All posts by Ashton Hockman

Featured Events Archive

Comparison Project: Next event in series Thursday

The Comparison Project is hosting its next event in its lecture series on miracles this Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center. The lecture, “On the Role of Miracles in the Vimalakirti Sutra in Early Medieval China and Beyond,” will be presented by Shi Jingpeng, assistant professor in the School of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Minzu University of China in Beijing.

Jingpeng will speak about the role of miracles in the Vimalakīrti Sutra, an informative text for Chinese Buddhism in particular and Chinese culture in general. His published works include Basic Research on Nirvāna Studies in the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China, and From Dharma-body to Buddha-nature. The event is free and open to the public.

Monique Rodriguez, College of Arts and Sciences

Featured Events Archive

Drake Theatre presents musical Runaways, Nov. 16–19

Drake Theatre’s first musical of the season explores the dark underworld of runaway children in Runaways with book, lyrics, and music by Elizabeth Swados.

Runaways is based on a series of interviews with homeless children in the 1970s and spotlights what led these children to become runaways as well as what they have to do to survive on their own.

Drake’s production, directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Arts John Graham, runs Thursday, Nov. 16, through Sunday, Nov. 19, in the Performing Arts Hall of the Harmon Fine Arts Center. Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available online, in person, or via telephone at the Fine Arts Box Office, 2525 Carpenter Ave., 515-271-3841.

See the news release for more information. Note: This production contains material intended for mature audiences.

Kayla Ferris

Featured Events Archive

Blood drive: Save local lives

Alpha Phi Omega is partnering with LifeServe to host a blood drive on Friday, Nov. 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Olmsted Center, Pomerantz Stage. To sign up for a time to give, register in the Olmsted Breezeway or contact serveapo@gmail.com. Please bring a valid form of identification, such as your donor ID card or driver’s license. Anyone is welcome to donate.

Jenna Cornick

Featured Events Archive

Concert featuring all four Drake choirs

The Cavalcade of Choirs concert will feature all four of Drake’s choral ensembles: The Drake Choir, Chamber Choir, Drake/Community Chorus, all conducted by Aimee Beckmann-Collier, as well as the Drake Chorale, conducted by Linda Vanderpool. The performance will feature more than 250 singers and a huge variety of music, ranging from a Renaissance motet to a composition written by William Dougherty, Drake professor of music. There is no admission charge.

Aimee Beckmann-Collier, Department of Music

HR Information Archive

Deadline to complete online assessment this Friday

For those faculty and staff who have completed their wellness screenings, don’t forget to complete your online assessment through Wellmark by Nov. 17. You must complete the online assessment in addition to the wellness screening to receive the wellness premium discount, which is a savings of approximately $300 in 2018.

To complete your online wellness assessment, log into wellmark.com, go to the Wellness Center, and click on Take Your Wellness Assessment or Retake Your Wellness Assessment. If you don’t see either of these, click the Healthy Living tab at the top of the page and then click Wellness Assessment from the drop down menu.

Questions may be directed to Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu or 271-1880.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Welcoming new Bulldogs

Last month, Drake welcomed six full-time staff members:

Monique Rodriguez, Administrative Assistant, Arts & Sciences

Aamir Walton, Major Gift Officer, University Advancement

Timothy Tesar, Major Gift Officer, University Advancement

Kelly Bakke, Head Start Teacher Associate, Head Start

Mariah Mohler, Public Safety Dispatcher, Public Safety

Doris Brunnette, Administrative Assistant, School of Education

—Laura Schwarz, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Blackboard migration planned for December

Blackboard will be unavailable Dec. 23–27 for planned migration to SaaS (Software as a Service). Rest assured, during this migration, we are not heading south for the winter. Blackboard will be migrating to a different kind of environment without much change to our users.

Please be sure to plan accordingly for this migration timeline. After the system is available, faculty may once again generate course materials and finish their preparations for J-Term and spring courses.

Our move to Blackboard’s SaaS (Software as a Service) will make new tools available and position Drake to provide better online offerings for years to come. The planned migration from managed hosting, which is housed on Blackboard’s servers, to SaaS, hosted on Amazon Web Services data centers, will occur during winter break to have the least amount of impact.

Once the migration takes place, we will continue running the current experience on Blackboard known as version 9.1. By moving to SaaS, we gain some major benefits from the new environment, which will allow us to make future upgrades and patches to our environment with little to no downtime.

Karly Good, ITS

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Workshop: Student Technology Use in the Classroom

An EdTech workshop, “Student Technology Use in the Classroom,”will be taught by Karly Good and Clayton Mitchell on Wednesday, Nov. 29, from 3 to 4 p.m. in Olmsted, TMR 132. The session will cover student use of personal technology in the classroom. It will discuss how different spaces function across campus and how you can integrate classroom technology into your instruction.

Register today and learn about future workshops. EdTech workshops are designed to support faculty in the innovative use of educational technology in teaching and learning.

Need help sooner? Visit the IT Service Portal and request a Blackboard consultation or a technology adoption consultation or search for answers in the Teaching and Learning section of the Knowledge Base.

Karly Good, ITS

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Collaborate with an international university

Drake International is now accepting proposals from faculty and staff who are interested in collaborating with one of Drake’s international strategic partner institutions. International partnerships have proven to be an important way for faculty and staff to engage globally in meaningful ways.

Interested individuals should complete the application through Qualtrics by Nov. 30.

Please direct questions to Annique Kiel, executive director of global engagement and international programs, at annique.kiel@drake.edu.

Annique Kiel, Drake International

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Holiday check schedule

Holiday break check processing schedule:

Thanksgiving break: The only check run during Thanksgiving week will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 21. To receive a check before the Thanksgiving break, all requests need to be to Accounts Payable by 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

Winter break:

  • All check requests are due to Accounts Payable by the end of the business day on Friday, Dec. 15.
  • For requests received by Dec. 15, checks will be processed and available after 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19. This will be the last check run before winter break.
  • The accounting office will be closed during winter break. Normal check processing will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 3.

Thank you for your help in coordinating to ensure we meet all needs during the upcoming season. Please contact Accounting at ext. 2125 with any questions.

Jeni Baugher, Accounting