International Programs
After five years in her role as vice provost for international programs, Christa Olson is stepping down effective May 31, 2016. Following a sabbatical, Christa will join the faculty at Drake.  Upon consultation with President Martin and Provost-elect Sue Mattison, I have asked Annique Kiel to assume the role of interim executive director of Global Engagement and International Programs beginning June 1.  Annique joined Drake International in 2010, and currently serves as director of Drake Administered Programs Abroad. 

Under Christa’s tenure as vice-provost, International Programs has forged new partnerships with universities in Mexico, Chile, Malaysia, India, and China; doubled the number of travel seminars, thus tripling the number of students experiencing study abroad to over 400; and developed a strategic vision for internationalization and global engagement.   I hope that you’ll join me in thanking Christa for the contributions she has made to the University. Her commitment to Drake’s mission, to serving our students, and to forwarding our goal of graduating responsible global citizens has been greatly appreciated by us all.

Submitting Final Grades
This is a reminder that Spring 2016 final grades are due by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18. Exception: Final grades for the Law School are due on Tuesday, May 24, at 10 a.m. At 10 a.m. on May 18, you will no longer have the ability to enter grades online (except for the Law School).

Last week the Office of Student Records distributed instructions on how to enter your grades through Blueview or MyDUSIS. Those of you who use Blackboard can send your final grades from Blackboard directly to our main database (DUSIS).  Instructions for that method are here: https://du.screenstepslive.com/s/docs/m/7137/l/80040.

Faculty Reminder—Commencement RSVP
Faculty—If you are planning on attending the undergraduate and/or graduate ceremonies, please RSVP no later than noon on Tuesday, May 10 to http://2016springcommencementregistration.eventbrite.com

Because the Law School has a separate ceremony, Law faculty should notify your dean’s office directly. 

“All In” for a Faculty/Staff Social?
Join your colleagues for the last Drake Social of the academic year in the Shivers Hospitality Suite from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 10. Griff will make a special appearance from 5 to 6 p.m. at the social.

Provost Mobile Office Hour
My next scheduled mobile office hour is Thursday, May 12, 9–10:15 a.m., Cowles Cafe.

—Joe Lenz, Interim Provost

Effective May 15, 2016, Drake University Real Estate will contract with Allterra Property Solutions (a division of Anawim Housing) for the management of all Drake-owned residential properties. The properties will continue to be owned by Drake, but maintenance and leasing will be handled by Allterra. Current tenants were notified of this change on May 6.

Drake Real Estate owns several properties within walking distance campus that are available for students to rent. Some of the University properties are older homes that have been converted into apartments; many are single-family homes. We have several one- and two-bedroom apartments and a few three-bedroom apartments. We also have two- and three-bedroom houses and a few four-bedroom houses and one five-bedroom house. More information about offerings and availability can be found on www.drake.edu/realestate

Going forward Allterra will manage the leasing of these properties. If you have questions about renting a Drake-owned rental property, you can visit www.drake.edu/realestate or contact Kara Wilcoxon at 515-271-4985 or kara.wilcoxon@drake.edu. The new Drake Real Estate office will be located in Old Main, Room 101, across from the cashier’s office.

—Teresa Krejci, Chief Financial Officer

As we approach the end of my first year as CITO, I want to provide you with a status update on some of ITS’ accomplishments this year as well as a sense of our priorities and projects for the near future.

Since our reorganization in January, we have focused internally on building a culture of service excellence, becoming more collaborative, improving communication to campus, and ensuring that we provide a reliable and robust technology infrastructure. We have received positive feedback, both internally and across campus, on our reorganizations and redoubled efforts.

We are investing in project management to deliver results to campus. Keren Fiorenza, IT project manager, is coordinating several high-priority summer projects and designing and implementing a solid project management methodology for the future.

I am also pleased to share with you that Carla Herling is the new IT communications manager. Carla is developing communication plans for all our major summer projects and implementing an overall strategy to ensure that ITS communicates regularly and effectively with campus.

