Category Archives: Strategic Updates Archive

Strategic Updates Archive

From the President

Welcome back from spring break! I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on a few initiatives on campus.

As you are aware, the University has undergone a comprehensive Campus Climate Assessment, including a survey and forums, during the past year. Before break, Provost Lenz sent an email to campus with an update on next steps. In it, he shared the Strategic Diversity Action Team’s recommendations on how to make Drake a more inclusive and welcoming campus. I am eager to see us turn these recommendations into initiatives that will have a positive impact on our community. Your first opportunity to get involved in these efforts will be a meeting on April 13, 3–4:30 p.m., in Parents Hall, where faculty, staff, and students will discuss a statement of diversity and inclusion to be adopted by the University in May. Your participation and feedback will be invaluable in the development of this statement.

On another note, I’m excited to announce an organizational change that will streamline and enhance the student experience and strategically integrate two important units on campus. With the impending departure in May of Tom Delahunt, vice president for admission and student financial planning, we have taken the opportunity to step back and analyze the enrollment management process at Drake. To that end, effective in the middle of July, the Office of Admission will move under the Provost’s Office. This move allows our admission efforts to more closely align with our academic programs and will create better integration of the prospective student experience with our enrollment management activities for matriculated students.

Along with this move, Keith Summerville, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has agreed to serve as deputy provost (a position that is funded, but unfilled) and take on the responsibility of providing strategic leadership and oversight for all of our enrollment management activities, including the Office of Admission and our goals of improving retention, persistence, and graduation performance. Keith’s deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the University and his leadership and passionate dedication to creating the best possible student experience will be crucial in guiding this transition and in helping the institution achieve continuous improvement in enrollment management.

As part of this reorganization we are converting our current director of admission position into a new dean of admission. This position will provide day-to-day oversight to the Office of Admission and will report to Keith. Additionally, the Office of Student Financial Planning will move under the supervision of our CFO, Teresa Krejci. One side-benefit of the reorganization is that the University will realize a net savings in compensation expense.

I hope you will join me in congratulating and thanking Keith, and also in supporting this transition. I am confident that this change will benefit our students by enabling us to improve on our already stellar enrollment management services and outcomes.

Best,

Marty

Strategic Updates Archive, Uncategorized

Great Colleges to Work For survey

All full-time faculty, active adjunct faculty and full-time staff will receive an email today from Modern Think LLC, and The Chronicle of Higher Education inviting you to participate in this year’s Great Colleges To Work For Survey. Instructions on how to access this online survey will be included in the email.

Although Information Technology Services has done testing and precautions have been taken so that this email should not be identified as SPAM, if you do not see this email in your inbox, please check both your junk email and clutter folders.

As President Martin expressed in last week’s OnCampus announcement of this survey:

“The data and benchmark information we receive from this survey will be essential to improve our workplace and our culture. As you may have noted, several of the targets on Drake’s Continuous Improvement Plan are directly related to the Great Colleges to Work For survey—for example, Drake earning a place on the survey’s Honor Roll by 2020.”

“The success of the survey depends on your participation. I encourage you to be honest and forthright in your answers. To ensure the confidentiality of your responses, your survey will be processed entirely by ModernThink. We will not receive any information that would enable us to identify the survey response of any one individual.”

If you have not received your email invitation  by noon today or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Gary Johnson, director, human resources (gary.johnson@drake.edu; 271-4804), or visit www.ChronicleGreatColleges.com.

—Gary Johnson

Strategic Updates Archive

Accomplishment rates for 2015 graduates released

Drake recently released its accomplishment rates for the Class of 2015. The responses prove (once again) that Drake is preparing students for professional accomplishments. The following results indicate the percentage of graduates employed or pursuing graduate school within six months of graduation:

  • 98.9% of bachelor’s degree recipients
  • 99.1% of graduate degree recipients

To dig into the data further, check out the Accomplishment Rate Breakdown.

 

Strategic Updates Archive

Climate Assessment next steps

Thirteen months ago we committed to taking a hard look at ourselves, at our attitudes, assumptions, experiences, and behaviors, testing our claims about being an open and welcoming community against our lived reality and aiming to become a more diverse and inclusive campus. Our responses to the Climate Survey conducted in February 2015 were analyzed and assessed by Dr. Sue Rankin, who presented the results to campus in September and challenged us to select three action steps that were meaningful, measurable, and manageable within 12 months of their announcement. During the fall semester the Strategic Diversity Action Team (SDAT) facilitated 22 Next Steps forums, collecting the ideas and suggestions of more than 300 faculty, staff, and students. In January Jackie Heymann, a junior politics and sociology double-major, together with Associate Professor Renee Cramer (LPS), Associate Professor Michael Couvillon (Education), and Associate Provost Melissa Sturm-Smith, conducted a detailed analysis of the forum responses and survey results, identifying a number of possible next steps. (You can read the full report here: www.drake.edu/secured/climate-survey/ .) These in turn were discussed and prioritized by the entire Strategic Diversity Action Team and presented to President Martin, Provost-elect Sue Mattison, and myself.

Thus, it is both with pride and excitement that I present to campus SDAT’s recommended next steps, attached to this email, and posted on the climate assessment website, www.drake.edu/climate-assessment.

These recommendations will be the object of our attention in the coming weeks and months, but I want to emphasize that we do not have to wait for change to happen. Several of the priorities identified by SDAT are already underway. For instance:

  • Last August President Martin mandated that all senior level administrative positions have responsibility related to inclusion and diversity as part of their essential job functions.
  • Increasing the percentage of students, faculty and staff of color has been set as a target in our Continuous Improvement Plan.
  • A new pre-welcome weekend workshop on racial identity will be offered to entering first-year students in August.
  • This summer’s Learning Symposium for faculty and staff will be devoted to the topic of inclusive excellence.
  • A gender-neutral restroom has been created in Olmsted Center and gender-neutral restrooms and lactation rooms have been designed into the two new buildings currently under construction, Collier-Scripps Hall and the new science building.

