All posts by Scott Law

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus safety walk

On Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8:30 p.m., members of the campus community partnered together to conduct a campus safety walk.  Members of Student Affairs, Residence Life, Facilities, Environmental Health and Safety, and Public Safety were joined by over a dozen student representatives from the Student Senate and Residence Hall Association.

Split into two teams, the group covered the campus to look at safety issues that may present themselves at night to members of the community walking on campus.  The two groups located various safety concerns, and took the steps to document them so that corrective actions can be taken.  All of the concerns were directed to either Public Safety, Facilities, or Environmental Health and Safety to work on resolving.

As we all know campus safety is a shared responsibility.  The campus looks and feels a lot different after-hours and a safety walk with various members of the campus community allows for items that might not be seen during the day to standout.  Although Public Safety and Facilities conduct regular monthly lighting surveys, this walk looked not only at lighting, but several other issues.

Special thank you to Douglass Robinett, assistant director of Residence Life, for proposing this idea and working with RHA to join the effort and to Connor Oetzmann, student body president, for getting the Student Senate involved.

In order to continue this effort, there will be a Spring Campus Safety Walk held in early April.  If you have any questions about the fall walk or would like to participate in the spring walk, please send an email to scott.law@drake.edu.

— Scott Law, Public Safety & Operational Services

Strategic Updates Archive

United Way campaign progress

With President Martin’s message and the United Way email to full-time and regular part-time employees, yesterday we launched the 2022 United Way campaign. Our collective response is inspiring!

As of this morning, we have raised $16,811 for local nonprofits. Thus far 88 full-time employees have participated, along with one retiree and one part-time employee. Currently, we show a full-time employee participation rate of 9%. Our 2022 United Way campaign goal is $40,000 with a 40% participation rate.

To those who have contributed, thank you. If you have not yet donated, please consider the impact of your potential investment. If you contribute $5 per month via payroll deduction, your $60 donation could represent 192 meals for neighbors experiencing homelessness. Every dollar makes a difference. So, we invite you to donate today.

How to Donate
Check your inbox for an email from Mary Sellers, president of the United Way of Central Iowa. The email was sent Nov. 8 and contains instructions for how to participate in this year’s campaign.

— Ryan Arnold, Director, Community Engagement 

Campus Announcements Archive

First Generation Student Day Nov. 8

Nov. 8 is National First Generation Student Day. Drake defines a first-generation student is a college student whose parents/legal guardians have not received a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university. At Drake, about 20% of our incoming students are first generation students. The Office of New Student and Family Programs and Drake First Gen Student Organization are partnering to celebrate Drake first generation students, staff, and faculty.

We are looking for first-generation students, staff, and faculty to fill out a short questionnaire to capture your experiences as a first gen student. The survey results will be used to generate profiles to showcase the first-generation college experience on social media leading up to Nov. 8.

On Nov. 8, we will be tabling on Helmick Commons or Olmsted Breezeway (depending on weather) from 1–4 p.m. passing out snacks and First Gen Bulldog stickers. We hope you can stop by for a sticker and some snacks!

We will cap off the week with a Brunch and Learn on Friday, Nov. 10, from 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. in Shivers Hospitality Suite. The Brunch and Learn will feature a session on “From Community to Career.” Renee Sedlacek Lee, director of Community Engaged Learning, will share her story as a first-generation college student and how students too can use community engagement opportunities to prepare for life after college.  Click here to rsvp for the Brunch and Learn!

We encourage First Generation students, staff and faculty to join our Facebook group and follow on Instagram.

We look forward to seeing you at some of the First-Generation Student Day events!

— Marina Verlengia, New Student and Parent Programs

HR Information Archive

November is Diabetes Awareness Month

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should.  When this happens, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream.  Over time, this can cause serious health problems, including heart and kidney disease, vision loss, and stroke.

In the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled.  That might include you, and you may not even know it.  More than 37 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1 in 5 don’t know they have it.  Another 96 million U.S. adults have prediabetes, which increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, yet more than 8 in 10 don’t know it.  So how do you know if you have diabetes?

First, are you at risk?  There are three main types of diabetes; type 1, type 2, and gestational, but over 90% of those diagnosed with diabetes have type 2.  To check your risk of type 2 diabetes, take this 60-second quiz from the CDC.  Second, check for any possible symptoms (thirsty, tired, losing weight, blurred vision, etc.).  Even if you pass the risk and symptom test, the only way to truly know for sure if you have diabetes is to have your blood sugar checked by your primary care physician.  It is a simple blood test.

If you are diagnosed with diabetes, your health care team will guide you.  If you are at a high risk for diabetes, you can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes today by staying at (or getting to) a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, and being active.  The steps you take today can make all the difference tomorrow.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Human Resources shares Survey of Administrative Services report

Drake HR has received our results from the 2022 Survey of Administrative Services (SAS). We want to start by thanking those who took the time to provide us with feedback. In 2021, 108 people indicated on the survey that they regularly work with Drake HR and completed the HR section of the survey. This year, 234 people provided us with feedback. That is a huge increase and that means the feedback is more reliable and more representative of the thoughts and perspectives of our campus. Thank you.

To the question, “Overall, how satisfied are you with HR,” we saw an increase from 4.29 in 2021 to 4.55 in 2022. While we are thrilled with the improvement, we know we have a lot of work to do.

In 2021, 43 people took time to provide narrative comments. This year, 63 people made time to do this. We are thankful for detailed responses.

Your Comments

Your comments are both relevant and meaningful—even when offering constructive criticism. We want to receive such feedback (yes, we really do) out of this important annual survey. And, you don’ have to wait for the SAS to provide feedback. One of the enhancements we adopted last year was a short “how are we doing” survey that we all have included in our signature blocks. You can access that survey and offer feedback any time.

Based on your feedback, here are the areas that will receive extra attention over the next year:

  • Responsiveness: We’ve made strides in our responsiveness but have more work to do here. Our department designed and adopted customer service standards last year. We are going to take a fresh look at them and see if they need to be further revised. We know that to build and sustain trust we simply must be responsive. If you ever find yourself waiting on HR, please contact me (Maureen) directly. I really do want to know if you are experiencing a delay in assistance and can help determine what’s going on.
  • Staff Performance Evaluations: We need to spend some time with the staff performance evaluation process. While we offered manager training and updated/expended tools this year (all are posted in the manager toolkit), it’s clear both managers and staff want more out of this process.
  • Always Open to Suggestions for BUILD Topics & Wellness Programming: We welcome additional feedback on topics for BUILD and Wellness programing for 2023. We’ll look into providing at least some remote BUILD options and additional ways to make primarily live BUILD sessions available to those who cannot attend in person.
  • Student Employment: We made some improvements to supporting student workers, but this was a learning curve year for us—thank you for your patience. We know we have some kinks to work out to assure we are responsive and paying attention to the details. A couple of recent improvements: Over the summer, Marli and I revamped the Bulldogs@Work presentation for new student orientation. Marli spent time in Olmsted during the first few weeks of the semester to make it more convenient for student workers to complete paperwork. Marli and I attended new student worker orientation with Rec Services to help their new student workers complete their employee paperwork  (big thank you to Jerome in ITS who was able to find a desk top scanning solution for us so we can complete I-9s outside of our office!).

To everyone who took time to provide feedback through the SAS, thank you. We review the responses in great detail and will use the quantitative and qualitative feedback to set goals and priorities for the coming year. Your experiences, suggestions, and feedback really does make a difference. Thank you!

— Maureen De Armond (and the whole Drake HR Team)

HR Information Archive

2023 Benefits overview sessions, attend in-person or virtual

November is open enrollment month for benefit selections that take effect Jan. 1, 2023.  There are some changes and enhancements being made to the benefits through Drake University.

On Nov. 18, we will offer two open enrollment benefit overview sessions for you to learn more.  You have the option of joining a live session or a virtual session (same material—pick which one you prefer to attend):

During these sessions, we’ll share highlights of the plan changes taking effect on January 1. Drake HR and some of our key consultants and vendors will be prepared to answer any questions you may have.

We will record the virtual session for people who are unable to attend either session and share that link in the Nov. 22 issue of OnCampus.

Naturally, if you have any benefits-related or open enrollment questions, please don’t wait to ask them. You can contact Drake HR at drakehr@drake.edu at any time.

— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

Benefits and Wellness Fair Nov. 4

On Friday, Nov. 4, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., we will be hosting Drake’s annual Benefits & Wellness Fair in Levitt Hall. Please come!

We will have benefits and wellness partners and vendors on hand to answer questions. There will be snacks, freebies, and the chance to enter a raffle for prizes. Most importantly, this is an opportunity for you to be sure you understand and take advantage of the benefits and perks offered to you as an employee of Drake University.

The Fair is an important annual event to help prepare you to make benefit elections for January 1, 2023.

To entice attendees to meet with our guests, we’ll hand out passports that will be stamped by the visitors you meet. If you get enough stamps, we’ll enter your name in a raffle for prizes.

November is open enrollment month! Throughout the month you can enroll in benefits for 2023. Please check OnCampus and review HR communications for additional benefits-related information and events throughout the month of November.

— Marlene Heuertz, Linda Feiden, and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Faculty and staff recognized for joyful accountability

Nearly 40 Drake faculty and staff were celebrated at the Provost’s Drake Social in October for exemplifying the core value of joyful accountability, which is defined as:

  • We are creative and curious, brave and bold.​
  • We strive each day to do our best.​

Each was nominated by a colleague, and several were chosen at random to receive prizes:

  • Valori Bross, Admission, application operations facilitator: pie baked by the Provost
  • Rob Ebel, Facilities, project manager: baked good
  • Marlene Heuertz, Human Resources, benefits specialist: office breakfast
  • Diana Newman, CPHS, budget and office manager: office snack break
  • Christine Urish, CPHS, professor of occupational therapy: premier parking

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

HR Information Archive

Contribution limits will increase for Drake’s voluntary/supplemental retirement plan in 2023

Because Drake has a mandatory retirement plan, employees who choose to contribute to the voluntary/supplemental retirement plan, may contribute up to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contribution limits. In 2022, the contribution limit is $20,500.

On Oct. 20, 2022, the IRS announced the contribution limit for 2023 will be increased to $22,500. This limit applies to employees who participate in Drake’s voluntary/supplemental plan offered by Drake through TIAA.

Additionally, the IRS increased the “catch-up contribution limit” for employees age 50 and over to an additional $7,500 in 2023, up from $6,500 in 2022. Thus, employees who are age 50 and older may contribute up to $30,000 ($22,500 plus $7,500) pre-tax dollars to Drake’s voluntary/supplemental retirement account, starting Jan. 1, 2023.

Questions about your Drake retirement plan?

Our TIAA vendor will attend Drake’s Benefits & Wellness Fair on Nov. 4 (9–11:30 a.m.) in Levitt Hall. If you have questions related to your Mandatory or Voluntary retirement plan, please stop by the Fair and speak directly with a TIAA Field Consultant. If you are unable to attend the fair, please reach out to drakehr@drake.edu with any benefits questions.

— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

New flexible spending account limits in 2023

The maximum contribution limit for Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) will increase to $3,050 during the 2023 Plan Year. That’s $200 more than this year’s $2,850 limit.

Drake’s Health Care FSA Plan will allow participants to carry over up to $570 of unused 2022 contributions to the 2023 Plan Year. Contributions carried over, in addition to newly elected amounts, may be used to pay for eligible expenses incurred during the 2023 Plan Year.

For example: Participants who elect $3,050 for the 2023 Plan Year and carry over $570 of unreimbursed contributions from 2022 will have a total of $3,620 in their Health Care FSA effective January 1, 2023. Additionally, at the end of the 2023 Plan Year, participants may carry over up to $610 to the 2024 Plan Year.

The maximum contribution limit for Dependent Care FSAs will remain at $5,000 in 2023. Drake’s Health and Dependent Care FSAs are administered by Advantage Administrators.

Important Note about FSA Participation: Your enrollment in an FSA does not automatically continue from year-to-year. If you want to participate in Drake’s FSA plans during 2023, you must make a new election during Open Enrollment this month. If you forget to enroll or re-enroll, you will not be able to enroll once Open Enrollment has closed. Every year at least one person forgets to re-enroll and learns the hard way. Don’t be that person this year!

Questions about flexible spending accounts?

Advantage Administrators will be present at Drake’s Benefits & Wellness Fair on Nov. 4 (9–11:30 a.m.) in Levitt Hall. If you have questions related to flexible spending accounts, please stop by the Fair and speak directly with their representative. If you are unable to attend the fair, please reach out to drakehr@drake.edu with any benefits questions.

— Marlene Heuertz and Maureen De Armond, Human Resources