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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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:
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
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication graduate committee is hosting an open session for faculty interested in teaching courses in the Master of Arts in Communication (MAC) online program, which launches in January 2018. Join us on Thursday, Nov. 16, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., in Meredith Hall, Room 104. SJMC faculty will be available to provide information and answer questions about how they’ve gone about researching and creating the program, training to teach online, and creating the classes.
The MAC includes four tracks: Communication Leadership, Brand Communication, Public Policy and Advocacy, and Health and Science Communication. There is a core set of classes common to all tracks, with specialization and customization through interdisciplinary electives.
For more information, contact Associate Dean Kelly Bruhn at kelly.bruhn@drake.edu.
Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
The following grants are available to support global service-learning projects from the Ron and Jane Olson Endowment for Global Service-Learning.
Match grant: Faculty, staff, and students can apply for a match grant to support a global service-learning project or course. Applications are now being accepted for J-Term projects. Grants, up to $500, are awarded to go toward project implementation resource needs. Applicants must demonstrate $500 in cash or in-kind match. Applications are due Dec. 8.
Mini grants: Faculty, staff, and students can apply for mini grants to support global service-learning courses and cocurricular experiences. Mini grants typically range from $25 to $200. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until funds are gone.
Fellow grant: Faculty and staff can apply for funding to develop global service-learning partnerships or to develop innovative global service-learning experiences. Up to $9,000 is available for travel and $750 for release time.
Learn more about each of these opportunities, along with definitions of global service-learning projects.
Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning