All posts by Linda Feiden

News & Achievements Archive

Drake is a 2023 Healthiest State Award finalist

We are proud to share that Drake University is a finalist for the 2023 Healthiest State Annual Award, in the large workplace division.  These awards recognize workplaces, communities, and individuals for their efforts to improve the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of Iowans.

Drake offers a variety of programs and classes that cover multiple dimensions of wellbeing.  Here are some offerings in March:

Do It for a Day Challenge.  March 27 through April 23.  If you want to make healthy changes but get easily distracted, this challenge is for you!  Over four weeks simply complete a series of one-day challenges.  You will have two challenges to choose from each day, that cover all dimensions of wellbeing.

Introduction to Juggling.  March 23 from 2-3 p.m. in the Olmsted Center Parents Hall North. Take a break from work and have some fun trying your hand – or hands at juggling.  Nate Reagen, chief of staff, will be our guide.

Get Real: Telling My Story.  March 24 from 12-1 p.m. in the lower level of the OT building (3003 Forest Ave.).  Learn how to create a personalized journal, a great tool to reduce stress and enhance your health.  Facilitated by students in the occupational therapy department.

Money at Work: Foundations of Investing.  March 30 from 2-3 p.m. in the Olmsted Center conference room 310/311. This class will provide the information you need to invest in your future, no matter where you are in life.  Paige Philips, senior financial consultant at TIAA will present.

For more information or to register for these classes or program, please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.

—  Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Drake retirement plan information

Drake University sponsors both mandatory and voluntary 403(b) retirement plans which are reviewed quarterly by the Drake University Retirement Plan Review Committee. The Committee consults with an independent fiduciary advisor to closely monitor investment performance, negotiate contracts, establish reasonable plan needs, review investment options and make plan design decisions as directed by the Drake University Investment Policy Statement.  The Retirement Plan Review Committee and Investment Policy Statement are posted here in myDrake.

For many years Drake has relied upon TIAA to provide appropriate products and services, which the Committee examines regularly.  Although TIAA representatives can provide information and make recommendations, plan participants must decide how to allocate plan contributions and designate plan beneficiaries.  Thus, participants are encouraged to review their investment options regularly.  Summary Plan Descriptions of Drake’s Mandatory and Voluntary Retirement Plans may be found here.

The annual contribution limit for Drake’s Voluntary Retirement Plan increased to $22,500 effective January 1, 2023.  Employees age 50 and over may contribute an additional $7,500 for a total maximum of up to $30,000 during the 2023 calendar year.  If you would like to change your current contribution amount, or open a voluntary retirement account, simply complete the 403(b) Salary Reduction Form here.  Please note changes to your current election will become effective the first day of the following month.

Should you wish to schedule an individual counseling session with TIAA Senior Financial Planner, Paige Philips, call 800-732-8353 or visit www.TIAA.org/schedulenow   We encourage you to take advantage of the numerous webinars provided by TIAA.  Details are provided in the HR Monthly on the first Wednesday of the month.

— Marlene Heuertz, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

About gradebook settings in Blackboard Learn Ultra

The gradebook is populated with students when they’re enrolled in your course. You’ll see all the coursework that’s specific to the course you’re in. You can grade coursework, manage items, and post grades.

Gradebook Views

  • List view shows all items in the gradebook by their title
    • Click on the item title to see student data and submissions.
  • Grid view shows all items and all students in a spreadsheet like view.
    • For a details, click on any student or gradebook item.

Gradebook Settings

  • Gradebook settings include:
    • Providing notifications expectations for Student Performance. The system will let you know if a student does not meet expectations.
    • Making adjustments to Grading Schemas (enhancements to be able to use/apply multiple grading schemas is coming sometime before fall semester)
    • Overall Grade calculations
    • Using Auto-zeros
    • Manage Categories to identify grading item icons, grouping grading items to assist with Overall Grading
    • Create and manage Rubrics
  • Search and Filter the Gradebook for specific views of the data
    • Search from List View
      • Search for a submission receipt
      • Within a specific grading item:
        • Student Name
      • Filters from Grid View:
        • Merged course sections
        • Student Name
        • Groups
        • Gradable items, and
        • Categories

About Override Grades

  • Override grades are grades you assign manually, for example, if you type in the grade pill in the gradebook. An override label appears next to the grade alerting you to the fact that an override occurred.
    • Sometimes a grade change results in an override grade. An override grade takes precedence over all other grade entries, including rubrics and any attempts with a grade.
  • Revert an Override Grade – You can clear an override grade by selecting the final grading pill for the grading item and deleting the manually entered grade. The grade will then revert to the attempt or rubric grade (even if they are ungraded, it will be null).

Setting Exemptions, Date and Time Exceptions, and Accommodations

  • Grade Exemptions can be added with or without scores for a gradable item. Students will not be held to the expectations for that gradable item when an exemption is added. The gradable item will be ignored as a part of the overall grade.
  • Exceptions apply to single assessments or gradable items for an individual student due to extenuating circumstances.
  • An Accommodation applies to all due dates or time limits in your course for an individual student.

— Karly Good, ITS

HR Information Archive

Join us for faculty/staff recess March 28

Last week’s Pi-NGO, hosted by All Staff Council and Human Resources, was a great success. Participants enjoyed free pizza pies, multiple rounds of BINGO, and dessert pies for the winners.  Thank you to everyone who attended.

This event is part of Employee Appreciation Month — a great reminder to take time to reflect and find ways to show gratitude to your teams for their hard work, dedication, and effort throughout the year.

Human Resources would like to continue to show our appreciation by inviting everyone to take a break and join us for Faculty/Staff Recess on Tuesday, March 28, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Bell Center, Courts 1 & 2.  Play nine holes of miniature golf, try pickleball, or challenge a colleague to a game of cornhole (bags).  And test your hula hooping skills for a chance at prizes. All equipment will be provided.

