Alumni tell us they want to stay connected to Drake by contributing to today’s student experience. Have you scheduled an alumnus to speak in your classroom, participate in a career fair, serve on a panel, be a mentor to a student? Now there’s an easy way to let Alumni Relations know so we can measure engagement, track interests, and communicate opportunities. Find the online form on the University Advancement Web page, or there is a link on BlueView under Faculty & Staff Resources.

—Andy Verlengia, Director of Alumni Relations

For the past two years, a group of faculty and staff have been meeting monthly to discuss issues related to creating inclusive learning environments. The group is continuing these meetings and opening them up to anyone on campus who wishes to talk about the challenges, successes, and failures we have faced as we try to navigate this difficult issue. This semester, the group will be meeting the second Monday of every month at 3:30 p.m. The next meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 9, in the Drake Room. For questions, contact Art Sanders at arthur.sanders@drake.edu.

—Art Sanders, Associate Provost

The second Friday FYS lunch/discussion is Oct. 6, at 12 p.m. in the Olmsted Center, Pomerantz Conference Room. You do not have to be a current FYS Instructor to attend. If you have an interest in teaching FYS in the future, or are curious to learn more about teaching FYS sections, you are welcome to attend. If you would like to attend, please register and select a lunch preference online.

—Art Sanders, Associate Provost

The first of the monthly Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) lunches is this Friday at 12 p.m. in Olmsted Center, TMR 133. Theses lunch discussions are an opportunity for those engaged in SoTL projects at any level—from just thinking about starting one to almost complete or those simply curious about SoTL—to share ideas, seek advice, or ask questions of colleagues engaged in the process. This year, members of ITS will attend to provide advice/information about SoTL projects that involve technology usage. While it is too late to order a lunch, faculty are still welcome to attend.

—Art Sanders, Associate Provost

Two town hall meetings to discuss the Revised Drake Curriculum (RDC) proposal will take place today (Sept. 26) and Wednesday, Oct. 4. Both meetings will be held in Sussman Theater at 3:30 pm. Faculty who plan to attend should fill out a brief survey on the topic as that will be the mechanism for faculty to vote on the proposal. The proposal can be found on the faculty senate webpage under Meeting Information, labeled RDC for April Senate.

—David Courard-Hauri, Department of Environmental Science and Policy

Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a group of student leaders who facilitate discussions on harassment, sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, bullying, and other forms of gender violence. Drake’s MVP student facilitators are looking to partner with campus professionals and organizations.  MVP peer facilitators can come to groups and classes to present 30–90 minute sessions on bystander intervention. MVP is most effective when participants receive multiple doses; they are always looking for partners with ideas or time for multiple sessions. Also, depending on the audience, professional staff can be partnered with student facilitators.

If you or a group you are part of is interested in partnering with MVP, contact Tess Cody at tess.cody@drake.edu. A sample of topics that MVP facilitators have covered in the past, include:

• Bystander intervention basics
• Gender stereotypes
• Sexualized rumors
• Sexual harassment
• Healthy relationships

More examples and session descriptions available online.

MVP aims to inspire leadership by empowering individuals with tools to lead and with concrete options to effect change in their peer cultures and across campus.

—Tess Cody, Prevention Coordinator for Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct

Drake will be transitioning its procurement card program from Wells Fargo Bank to PNC Bank. This is the first of several communications on the transition––watch for additional information in the coming weeks.

What prompted this change?
The University recently issued Series 2017A bonds to assist with the financing for STEM@DRAKE. As part of that bond issuance agreement, the University is required to move its procurement card program to PNC Bank.

When will the transition happen?
Implementation of the new PNC procurement card program for all users will begin the week of Oct. 16. Finance and a small group of users are currently in a piloting phase of the new program. The pilot phase has allowed for setup of University specific coding, testing of the PNC online portal, formulation of user guides, and updating of current University policy and procedures to conform to the new program.

What does this mean for users?

• Cardholders will be issued a new procurement card. Allotted times for card pickup will be scheduled and communicated to cardholders in the coming weeks.
• Procurement card transactions will be accessed via PNC Bank’s Intellilink website. Each user will receive instructions on how to access and login to the site. The site will house all card transactions and will be utilized to complete required cardholder and approver reviews.
• When picking up a new card, cardholders will be required to sign an updated Purchasing Card Agreement. For reference, a copy of the agreement can be found online.

What changes in the new program will impact users?

• Procurement Cards will be a Visa rather than a MasterCard. Therefore, any card information you have on file with specific vendors will need to be updated accordingly.
• Users will access their transactions via the PNC Bank’s Intellilink website. Access to the Wells Fargo site will be removed after the new cards have been distributed. Users should gather any information they may need from the Wells Fargo site by the end of October.
• In an effort to support the University’s sustainability efforts and improve efficiency in procurement card processing, the new program supports electronic receipt imaging as well as electronic transaction approvals. The University will require users to utilize these electronic modes to submit supporting documentation and complete required monthly transaction reviews. The accumulation of supporting documentation and/or review of such documentation will no longer be sent as hardcopies to accounting.
• Transactions can be reviewed and approved at any time during the reporting period. Users will no longer have to wait until the end of the reporting period to complete and submit their review and approval of transactions.
• Any fraud or transaction disputes will need to be reported by the cardholder directly to PNC Bank within 60 days of the posting of the transaction. This will require cardholders and approvers to be diligent in their review of transactions and proactive in reporting any suspicious card activity.

What resources will be available during and after the transition?

• PNC Bank customer service representatives are available 24/7, including holidays, at 1-800-685-4039.
• University Finance staff are available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at extension 3392 and 2041 or pcard@drake.edu.
• The Procurement Card policy will be available online.
• User guides will be distributed and available to assist with training on the new PNC Intellilink website and the new electronic submission of receipts and approvals.

—Meghan Settje, Financial Reporting Manager