In January, the Drake University Board of Trustees approved a $2 million one-time allocation for a variety of information technology capital improvements. Following this funding, ITS has begun planning and implementing a number of deferred maintenance projects:

• Managed printing—Working with a committee that included broad representation from both faculty and administration, Drake selected Laser Resources Inc. (LRI) as our new managed print vendor. A project team is working with LRI to address many of the challenges identified by the committee and our students, and they will be integrating solutions to improve printing and print accounting as they install new devices across campus.
• Network renewal and updates—ITS is finalizing the plan for wireless network improvements to take place over the summer. Wireless network equipment will be replaced in all residence halls and administrative/academic buildings across campus. Several key components of the wired central campus network are also being replaced.
• Computer standards and renewal/replacement—ITS is working with Deans’ Council and President’s Council to develop consistent, standardized processes for renewal and replacement of campus-owned faculty, staff, lab, and classroom computers. The process includes developing comprehensive inventories and reducing the number of supported machine types by creating standard configurations.
• Classroom technology upgrades—Improvements are planned in Meredith, Olin, Fine Arts Center, and Medbury. Additionally, a substantial technology upgrade is scheduled this summer for Sheslow Auditorium.
• Anti-phishing protection—ITS is also implementing a new system to minimize the potential for ongoing phishing attacks on the University’s email systems. We anticipate this system will substantially reduce (although not completely eliminate) the number of future phishing attacks on the University.

Regular status updates on these and other upcoming projects will be provided in OnCampus and posted on the ITS major projects website page at http://its.drake.edu/major-projects/.

—Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer

Drake is pleased to announce a new concentration in East Asian Studies.

This new concentration provides opportunities for students to develop in-depth knowledge about China and Japan from multiple disciplinary perspectives, and prepares students for future life and work in the region. Students will gain an understanding of the factors underlying Asia’s rising influence in the world and the possible consequences of this growing role.

Available courses stretch across the fields of history, politics, sociology, philosophy, religion, language, and fine arts. The concentration complements a major in any of these disciplines as well as others, e.g., international relations and international business. Students concentrating in East Asian studies are strongly encouraged to study abroad in Asia.

In addition, Drake announced earlier this year the establishment of a Spanish minor.

Drake also offers a Latin American Studies concentration, as well as a language interdisciplinary minor which requires study abroad.
If you have questions about any of these programs, contact Marc Pinheiro-Cadd at marc.pinheiro-cadd@drake.edu.

—Drake International

Cowles Library has started a process that will lead to a revamp and updating of the master plan for the library facility. Drake has contracted with FEH Design, a major Midwest architectural firm, to undertake the design study. FEH will employ a highly collaborative process to develop the master plan. Initial conversations with the Drake community have started and will continue through the summer and early fall. The results of the planning process are slated to be completed during the latter part of 2016.

—Rod Henshaw, Dean, Cowles Library

Tenure and Promotion
At its meeting on Friday the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the tenure and/or promotion of the faculty listed below. They are all to be commended and congratulated for meriting this distinction.

Tenure, Promotion to Associate Professor
Natalie Bayer, History (A&S)
Will Garriott, Law, Politics & Society (A&S)
Leah Kahlmanson, Philosophy & Religion (A&S)
Nanci Ross, Biology (A&S)
Matthew Mitchell, International Business (CBPA)
Lori Solsma, Accounting (CBPA)
Liping Zheng, Economics (CBPA)
Michael Andreski, Social and Adminstrative Pharmacy (CPHS)
Brian Gentry, Pharmacology (CPHS)
Andrea Kjos, Social and Adminstrative Pharmacy (CPHS)
Andrew Welch, Librarian, Discovery Services & Systems (Library)
Jerrid Kruse, Teaching and Learning (SOE)
Cris Wildermuth, Leadership (SOE)

Tenure, Promotion to Professor
Anthony Gaughan, Law
Shontavia Johnson, Law

Tenure, at rank of Professor
Ann Burkhardt, Occupational Therapy (CPHS)
Renae Chesnut, Pharmacy Practice (CPHS)
Sue Mattison, Epidemiology (CPHS)

Promotion to Professor
Charisse Buising, Biology (A&S)
Renee Cramer, Law, Politics & Society (A&S)
Heidi Sleister, Biology (A&S)
Jill Caton Johnson, Literacy Education (SOE)

Distinguished Professorships
The Academic Affairs Committee also recognized the accomplishments of three distinguished faculty by awarding them endowed professorships. Please join me in congratulating Phil Chen, Steve Scullen, and Gholam Mirazal:

Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor: Philip Chen, Professor of Art
Professor Chen joined Drake as an associate professor of printmaking and drawing in 1996. His recent solo exhibitions include the Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Beijing, and, last year, the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Chen’s work has been selected for permanent art collections in museums nationally and internationally. These include Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum; San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts; Art Institute of Chicago; Carnegie Institute Museum of Art; New York Public Library; and the Brooklyn Museum. He has received the Louis B. Comfort Tiffany Award in the Visual Arts, and, just weeks ago, the 2015/2016 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant.

Windsor Professor of Science: Steve Scullen, Professor of Management and Gholam Mirafzal, Professor of Chemistry
Professor Scullen, current associate dean of CBPA, came to Drake in 2004. His primarily research interests are in job performance measurement and personnel selection in the context of small applicant pools, areas in which he is regarded as one of the top researchers. He has published numerous articles in top-ranked journals, and his research has been cited in such places as the Harvard Business Review and Fortune. He sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Management, Personnel Psychology, and Organizational Research Methods.

Professor Mirafzal joined the Drake faculty in 1999. He has been the recipient of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Teacher of the Year Award in 2007 and College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year Award in 2013. Professor Mirafzal’s scholarship relates to the fields of synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry and chemical education. He has published in well-respected peer-reviewed journals including 13 articles with students as co-authors. As the Drake faculty representative for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in Sciences he has coordinated the nomination of 23 students, with eight winning the Goldwater Scholarship and four receiving honorable mention.

Finally, I also want to recognize and congratulate Sally Beisser, professor of education, who has received the Ronald Troyer Research Fellowship. This Fellowship was established by the Drake University Board of Trustees in 1999 to honor former provost Ron Troyer and to recognize both scholarly accomplishment and future promise. Professor Beisser has the distinction of being the first woman and the first faculty member from SOE to receive this award. In the past five years she has published 36 juried publications in peer reviewed journals, 24 juried conference publications in national and international Proceedings, and presented 145 juried conference presentations at state, national, and international conferences. This fellowship will advance her current research on early childhood practice in gifted education.

—Joe Lenz, Interim Provost

Drake University has launched a new Title IX website.  Phase I of the website development is complete and offers contact information, reporting options, policies and procedures, resources, and ways to find or offer help for a survivor. Title IX Coordinator Kathryn Overberg will continue adding to the site this spring and summer, but the site is live and ready for use!

You will also find a new resource guide available for a quick reference of reporting and resource options as well as a summary of the student adjudication process.  You can find the resource guide on the Title IX website—use the guide for your own information or as a way to offer support to a friend.

There is a new way to contact the Title IX office as well: TitleIX@drake.edu.

Finally, remember that Drake now offers a confidential advocate on campus  during the semester on Tuesdays 2:30–4:30 p.m. in Cowles Library, Room 109. The final date this semester will be May 10 and will then resume in the Fall semester. At other times students or employees can call or text the VIP hotline at 515-512-2972 for referral to a confidential advocate.

—Kathryn Overberg

Faculty, staff, or students who need to report an issue or concern related to construction activity now have two ways to report: Contact Drake Public Safety at 515-271-2222 or email buildingstem@drake.edu. Public Safety will address your concerns with appropriate construction or facilities personnel, depending on the issue.

You can also see the latest progress on the STEM@DRAKE facilities at www.drake.edu/buildingstem/updates.