Category Archives: Archive

Campus Announcements Archive

Facilities Planning and Management welcomes new Bulldog

Facilities Planning and Management is pleased to welcome Patrick Williams to its team. Patrick will serve as grounds supervisor. He holds a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from Iowa State University and has more than 10 years of experience in turf management, including several years as a head golf course superintendent and operations manager. We are excited to have Patrick on board to lead the grounds day-to-day operations and to take our beautiful campus to the next level.

—Aaron Edwards, Facilities Planning and Management

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus-wide fire alarm inspection Dec. 21

Protex Central, a fire alarm systems vendor, will be on site Dec. 21 beginning at 8 a.m. to inspect fire alarm panels in each building on campus. The alarms will sound briefly, but evacuation is not necessary. The inspection will ensure that alarms are working properly and ring directly to Public Safety. The inspections will conclude at the end of the day.

—Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning and Management

Strategic Updates Archive

Online programs update

Since the launch of the new online programs, Master of Arts in Communication and Master of Science in Education–Literacy Education, several milestones have been achieved, including the admittance of our first online students.

Landing pages created

Our online program manager, Higher Education, created and posted the first of many landing pages for our programs. These landing pages are designed explicitly to spur potential students to action. These pages are part of different digital campaigns, including a strong Facebook ad campaign. Visit online.drake.edu to view the pages.

Staff trained and ready

One of the important aspects of the partnership between Drake and Higher Education is the transparency of processes. The last three months have been used to ensure systems are working together and that all staff at each institution understands them. This past month, Admissions, the Registrar’s Office, and Online Program staff have been working together to train Higher Education staff on our processes, and we have been learning theirs, including a dynamic dashboard that tracks application status for potential students and provides essential demographic data to assist in communication and marketing.

First admitted students

Both programs have students who have completed their application and been admitted into the program. Currently, there are about two dozen more potential students in the process of applying. It is exciting and gratifying to see the hard work of so many areas culminate into a class of Drake students. We are confident that both programs will have a strong core group of students.

Next Steps

As the programs begin, there is still much to do. Programmatic landing pages will be developed to include some A/B testing, the web pages for online degrees will be developed that will include student support information and guides, and more faculty and instructors will complete the Quality Matters modules and work with our instructional designers. To date, ten faculty and staff have completed the Online Teaching Certificate through Quality Matters, and another four have completed the required modules. Several others are prepared to take courses next year. If you are teaching in the online programs and are not sure how to register, please contact me at extension 2506 or at christina.trombley@drake.edu.

—Christina Trombley, Online Programming

Strategic Updates Archive

Your guide to Drake’s re-energized brand

An updated Drake University Brand Style Guide is now available on the University Communications website. This useful resource, developed in partnership with branding firm 160over90, provides an overview of the refreshed brand platform, including:

  • Brand strategy
  • Key messages
  • Brand voice and tone
  • Design elements and examples—colors, fonts, logo usage, photography, and more

Consider the updated guide simply an introduction for now. You should not try to implement any elements of the new brand platform on your own and certainly not without first contacting University Communications. Priorities across the University have already been identified, and the rollout will happen sequentially over the coming months.

Conversion to the new brand platform has already begun, and with a focus on printed and digital tools for Admission and student recruitment. University Communications has also met with teams from each college and school to begin exploring how the new brand platform will translate to each academic unit during spring semester. Once the brand vision for each academic unit is set, University Communications will work with other units across campus on migration to the new brand platform throughout the remainder of 2018.

Please know that often-used communications and marekting tools, such as email headers and PowerPoint templates, will be moved to the new platform as soon as possible. Look to OnCampus for updates as new resources become available.

If you have questions about the branding initiative, please refer to this FAQ or contact Dave Remund, executive director of University Communications, at dave.remund@drake.edu. Thank you for your patience as we all work together to better tell the Drake story.

Dave Remund, University Communications

For Students Archive

Hiring service-learning ambassador

The Office of Community Engaged Learning is recruiting a Drake student to be a paid service-learning ambassador for the spring semester. The student will help design and lead an alternative spring break for students, while also performing outreach and service-learning education with international and other students on campus. The position requires a commitment of 6 to 7 hours per week (outside of spring break), and pays $8.25 an hour. Contact Amanda Martin at amanda.martin@drake.edu for more information.

View job description.

—Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

For Students Archive

Study in Sub-Saharan Africa

Study sustainable development in Uganda from May 22 to June 12. This six-credit course is open to all undergraduate students. It fulfills the Engaged Citizen or Global and Cultural Understanding AOI; course numbers BUS 067, HIST 067, or HONR 067. Register here by Jan. 30; spaces are first come, first served. For questions, contact Professor Heath Henderson at heath.henderson@drake.edu, Professor Jimmy Senteza at jimmy.senteza@drake.edu, or Professor Deb Bishop at deb.bishop@drake.edu.

Stephanie Cardwell, Entrepreneurship Centers

For Students Archive

Hy-Vee Classic: Free student tickets available

A limited number of free student tickets are available for the Hy-Vee Classic on Saturday, Dec. 16, at Wells Fargo Arena. This college basketball event brings together the four Division I men’s basketball programs in the State of Iowa. The Drake men’s basketball team will take on the University of Iowa at 1 p.m. followed by the Iowa State–Northern Iowa game at 3:30 p.m. Students may claim one free student-section ticket by visiting The Knapp Center Ticket Office and showing a valid Drake Card during regular business hours. The ticket will give students access to both games. For more information, contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or tickets@drake.edu.

—Ryan Harris, Drake Athletics

For Students Archive

Little Pantries food drive

Have extra flex dollars? Want a great way to spend them? Purchase non-perishable food items or toiletry items and donate them to the Little Pantries Food Drive, which is happening now. Donation boxes are set up in Olmsted and outside the C-store until the end of finals week. Donate to the Des Moines and Drake community during the holiday season and help us keep the pantries stocked. Thank you in advance for your donations.

—Emily Lammers

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC classes present work to community clients

Students in SJMC courses have presented their work to class clients in recent weeks.

The Master of Communication Leadership students in the Applied Theory and Research class presented their assessment of the organization, brand recognition, and community needs to Best Buddies of Iowa, a nonprofit that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities. The MCL students will also conduct work for Best Buddies in courses in the spring and summer.

The advertising research class presented their report to the capstone client Des Moines Menace soccer organization, as did the public relations seniors to their client, Creative Visions, which serves low-income residents in the Drake neighborhood and beyond. Those courses will work with their clients in the spring as well.

The PR Planning class presented work to their clients, Tutus & Tennis Shoes and The Avenues of Ingersoll and Grand. Students in PR Writing and FYS-The Real Hunger Games presented their collaborative work to five representatives of the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) food pantry network for their new initiative, Food Pantry 2.0.

—Kathleen Richardson, SJMC