There is a wonderful group of employees working as a task force to come up with an important set of recommendations. They have been charged with assessing how Drake may consider shifting its philosophy and practices in workforce management based on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force is examining the pros and cons, as well as options for more lasting changes to how Drake uses remote work and flexible schedules as tools to manage office space and consider with employees’ demands outside of a health crisis. This assessment will consider the interests and needs of employees while also accounting for, among many other things, the needs and expectations of our students.  In other words, how does Drake modernize its views on workforce management without undermining not just the quality of the work we do and services we provide, but also the culture that we want to cultivate for students and employees alike? This is no small task and the task force’s analysis will take some time.

For now, managers will continue to rely on existing policies and use their discretionary authority to make decisions regarding to what degree some remote work and flexible scheduling may continue into the fall semester. The task force is hoping to present recommendations for consideration in October. The formal adoption of new policies and procedures will occur after that and will be coupled with campus communications and training opportunities. Employees who have ideas or suggestions to share will be given opportunities to do so. However, you are welcome to send messages to the task force by emailing drakehr@drake.edu. Just use this subject line: Message for Task Force and we’ll relay the message.

—Maureen De Armond, Executive Director of Human Resources