Category Archives: Strategic Updates Archive

Strategic Updates Archive

Climate Assessment update

The members of the Strategic Diversity Action Team are deeply grateful to the more than 300 faculty, staff, and students who took the time to participate in one of 22 next steps forums throughout the fall semester. Your thoughtful participation provided rich insights for our team to review and use to develop a set of recommendations for future action. We will analyze the information in January, and plan to share a set of action steps with the campus community in the early part of spring semester. Thank you for your continued engagement in the work to achieve meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and to create a welcoming and inclusive community.

—Submitted by Melissa Sturm-Smith, Renee Cramer, and Michael Couvillon

Strategic Updates Archive

New Occupational Therapy program hits milestone

We are pleased to announce that at its December meeting, the Accreditation Council on Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) voted to grant candidacy status to the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program at Drake.

As a result of this action, Drake may admit students into the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program according to the approved timeline (May 2016). The board noted the following:

Strengths:

  • There is strong support from Drake University for the occupational therapy doctorate program with support from administration and other faculty members to assist in program development and implementation. This is the first rehabilitation profession program at Drake.
  • The program has hired a very experienced program director and two full-time faculty members, all with doctorate degrees.
  • The program has an adequate number of fieldwork sites that cover the lifespan, variety of populations, and health care settings.
  • The curriculum reflects a thorough and thoughtful course of study with an emphasis on service-learning.

Congratulations to Ann Burkhardt, Kathy Griner, Jayna Fischbach, their staff Carmalee Woods and Cassie Paterson, and the staff in the Experiential and Student Affairs offices, for their work to prepare the report and participate in many discussions related to the 50 standards. They are to be congratulated for their expedient work in submitting a high-quality report that will pave the way for a successful program at Drake!

—Submitted by Renae Chesnut, Interim Dean, CPHS

Strategic Updates Archive

STEM@DRAKE construction update

Significant pre-construction activity is underway relative to the STEM@DRAKE project. At the Holiday Breakfast on Thursday, members of the campus community saw the latest building renderings and floor plans. There is excitement and appreciation for the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms and dedicated lactation rooms in both buildings.

Members of Drake’s Grounds Department—Aaron Harpold and Jeff Bosworth —were on hand to discuss how the project will affect trees. Attendees voted on the type of trees they would like to see planted as part of the effort to replace nearly double the number of trees that will be lost during construction. While removing trees is a difficult reality of construction, tremendous effort is being dedicated to a tree plan that will ensure both replacement and reclamation as part of the project. Watch for more details in coming weeks on this and other aspects of the STEM@DRAKE project.

 —Submitted by Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer

Campus Announcements Archive, Strategic Updates Archive

Provost open forums this week

To meet President Martin’s goal to have a strong leadership team in place as soon as possible, we are pleased to present three candidates this week for our new Provost.

The Provost search committee invites your participation in the campus forums this week with three highly qualified candidates. Please make time Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to meet the following candidates:

Dr. Darrell Radson
Dean and Professor
Foster College of Business
Bradley University
Peoria, IL
Monday, Nov. 30, 3–4:15 p.m.

Dr. Alzada Tipton
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty
Elmhurst College
Elmhurst, IL
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 3-4:15 p. m.

Dr. Sue Mattison
Dean, College of Professional Studies
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Green Bay, WI
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 3–4:15 p.m.

The CVs for each candidate are located on the homepage of blueView on the right-hand side. A Qualtrics survey will be sent to campus for the committee to learn your impressions of the candidates.

—Darcie Vandegrift, Associate Professor of Sociology

Strategic Updates Archive

Campus community budget discussion

The President’s Council invites you to attend a campus community budget discussion on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. in the Shivers Hospitality Suite. The event will be recorded and made available on the continuous improvement channel on blueView for those who are unable to attend.

Individuals are strongly encouraged to submit any questions you have about budgeting before the discussion at Drake via the Conversations site “Provide your Feedback” function. Questions/comments can be anonymous. You can also submit questions or comments after the discussion using the same tool.

Following the event, everyone is invited to stay for a Drake Social Club event from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

—Submitted by Andrea McDonough

Strategic Updates Archive

From the President

In my message to campus a few weeks ago, I introduced our new continuous improvement site, www.drake.edu/conversations. We have already received thoughtful comments and questions through the site, and I encourage everyone to provide feedback throughout the process of transitioning to a continuous improvement model at Drake.

We have recently made a few additions to the site. A new page has been added about our ongoing Higher Learning Commission re-accreditation efforts. The idea of continuous improvement is an integral part of the HLC’s approach to accreditation, as it enables universities to more accurately measure the success of their efforts and be responsive to the needs of an evolving student body. I encourage you to view Craig Owens and Kevin Saunders’ video message on this topic. By adding the re-accreditation information to our continuous improvement site, we are better aligning ongoing efforts, streamlining communication channels, and, hopefully, increasing campus-wide engagement with the process. As we move forward with re-accreditation, you will be able to find progress updates on the site.

We have also added several campus units’ balanced scorecards to the Conversations site: College of Business and Public Administration, Office of University Communications, Office of Admission, and Office of Alumni Relations and Development. These units volunteered to create continuous improvement plans for their operations. I encourage you to take a look at these plans as tangible examples of the balanced scorecard, as well as to see how campus colleagues are embracing this change and working toward creating a stronger University for the future. One thing to remember—these plans will change. Like the University’s continuous improvement plan, with feedback and progress these unit scorecards will evolve over time.

Sincerely,

Marty

Strategic Updates Archive

Open forums for provost finalists

Open forums for the provost finalists are planned for Nov. 30, Dec. 1, and Dec. 2 in Sussman Theater from 3 to 4:15 p.m. Candidates will present during the first half of the forum, and the second half will be opened up for questions from the campus community. The event will also be video-recorded by DTS. More information will be communicated at a later date, along with the final candidates CVs. All faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend!

—Submitted by Laura Schwarz, Administrative Support Specialist

Strategic Updates Archive

From the President

As you are aware, we began the search for a new provost earlier this fall. Led by Darcie Vandegrift, associate professor of sociology and department chair, the search committee began by soliciting input across campus about the community’s aspirations for our new provost. The committee has screened more than 60 applicants and will continue to accept applications until the position is filled.

The committee has identified a list of candidates to invite to a neutral site interview. These candidates were chosen for their talent and experience regarding:

• Record of professorial accomplishment
• Collaborative ability with campus stakeholders and appreciation of faculty governance
• Capacity to implement a mission-driven strategic vision
• Proven leadership and management skills
• Demonstrated ability to ensure the success of a diverse student body, staff, and faculty

Neutral site interviews will be completed before Thanksgiving, and the committee plans to invite three finalists to campus the week of Nov. 30. Open forums for each candidate will be held during that week—further details to be shared as the candidates are selected and schedules are finalized.

I would like to thank the committee for all their hard work and effort. Their diligence has enabled us to forego the typical practice of hiring a consultant, saving the University tens of thousands of dollars.

Please take the opportunity to provide feedback to the committee members as the process goes forward. The members of the search team are listed at www.drake.edu/provostsearch

Best regards,

Marty