All posts by Ashton Hockman

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Employee perks and discounts

Drake faculty and staff have access to a number of services and events for free or at discounted prices. The only problem is that we often don’t know about them. If your department offers any employee perks and discounts, or you know of a perk or discount from outside of your area, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu. This information will be collected and shared on blueView for easy access.

Benefits could include internal perks such as discounted tickets to Drake events or free Microsoft Office software for home computers, or an external discount such as those through Verizon, AT&T and Interstate Batteries.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Community service and employee excellence nominations being accepted

Nominations are now being accepted for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award and the Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award. Nominations are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 30, at 4:30 p.m. Late nominations will not be accepted.

Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award
Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Recipients are chosen on the following criteria:

  • A demonstrated personal commitment to volunteerism and community service
  • An outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services, and activities contributing to the quality of life in our region, state, and/or the nation
  • Professional and personal values and behavior that typify the ideals of “giving back to others” and “making a difference in the lives of others”
  • The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award
The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award include:

  • Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake University
  • Outstanding dedication to providing courteous, prompt, and quality service
  • Demonstrated commitment to University programs, initiatives, and services
  • Professional values and behavior that demonstrate exceptional service to others and a commitment to Drake University
  • The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to the Levitt Award Committee, care of (c/o) Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.

A nomination letter detailing specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria is desirable. Additional letters of support are not necessary. A review committee will make award recommendations to the President’s Council.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Staff/facilities meeting with President Martin

On Thursday, March 29, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the Olmsted Center, Pomerantz Stage, President Martin will meet with facilities and staff to discuss the University’s draft of core values. This casual gathering will include a chance to provide feedback and ask questions about the core values. If you’d like to suggest a topic for Q&A, please contact Nancy Geiger at nancy.geiger@drake.edu or at extension 3095. The meeting is presented by All Staff Council.

— Nancy Geiger, Office of the Registrar/All Staff Council

Campus Announcements Archive

Online Programs hits application milestone

Online Programs hit an important milestone. It received its 100th application, which is well ahead of enrollment projections. Currently, there are 23 admits and 38 applicants for the online Master of Art in Communication program. The online Master of Science in Education: Effective Teaching has admitted five students, and in just a month, received 18 more applications.

Drake’s online programs will begin its second part of term (six-week session) on March 26, with Preview Week set to begin on March 19. Preview Week allows students to look at their classes, review syllabi, prepare their schedules, and view an introductory message from their instructor. This introductory look gives students the chance to make sure their class fits both their academic goals and personal schedule. If not, they can drop the course early, saving time and money.

Two more faculty have completed the Online Teaching Certificate through Quality Matters—quite a milestone. Several others have completed the two required modules for teaching online. Our instructional designers have met with many faculty to begin and support the process for designing their online course.

Finally, the instructional designers have developed several resources regarding designing and teaching online classes. These resources are available in Blackboard. If you would like access, please contact Christina Trombley at christina.trombley@drake.edu or at extension 2506. Christina is happy to answer questions or discuss online education with faculty and staff anytime.

— Christina Trombley, online programming

Campus Announcements Archive

New cybersecurity enhancements coming Friday

ITS is implementing two new security features to better protect campus information and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks.

Starting this Friday, March 23, Faculty, staff, and students receiving messages from outside the drake.edu domain, will see the label [External Email] at the beginning of the message. View a FAQ to view examples of the new notification and learn more.

This is an automated process that does not examine message content, only the message sender. This labeling does not indicate whether or not a message is malicious; its primary objective is to inform recipients that the message is not from a Drake sender. Every email you receive—especially those from unknown senders and/or containing links or attachments—should be carefully reviewed.

The second new security enhancement is designed to protect employee direct deposit and bank information. The direct deposit update page on blueView will only be accessible while on campus. When away from the campus, the following message will appear: “This page is only accessible from the Drake University campus. If you need to modify your direct deposit information, please try again from campus or contact the Human Resources department for assistance.”

For questions about the new external email labeling, contact ITS at informationsecurity@drake.edu. For questions about the changes to the direct deposit page, please contact HR at drakehr@drake.edu.

— Peter Lundstedt, ITS and Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Student leadership awards, nomination deadline March 30

Today we opened the nomination process for the 2017-2018 student leadership awards. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to nominate individuals and student organizations that have shown exceptional leadership and contribution to the Drake community. Nominations are due by midnight on Friday, March 30. View criteria and Qualtrics nomination forms for the various awards.  The nomination form can also be found by visiting the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute’s website.

The recipients will be awarded at the Adams Leadership Convocation on Friday, April 20, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium.

Award categories include:

Individual Leadership Awards
Class Year Awards: Top First-Years, Sophomores, Juniors (P1), Seniors (P2)
Outstanding President/Chairperson
Outstanding Student Organization Officer
Outstanding Residence Hall Leader
Wanda Everage Peer Mentor Award
Drake Service Award for Individual
Organization Adviser of the Year
Ron & Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service-Learning Student Award

Student Organization & Programming Awards
Drake Service Award for Student Organization
Outstanding Student Organization
Outstanding Educational Program
Outstanding Social Program
Outstanding Equity & Inclusion Program
Outstanding Weekend Alcohol Alternative Program
Outstanding Collaboration Award

Oreon E. Scott Outstanding Senior of the Year
The Oreon E. Scott award nomination process requires a letter of nomination from faculty, staff, and/or students highlighting the senior’s achievements in the area of: scholarship, leadership, involvement and service. View more about the nomination process. Please send your letter of nomination to Jerry Parker, dean of students, at jerry.parker@drake.edu by Friday, March 30.

Be on a Selection Committee
I am looking for staff and faculty to sit on award review committees. The time commitment is about two hours of nomination reading and a 1.5 hour meeting (maximum) between April 3 and 10. Please let me know if you would like to review nominations.

— Jerry Parker, Dean of Students

Campus Announcements Archive

Volunteer at the 109th Drake Relays

The 109th Drake Relays presented by HyVee is right around the corner and we need you to help make it a success. Register to volunteer and invite your friends and family to join. Volunteers receive a free T-shirt, a free meal (if working over lunch), and free entry to the action. Volunteer opportunities begin Saturday, April 21, and run all week long. We hope to see you on the Blue Oval!

— Shannon Saunders, Athletics

Campus Announcements Archive

Get your tickets: Astronaut Peggy Whitson to speak at Drake

Peggy Whitson, a NASA astronaut who holds the U.S. record for total days in space, will speak at 1 p.m. Friday, April 13, in Sheslow Auditorium.

This event is open to the public, and a significant number of seats have been reserved for Drake students, faculty, and staff members. Due to venue capacity, seating is limited. Seats will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is required.

Whitson recently flew on Expedition 50/51 aboard the International Space Station and participated in four spacewalks (bringing her career total to ten). With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson holds the U.S. record, placing eighth on the all-time space endurance list.

The Iowa native also completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the station for Expedition 5 in 2002, and as the station commander for Expedition 16 in 2008. She accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any U.S. woman at the time of her return to Earth.

In the evening following her lecture, Whitson will receive the 2018 Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character Award from the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University.

— Aaron Jaco, University Communications