If you love Sense and Sensibility (with or without zombies) and Colin Firth’s wet, white shirt moment in Pride and Prejudice, come and hear a scholar of literature and popular culture, Dr. Rachel Feder, as she speaks on “Literature and the Lies We Tell” on Wednesday, September 25 at 5:00 pm in Cowles Library Reading Room. Part of the Susan Glaspell Writers & Critics Series, this talk will explore the ways in which the literature we consume, from Frankenstein to Austen’s work to the songs of Taylor Swift, shapes our personal mythologies. Q&A to follow presentation, and light refreshments will be served.
The Tuition Waiver Policy is available for public review and comment on the Policies Under Review webpage. In summary, this policy provides tuition waiver benefits to employees, their spouse/partner and dependent children. The proposed policy now confirms the benefit level for dependents and spouse/partner of John Dee Bright College programs and clarifies the benefit levels in undergraduate and graduate programs. This policy will be posted through October 9, 2024.
Please join us for this month’s Provost’s Social on Friday, Sept. 20, in the Cowles Library Reading Room beginning at 4 p.m.
Refreshments will include an assortment of beverages and light snacks. This is a family friendly event, please feel free to bring your children or partner.
Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance (SPARC) now provides monthly news updates on their website to keep you up-to-date with all the latest SPARC news. This news section includes process changes, form updates, funding opportunities updates, workshops & training dates, and funded grant announcements. Check it out by clicking here.
— Preston Miller, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance
The magazine cited data from the American Bar Association on the number of female students and faculty to develop “a list of standout institutions.” In addition, the magazine noted “women with leading roles in student bar associations and law reviews.”
“These schools demonstrate that fostering diversity and providing robust support systems can create a more inclusive and empowering community for women in law,” the magazine writes. “By continuing to prioritize these values, they are helping to ensure that the legal profession evolves to better reflect the diversity of society.”
At Drake Law, women make up 58% of the student body and 51% of the faculty. Women administrators and staff also oversee academic affairs, academic success, career development, and the law library. In addition, two-thirds of the student organizations at Drake Law were led by women last year.
“At Drake, we recognize the immense value of fostering women in leadership roles. Our women faculty, staff, and students consistently step up to lead, enriching the Drake Law experience and contributing to our growth as an institution,” said Drake’s Associate Dean, Erin Lain. “Women bring unique perspectives that drive progress and innovation and prioritizing their leadership advances gender parity in the legal profession. We take great pride in the accomplishments of our women leaders at Drake.”
The rapid concentration of farm animal production in factory farms makes meat, dairy, and eggs plentiful and cheap, but this type of agriculture comes at a great cost to human health, communities, and the environment. A new book by Johns Hopkins University Press, Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Environment, and Public Health, brings together public health and other experts to examine some of the most critical topics related to industrial farm animal production.
In conjunction with the book’s release, The Harkin Institute is hosting a two-day conference examining pertinent topics such as the history, structure, and trends in the factory farming industry; water and air pollution; infectious disease health effects; community and social impacts; environmental justice and sustainable agriculture; and the impacts of COVID-19 among meatpacking workers. With an introduction by Senator Tom Harkin (retired), the hope of the conference is to highlight the serious risks posed to environmental and human health by current farming systems and to examine local and national strategies for moving towards a system that prioritizes health and well-being.
The All Staff Council Recognition Committee is accepting True Blue nominations.
Do you know a staff member or department that is “Called to be True Blue?” An individual or team that goes above and beyond expectations to serve students, colleagues, and the Drake community.
A staff member who is Called to be True Blue is someone who:
Epitomizes the values of leadership, teamwork, and integrity, and exhibits their commitment to the Drake community
Has shown others what it takes to get a task or project done, and accomplishes that by working well with others
Is able to be honest and fair in the situations they face
Does all of these things for the betterment of Drake and its values and goals.
All individual and teams who receive a Called to be True Blue award are in the running to win top honors for staff accomplishment—the Sapphire Award—at a recognition event in May.
Nominations are considered on a rolling basis. An individual can only be recognized once each year. Nominations must be received by March 1 to be considered for that year’s Sapphire Award. Nominations received after March 1 will be considered for recognition in the fall and will be included in the following fiscal year’s Sapphire Award voting.
Please click here to submit your nomination. Be specific and provide details about how the nominee meets the True Blue award criteria.
Also, did you know the All Staff Council has its very own SharePoint page? We invite you to explore it HERE for updates on upcoming events, committee details, past True Blue recipients, and much more!
University Communications and Marketing will hold professional headshot sessions Friday, Sept. 27, from 9:30–11:30 a.m. in Old Main, Conference Room 115. The sessions are free to all students, faculty, and staff.
Select the Register button on the University calendar page. Space is limited.
High-resolution portraits will be made available for download through SmugMug 3–6 weeks after the photos are taken. Images can be downloaded at https://drakeuniversity.smugmug.com/Headshots-1.
— Jimmy Hoover, University Communications and Marketing
Historically, University Advancement has managed the recognition of alumni and their degrees. In the past, undergraduate degrees were the two letters for the college and then the class year (AS’09), all graduate degrees (except Law and Pharmacy) were changed to GR for graduate degree and then the class year (GR’09).
We have evolved as a University and have added degrees, and this recognition has not been updated for quite some time. We have heard from you throughout the years with questions. We also spoke with the Registrar’s Office who supports this update.
Recently we have updated this recognition that mirrors much of what is in Banner degree-wise.
We will continue to recognize Liberal Arts (LA) and Fine Arts (FA) since we have living alumni from those schools (they merged in 1987 and became AS).
Undergraduate recognition will not change (but we have added some), graduate degrees will now be recognized by their degree. We believe this comprehensively gives us a better update of the current offerings at Drake and correctly identifies how these alumni should be recognition.
New rules:
Undergraduates are recognized by their College and Year (this includes John Dee Bright College students with their associate degrees)
Non-Degreed Alumni are recognized by their anticipated graduation year only
Graduate and Honorary degrees are recognized by their specific degree abbreviation
New/changes to undergraduate degree recognition.
Undergraduate from former 4- or 5-year Pharmacy Programs
PH
Undergraduate from John Dee Bright College
JB
Undergraduate from Pharmacy & Health Sciences**
HS
** Note the change from the previous standard for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Since Pharmacy degrees are now graduate degrees only, they will be recognized according to the graduate degree table as PharmD. Those who graduated with a 4- or 5-year undergraduate Pharmacy degree in the past will be recognized with PH. Those with other undergraduate degrees (Health Sciences, Kinesiology, Nursing) from the College of Pharmacy & Health Science will be recognized with HS.
Also note, there is always a comma after the name, and then no spacing between degree and year.
Example
CY Salutation
Undergraduate with degree from single college or school
John Smith, AS’04 John Smith, BN’07
Undergraduate with degree(s) from two different colleges or schools
John Smith, AS’04, BN’04 John Smith, JO’07, HS’07
Undergraduate with associate degree only
John Smith, JB’23
Undergraduate with associate degree and bachelor’s degree
John Smith, JB’23, BN’25
Alum who received an undergraduate pharmacy degree through the 4- or 5-year program
John Smith, PH’92
Non-degree student who would have graduated with UG degree in 2007
John Smith, ‘07
Non-degreed student who would have graduated with a graduate degree in 2007
John Smith, ‘07
Alum with only a Juris Doctor
John Smith, JD’07
Alum with both a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor
John Smith, HS’05, JD’08 John Smith, ED’17, JD’20
Alum with degrees from two different undergraduate colleges or schools and a PharmD
John Smith, AS’00, BN’00, PharmD’07
Alum with several graduate degrees
John Smith, MBA’07, MPH’09, JD’11
Honorary Degree
John Smith, HLLD’14
Alum with degrees at all levels
John Smith, JB’23, AS’25, BN’25, MBA’28, MS’30, JD’33, OTD’36
We will share this with the alumni in the fall issue of Blue magazine. We encourage you to share this with alumni as well.
Update your name badge and email signature
Should these changes apply to you, we ask that you work to get an updated nametag and business card to reflect the change. These can be ordered by your department staff through Image Solutions (badges) or Woolverton, Mfg. (business cards). Your division’s Budget Manager can direct you to the appropriate person to place those orders.
Faculty, on Thursday, Sept. 19, University Communications and Marketing is holding five separate meet-and-greet sessions in Meredith Hall, Room 207, with representatives from The Conversation—an independent news organization that relies exclusively on academic contributors to provide explanatory analysis and insights on topics spanning law and policy, science, health, economics, education, history, ethics, and many other topics that are well-aligned with the expertise of Drake faculty.
Published articles in The Conversation are widely syndicated across national media outlets—providing visibility to Drake and our faculty expertise to millions of readers all over the world.
Please add your name to the time slot you plan to attend.
Who should attend:The Conversation welcomes contributions from Drake faculty members, as well as any current Drake doctoral candidates. If you have an interest in learning more about The Conversation and how you can become a contributor, we encourage you to attend a session.
Why you should attend: Here are just a few stats on the impact being a contributing author to The Conversation can have. In a recent author impact analysis, The Conversation reported:
26% of faculty contributors saw an increase in citations of their scholarly articles
18% have used articles or metrics to aid in soliciting grants or funding
45% received additional media interview requests after their article was published
14% were invited to speak or present at a conference
43% had opportunities arise for new academic collaboration
93% said they had a very positive experience working with the editorial staff