Finally, thank you for everything you do to live Drake’s core values, in caring for our students and each other, every day.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

It’s policy season: Offer comments to updated HR policies

As many employees know, when we adopt a new policy or make substantial changes to an existing policy, we post the drafts on the Policy Development Page, so the Drake community can share its thoughts.

While there is a long list of policies slowly being reviewed by Drake Human Resources, we have three ready for comment.

First, Drake HR was asked a while back by All Staff Council to take a look at the Staff Learning and Development Leave policy as it was viewed as being perhaps too vague to give the reader the idea of what kinds of leave might permissibly fall under the policy. We worked to add some more detail and examples in hopes of the policy being more informative. The updated (clean) version is posted for comment.

Second, while working on updating the faculty recruitment process, we heard from deans that the University’s Relocation Expense Reimbursement Policy would benefit from some updates and additional flexibility. Working with Finance, we are posting a revised (clean) version of that policy for comment.

Lastly, Drake’s Non-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy needed a few tweaks. It coexists with Drake’s Sexual Harassment Policy and the two had been revised and edited in slightly different ways over the years. We needed to bring them into greater alignment. We are posting the redlined and proposed version of the policy, so readers can see the proposed changes.

If you have comments on any of these three policies, please use the comment function through the Policy Development Page. These policies will remain posted for comment through Friday, April 7, 2023.

Drake HR is also working on reviewing a number of leave policies. This review has been very slow due to competing priorities, but we are making an effort to get back to those prior to the close of the spring semester. If you are aware of a HR policy in need of review or adoption, please let us know at drakehr@drake.edu.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Deputy Provost 2:10: Submitting courses for FYS and AOI review

The University Curriculum Committee meets one last time this year, to review proposed courses that cover our Areas of Inquiry and serve as First Year Seminars.  If you plan to submit a course, please do so by April 6 so that committee members have time to read and review.  You can find details about all the AOIs and their learning outcomes here; you can find the submission forms for each AOI and FYS, here.  Professor Mary McCarthy is chair of UCC this year, feel free to let her know if you have questions.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Deputy Provost 2:10: Artificial intelligence conversations, Books for Breakfast

You’re invited to join a group of dedicated faculty and staff to talk about teaching and artificial intelligence like chatbots and text-to-image generators. At each of the sessions, listed below, we’ll have a brief opening presentation, then a chance to mingle—café style—to get feedback on and brainstorm about your particular instructional concerns related to the technology, including a table to conversation about the question of our value in light of the technology, and a table where you can get ideas for incorporating AI into your class’ work. We’ll have two sessions via Zoom, and two in person—if you come in person, we’ll provide light refreshments.  The sessions will be:

Thursday, March 23, 12:00 – 1:00 via Zoom
Tuesday, March 28, 11:00 – 12:00 in person
Monday, April 3, 12:00 – 1:00 via Zoom
Friday, April 7, 11:30 – 12:30 in person

Please register here. You’ll be able to pick your session and modality on the Eventbrite link.  We will email you the zoom link the morning of, if you attend on the 23rd or 3rd.

And, please sign up now for Books for Breakfast on April 7 and April 21 from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. We will meet to eat good food and talk about a lovely book: Helen Sword’s Air and Light and Time and Space: How Successful Academics Write.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Campus Announcements Archive

Constitutional Law Center announces 2023 Distinguished Lecture Series speaker

The Drake University Constitutional Law Center is pleased to announce Julie C. Suk as presenter of the Spring 2023 Distinguished Lecture. Her lecture titled “Unamendable: Lessons from Failed Constitutional Amendments” will be delivered in-person and virtually on Thursday, March 9 at 3:30 p.m. at the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center, 2400 University Avenue, Des Moines. Registration is free and open to the public.

Julie Chi-hye Suk is an interdisciplinary and comparative legal scholar at Fordham University, researching equality at the intersection of law, history, sociology, and politics in the United States and globally. She has authored dozens of articles and book chapters about comparative constitutional law; the procedural implementation of equality norms in the United States and Europe; gender quotas; and women, work, and family.

“Professor of Law Julie Suk has written extensively on women’s equality, misogyny, constitutional amendments, comparative equality and more. Her topic of constitutional amendments is very important as the U.S. Constitution has recently been subject to various criticisms,” said Professor Mark Kende, Director of the Drake University Constitutional Law Center.

The Constitutional Law Center’s Distinguished Lecture Series brings to campus the nation’s leading constitutional scholars to engage students and faculty on the important issues of the day. Speakers deliver a formal lecture, give a presentation to faculty, and meet with students in informal settings.

Visit http://bit.ly/3xP9t3xfor registration information. CLE credit is applied for and pending. Space is limited for the in-person lecture, but guests can view a live stream in Cartwright Hall, 2621 Carpenter Avenue, Des Moines, room 213.

—Taylor Johnson, Law School

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

March Provost Social: Commitment to Mission

Drake faculty and staff who exemplify the Core Value Commitment to Mission will be recognized at the next Provost’s Drake Social on Monday, March 20, in the Cowles Library Reading Room, beginning at 4 p.m.

To nominate a colleague, please use this Qualtrics form. Feel free to fill out multiple forms. All those nominated will be recognized on a rolling display at the event.

What do we mean when we talk about Commitment to Mission at Drake? We look for colleagues who act with integrity, purpose, and optimism in service to both our students and our community.

When you nominate colleagues, be prepared to describe how each colleague meets this description. Several nominees will be chosen at random for prizes!

Refreshments will include wine, beer, soft drinks, and an assortment of light snacks. Keep in mind that this is a family friendly event—bring your children and partner!

—Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost