All posts by Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond

HR Information Archive

Two weeks left of open enrollment—don’t delay

Nov. 30 is the deadline for open enrollment. The Benefits Portal closes at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30. If you want to add benefits, make changes to existing benefits, enroll or re-enroll in a Flexible Spending Account, you still have time to do so.

You can access the Benefits Portal through my.drake.edu. You’ll find it on the left side of the screen above the Employee Dashboard link.

We are happy to report the Benefits Portal has been working well for people. It walks you through your options step-by-step and only takes a few minutes. Of course, if you have any questions or problems navigating the Benefits Portal, reach out to us at drakehr@drake.edu or contact Marlene directly at marlene.heuertz@drake.edu.

If you are still thinking through options, please consider attending one of the benefit overview sessions held on November 18: Join us:

During these sessions, we’ll share highlights of the plan changes taking effect Jan. 1 and answer your questions. We will record the virtual session for people who are unable to attend either session.

If you have not yet enrolled, make sure you don’t wait until the last minute!

Benefits & Wellness Fair Raffle Winners

We so enjoyed those of you who attended the Benefits & Wellness Fair and played our passport game. We drew the 15 names of winners and they had the choice of a range of small prizes or $10 in Bulldog Bucks. Our winners were:

1.      Ofelia Arreola Martinez

2.      Colin Atkinson

3.      Dennis Belieu

4.      Jack Bush

5.      Doreen Dixon

6.      Dennis Goldford

7.      Jorona Johnson

8.       Brianna Leistikow

9.      Cindy Liska

10.  Elvira Mejia De Luna

11.  Samantha Nordstrom

12.  Jeremy Sievers

13.  Charlene Skidmore

14.  Mizuko Takamoto

15.  Kathy Veach

Congratulations to our winners!

— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

More details: New, optional vision hardware benefit

In the Nov. 1 OnCampus, we shared the great news about a new benefit: Introducing optional vision hardware insurance with Avēsis.

As with any new benefit, there is excitement and curiosity. Since we have received several questions, we thought we should share some additional information about our new partnership with Avēsis.

Vision Hardware 101

  1. Vision exams will still be covered by Drake’s medical insurance through Wellmark.
  2. The current hardware allowance through Wellmark ($150/year) is going away on December 31, 2022.
  3. Avēsis is now available as an optional benefit for employees (and their families) to cover vision hardware (glasses, contacts).
  4. If you do not want to enroll in the Avēsis Plan, using your Health Care Flexible Spending Account is a great way to set aside pre-tax dollars to cover vision hardware.

Participation in the Avēsis Hardware Benefit is voluntary/optional. You may choose to purchase this coverage for yourself or your covered dependents (spouse/partner and dependent children). Following are monthly rates/in-network benefits:

  • Single Monthly Rate = $1.37/month
  • Family Monthly Rate = $4.37/month
  • Frame allowance = $150
  • Contact Lens Allowance = $150
  • Materials Co-pay = $15

We are very excited to offer this affordable and wonderful new benefit to Drake employees. An Avēsis representative will be on hand for the benefit information sessions being held on November 18.

Attend one of the benefit overview sessions Nov. 18:

During these sessions, we’ll share highlights of the plan changes taking effect Jan. 1 and answer your questions. We will record the virtual session for people who are unable to attend either session.

— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake Theatre Arts presents: Silent Sky

Drake Theatre Arts proudly presents their final production of the fall semester, Silent Sky, by Lauren Gunderson, Nov. 17–20 in the Performing Arts Hall (PAH); Directed by Drake Senior Morgan Erwin. Silent Sky tells the story of 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and her fellow female researchers—or “computers”—in the Harvard University observatory, who set the standard still used today for measuring distances in space while discovering thousands of stars. Tickets can be purchased through the following link: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/drakefinearts/6865 or at the Fine Arts Box Office.

— Jacob Lemons, Fine Arts

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake hosts inaugural U.S.-China Symposium, Nov. 17

The inaugural U.S.-China Symposium at Drake University will take place on November 17, 2022, at the Olmsted Center on Drake University’s campus. This event is free and open to the public.

About the Symposium

The symposium is an initiative of the Ambassador-in-Residence program at Drake. Terry Branstad, former U.S. Ambassador to China and Governor of Iowa, is currently serving as the Ambassador-in-Residence. The Ambassador will host an annual symposium to convene experienced professionals, academics, and other experts to speak on various topics related to China and U.S.-China relations, with the aim to provide a platform for multiple viewpoints and opportunities for candid discussion.

Learn more and register for the symposium at drake.edu/branstad

Featured Sessions

John Pomfret, an award-winning journalist and author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present. Pomfret will deliver a lecture on the history of the relationship between the United States and China, and what we can expect from U.S.-China relations after the 20th Party Congress. Pomfret was a foreign correspondent for twenty years, spending seven years covering China – in the late 1980s during the Tiananmen Square protests, then from 1997 until the end of 2003 as the bureau chief for The Washington Post in Beijing.

Jonathan Fritz, Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, will join Ambassador Branstad and Steve Churchill for an armchair conversation about current topics in U.S.-China foreign affairs. Fritz has been the Chief of Staff to Jose Fernandez, the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the U.S. State Department since August 2021. Previously, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs responsible for China, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

Fritz will also hold a session on Careers in Diplomacy for students Nov. 17th at 4:30 pm for International Education Week. 

U.S.-China Educational Exchange: Past, Present, Future

A panel discussion moderated by Min Fan, Executive Director of the U.S. Heartland China Association. Min was born in China and studied at Peking University. Her professional experience spans the corporate world, non-profit sector, and startup ecosystem. This includes leading the Ideation and Innovation Practice at Hewlett Packard Global Corporate Services; serving as the Executive Director and COO of the U.S. China Innovation Alliance; and launching U.S. China Now.

This panel will feature the expertise of Dr. Yawei Liu, Senior Advisor at the Carter Center; Dr. Mary Gallagher, Director of the International Institute at the University of Michigan; Daniel Palm, Associate Vice President for International Affairs at the University of Arizona; Samantha McCabe, International Student Services Director at the University of Wisconsin; Raven Witherspoon, Schwarzman Scholar; and Joel Glassman, Director for the Center for International Studies in the University of Missouri.

The U.S. and China: Can a Cold War Be Averted?

A panel discussion exploring the rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, moderated by Drake Professor David Skidmore. This panel will feature the expertise of Dr. John Owen, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia; Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center; and Dr. Zhu Feng, Executive Director of China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University.

View the full program and register at drake.edu/branstad.

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

Campus Announcements Archive

Hunger and Homelessness Week events

Food insecurity is an issue both here at Drake and in the Des Moines community. Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) which oversees the food pantry network in Des Moines, recently experienced its busiest day in its history. In October of this year, the DMARC Food Pantry Network assisted 19,385 unique individuals, a 63% increase over October 2021. There is work to be done around the issue of food insecurity.

During Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Nov. 12-20, the Drake community has the opportunity to learn more about the issues facing our community, and ways to get engaged to make a difference. Whether it’s through direct service such as delivering food, philanthropic efforts of raising funds or donations, or advocacy and policy work by doing research and talking to policymakers, there’s many pathways to making a difference.

Students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to a fireside chat on Wednesday, Nov. 16 from 6-7pm at Olmsted’s Pomerantz Stage. The Get Fed Up: Fight Hunger Fireside Chat will consist of student, faculty and community partner representatives to talk about the landscape of food insecurity in and around Drake, what’s being done about it, and how others can get involved in the efforts.

The chat will be moderated by Luke Elzinga, Communications and Advocacy Manager at DMARC, and panelists include EJ Wallace, State and Electoral Campaigns Advisor for Save the Children Action Network (SCAN); Erin E. Lee Schneider, Assistant Dean for Student Services at Drake University Law School, and Nachalah Gardiner, student representative of Next Course Food Recovery and Save the Children Action Network (SCAN).

Other events through the week include:

  • Thursday, Nov. 17, 6-8pm in the Drake Room. Film viewing and discussion, Next Course Volunteer Open House. Open to all. Learn about issues of food insecurity and volunteer opportunities. Popcorn will be provided. Come and go as you are able.
  • All Week – Canned Food Drive. Donation boxes will be setup around campus. Drop off non-perishable food items and personal hygiene items to be donated to the Little Free Food Pantries, the Law School Food Pantry, and DMARC.
  • All Week – Volunteer with Next Course Food Recovery to rescue leftover food from the dining halls on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up on DUgood.

Learn more at https://www.drake.edu/community/learningservice/upcomingevents/ or contact Amanda Martin, assistant director of community engaged learning, at amanda.martin@drake.edu.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake hosts disability rights and inclusive education scholars for IE Week

The Office of Global Engagement is pleased to partner with The Harkin Institute to welcome visiting scholars to campus during International Education Week whose research focuses on topics related to disability rights and inclusive education. 

Zhou Xiaorong is a research scholar at St. Cloud State University. She holds a master’s degree in rehabilitation and languages. Xiaorong specializes in collaborating, cultivating, and utilizing her broad global network for the purpose of research and development of Deaf culture-based programs and sign languages for both Chinese and American Deaf academic communities. She also provided multicultural guidance regarding accessibility laws, cultural sensitivities, empowerment of Deaf identities, and facilitations & collaborations of American Sign Language/Chinese Sign Language/Korean Sign language for international Deaf communities.

Xiaorong will be joined by colleagues from the Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy at St. Cloud State University. While on Drake’s campus, they will visit an American Sign Language class with Professor Polly Brekke and share their expertise during the U.S.-China Symposium and International Education Week Forum.

Renci Xie is a Chinese woman with disabilities and a disability rights self-advocate. Her story about embracing her disability identity was broadly reported. In January 2022, Renci was featured in a National Public Radio All Things Considered interview, “China excels at the Paralympics, but its disabled citizens are fighting for access.” She is currently working on a Ph.D. in disability law at Syracuse University.

Meet these scholars and learn more about disability rights and inclusive education in China at the following events during International Education Week:

Interview with Zhou Xiaorong

  • Moderated by Daniel Van Sant, Director of Disability Policy at the Harkin Institute
  • Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 9:30-10:30 am
  • Tom and Ruth Harkin Center
  • ASL will be provided
  • Register

U.S.-China Symposium Panel Discussion

  • Thursday, Nov. 17, at 10:30-11:30 am
  • Sussman Theater
  • ASL will be provided
  • Register

International Education Week Forum: China

  • Collier Scripps Hall, 3rd Floor Classrooms
  • 8:00 am Research presentation by Dr. Amy Knopf, Harkin Fellow 2018-2019 and Director of the St. Cloud State University Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy (ASL will be provided)
  • 8:00 am Research presentation by Renci Xie
  • 9:15 am Research presentation by Zhou Xiaorong (ASL will be provided)
  • Registration not required. Learn more

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Engagement

HR Information Archive

Update: New applicant tracking system

As many of you already know, the applicant tracking system we are currently using, HireTouch, supported by ImageTrend, is being sunset at the end of this year. We will be rolling out Jobs@Drake, supported by PageUp next month.

This week, we will be reaching out to managers and budget managers with additional information, and we will be looking to schedule a virtual session where we demonstrate Jobs@drake—highlighting similarities and differences to HireTouch.

The HR team is working on a detailed user guide and will also create some bite-sized video tutorials.

As we transition to the new system, it is likely that we will stop posting new jobs in HireTouch and hold them until the Jobs@Drake site is live. The timing is actually perfect. Recruitment from Thanksgiving until the first part of January dramatically slows down. For staff searches already posted, we will vet the existing pools and remove them from the web. If no hires are made, we’ll open them in the new system in late December or early January.

We will work with the academic units on faculty searches—as those will likely require a case-by-case assessment as to which we may want to move into the new system, and which are far enough along in the recruitment process that we may not need to do that (or we only move viable candidates if the application screening process is complete).

This will be a big change and we know there will be some hurdles as we all adjust. This was an unexpected project we had to pick up and run with, due to HireTouch being sunset at the end of the year. However, we are really excited about the look and feel of Jobs@Drake. Once we get the kinks worked out, we are confident this will be a notable improvement and despite the amount of work left to do, we are truly excited about this change.

More to come!

— Kris Brewster, ITS; Maureen De Armond, HR

For Faculty Archive

Writing in your field, faculty development opportunity

Written communication is important in almost any academic field, but the genres and accepted conventions of writing vary from discipline to discipline. In this project, we will discuss ways to integrate writing instruction into courses for which written communication is not necessarily the primary learning outcome, as well as courses that require students to communicate in field-specific ways (for instance, lab reports or business memos).

Instructors who participate in this project will have a one-semester commitment that will include:

  • Working with the Director of Writing, Megan Brown, on the development of a writing assignment, writing activities, or a writing project for one of their spring classes.
  • Attending hour-long meetings of all participants in the program in February, March, and April (or early May) 2023.  These meetings may be structured as two sessions each month, half at each session, in order to facilitate more in-depth discussion.
  • Requiring all students enrolled in the class to attend tutoring sessions at the Writing Center at least twice during the semester.

After the initial meeting(s) with the Director of Writing to develop a writing assignment or writing project, participants will receive a stipend of $500. After completing the project and attending the final meeting, participants will receive an additional $500.

Participation is limited to 10 individuals.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Nicki Kimm by Friday, December 2.

If you have questions, contact Megan Brown (megan.brown@drake.edu).

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Campus Announcements Archive

Coffee Conversations with students/faculty/staff who are disabled

Come to the Tom and Ruth Harkin Center on Friday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m. for free refreshments and supportive conversations.  

The Harkin Institute is hosting a safe space for all Drake University students, faculty, and staff with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Registrations is not required but you can let us know you’re coming here.

Coffee Conversations is a chance for students, faculty, and staff to come together and discuss experiences, successes, and struggles, build relationships, and form support systems on Drake’s campus. American Sign Language (ASL) and real time captioning (CART) will be provided. Contact harkininstitute@drake.edu with any questions and to request other accommodations. 

— Lila Johnson, Harkin Institute