Do you have federal student loans? If so, Drake Human Resources encourages you to take advantage of the temporary changes made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. A limited waiver is in effect until Oct. 31, 2022, making it easier for millions of public service workers to get credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify under the traditional PSLF—reducing, or potentially eliminating, student loan debt.

For example, under the Temporary waiver:

• Past periods of repayment are potentially eligible whether or not you made a payment, made that payment on time, for the total amount due, or on a qualifying repayment plan.
• Borrowers with a FFEL Loan, Perkins Loan, or other previously excluded federal student loans can benefit by consolidating their loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan and receive credit for periods of repayment prior to the consolidation.
• Months spent in deferment before 2013 will count under the Temporary PSLF waiver.

In short, the waiver will allow borrowers gain PSLF credit, even if you had been told previously that you had the wrong loan type or the wrong repayment plan.

To see whether you qualify, visit studentaid.gov/pslfwaiver. There, you will find the PSLF Help Tool and additional information to assist you with processing. Even if you do not yet fully qualify, the PSLF website recommends that you still submit the form annually, so it will be easier when you do fully qualify.

Drake HR is committed to helping all current and past employees complete the necessary forms. To ensure timely processing, send your employer portion to DrakeHR@Drake.edu prior to noon on Oct. 31, 2022.

All information must be uploaded to your loan carrier prior to 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022 for full consideration. Mail-in submissions must have an employer signature date prior to Nov. 1, 2022 to qualify.

The 2022 United Way of Central Iowa employee campaign will be held Monday, Nov. 7, through Friday, Nov. 11. Watch for more information regarding how you can participate, as well as campaign goals and incentives. Learn more about the United Way of Central Iowa.

— Ryan Arnold, Director of Community Engagement

A final reminder that J-Term 2024 travel seminar proposals are due Thursday, Oct. 27. A travel seminar is a short-term, faculty-led study abroad (or domestic) program. This is an opportunity to teach a course that integrates an academic experience with intercultural and experiential learning while traveling. If you are interested in leading a travel seminar in 2024, and haven’t already met with someone in Global Engagement, please email Chelsea Funk, assistant director of education abroad, at chelsea.funk@drake.edu to set up a meeting to discuss your ideas and learn more about the process.

You can review the proposal process and submit a proposal through Qualtrics.

— Maria Rohach, Global Engagement

The Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs invites proposals for a two-year grant that will fund an interdisciplinary faculty-student research project that addresses a global issue of broad public importance. The purpose of this initiative is to enhance Drake’s direct involvement in addressing pressing global issues, thus helping position Drake as a “global knowledge hub” in service to local, national, and international communities. 

 Over the last several years, the Nelson Institute has funded the following projects: 

• Cross-cultural Community-based Strategies for Sustainable Urban Streams: Lessons from Des Moines and Jakarta. 
• Exploring complementary approaches to combat global non-communicable diseases in India. 
• Religions of Beijing Book project with Minzu University of China in Beijing. 
• Assessing, Collaborating, and Empowering to Improve Water Quality in Rural Uganda. 
• Transnational Des Moines: Reframing Des Moines Immigrant and Refugee Narratives through Collaborative Research with Youth. 
• Drake University’s Presence in the Toledo District of Southern Belize: Maximizing Our Impact While Minimizing Our Footprint. 

 Please visit our website here to learn more about the projects above.  

 One project will be funded for the period from January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2024. The Nelson Institute will provide $20,000-$30,000 in support of the selected project, depending upon demonstrated need. Project leaders are encouraged, if necessary, to seek additional funding from on- and off-campus sources. 

Send your proposals to the Director of the Nelson Institute for Diplomacy & International Affairs Professor Jimmy Senteza (Jimmy.Senteza@drake.edu). The deadline for proposals is November 18, 2022. The review committee typically consists of the Director of the Nelson Institute, the Executive Director of Global Engagement, two additional faculty representatives from the Global Engagement Advisory Committee (GEAC), and a staff member from the Grants Office. Award notification will occur by December 16, 2022. 

Successful proposals will feature the following elements/criteria: 

1. Explication of Research Topic 

•  A clear identification of the pressing global issue to be addressed and an explanation of its public significance. 
• An exposition of the research objectives and methods related to the project. 
• An explanation of how the project takes advantage of particular strengths Drake and the community bring to addressing the issue. 

      2. Identification of Interdisciplinary Research Team

• Commitments from an interdisciplinary faculty research team consisting of three or more faculty members (at least two of whom must be Drake affiliated). One or more Principal Investigators must be identified. 
• Evidence that the team members possess the requisite qualifications to successfully carry out the project (please attach CVs). 
• The project must involve two or more paid student research assistants with appropriate qualifications. 
• The research may be joint or parallel (i.e., a single joint project or several individual projects that each address related aspects of a common theme). 

       3. Activities and Outcomes 

•  The project timeline will allow for completion of the primary research products within a two-year period. 
• The project participants will engage in at least two team activities (e.g., summer campus workshop, international travel as a team, cooperative field work, etc.) during the grant period. 
• Team members will collaborate with other campus entities (e.g., Principal Center for Global Citizenship, Humanities Center, DUSCI, the Harkin Institute, Engaged Citizen, etc.) to schedule co-curricular events (e.g., speakers, films, panel discussions, etc.) related to the theme during the two-year grant period. 
• The project will plausibly lead to externalization in the form of publication, presentation(s) at a professional conference, submission as a report to relevant public or non-governmental bodies involved with policy-making, or other outputs of similar import. 
• The student members of the grant team are expected to participate in the annual Nelson Conference held on campus each Spring. Additionally, we encourage organizing an on-campus conference related to the theme to be held during (or soon following) year two of the grant involving Drake faculty and students and relevant off-campus experts from academia, government or the professions.

       4.  Preferences

• Preference will be given to projects that draw upon connections with partners at the local, national, or international level (e.g., overseas university partner). 
• Preference will be given to new projects that have not been funded in prior years by the Nelson Institute. 

 Teams are encouraged to consult with the Director of the Nelson Institute as they prepare their proposals. The successful grant team will be expected to submit a formal progress report by December 31, 2023, and a final grant report by December 30, 2024. 

— Bonnie Ehler, Global Engagement

Thank you to everyone who completed the Survey of Administrative Services. With your support, we were able to gain 517 completed surveys—a new record! Leaders from Facilities Planning and Management, Finance, HR, University Communications and Marketing, Public Safety and Operational Services, and ITS will be communicating out to campus their action areas as a result of the survey. Your feedback is helping continuously improve our service excellence here at Drake!

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

Today, Apple released the newest version of macOS, Ventura. ITS generally allows users to update their Drake owned computer after the first or second point release (e.g. 13.1) of the operating system. By that point all of the bugs and security issues in the operating system should be fixed, and ITS will have had the opportunity to thoroughly test the OS against Drake ITS systems. Since there’s no way to rollback an OS, we must be careful when allowing upgrades. If you’d like to upgrade your Mac to Ventura, we can make exceptions as long as it is understood that ITS support is best effort.

— Becky Klein, ITS

We’re excited to be offering five retreat experiences for first-year students during J-Term in 2023. The experiences are all centered around Drake’s mission and will engage students virtually during the first two weeks of J-Term before students return to campus on Thursday, Jan. 19, for a retreat. Applications are open until Nov. 11 at 5 p.m.

Students who complete a Mission in Action J-Term experience will become Mission Ambassadors for Drake University, which will be reflected on their official Drake University transcript. As Mission Ambassadors, students have proven that they are actively living out Drake’s mission.

Please use the nomination form to help us identify students who might benefit from participating in this experience. Think about students who may value a deeper campus connection. We welcome students who haven’t yet stepped into leadership roles

For more information, please visit https://www.drake.edu/dc/j-termexperience/2023missioninactionfirst-yearexperience/.

— Melissa Sturm-Smith, Academic Excellence and Student Success