All posts by Ashton Hockman

Bark Tank winners

On Saturday, Nov. 3, the Drake Innovators Club sponsored the annual Bark Tank Competition. This competition is for any Drake student with an innovation or business idea. There were seven participants and the top prizes went to:

  • 1st place, $750: Encryptium LLC – Kellen Karls and Alex Mathison
  • 2nd place, $500: Confident – Tyrek Washington
  • 3rd place, $250: ABC – LiQin (Rey) Huang
  • People’s Choice, $250: StudentPal – Noah Manderfeld and Brendan Voight
Congratulations to everyone who participated and a huge thanks to our judges, Colton Sleister (2016 winner), Kaleigh DeBont (2017 winner), and Chamindi Wijesinghe (alumna).
Stephanie Cardwell, Drake University Entrepreneurship Centers

Banner and MyDUSIS Planned Outage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17

ITS is making updates to Banner. As a result, access to Banner 9, Banner/DUSIS INB, MyDUSIS, Workflow, ODBC, eTranscripts, Online Balloting, and DSAP will be completely unavailable between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 17. This upgrade is being made to apply security and functionality upgrades and patches.

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

Email phishing is constantly evolving

On an average day, about 206,000 malicious emails are sent to drake.edu addresses, comprising nearly 80% of all the email sent to campus. Today’s attacks are also more sophisticated than ever. That’s why we continuously work to educate faculty, staff, and students how to avoid these attacks designed to convince us to give away our information.

We’ll be distributing another phishing education scenario soon. These phishing email look-alikes provide information about how to spot malicious emails and allow us to introduce you to the ever-changing types of attacks in a risk-free environment.

When you encounter email you don’t recognize, always slow down and look carefully for red flags that give away its intent before acting. Suspicious emails can be reported by going to https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=17310

Peter Lundstedt, ITS

FPM shares results of Survey of Administrative Services

An objective of Drake’s Continuous Improvement Plan is to ”Elevate Service Excellence”. The Survey of Administrative Services directly supports our continuous improvement in this area.

This fall, the survey was issued to all faculty and staff with the focus on Finance, Public Safety, Human Resources (HR), Facilities Planning and Management (FPM), Information Technology Services (ITS), and University Communications and Marketing.

This feedback helps all of us understand where service gaps may exist and how to improve our services to the University.

Survey respondents provided largely positive feedback about FPM services. Responses were provided on a five-point scale, with five being the highest.

Satisfaction with FPM staff – Total Average 4.30 (4.41 last year)

Respondents assessed their satisfaction with FPM staff including their courtesy, professionalism, knowledge, timeliness, resolution of issues and communication regarding work orders and projects. Satisfaction with FPM staff was generally high.

Satisfaction with FPM support and services – Total Average 4.26 (4.40 last year)

Respondents assessed their satisfaction with FPM support and services including custodial, grounds maintenance, snow removal, moving, cooling and heating, painting, construction, carpentry, trash/recycle, keys/locks, and plumbing. Satisfaction with FPM support and services was generally high for keys/locks (4.67), ground maintenance (4.49)), painting (4.41)), and plumbing (4.38). However, lowest for trash/recycle (3.72) and cooling and heating (3.87).

The preservation of historic buildings can be demanding when upgrading the mechanical systems. It is our goal to heat and cool to establish a comfortable environment, but understand the capacity of the system along with individual preferences. The same holds true maintaining sustainable practices with regards to our impact on landfills. Moving forward we promise to service all needs on campus through collaboration and communication.

Overall satisfaction—Total Average 4.09 (4.27 last year)

Overall satisfaction is above average, but FPM still has room for improvement.

In reviewing the data and reflecting on the comments provided by the respondents, FPM has concluded that:

It is our goal to remain consistent over time with the above benchmarks. While strong ratings were seen in FPM, we are actively developing strategies to improve our services and overall quality.

Over the coming year, FPM makes the following commitments.

FPM will:

1. Ensure that FPM meet the promised response and resolution timeframes.

2. Collaborate to find reasonable and supportable long-term solutions.

3. Strive to understand issues and requests before beginning work.

4. Confirm the request was completed to satisfaction.

5. Improve communication related to work order requests and projects.

6. Work as a team to provide facility-related services on behalf of Drake.

In the following months, FPM will being working on updating our website to better deliver communications. This, coupled with more direct reporting, we anticipate that we can booster our lower administrative service areas. Watch OnCampus and the FP website for more information.

Kevin Moran, Executive Director Facilities Planning and Management

Session on campus and personal safety Wednesday

The safety of our students and the entire campus community is of the highest priority at Drake University.  In response to comments in the recent Administrative Service Survey, Public Safety is offering a series of monthly programs for the campus community on campus and personal safety.  The first program is tomorrow, Nov. 14, from 12–1 p.m. in the Olmsted Center. The topic of the program is “What to do if there is an active shooter on campus.”

If you have any questions about these offering or any security or safety issues, please contact Scott law at scott.law@drake.edu.

Final grades due Dec. 19

Faculty, the deadline for final grade entry for the fall semester is 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Exception: final grades for the Law School are due on Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Those of you who want to send your final grades from Blackboard to MyDUSIS can find instructions here.

Those of you who want to submit grades directly into MyDUSIS should begin by clicking the Grading button in the “Faculty & Advising” menu in MyDrake and then finding the “Final Grades – Submittal Link”.

The final evaluation schedule includes a listing of when and where courses are scheduled to meet for their final evaluations.

Kevin Moenkhaus, Associate Registrar

Sign up to serve on the National Alumni Scholarship Selection Committee

The Office of Admission is seeking faculty volunteers to serve on the National Alumni Scholarship (NAS) Selection Committee. Members of the Selection Committee help select Drake’s most academically qualified prospective students through Drake’s most prestigious scholarship competition.

The opportunity to serve on the Selection Committee is fulfilling, fun, and important: Each year, nearly 300 prospective students apply and interview for the opportunity to win one of two Alumni (full-ride), three Carpenter (full-tuition), or hundreds of Trustee ($3,000) scholarships. Faculty members of the selection committee are paired with a Drake alum; together as a team of two, you will review and interview candidates in your application pool.

Selection Committee members must commit to their choice of Saturday Interview dates:
• Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 (8AM–2PM)
• Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019 (8AM–2PM)
Whether you can join us for one interview day or both, be assured that the time commitment is manageable.

Please use this link to register as a member of the 2019 NAS Selection Committee by Friday, Dec. 1, 2018:
https://goo.gl/forms/YU7hHKQ5Px6uNmcf2

If you have further questions about the National Alumni Scholarship, email nas@drake.edu or contact Lilianna Bernstein at x2291.

Lilianna Bernstein, Associate Director of Admission

Celebrate International Education Week

This week, Drake International is excited to promote International Education Week, an opportunity to celebrate Drake’s international education and global opportunities. Global and intercultural learning is a key objective of Drake’s Continuous Improvement Plan, supporting our mission of responsible global citizenship. A feature of the week is hosting special guests from six of Drake’s international partner universities. View the calendar to see all events for the week. Some of the key events are listed below. We encourage faculty and staff to get involved and learn more about Drake as a global university.

Nov. 14 – Drake International Open House
The Drake International department is hosting an open house on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 3:30–5 p.m. at Drake International (1213 25th Street). Meet special guests from Drake’s international partner universities and see the campus headquarters for education abroad, international student and scholar services, and international partnerships. Mingle with campus colleagues and global community partners, and cast your vote for the International Education Week photo contest.

Nov. 14 – Crowded Out: A Story of Over Tourism
In Sussman Theater from 7:30–8:30 p.m., watch a documentary and participate in a discussion about the growing international tourism industry and its negative effects on local communities.

Nov. 15 – International Partner Fair
Attend a breakfast and visit with special guests from six of Drake’s international partner universities on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 8–9:30 a.m. in Levitt Hall, Old Main. The event is an opportunity to learn more about Drake’s international partners, and how you might become involved. Faculty and staff who have previously engaged with the partners will be present to share of their experiences. Come explore possible connections and projects! Information on funding for working with international partners will be provided. Faculty and staff winners of the photo contest will also be announced.

To learn of more exciting events during IE Week, please go to:
https://calendar.drake.edu/ieweek.

Annique Kiel, Executive Director of Global Engagement and International Programs

Celebrate International Education Week

This week, Drake International is excited to celebrate International Education Week. A feature of the week is hosting special guests from six of Drake’s international partner universities. View the calendar to see all events for the week. Some of the key events for students are listed below. We encourage students to get involved to learn more about Drake as a global university.

Nov. 13 – International Education Week Kickoff Celebration
Drake International and Drake’s International Student Association are kicking off International Education Week with samples of international food, music, and performances on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 4:30–6:30 p.m. in the Olmsted Breezeway. Come see what is planned for the week and celebrate Drake as a global university.

Nov. 14 – Global opportunities student workshop
Want to be globally engaged at Drake, but aren’t sure of what’s available to you? Hear from a panel of faculty, staff, and students on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 2:15–3:15 p.m. in Meredith, Room 102 who will describe academic opportunities, co-curricular experiences, research projects, student employment, grant funding, and more. Post-graduate global opportunities will also be discussed.

Nov. 14 – Crowded Out: A Story of Over Tourism
In Sussman Theater from 7:30–8:30 p.m., watch a documentary and participate in a discussion about the growing international tourism industry and its negative effects on local communities.

Nov. 15 – Student Trivia Night: International Style
On Thursday, Nov. 15, from 8–10 p.m. at Papa Keno’s, it’s pub trivia night with internationally themed rounds. Grab some friends and build a team to compete for prizes. Student winners of the photo contest will be announced.

Nov. 15 – Global Career Talks
Hear from professionals based in Des Moines who are working in an international field on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 12–1:30 p.m. in Sussman Theatre. This a great opportunity to learn more about global professions and to also build your local networks. There will be time dedicated to sharing tips on what employers are looking for with regards to international/global experiences and interests.

To learn of more exciting events during IE Week, please go to:
https://calendar.drake.edu/ieweek.

Annique Kiel, Executive Director of Global Engagement and International Programs

Drake Women’s Basketball Family Pass

The all new $99 Family Pass allows an entire family admission to Drake Women’s Basketball regular season home games.  The pass is valid for General Admission tickets for two named adults and all children 18 years of age and under in the same household. Kids Zone pre-game activities and inflatables will also be at select games throughout the season.

To order visit DrakeTix.com/familypass or contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647.

Ryan Harris, Athletics