The Drake Men’s Basketball team plays in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis on Friday, March 7, at 12 p.m. Faculty and staff are invited to come to the Shiver’s Courtside Club to watch the game at noon on Friday. Feel free to bring your lunch and enjoy the game. Go Bulldogs!

The Office of the Registrar is excited to announce the launch of the new and improved Academic Catalog.  The new catalog features improved course and program search as well as the ability to access course information directly from program requirements.  The new catalog can be found at https://catalog.drake.edu.

Questions or feedback can be shared by emailing registrar@drake.edu.

— Ryan Trump, Office of the Registrar

The Drake University Communications & Marketing (UCM) team, in close partnership with ITS and partner agency, Carnegie, have been working diligently on the initial phases of a website redesign for Drake.edu. The new website will be an enrollment-first destination for prospective students and families, with a focus on usability and accessibility.  

The teams are grateful to the many faculty and staff on campus who have already contributed to the process, as we’ve been working through the new website’s structure and auditing more than 5,000 pages that are live on the current website. 

As an outcome of the current website audit, we have identified a number of pages that would be better suited to myDrake internal sites and/or Teams versus being public facing on Drake.edu. Migration of this content will require assistance and input from individuals across programs and departments. 

Starting this spring, expect that the project team will begin reaching out to many of you for assistance and input on website content and migration of content to myDrake internal sites or Teams. We will work with campus partners to understand the options available for where that content can migrate and provide training necessary to allow for the content migration. 

More details and updates are forthcoming as we progress through the process. We appreciate the collective effort and are confident the new website will better serve prospective students and families through their college decision-making process. 

— Leslie Maynes, executive director, University Communications and Marketing; and Keren Fiorenza, deputy CITO & chief information security officer 

Mark your calendars! From noon, March 6, to noon, March 7, the All In 24-Hour Giving Challenge returns for its 12th year, continuing a proud Drake tradition.

In celebration of your support, any Drake faculty or staff member that makes a gift during All In will be entered into a drawing for one of the following prizes:

• Free parking pass for Commuter Tier II Parking Lots
• Treats delivered by Griff II for your entire department
• Drake Relays Experience package (Gift card to use at the Relays Tent, VIP Relays Tickets, and more)
• Bucksbaum Experience package (VIP seating, Bucksbaum t-shirt, and more)
• Year-long, individual membership to the Varsity Cinema
• Bulldog Beer Package (4-pack of Bulldog Beer, a Drake-branded pint glass, and more)
• 3×5 Drake Bulldogs Flag
• Drake Belt Bag
• An apple pie baked by Dr. Sue Mattison

Join your fellow faculty and staff and go All In for our Bulldog community on March 6–7. Learn more at all-in.drake.edu.

— Bruce Heintz, University Communications and Marketing

The February Provost’s Social will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Cline Atrium beginning at 4 p.m.

This month’s social will include a special exhibition on AI facial recognition-defeating textile art, with a themed raffle and short presentation by Professor Sayoko Blodgett-Ford. Please join us to explore this fascinating intersection of technology and art.

Refreshments will include an assortment of beverages, cupcakes, and light snacks. This is a family friendly event. Feel free to bring your children or partner.

— Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost

As the end of the Fall 2024 semester is nearly here, preparations for ‘final exams’ of a different sort continue at the Johansen Student Center (Morehouse). Flooring, wall finishes, mechanical systems start-up, and building inspections are all scheduled for the coming weeks ahead of furniture installations and thorough cleaning.

When the campus community returns from winter break at the end of January 2025, the entire project team is excited for students and staff to begin using their newly revitalized building.

Go check out the Johansen Student Center website for more information.

—Heather Winslow, Facilities Planning & Management

There has been some great progress at the Sammons Plaza. The pavers are installed, and contractors are working hard on the landscaping, which will withstand the winter elements. This outdoor plaza is an extension of the Sammons Intercultural Commons and Fisher-Stelter Hall. This outdoor space will be in the heart of campus and will be a great place to hang out or host an event.

—Heather Winslow, Facilities Planning & Management

Dear colleagues, 

On Monday, Nov. 11, we launched two new full-tuition coverage offers for qualifying Iowa students—the Bulldog Promise and the Bright College Pathway. These programs advance our commitment to expanding access to a Drake education at a time when we’ve seen year-over-year increases in the percentage of entering first-year students from Iowa and a historic number of Pell-eligible students. 

• The Bulldog Promise will offer full tuition coverage to qualifying first-time college students. Students must be Pell-eligible, an Iowa resident, and have a 3.8 high school GPA at time of admission in order to qualify.  
• The Bright College Pathway offers full-tuition coverage at Bright College for Pell-eligible Iowa residents. This offer does not require a minimum GPA. 

As part of Monday’s launch, we created materials for the admission team, a new landing page, a press release, social media advertising, a message to all Iowa alumni (those who graduated 5 or more years ago), and targeted email outreach to Iowa prospects and high school guidance counselors. We will continue to build upon this with local advertising. This launch coincides with a broader effort to enhance the way we talk about the cost and value of a Drake education to ensure we’re meeting prospective families’ top-level questions as they evaluate their college choices. This coinciding effort includes an overhaul of website content, including a new tuition and costs page, updated Tuition Guarantee page, and an updated Bright tuition and costs page.  

We sincerely appreciate any work you or your team members do to help ensure prospective families in Iowa know these options are available as we work to recruit the next class of Bulldogs.  

The Financial Aid, Admission, and University Communications & Marketing teams can help answer any questions you may have. 

—John Krantz, University Communications & Marketing

The Johansen Student Center project continues to progress well and remains on budget and on schedule for students and staff to occupy the newly renovated building for the Spring 2025 semester. Construction of new interior finishes continues while retaining many of the original historic architectural features of the building. There are also significant tasks being completed on the exterior of the building, such as a new solar panel system, an exterior courtyard, accessible entries, and a host of other amenities being completed now to further enhance the campus experience for all.

—Heather Winslow, Facilities Planning & Management