In response to a court injunction that has temporarily barred the Biden administration’s student loan debt relief program, the U.S. Department of Education has extended the student loan payment pause, which was schedule to end on Dec. 31, 2022.
“The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023—payments will resume 60 days after that.” (studentaid.gov)
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All faculty and staff are invited to attend a budget town hall presentation with President Martin and Adam Voigts, chief financial officer. The presentation will review FY22 results, the budget for FY23, and a financial look to FY24 and beyond. The presentation will be in Parents Hall of the Olmsted Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 1–2 p.m.
Students, faculty, and staff are invited to a retirement reception for Lisa Grulke. Lisa retired from the biology deparment, where she served as an instructor for the anatomy and physiology labs. The reception will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 2–4 p.m. in the Olin Hall Atrium.
Please come and wish Lisa well on her new life’s journey.
— Debora Ellen Christensen, Associate Professor of Biology
The Bulldog Shop is having a friends and family online sale running Nov. 23–28. Everyone in the campus community will enjoy the following discounts from the campus store website.
Join us on Dec. 7 for Roadmaps to Retirement: Taking Stock and Looking Forward.
A shocking number of Americans have done little to prepare for post-employment life. This free event will feature two panels of experts: Social Security and Disability at 11 a.m., moderated by Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Agency, and Employer Retirement Savings Programs at 1 p.m., led by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of the U.S. Department of Labor. More details are available on The Harkin Institute website.
Registration is required, sign up here on eventbrite. This event will have American Sign Language (ASL) and Real-time captioning (CART). Contact harkininstitute@drake.edu with questions or to request other accommodations.
— Lila Johnson, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement
Join The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement on Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium or virtually, for our event An Evening with Charlie Cook. Register.
This event is open to Drake University undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff, as well as the larger Des Moines community. This event is free, but registration is required. American sign language (ASL) and real time captioning (CART) will be provided. please contact harkininstitute@drake.edu to request other accommodations.
An Evening with Charlie Cook is an opportunity to hear insight and analysis on the state of American politics by one of the leading authorities on the U.S. political scene. This year Cook will also share important insights about the midterm election. Cook is a political analyst for National Journal magazine, founder of the Cook Political Report, co-author of the 2020 and 2022 editions of the Almanac of American Politics and a National Advisory Council member for The Harkin Institute.
— Lila Johnson, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement
Give yourself the gift of healthier habits this year with the DU Well Holiday Challenge.
This 5-week program includes healthy steps you can build on each week and continue through the new year. Each week you will receive an email newsletter with that week’s challenge, along with supporting tools to help you succeed. You will also be given a personal success tracker to track your progress throughout the challenge. For those interested in maintaining their weight over the holidays, there’s a section to record your weight. This is completely optional, but a great way to help keep you on pace. And of course, there will be prizes!
To get started, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu. Deadline to register is Monday, Nov. 28.
This is your final reminder. Employees on Drake’s health plan, who want to receive the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2023 – a savings of $32 per month – need to complete a physical with their primary care physician (PCP) by Nov. 30, 2022 and submit a Premium Discount-Annual Physical Form by Dec. 2, 2022.
If you had a physical since Dec. 1, 2021, but haven’t turned in your completed form, please do so now. If you haven’t scheduled your annual physical yet with your PCP, you are running out of time. Please email linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions.
As many of you know, Drake’s health insurance plan is a self-insured plan. While Wellmark facilitates the claims process, Drake pays the claims. We have certain fiduciary obligations in administering the plan. We must act solely in the interest of our employees for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits and defraying reasonable expenses relating to plan administration. Part of these obligations include ensuring that only people who are eligible for coverage are on the plan—this includes employees, dependent children, spouses, and domestic partners.
If you decide to elect coverage, you can include eligible children on the health insurance plan until they reach age 26. Our health plan will discontinue coverage on the last day of the month in which your child turns 26. Certain exceptions apply for disabled dependent children older than age 26 who meet specific criteria.
If your spouse or domestic partner is enrolled in our plan, and you experience a divorce or dissolution of a relationship, your spouse’s/domestic partner’s health insurance coverage will be discontinued when the divorce/dissolution is final. The plan requires you to inform us of such changes and there are penalties if you do not.
Requirement to Notify Group Sponsor: You must notify your employer or group sponsor within 60 days of most events that change the coverage status of members and within 60 days of events related to divorce or annulment, legal separation, your dependent child losing eligibility for this coverage, Medicaid or CHIP eligibility. If you do not provide timely notification of an event that requires you to remove an affected family member, your coverage may be terminated. If you do not provide timely notification of a coverage enrollment event, the affected person may not enroll until an annual group enrollment period.
As part of our diligence in administering our health insurance plan, we will be conducting a dependent audit in 2023. That means, we will be ensuring that only eligible children, spouses and domestic partners are on the plan. If you have failed to report any changes in status, you still have time to make corrections for 2023. If you have enrolled a dependent in the plan who is not eligible, you still have time to make that correction, too. If you have a dependent child who is under age 26, they may remain on the plan through the end of the month in which they turn 26.
If someone is covered by our plan and they lose eligibility during the 2023 plan year, please contact Drake Human Resources (drakehr@drake.edu), so we can make necessary changes and determine whether access to coverage through COBRA may apply.
— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources
We have updated the digital benefits guide for plan year 2023. This one-stop resource will serve as a handy reference for employees throughout the coming year and as a helpful recruitment tool for applicants. In fact, the digital benefits guide was created for two primary audiences: with prospective employees during the recruitment process and with current employees as an “any time” reference.
While no guide can anticipate every question or outline every benefit detail, the digital benefits guide was designed to address the most frequently asked questions posed by prospective, new, and existing employees. If you have not yet reviewed the digital benefits guide, please consider taking a look as you are bound to learn something new about the great benefits offered to Drake employees and their families.
Separate from the digital benefits guide is a list of perks and discounts available to Drake employees. This list is regularly updated and worth a look periodically to check out what is new.
To explore these documents: Visit Drake HR’s internal Benefits Page. The digital benefits guide is always featured at the top of the page. You can find the Perks & Discounts link under “Benefit Information Resources,” by scrolling down. For applicants, we also have these items posted on the public-facing website (no my.drake log in necessary) here.
— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources
