Category Archives: Archive

Campus Announcements Archive

IT service portal information sessions

ITS launched a new service portal in May. This site allows faculty, staff, and students to learn about technology services available, browse our knowledge base for how-to technology guides, and get assistance with an issue.

Want to learn how to use this new site? Been using it and have questions? Come to a demonstration to learn how you can best use the IT service portal to make your campus technology experience more successful.

  • Monday, Aug. 14 from 1 to 2 p.m., Science Connector Building, Room 301
  • Tuesday, Aug. 15 from 9 to 10 a.m., Science Connector Building, Room 301
  • Wednesday, Aug. 16 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Science Connector Building, Room 301
  • Monday, Sep. 11 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Cowles Library, Room 201
  • Tuesday, Sep. 12 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 201
  • Wednesday, Sep. 13 from 2 to 3 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 201

— Carla Herling, ITS

Strategic Updates Archive

Next phase of construction: 27th Street and The Point demolition

The completion of the Science Connector Building and Collier-Scripps Hall is an exciting and monumental milestone. Now, construction crews are beginning work on the next phase of the project—completion of the Robert D. and Billie Ray Promenade encompassing the outdoor spaces just east of the STEM@DRAKE complex. This project will provide a welcoming and beautiful outdoor space while also enhancing accessibility and parking.

Over the next several months, there will be substantial work and disruption in this area. Fencing along 27th Street between Carpenter and Forest Avenues will be installed. No east-west pathways will be possible because the project includes removal of an old water main below the street. In addition, The Point, which is home to HR and International Programs, will be removed in early October. Information on their new office locations can be found here.

As part of this work, the Jewett Hall parking lot will be closed and removed. With the parking lot closure, we have made arrangements to allow for 30-minute vehicle unloading on Painted Street in front of Jewett Residence Hall during move-in weekend on Aug. 25-26 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vehicles may enter from 25th Street onto Carpenter Avenue. Des Moines Police will be available to direct traffic. Cars may unload on the north side of Painted Street, circle around, and then depart on the south side.

Several steps are being taken to provide information to students, visitors, faculty, and staff about alternative routes in the area. Safety and accessibility remain at the forefront of planning. For updated information, please check the project updates on the STEM@DRAKE website and watch OnCampus. Facilities Planning and Management will also distribute updates to building contacts in the affected area as the project unfolds.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as this significant aspect of the project is completed.

— Venessa Macro, Finance & Administration

Strategic Updates Archive

STEM@DRAKE enhances collaboration, meets top sustainability standards

The benefits of the STEM@DRAKE complex extend far beyond a clean, shiny new space. The buildings provide a collaborative and green learning environment for faculty, staff, and students.

Multiple heads are better than one

The new STEM@DRAKE buildings (Collier-Scripps Hall and the Science Connector Building) are intended to increase both the sharing of equipment and ideas. The facilities will bring science, technology, education, and math programs together to form one STEM hub on campus—boosting cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Some areas, such as the School of Education, have been housed off campus for years. By physically bringing Drake’s STEM departments together, in the heart of campus, faculty from different disciplines will easily be able to interact, problem solve, and form research partnerships. The STEM@DRAKE complex is designed to encourage this type of collaboration with an open classroom and lab structure.

Students will also benefit from engaging with their peers with other majors and skill sets who may think differently than themselves but provide a unique perspective into solving the same problem.

By forming a more cohesive environment, the STEM@DRAKE complex will be a catalyst for transforming the way we educate tomorrow’s scientists, doctors, researchers, innovators, and teachers.

Blue is green

The new spaces will receive Green Globe certification, demonstrating the University’s strong commitment to sustainable practices. This means the buildings were designed to meet high standards in energy efficiency and reduce environmental waste. The buildings are only the second project in Iowa to receive Green Globe certification.

Moving into new quarters

Faculty and staff are in the midst of moving into the new buildings; the School of Education will move into Collier-Scripps Hall this week. After the academic year has begun and once move-in is complete, faculty and staff from across campus are welcome to stop into Collier-Scripps Hall or the Science Connector Building to view the new facilities.