Most immediately, when you return from spring break you will be invited to participate in conversations to adapt and adopt a Drake statement on diversity and inclusion. This is essential to our progress. Our next steps can’t be taken, our ambition to become a welcoming and inclusive campus cannot be realized, unless and until we have a common understanding of what we mean by diversity and inclusion. So please, help us come to terms.

Finally, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the Strategic Diversity Action Team, and to Melissa Sturm-Smith, Renee Cramer, and Michael Couvillon in particular, for their devotion, persistence, vigilance, and passion in bringing this project to this point.

But now the real work for the rest of us begins.

—Joe Lenz, Interim Provost

Strategic Updates Archive

Great Colleges to Work For survey

I am pleased to announce that Drake University will once again participate in the Great Colleges to Work For survey for 2016. The Great Colleges program is sponsored by The Chronicle of Higher Education and ModernThink LLC, a research and consulting firm focusing on workplace excellence.

The data and benchmark information we receive from this survey will be essential to improve our workplace and our culture. As you may have noted, several of the targets on Drake’s Continuous Improvement Plan are directly related to the Great Colleges to Work For survey—for example, Drake earning a place on the survey’s Honor Roll by 2020.

The central feature of the assessment process is a faculty/staff survey distributed to all of our full-time faculty, active adjunct faculty, and full-time staff. Designed specifically for colleges and universities, this confidential and anonymous survey allows us to gather important information from our faculty and staff about what is working well and to learn about areas that need attention.

On March 21, ModernThink will send the survey to all of our full-time faculty, active adjunct faculty, and full-time staff. You will receive an email invitation encouraging you to participate, along with instructions for completing the survey. The survey should take about 20 minutes to finish.

The success of the survey depends on your participation. I encourage you to be honest and forthright in your answers. To ensure the confidentiality of your responses, your survey will be processed entirely by ModernThink. We will not receive any information that would enable us to identify the survey response of any one individual.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Gary Johnson, director, human resources (gary.johnson@drake.edu; 271-4804), or visit www.ChronicleGreatColleges.com.

Thank you for your participation in this survey.

Sincerely,

Marty

Strategic Updates Archive

From President Martin: STEM@DRAKE progress

This past Saturday, Drake officially broke ground on Collier-Scripps Hall, the new building that will be home to the School of Education, the department of mathematics and computer science, and The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center. The building derives its name from lead donors Jim Collier, who received his Master of Arts in Education from Drake, and Ric Scripps and Debbie Engstrom Scripps, who received their Bachelor of Arts in Teaching degrees from Drake; Debbie is also a former member of the Drake Board of Trustees.

As the first free-standing academic building construction in 20 years, this is certainly a monumental and exciting project. The STEM@DRAKE complex will enable us to offer new academic programs in the sciences, including kinesiology, occupational therapy, and athletic training, bringing in new students and bolstering our efforts to meet the community’s needs in the fields of science, education, technology, and math. It also brings the School of Education on to campus, a move that has long been anticipated and will ensure that our mission of providing an exceptional learning environment for all of our students is being met.

This new complex and the renovations to existing buildings that comprise the STEM@DRAKE project will not just benefit those students, faculty, and staff engaged in the specific departments or programs that will be housed there. This initiative will provide new study and collaboration spaces for students and faculty alike. The Collier-Scripps building will be home to The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center, an important part of our continuing commitment to engage in our surrounding community and to advance our values of civility and leadership. The gender neutral bathrooms and nursing and lactation rooms that will be included in both Collier-Scripps and the science connector building represent our priority to provide an inclusive learning and living environment for faculty, staff, and students.

Many members of our campus are hard at work to ensure the STEM@DRAKE project is completed on time and on budget, and I extend my thanks to them. Throughout the process we will have some growing pains, and I appreciate the community’s understanding that some temporary disturbances due to construction are a necessary function of progress. I encourage you to visit www.drake.edu/buildingstem for more details about STEM@DRAKE and for updates on progress. This investment in Drake’s future is one that will benefit the University for years to come, and your support is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Marty

Strategic Updates Archive

Drake breaks ground on Collier-Scripps Hall

Drake University held a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday, Feb. 27, for the University’s first new academic building in 20 years. Collier-Scripps Hall is a $15 million, 50,000 square-foot facility that will house the University’s School of Education, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center. For more information, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Strategic Updates Archive

Attention first-year students & seniors!

Drake University wants to improve students’ educational experiences and first-year students and seniors can help by completing the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE helps guide decisions that will benefit Drake students. For example, Drake used NSSE data to:

  • Expand opportunities (e.g., study abroad, service-learning)
  • Evaluate the impact of the Drake Curriculum
  • Highlight for each college and school the top five areas of excellence/challenge
  • Assist efforts to create a more welcoming environment for diverse students

Drake first-year and senior students will receive invitations to participate in this important survey beginning tomorrow, Feb. 23. Please share your feedback to help us make improvements. Your voice matters.

—Kevin Saunders, Director of Institutional Research and Academic Assessment

Strategic Updates Archive

Painting the town blue

During the next five weeks, Drake will be on display with several billboard advertisements in the downtown area. This is part of the University’s admission efforts and the ads will be prominently displayed during the many high school athletic tournaments taking place in the metro, including state wrestling and girls’ and boys’ basketball state tournaments. These new advertisements declare our Bulldog pride and share with prospective students the outcomes they can expect by attending Drake. See example below:

15-16.7724 Undergrad Billboard Advertising_1400400