 in San Diego, Calif. Presenting data collected during research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Valdovinos will discuss the effects of psychotropic medications on adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who engage in problem behavior. By the end of the hour-long session, participants should know how to collect data on the ways psychotropic medication impacts behavior, and identify the medication’s therapeutic and adverse side effects.

ABAI’s website says the session is targeted to board certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, and graduate students.

Valdovinos has done federally funded research evaluating the pharmacological treatment of challenging behaviors in individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Before joining the Drake faculty in 2010, she worked in residential and day treatment settings with adults diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Her courses at Drake deal with She teaches courses in child and adolescent development, psychology of developmental disabilities, behavior analysis of child development, applied behavior analysis, and applied and professional ethics.

Valdovinos is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advance the science and practice of applied behavior analysis.