Tune in to the next issue of OnCampus for more features of the STEM@DRAKE facilities

Campus Announcements Archive

Several departments to relocate

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Several department and organizational moves will take place following the opening of the new STEM@DRAKE buildings. Drake International, Community Engagement, and Adult Literacy will move to the former Ray Center. Drake Online will be located in Carnegie Hall. The former School of Education building will house Human Resources, The Ray Society, and I Have a Dream; Howard Hall will be the new home to Continuing Education and Professional Development (formerly known as Extension Education). All of these moves and space improvements are anticipated to be complete by Oct. 1. Review this diagram to see the new location of each group.

For several months, the Facilities Planning and Management Team has been working closely with the groups involved to ensure that all of the relocations support and enhance our programs at Drake. A lot will be happening in the next two months to get these spaces ready for their new occupants. The facilities team wants to thank all of the groups they have worked with for their insight and willingness to share their departmental vision for the future. It has been an opportunity for the team to learn more about how they can better partner and serve their fellow Bulldogs.

— Michelle Morgan Huggins, Facilities Planning and Management

Strategic Updates Archive

University Avenue project underway

Early signs of progress are visible at the lots located south of University Avenue and on both sides of 26th Street that will soon be redeveloped into a mixed-use space. Proposed plans for the development call for a hotel, apartments, urban-style row houses, and retail space.

This week, the construction area will be fenced off, including five Drake-owned houses that occupy the site. Prior to the start of the project, Drake placed the houses on the market in hopes of finding qualified buyers. Two of the homes were sold and will be relocated to the Sherman Hill neighborhood in mid-August. Drake is allowing a portion of the demolition costs that were saved on these houses to be used to help with the relocation effort. The three homes that did not sell will be torn down July 31. Habitat for Humanity has salvaged all materials and items from the houses and will reuse or resell them in its ReStore prior to demolition.

Since Drake sent out a request for proposals to redevelop the site, the University has been closely working with area neighbors and business owners as well as the Neighborhood Development Corporation in hopes of designing a project that will not only spur economic growth but develop pride among students and the neighboring community. The original committee that selected Nelson Construction and Development as the developer included three neighborhood residents and a neighborhood business owner.

Currently, Nelson is in the final stages of the design process and will solicit further feedback from neighborhood partners before finalizing the design. Read more on the project and view conceptual renderings here.

— Nick Valdez, Neighborhood and Community Relations Manager

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: July 25

Drake students won nine awards, including best website and magazine, in this year’s Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication magazine contest. The awards were:

  • Best website: The senior capstone multimedia project, Urban Plains
  • General excellence: Drake Magazine
  • First place for editorial content: Drake Magazine
  • Second place for design: Drake Magazine
  • First and second place for new magazine prototypes
  • Two second-place awards and a third-place honor for writing

The judge of the general excellence category, a Vanity Fair editor, said of Drake Magazine: “This entry is exceptional for many reasons—its design, its photography, its story selection and presentation. It is a well-edited magazine in every sense of the word … Every element feels considered and deliberate … This magazine hits on all cylinders.”

The awards will be presented at the AEJMC conference on Aug. 11

—Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Strategic Updates Archive

School of Education reaccredited by Iowa State Education Board

At the summer board meeting of the Iowa Board of Education, Drake’s School of Education received full accreditation for programs in undergraduate and graduate teacher education, school counseling, and school administration. The accreditation status, which is reviewed every seven years, runs through the 2023–2024 academic year.

The decision follows a comprehensive 18-month process that included a 400-page self-study, a review by an elected state panel, five meetings with state accreditation consultants, and a four-day onsite review that involved faculty, staff, students, and employers.
“The reaccreditation is an important validation of our licensure programs that enable teachers, counselors, principals, and superintendents to work in Iowa and throughout the U.S.,” said School of Education Dean Janet McMahill. “I’m extremely proud of all the faculty, staff, students, and employers who participated in the process. Associate Dean Catherine Gillespie earned the “True Blue” award for this one!”

McMahill noted that the accreditation standards were more rigorous than ever before due to revised statues in Chapter 79 – the Iowa law governing the accreditation of education programs. Drake was the first Iowa college subject to the new standards.

And while the accreditation affirms the high-level quality of Drake’s teaching programs, the School of Education strives for continued growth. Next month, the school will move into the new Collier-Scripps building in the heart of campus. The new facility will support faculty and staff as they strive to further grow and improve their programs.