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From the President: Higher Learning Commission visit in October

We are now in the home stretch of our preparations for our comprehensive reaccreditation review by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). For more than three years, many on campus have been working hard to craft a compelling and wide-ranging dossier of materials that shows Drake University at its best. As we near the October site visit by the HLC’s team of peer-reviewers, I am writing to ask for your continued support.

Please save the dates of Monday through noon Tuesday, October 23–24, 2017, as the site visit team will expect to meet with a number of campus community members, including students, faculty, staff, academic and administrative leadership, and trustees.

We will not know with certainty with whom the team will want to meet until early to mid-October. As we receive their requests for meetings, Kevin Saunders will be in touch to request invitees’ attendance. I ask that you make yourself as available to the visiting reviewers as possible, that you refrain from scheduling meetings, events, or other obligations during that period, and that you keep an eye out for requests to attend interviews and meetings with the visiting team.

Please also be aware that the HLC reviewers’ needs for meeting space will be high priorities. So, you may find that on-campus venues commonly available for general use will be held in reserve during the dates of the site visit.

As we get closer to the visit, you will receive updates and invitations to learn more about our reaccreditation efforts. I trust you will find the case we present to the HLC enlightening and uplifting. In the meantime, thanks for the hard work and care from those already involved in preparations for the review and, in advance, for your flexibility and willingness to take part in the visit, should you be asked to do so.

— Marty Martin, President

Strategic Updates Archive

From President Martin

Hello,

Welcome to the fall 2015 semester! It’s an exciting time to be at Drake as we welcome new students, faculty and staff to our Bulldog community. I have now been on campus for two months, and during that time I have met with a number of units to talk about what we’re doing well and how we can improve. Those with whom I’ve met thus far have shared many helpful insights. I will continue to meet with administrative and academic units throughout the fall in order to gain a deeper understanding of where Drake is and where we hope to go.

Part of moving the University forward is beginning the search for a new provost. In order to increase our engagement in the process and to save financial resources I made the decision to handle the search internally, without the help of an outside consultant. Darcie Vandegrift, associate professor of sociology and department chair, will lead the search committee, supported by Venessa Macro, chief administration officer, and Laura Schwarz from Human Resources. The following are the voting members of the committee:

  • Darcie Vandegrift, Associate Professor of Sociology (Chair)
  • Gretchen Bataille, Board of Trustee Member
  • Sally Beisser, Professor of Education
  • Sandy Hatfield Clubb, Athletic Director
  • Royce Fichtner, Associate Professor of Business Law
  • John Gitua, Associate Professor of Chemistry
  • Annique Kiel, Director, Drake Administered Programs Abroad
  • Teresa Koch, Professor of Librarianship
  • Kevin Maisto, Student Body President
  • Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism & Mass Communication
  • Stacy Salazar, Law Student (3L)
  • Bob Soltis, Professor of Pharmacology
  • Bryan Thomas, Coordinator, Student Success Programs
  • David Wright, Associate Professor of Journalism
  • Ellen Yee, Professor of Law

I’d like to thank Terri Vaughan, Ben Ullem, and Renae Chesnut as they continue to serve leadership roles for the College of Business and Public Administration, Drake Law School, and College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, respectively. Searches will be conducted during the current academic year for the next deans of the Law School and the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Terri has agreed to extend her tenure as dean of the College of Business and Public Administration through the 2016–2017 academic year.

On a separate note, many of you may have noticed our new weekly internal newsletter, OnCampus. It is my hope that this newsletter, along with additional attention to internal communications, will provide a centralized source of relevant information and contribute to an environment of two-way, timely, and transparent communication on campus.

I will continue to update the campus community on a regular basis as we undertake new initiatives and continue to deliver an excellent learning experience to our students. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions, concerns, or ideas.

Regards,
Marty

Strategic Updates Archive

Message from President Martin

I hope this message finds everyone enjoying the summer and looking forward to the start of the fall semester in a few short weeks. I have completed my first month as your president, and I want to share some changes I have made regarding how the university’s senior administration operates.

The President’s Cabinet has been renamed the President’s Council. The purpose of this name change is twofold. First, the new title is meant to reflect a different approach to decision-making and resource allocation. The core functions of the President’s Council will be to:

  • Share information with the Council and across the institution
  • Coordinate actions, tasks, and projects that cross divisions to improve institutional performance
  • Facilitate consultation within and outside the President’s Council, enhancing the transparency of our decision-making processes and improving the quality of our decisions

The President’s Council will not make collective institutional decisions. There will be robust communication, coordination, and consultation within the Council, but the group will not be asked to vote on institutional matters for the purpose of defining a course of action. Instead, the authority and responsibility for making decisions will lie with the relevant division, following appropriate engagement with the Council and the president. For example, matters regarding an academic program will be fully within the purview of the president’s and provost’s offices working with deans and others in the academic division. The provost will brief the President’s Council on matters that require coordination and that would benefit from consultation, but those issues will not be presented to the Council for the purpose of reaching a decision. That authority will stay within the academic division’s hierarchy.

Second, I have expanded the membership of this group to include my direct operational reports so as to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of my office. This means that Shannon Cofield, Senior Advisor for External Affairs; Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer; Teresa Krejci, Chief Financial Officer; and Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer, will attend President’s Council meetings along with those who were already serving on the President’s Cabinet (see the full membership at the end of this message). These positions are not new to the institution; rather, they are existing positions that either already reported to the president or are new direct reports.

To further enhance engagement between the President’s Council and the community, we will regularly hold our meetings at various locations across campus. This will, in some small way, make our work more visible, and it will create opportunities for informal interactions with colleagues as we travel to our meetings. Additionally, the Council will invite others to present on topics instead of Council members always doing so, and Council members will regularly brief their divisions on the Council’s agendas and activities. Finally, the President’s Council will meet every other week instead of every week.

These changes should bring greater transparency to the work of the President’s Council, strengthen campus communications, and improve institutional performance. I will be testing these presumptions as we move forward and welcome any feedback that will help us improve the operations of my office and the President’s Council.

Best regards,

Marty

President’s Council Membership

Sandy Hatfield-Clubb, Director of Athletics
Shannon Cofield, Senior Advisor for External Affairs
Tom Delahunt, Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid
Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer
Teresa Krejci, Chief Financial Officer
Joe Lenz, Interim Provost
Debra Lukehart, Vice President of University Communications
Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
Lynda Ryan, Executive Assistant to the President and Secretary of the University
John Smith, Vice President for Alumni and Development
Bob Soltis, President of Faculty Senate