All posts by Ashton Hockman

Remember to pick up your Drake-branded mask

Reminder: The University is supplying all students with a Drake-branded face mask. If you are a residential student, PMAC, RA, student athlete, Greek, or graduate student, a mask will be mailed or directly delivered to you (chances are you may have already received it).

If you are an undergraduate student who lives off-campus, you can pick up your mask at a table located outside of Olmsted on the following days and times:

  • Aug. 25, 1–5 p.m.
  • Aug. 31, 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
  • Sept. 1, 1–5 p.m.

Masks not picked up after Sept. 1 will be moved to the Student Service Center. Only one mask is available per student, and a student ID is required to pick up a mask.

— Nate Reagen, President’s Office

Reminder: Parking permit required

Drake Public Safety would like to welcome the campus community back for the 2020–2021 academic year.  For faculty, students, and staff who have been on campus over the past 4–5 months, the issue of available parking has not been a challenge, but with the return to on-campus instruction and operations, Public Safety would like to remind everyone that parking on campus requires a valid Drake Parking Permit. Faculty, students, and staff can order their parking permit through myDrake and pay via credit/debit/ACH. For the 2020 academic year, we will be communicating alternative distribution methods to allow for more social distancing when picking up permits.  

Enforcement of parking zone regulations will resume on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Prior to Aug. 19, individuals can continue to park in any lot with a valid Drake Permit (2019 permits are valid until, Monday, Aug. 24).

— Scott Law, Public Safety & University Operations

Return to campus self monitoring, travel reminders

As we return to campus, please be aware of these important requirements:

Self Monitoring and Reporting:
All Drake University employees (including faculty, staff, and sub-contracted employees) are required to measure and record their own body temperature from home or at one of several self-serve stations on the Drake campus for indications of COVID-19 like illness prior to working on campus. Some departments, such as Facilities and Public Safety, may develop their own temperature monitoring process requirements consistent with this policy.

Employees must notify the Director of Environmental Health and Safety using this form and notify their manager of any of the following: 

  1. Any symptoms currently considered to be associated with COVID-19 as indicated by the CDC at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html, including a temperature of 100.4 or higher,
  2. A personal diagnosis of COVID-19, or
  3. Close personal contact (defined as being within 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer) with anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Employees reporting any of the above will not be allowed to report to work until personally notified that it is safe to do so by the University’s Department of Environmental Health and Safety. 

Out of State Travel Reporting:
Faculty and staff are to report out of state travel to the Director of Environmental Health and Safety by submitting this form.

Thank you for your help in keeping our campus safe and healthy for everyone in our community.

— Mary Alice Hill, Human Resources

Drake Together Compact

President Martin sent a message to all students Thursday, Aug. 6, introducing the Drake Together Compact — an agreement all students must sign to ensure compliance with Drake’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Beginning move-in week, students will be prompted to review and electronically accept the terms of the Drake Together Compact when they sign into MyDUSIS. Every student must complete the process by no later than Aug. 28.

Visit Drake’s COVID-19 website to familiarize yourself with all of Drake’s COVID-19 policies and protocols.

COVID-19 symptoms and prevention training due by Aug. 31

In last week’s employee update, President Martin asked each of us to do our part to protect the health and safety of the Drake community by completing a 15-minute training course on COVID-19. In keeping with our #DrakeTogether Commitments, please complete the COVID-19 training course, presented by Chris Nickell, director of Environmental Health & Safety, by no later than Monday, Aug. 31. The course is available to all employees through Blackboard and can be accessed via my.drake.edu. Upon selecting the Blackboard link under “Commonly Used Apps,” employees can access the course via the left hand menu under the “Courses” tab by clicking on the course entitled “Drake University Awareness Training for Returning to Campus During COVID-19” and following the instructions within the course. 

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer 

IT service portal update, remote support reminder

As some faculty and staff return to campus, here’s a reminder about how best to get assistance with your campus tech needs.

In order to comply with campus social distancing requirements, the support center in lower level Carnegie Hall is closed for walk-in assistance and is open by appointment only.

Please either visit our IT service portal at service.drake.edu/its or call 515-271-3001 to learn more about the tech resources available or to receive assistance with any issues. Please note that the tech support phone line is currently unavailable due to storm damage.

We continue to update our online resources including our knowledge base filled with guides to help you answer your most pressing tech questions, our service catalog where you can report issues or request assistance, and remote support capabilities so our techs can provide support from a distance. Due to our most recent update, you will be asked additional questions about any issue to ensure we are triaging requests appropriately.

— Carla Herling, ITS

Panopto planned outage Aug. 15 from 8–11 p.m.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, our Panopto Cloud infrastructure will be undergoing maintenance to improve ongoing performance. As a result, Panopto will be unavailable between 8 and 11 p.m.

During the upgrade, you will not be able to access videos on your Panopto site, and any attempts to upload new videos will result in a “Server unable to connect” message.

We appreciate your patience while we perform this necessary work. If you continue to have any issues after the planned maintenance window, please contact the support center at 515-271-3001 or visit service.drake.edu/its to report your issue.

— Carla Herling, ITS

Fall book ordering information, summer rental returns

Remember, you can shop online 24/7 at www.drake.bkstr.com. Select “pick up in store” to save on shipping. Bulldog Bucks work for online shopping, as well.

If you have summer rentals due, check-in is available in-store or you may ship your package to the University Bookstore (make sure to include your information in your package).

The University Bookstore hours for Aug. 3–14 are Monday–Friday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. The Bookstore will be closed for lunch and cleaning from 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. each day. Keep an eye out for an update in the coming weeks regarding store hours after Aug. 14.

— Katie Wilz, University Bookstore

Move-in curbside check-in assistance needed

On Aug. 15, 16, 17, and 18 we will welcome students back to campus. This year’s move-in process will be unique, and Residence Life needs faculty and staff assistance to make it as welcoming of an experience as possible. You may sign up for 2- and 4-hour shifts here.

Volunteers will report to the Carpenter front desk on Aug. 15 and 16 and Morehouse front desk on Aug 17 and 18 to receive instructions and the necessary information to properly direct the students arriving for move-in. Your role is to stand outside the student’s car, check the student’s dash sign to confirm they have completed preliminary information and their COVID-19 test (if they have not, re-direct them to the Olmsted lot). Step-two is to check the student’s government ID to verify who they are, and if they’ve completed their COVID-19 test, hand the student a check-in packet to fill out while in their vehicle. Once the student has completed the check-in packet, they will remove their student ID and room key, place signed cards back in the envelope, and return the envelope to you for filing. Lastly, volunteers will inform the student that once the vehicle is unloaded, they need to move the vehicle to a residential parking lot so others may pull up, complete check-in, and unload. At this point the student will begin moving in. Students may have three additional symptom-free individuals to assist—face masks are required.

Volunteers are encouraged to wear Drake apparel and their professional name badge. This helps students and families recognize your welcoming presence and to see the full breadth of support we provide our students.

Volunteers must be symptom-free, and face masks are required.

— Ryan Arnold, director of community engagement (pitching-in, because we’re all in this together)

All employees to receive Drake mask

Law Librarian Dorie Knight

A Drake branded face mask is being delivered or made available to every employee on campus via building managers and/or department contacts. If you’re on or going to be on campus and haven’t received yours by Aug. 7, let Nate Reagen know. Thank you and we’re all in this together.

P.S. Each of our students on campus will also receive a Drake mask!

— Nate Reagen, President’s Office