Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two articles with a read time of 10 minutes.

If you are interested and able to attend this terrific on-line conference sponsored by the Center for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, I’ll happily use restricted/endowed faculty development accounts to pay your registration fee—in exchange for you offering some perspectives on the experience to a small group of faculty and staff later in the academic year.

Jampacked with amazing scholars and creative artists, the conference this year focuses on “how contemplative practices can support and sustain learning communities that resource and enhance resilience, connection, and healthy reemergence back into a more equitable and inclusive society.”  The organizers continue, “Acknowledging the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequities and disparities created by systemic oppression, we are now faced with an even greater urgency to collectively move the societal needle of engaging with one another and the environment from health-compromising to health-enhancing, from unsustainable to sustainable, from unjust to just. This movement will be facilitated by a more compassionate understanding of the loss and grief we have experienced as individuals and communities, illumination of the resilience and wisdom that we have drawn upon, and the application of the diverse learning, healing, and transformative strategies that have emerged.”

I have attended ACHME conferences in the past, and presented scholarship of teaching and learning—other faculty at Drake have also attended; we’ve all found our time in this scholarly and creative community to be incredibly generative. I hope some Drake faculty will consider taking this opportunity to attend. Please email me (renee.cramer@drake.edu) if you are interested.

In other conference news, The Iowa Network of Human Rights Academics’ annual Iowa Human Rights Research Conference will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Drake University Law School. Please see this call for proposals and this proposal submission form—students and faculty are invited to propose, present, and attend. The deadline for submission is Feb. 21, 2022, which gives faculty time to think through how this might be integrated into your early spring semester planning, and seek support for growing pedagogies that can contribute to the conference.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two articles with a read time of 10 minutes.

This November and December, please join the Office of the Deputy Provost in Howard Hall, Room 210, for some f2f food and fellowship, in conversation with colleagues (yes, I am a dork, but gosh I love alliteration!)

Books for Breakfast returns on Nov. 23 and Nov. 30 from 8:30–9:30 a.m., reading Burnout:  The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, and on Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, reading The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy.  Please email Nicki.Kimm@drake.edu to register—that way we’ll know how many books to order and how much breakfast to provide.

As faculty, chairs, and dean teams engage the process of curriculum revisioning, my office will also be hosting open work sessions in Howard Hall, Room 210, on Thursday, Oct. 28, from 1–2 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 2–3 p.m. We will also host one virtual session on Tuesday, Nov. 2, from 9–10 a.m. These are times to ask each other questions about your processes, work through the template together, and simply be in community while doing this work. Please email Nicki.Kimm@drake.edu to register and let us know which session you’ll attend (this will allow us to order enough croissants and get you the link if you’ll be remote on the Nov. 2).

On Friday, Nov. 5, join us for a conversation about research. The format here is less formal presentation and more a time for engagement. We’ll use the conversation (from 11:30–12:15 p.m.) to talk about our process in developing  research questions and methods, find points of synergy and potential collaboration, and just enjoy relaxing into scholarly conversation. Register by emailing Nicki.Kimm@drake.edu. Please provide any dietary needs and restrictions so we can order enough lunch for everyone.

With the one parenthetical exception, these events will all be in person in Howard Hall.  Following University guidelines, these events will be masked, with the ability to remove our masks to eat and drink. If we have more than 5 people sign up, we will move down the hall to a classroom in order to facilitate greater social distancing.

Finally, a teaser and save-the-date (with more information to come, in next week’s OnCampus): in collaboration with our Office of Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance, I’ll be hosting a session on Funding Your Research on Friday, Nov. 19 from  1–3 p.m.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Drake Volleyball will host Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day Friday, Oct. 29, during its game against Northern Iowa at the Knapp Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m.

Each faculty and staff member can receive up to four complimentary tickets and can purchase additional general admission tickets for just $5. Redeem your complimentary tickets.

In addition, Halloween Hoops will be taking place prior to the game so bring the family, wear your Halloween costume, and enjoy free pizza, goodie bags, and interactive games (while supplies last).

For more information on all of our fall Faculty and Staff Appreciation Days visit DrakeTix.com/facultyandstaffdays.

— Aimee Lane, Athletics

To celebrate National Authors Day on Nov. 1, Cowles Library has updated the display of books authored by Drake University faculty and staff (display case located in the south stairwell near the Reading Room).  Did you know that Cowles collects books published by faculty and staff for the circulating collection as well as University Archives and Special Collections? Have you published a book recently and aren’t sure if the library has a copy? Let us know at archives@drake.edu.

— Hope Bibens, Director, University Archives and Special Collections

As the annual Survey on Administrative Services wraps up, we will turn our attention back to the focus areas derived from Drake’s second important annual survey: Great Colleges to Work For (GCTWF). You may recall from past OnCampus articles on Sept. 14, Sept. 21, and Oct. 5, that three focus areas were identified for this year:

1. Ensure consistent and robust cascade of communication;
2. Facilitate re-connection and attend to our culture; and
3. Leverage internal professional development opportunities for leaders.

In September and the first part of October, we concentrated on the first focus area. We conducted a pulse survey, facilitated two brain-storming sessions, presented responses to the President’s Council, communicated with managers about best practices, and did our best to keep campus informed of our steps and findings. In addition to communicating within their chain of supervision, we encourage faculty to regularly connect with the Faculty Senate. Similarly, we encourage staff to stay or get involved with All Staff Council.

Human Resources and All Staff Council collaborated on a town hall last week. Later today, there will be a town hall addressing the budget. Opportunities like these are great for employees to directly hear from and ask questions of leaders and departments. Our hope is that these collective efforts enhance the flow of communication. Next year’s GCTWF survey results will show us whether these efforts made an impact. We certainly hope so.

Now, on to the second focus area that speaks to re-connecting and attending to our culture.

The global pandemic has been disruptive, to say the least. There were times when we pulled together and other times when many of us were very isolated. How do we now move forward? How do we reconnect with our Core Values and Mission? How do teams claw back cohesion and collaborative practices if those have been not attended to? How do we maintain our focus on our students, while many of us still feel distracted by what we’ve just been through? These are tough questions and there are not simple, clear answers. So, where do we go from here?

Luckily, the both of us served on the task force focusing on remote work and flexible schedules for staff. That group spent some time discussing culture and collaboration. We will pull together some of those ideas and thoughts in our next OnCampus piece. Additionally, instead of another pulse survey or more brainstorming sessions, we would like to spend some time with focus groups. We want people with ideas, suggestions, and solutions to participate. People who know the institution and who want Drake’s culture to be strong, positive, welcoming, and supportive. If you have time, interest, and ideas, please consider attending one of these two focus group sessions:

• Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 9–10 a..m. Join here.
• Friday, Nov. 5, from 1–2 p.m. Join here.

If you have ideas or suggestions but no time or interest in participating in a focus group, that’s okay. We still want to hear from you. Please email drakehr@drake.edu and just use the subject line: “Our Culture,” and tell us what’s on your mind. We will provide campus an update on next steps, once we are on the other side of the focus groups and a review of any related emails. Please be watching for more follow-up new on the GCTWF survey results in the coming weeks!

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources, and Nate Reagen, Office of the President