All posts by Linda Feiden

HR Information Archive

Employee and Family Resources August webinar

Drake University’s Employee Assistance Program through Employee and Family Resources (EFR) is continuing their free monthly webinar series on Aug. 26 with Welcome Back, Kind Of: The Age of Starting Over. The webinar addresses this question: Are you prepared for the seas of emotion you and your co-workers may experience as a result of the new and different practices and expectations in many workplaces post-pandemic? The webinar will explore how to shift your mindset and the different ways you can adapt to thrive.

And don’t forget to check out the full list of past EFR webinars available on demand. Topics range from healthy eating, sleep, and financial tips to fresh perspectives on personal growth.

In addition to webinars, EFR offers a variety of employee support resources, including counseling and coaching sessions.  You may reach EFR by phone (800-327-4692) or visit their website. EFR is a great benefit for Drake employees and their family members. All EFR benefits are confidential and available 24/7/365.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

News & Achievements Archive

Drake to receive 2021 Light of Wellness Leadership award

We are proud to share that Drake University will be recognized at The Wellbeing Partner’s1 Ignite Awards Gala in October.  Drake is receiving the 2021 Light of Wellness Leadership award. This award recognizes business and community leaders for providing encouragement, time, and resources to create a healthy workplace for all employees.

This past year Drake quickly adapted existing wellbeing offerings to fit the virtual environment and used innovative programming to help connect colleagues.

  • BUILD classes and wellness challenges were converted to a virtual format
  • Human Resources partnered with the All Staff Council on virtual watercooler events and a Smile Slideshow
  • A Remote Work Support Group and Wellness Group were created in Microsoft Teams Chat
  • Recreational Services offered virtual and on demand fitness classes
  • The College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences set-up on campus drive-thru flu shot clinics and on campus COVID-19 vaccine clinics
  • The Bulldog Mile was built, giving faculty, staff, and students a way to stay socially distanced, while enjoying a walk or run through Drake’s beautiful campus

Drake Human Resources thanks all wellness partners, champions, and participants across campus for their efforts this past year, and every day to make Drake wellbeing a priority.

1 The Wellbeing Partners is an organization out of Omaha that supports the worksite wellness initiatives of organizations and communities in Iowa and Nebraska, as they build a culture of wellbeing.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Strategic Updates Archive

Learning Symposium postponed to reduce COVID exposure risk

The Drake Learning Symposium scheduled for this Friday, Aug. 20, is postponed due to the current rate of COVID-19 transmission in Polk County. This is disappointing to all who have worked to plan and prepare for the event. It was determined that it is necessary to postpone the symposium to protect the health of all the faculty and staff who have signed up to attend.

In addition, the Provost’s Drake Social (scheduled immediately after the symposium) has been moved outdoors. The social will be from 2–4 p.m., on the lawn just east of Hubbell Dining Hall. This is also the Hubbell Grand Opening. The event will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

For Faculty Archive

Applications open: Fall 2021 Facilitating Intercultural Learning program

The Nelson Institute at Drake University invites applications for the Fall 2021 Facilitating Intercultural Learning (FIL) program, a development opportunity for select faculty focused on building the intercultural capacity of our campus community.  It is a 12-week cohort training and coaching program offered in the fall and spring semesters. This initiative is intended to allow Drake University to continue to foster intercultural learning and development in service to our students as well as our local, national, and international constituents.

The first program cohort enrolled in Fall 2020. Feel free to reach out to program alums within your college or school to learn more about the FIL program. Additionally, you can learn more at: truenorthintercultural.com/facilitating-intercultural-learning here.

The Nelson Institute plans to sponsor a cohort of up to six faculty during the Fall 2021 semester in fulfillment of this initiative. Participating faculty will receive a $1,000 stipend upon completing the program and will be designated Nelson Fellows.

The spring program will begin on Sept. 13, 2021. Interested faculty should send a brief expression of interest to Professor Jimmy Senteza (Jimmy.Senteza@drake.edu), director of the Nelson Institute, by noon on Aug. 25, 2021. Please highlight how you think this might benefit your work at Drake, and contribute to your overall intercultural development. If you applied and were not selected for this opportunity in the past year, you may re-apply or indicate that you would like your application to be reconsidered.

— Jimmy Senteza, Finance (CBPA)

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Campus printing update 

New printers have started to arrive on campus. As these new machines arrive, our partners at LRI are coordinating installation and training with department contacts. Our project team is thrilled to get this initial shipment, but we still anticipate we’ll encounter supply chain issues. We will continue to adjust our rollout schedule as the machines continue to arrive. 

Just a reminder, faculty/staff prints, and copies will be charged to their home organization in Banner—the department that pays their salary. Individuals can no longer use multiple FOAPALs within their organization or across organizations. Budget and Office managers are currently reviewing any exceptions to ensure there’s accurate information as the new devices and pricing roll out. 

There are Knowledge Base articles available for your reference covering common features of the new machines. However, as we are currently working in a hybrid state with some areas using new devices and others still using old ones, it will be few weeks before these articles align completely. Watch the Printing category in our IT service portal for additional information to come.  

Additional information is also available on our FAQ page at drake.edu/its/printing/.

—Kris Brewster, ITS

For Staff Archive

Update: Task force on flexible work arrangements for staff

The task force examining staff flexible work arrangement policies and practices wants to say thank you to campus. Thank you to those who attended the virtual brainstorming sessions on August 5–6; thank you to those who have shared emails with ideas, articles, and suggestions; and thank you to the 230 individuals who completed the online survey. The task force asked campus for feedback and was not disappointed!

“I truly appreciate that we have a culture where you can count on honest feedback. The comments we received will both inform and guide the task force as we consider recommendations for future practices,” said task force member Katie Overberg.

Employee comments covered every imaginable aspect of remote work, flexible working schedules, and what a post-pandemic workforce ought to look like. Some employees are feeling uncertain, while others are excited by Drake’s desire to preserve some of the positive lessons we have learned over the past 18 months.

At the same time, universities are complex organisms and coming up with recommendations is not a simple task. Many employees offered suggestions for navigating these complexities in their comments. “Employees want the flexibility of working from home but can still be a part of a collegial environment, even if it’s only a couple of days each week.  I believe the individuals who directly serve our students should spend more time on campus but those who have more external positions don’t need to be on campus,” wrote one commenter. “I think it’s important to consider the positives of flexible work arrangements beyond staff morale, engagement, and retention.  Students might actually appreciate virtual service options and/or service availability outside the 9-5,” noted another.

The task force remains on track to provide recommendations in October. One of the challenges will be assuring that recommendations are specific enough to provide clear guidance for campus-wide staff policies, but flexible enough for units to tailor programs to their own needs. This won’t be easy, but the task force—especially with this fresh feedback from campus—truly appreciates how important these topics are to employees. Just how important? Of the 230 who responded to the survey, 65.18% rated flexible work options as “extremely important” and another 22.32% indicated it was “very important.”

“While we still have the hardest work ahead of us, the feedback we received was a powerful reminder of the impact of these decisions across campus.  We are going to do our best to continue moving forward through our workforce policies,” said task force member Linda Feiden.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Call for papers: The Nelson Student Research Symposia

Once again, the Nelson Institute will be hosting a student research symposia as part of the spring Global Citizen Forum to be held March 2–4, 2022. Building off the University’s “Big Ideas” initiative, this year’s theme is: Everyone a Changemaker: Perspectives Across Disciplines

A changemaker is anyone who takes creative action to problem solve societal issues and works toward a solution for the good of all. Practicing changemaking is something that everyone can do and we need expertise from all disciplines involved in creating sustainable solutions that serve a rapidly changing world.

The Nelson Student Research Symposia seeks student presentations focused on what it means to be a changemaker in their discipline and how their discipline is addressing a contemporary global issue or societal challenge. I am reaching out to ask that you consider this spring’s theme as you are planning your fall courses and encourage your students to present papers they have written for your course during the spring symposia.

While research presentations that support the theme are encouraged, all global topics from any academic discipline are welcome. We anticipate that the presentations will be about 15 minutes each.

Below are a few reasons why you should encourage your students to consider submitting papers for the symposium:

  • It is a great opportunity for students to practice presentation skills, and obtain useful feedback.
  • It is a platform for students to share the outcomes of their research on a global topic of interest.
  • It is a great addition to students’ resumes especially if they are considering going to graduate school.

Information session:
A Changemaker 101 session is being offered on Sept. 14, 2021, from 12:30–1:30 p.m. to further explore the theme. The session will take place via Microsoft TEAMS and be recorded for those who cannot attend. For more information and to register please visit the Changemaking 101 Registration Page.

Paper submission:
Papers (or concepts) should be submitted to Jimmy Senteza, associate professor of finance, at jimmy.senteza@drake.edu by Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, for consideration. The email should bear the subject line “2022 GCF submission.” I will revert to the authors about the opportunity to present at the conference sometime within a week from the submission deadline. At that time, I will provide presentation guidelines for accepted papers.

Thank you very much for making them aware of this opportunity and let me know if any questions come up.

— Jimmy Senteza, Finance (CBPA)

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Provost’s Drake Social is Friday

The Provost’s Drake Social will be Friday, Aug. 20, beginning at 2 p.m. on the lawn just east of Hubbell Dining Hall. This is in conjunction with the Hubbell Grand Opening, which will be marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony and take place promptly at 2 p.m.

You will have an opportunity to go inside of Hubbell to see the latest renovations. Light refreshments will be provided, and there will be two drink stations set up outside of Hubbell for wine, beer, and soft drinks. This is in an effort to provide more social distancing and enjoy our late summer weather. As always, you can get your drink ticket from Drinda Williams at the event.

Let’s get together, share some time and a smile, with the first Drake Social of the academic year.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Get to know Drake’s leadership

There are many new faces at Drake this year. This organizational view of Drake’s leadership is a great way to get to know the leaders and structure at Drake. If you click on a person’s image, you will be directed to their corresponding web page. This interactive chart can also be found on the Office of the President page. It is a handy tool, especially if you are new to Drake!

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

News & Achievements Archive

Law School welcomes Erin Lain as new associate dean for academic affairs

Drake University Law School is pleased to welcome Erin Lain as the new associate dean for academic affairs. Erin has been a Drake Law professor since 2016 and most recently served as Drake University’s associate provost for equity and inclusion. Prior to that role, Erin was assistant dean for academic services at Drake Law School. In addition to her responsibilities overseeing the Law School’s academic program, Erin will teach classes in a variety of subject areas.

Erin received her BA, JD, and PhD from Drake University. Her recent scholarship focuses on issues of equity and inclusion in the legal field, including her forthcoming article Examining the Bar Exam: An Empirical Analysis of Racial Bias in the Uniform Bar Examination in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (v. 55, 2021).

Erin is an active member of the Iowa State Bar Association, the Polk County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. In 2018, Erin received the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. EDGE Award for Greater Equality. In 2017, she received the Gertrude Rush Award from the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys and the Iowa Chapter of the National Bar Association. The Rush Award recognizes leadership in the community and in the legal profession in the areas of human and civil rights.

“Dean Lain is an insightful educational leader, and her impact has been felt throughout the Drake campus and the Des Moines community,” said Jerry Anderson, dean of Drake Law School. “We are delighted to welcome her back to the Law School as associate dean.”

— Theresa Howard, Law School