All posts by Nate Reagen

Strategic Updates Archive

Great Colleges to Work For survey: Your participation is needed

The Great Colleges to Work For (GCTWF) survey is back after a year off. On March 22, full time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate.

What is the Great Colleges to Work For survey?
The Great Colleges to Work For survey is the primary employee survey used by the University to gather feedback on our workplace culture. The survey is administered by ModernThink, a management-consulting firm focusing on workplace quality in higher education. More information about the Great Colleges to Work For survey is available at greatcollegesprogram.com.

Why should I participate?
Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify opportunities to improve workplace satisfaction and engagement. Your responses provide valuable insight into employee opinions and needs. Overall responses are reviewed to identify actionable areas for improvement over the next year.

Is participation mandatory?
Participation is voluntary, although we do hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your feedback and make sure your voice is heard. A high response rate will help ensure an accurate representation.

Are my responses confidential?
By having a third-party provider facilitate the survey process, your participation and the feedback you provide will be completely anonymous and confidential. No one at Drake will be able to trace results back to individuals. Drake will receive reports summarizing the results, but will not have access to individual response data. Furthermore, ModernThink will not report back results for areas that have less than five respondents.  Learn more by reading the Statement of Confidentiality.

When and how do I participate?
The survey period begins Monday, March 22, and ends Friday, April 2. The survey is administered online. Full-time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate in the survey from ModernThink on March 22.

How long will it take to complete the survey?
It typically takes about 10–15 minutes to complete the survey depending on the amount of feedback you provide.

How is the data used and will the results be shared?
A summary of the findings will be shared with employees and will be used to identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement. Several key measures and targets in the University’s continuous improvement plan (CIP), and in many unit-level CIP’s, are tied directly to feedback from the survey. In addition, ModernThink provides valuable benchmark data against which we can compare our results. With this evidence in hand, senior leaders and individual units can make informed, strategic decisions about new initiatives.

Can I complete the survey during work hours?
Yes. Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the survey during working hours. Completing the survey is an important contribution that you can make to strengthen our campus community.

For further questions, contact Nate Reagen.

Thanks for your support in advance!

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake Road Races launches in-person registration

The Drake Road Races will be held in-person Sunday, April 18. Limited spots are available for the event so register today.

Races will start outside Drake Stadium and finish on the iconic Blue Oval with appropriate COVID-19 protocols in place. The event will take on a hybrid model with participants retaining the ability to participate virtually anywhere from April 17–25.

— Tanner Nissen, Drake Relays

For Students Archive

Community Engaged Learning is hiring

The Office of Community Engaged Learning is hiring for the 2021–2022 academic year.

Community Engagement Peers help connect fellow students to local non-profit organizations, causes, and volunteer opportunities. They also each have their own project/responsibilities.

Applications are due March 18. See what positions are available and for a full position description.

For questions, contact amanda.martin@drake.edu.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

Campus Announcements Archive

How Rec Services is using QR codes; intramural deadlines

Have you ever wondered how to use a machine at the gym? Rec Services has you covered! All of our machines have QR codes that will take you to a video for that specific machine. Each video will walk you through the purpose as well as how to use and adjust each machine.

Intramural events coming up:
Saturday, March 20: HORSE Tournament
Sunday, March 21: Super Smash Bros Tournament

 Wellness is hiring!
Wellness is hiring group instructors and office assistants. Contact wellness@drake.edu for more information.

— Emily Madsen, Rec Services

For Students Archive

FinAid Forms is here

In January, the Office of Student Financial Planning announced exciting new enhancements to students’ financial aid experience at Drake, including:

  1. Award notifications that will be delivered via email (beginning for 2021-2022 award year)
  2. Access to your personal financial aid information through the Financial Aid Portal
  3. FinAid Forms will digitize nearly all financial aid requirements while also offering secure document upload and e-signatures.

This announcement provides more information about FinAid Forms. Students who have financial aid document requirements for award year 2021-2022 will begin receiving email notices this week to register their FinAid Forms account. The email will come from finaidforms@drake.edu.

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Students will log into FinAid Forms using their Drake ID and password. However, before accessing FinAid Forms students will need to authenticate their identity by providing information that matches the information provided on the 2021-2022 FAFSA (including social security number).

When setting up your account you will provide an email address to receive notifications when new financial aid requirements have been assigned. You can also provide a mobile number to receive text message alerts about new requirements.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus Labs updated to single sign on earlier today

ITS updated Campus Labs earlier today in order to facilitate single sign on (SSO). Campus Labs is the company that CPHS and SOE use to administer their course evaluations.

If you are still unable to access Campus Labs, please contact the support center at 515-271-3001 or visit service.drake.edu/its to report your issue.

You should no longer have to enter your credentials a second time when you access Campus Labs links if you’re already signed into another Drake system connected with SSO.

You can learn more about how SSO works at Single Sign On (SSO) and Drake applications (FAQ).

— Carla Herling, ITS

Campus Announcements Archive

Vote now for this year’s Beautiful Bulldog contestants

Drake University students, faculty, and staff will vote to decide the 20 English Bulldogs that will compete in the 2021 Beautiful Bulldog Contest.

Over 100 English Bulldogs across the country registered to vie for the title of Most Beautiful Bulldog. All current faculty, staff, and students are eligible to vote for 5 of the 20 Bulldogs once. Voting will close next Tuesday, March 23, at 1 p.m.

Vote now

Password: ilovebulldogs

The contest will be held Sunday, April 18, time TBD, in the Knapp Center, and open to a limited audience. The contest will also be livestreamed at facebook.com/beautifulbulldog.

About the 2021 Contest
There will be no family festival and no animal rescue festival at this year’s contest. While the event is still free to attend, there will be assigned and ticketed seating to ensure social distancing. Priority seating will be given to the families of contestants, the contest sponsor, and Drake University students. Remaining ticketed seats will be open to the general public.

Griff is once again collecting donations of adult pet food for area animals in need. Learn how to contribute.

Follow the Beautiful Bulldog Contest Facebook page for up-to-date information.

— Niki Smith, University Communications and Marketing

For Students Archive

Volunteer at Dogtown After Hours

Scan the QR code to see the Dogtown After Hours event schedule.

Volunteer for a variety of fun activities the week of March 15 during Dogtown After Hours. There are lots of times and slots open. Student organizations can sign up to host an activity or individuals can sign up to volunteer at particular events. Organizations looking to host an activity, or anyone with questions should email olivia.cantrell@drake.edu. Individuals can sign up using this link.

To get the list of events for Dogtown After Hours scan the QR code. For questions, email allison.burke@drake.edu.

— Allison Burke, BN’23

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Automatic captioning in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Panopto

With the recent addition of automatic captioning by Zoom, we now have access to two platforms (Zoom and Microsoft Teams) that provide automatic transcriptions as well the ability as enable automatic transcripts to recorded content using Panopto. Recordings made with Zoom or Microsoft Teams can be uploaded to Panopto to include captioning in the recording.

To assist faculty and staff with using these features, ITS staff has created a new knowledge base article with instructions and information. Learn more by reading Using Automatic Transcription Services (How-to).

— Clayton Mitchell, ITS

For Students Archive

Scholarships available: Apply for first-generation student conference

Attention all first-generation students. Applications to attend the Circle of Change First Generation Student Virtual Career Leadership Experience is now open for interested first-generation students. This two-day virtual conference on April 9–10 will provide first-generation students with insight on career success and leadership skills. Students will attend various sessions to hear from former first-generation students who are now successful professionals in their respective fields. This is a great opportunity for first-generation students to feel supported and well-equipped as they transition into the job market after graduation.

At Drake, we define a first-generation student as a college student whose parents/legal guardians have not received a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university.

If selected, the cost of attendance will be covered by the Slay Fund for Social Justice.

Apply by March 19

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs