All posts by Carla Herling

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus printing update 

Last week, new printers were installed in the residence halls. These were the first new printers to arrive since August due to ongoing global supply chain issues. As new machines arrive, our partners at LRI are coordinating installation and training with department contacts. Our project team will continue to adjust our rollout schedule whenever machines arrive and update the list at Printer Locations (FAQ).

Get instructions on how to use the features of the new printers in the Printing category of our IT service portal. Learn more about the overall printing project by visiting our FAQ page at drake.edu/its/printing/.

—Kris Brewster, ITS

For Students Archive

Become an Orientation Leader

Orientation leaders are dedicated to providing incoming students and their families with all of the information and resources necessary to ensure their transition to Drake is a smooth and enjoyable one.

We need you to help make this happen. Each year we recruit current Drake students to become part of the orientation leader staff. Orientation leaders play a vital role in this exciting process, working closely with new students and their families on a wide variety of topics including academics, student involvement, housing options, and more.

We highly encourage you to attend the final information session being offered on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m., Zoom session. Click here to sign up for a session.

You will be compensated for your time and effort and gain valuable skills in this position.

Learn more about the position. For questions, contact Marina Verlengia at marina.verlengia@drake.edu.

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs

HR Information Archive

Mark your calendar: Open enrollment and benefits fair

Open Enrollment is the time of year when faculty and staff have an opportunity to elect or change their benefits for the upcoming plan year, which will begin on Jan. 1, 2022. We want every eligible employee to be aware of this opportunity to review the generous benefits offered by Drake and elect benefits which best support them and their eligible dependents.

During the annual open enrollment period, employees can review and make changes to their current participation for the following Drake benefits:

  • Health insurance (which includes vision care)
  • Prescription drug coverage
  • Dental insurance
  • Flexible Spending Accounts (health care and dependent care)
  • Voluntary Life Insurance

Drake’s annual open enrollment period for the 2022 Plan Year begins Nov. 1 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2021. All benefit elections made during the enrollment period will become effective Jan. 1, 2022.

While we are not able to share benefit changes until Nov. 1, we can remind you of the new Broadlawns partnership, which will create special pricing for employees participating in Drake’s health insurance effective Jan. 1, 2022. This new partnership will supplement the choices already available to eligible employees and their dependents.

We are also excited to announce we will soon have a beautiful, informative digital benefits guide to share with you. It will contain Plan Year 2022 information and provide a detailed and easy-to-digest overview of the core benefits offered to Drake employees and their eligible dependents. We can’t wait to share it with you!

SAVE THE DATE for the Benefits Fair on Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Olmsted Center, Parents Hall South. More information about the Benefits Fair and open enrollment will be coming soon.

— Marlene Heuertz, Benefits Specialist, HR; Maureen De Armond, Executive Director, HR

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Support first-generation students

First-generation college students are an important part of the Drake community—about 14% of our campus community are first-gen students. Drake defines this as a college student whose parents/legal guardians have not received a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university. The office of New Student Programs offers resources and programs to support first-generation students at Drake. We will be celebrating National First Generation Student day on Nov. 8. We would like to include first-generation faculty and staff in this celebration. First-generation faculty and staff can play a huge role in supporting and mentoring first-gen students.

If you are a faculty or staff member that identifies as first-generation and would like to participate in first-generation student programs and connect with these students, please email Marina Verlengia at marina.verlengia@drake.edu.

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs

Campus Announcements Archive

DU Good Month: DU Good Mile, submit your volunteer hours

DU Good Mile
Join the Bulldog community in registering to participate in the DU Good Mile, on your own time, throughout the weekend of Oct. 22–24. Your $5 entry fee will go toward buying food to stock the Little Free Pantries around Drake, which provide nourishment to the people in our neighborhood who are facing food insecurity. Get running and walking! Post on social media with #DUGoodMonth and tag @drakealumni to share your mile with others. If you’re in the Drake neighborhood, consider walking or running the Bulldog Mile! 

Submit Your Volunteer Hours
Remember to submit the hours that you volunteer for a chance to win some Drake swag.

DU Good Month
During DU Good Month, we encourage students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of Drake to give back to their community and DU Good throughout the month of October. Visit the DU Good Month website to see how you can get involved—share your volunteering/community service story, submit volunteer hours, volunteer in your community, join us for the DU Good Mile, and more. Share how you are DUing good this month on social media with #DUGoodMonth and by tagging @DrakeAlumni.

For questions, contact Courtney Conrad, assistant director of regional engagement, at courtney.conrad@drake.edu or 515–271–3378.

— Courtney Conrad, Alumni Relations

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

All Staff Council presents: Walking the Dog

Grab your walking shoes and join the All Staff Council in walking the Bulldog Mile every Friday at noon through Nov. 19.

It’s simple: show up at the start of the Bulldog Mile (sidewalk southeast of the Olmsted Center) and follow the signage and large blue paw prints while enjoying the fresh air and a conversation with a colleague. An ASC committee member will greet you (weather permitting), and walk the Bulldog Mile with you. We look forward to seeing you there!

— Sydni Jennings, On behalf of All Staff Council

Campus Announcements Archive

Annual notice of services for domestic violence and other sexual harassment/violence

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Drake University wants to remind all its faculty, staff, and students of the various student and employee resources that are available both through the University and in the Des Moines/Iowa community.

Information about various events occurring at Drake University and in the Des Moines community to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month is available on Drake University’s social media accounts @drakeprevention.

— Jessica Morgan-Tate, Finance & Administration

HR Information Archive

Deadline approaching to receive 2022 Wellness Premium Discount

Important Reminder: Employee’s on Drake’s health plan who wish to receive a wellness health insurance premium discount in 2022, need to complete a physical with their designated Primary Care Physician (PCP) between Dec. 1, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2021, and submit a Physician Exam Completion Form by Dec. 2, 2021.  This is the only option to receive the discount in 2022.

Besides receiving a premium discount, an annual physical is a great way to receive important health information through age and gender specific examinations, schedule recommended preventative screenings, and create a doctor-patient relationship.

If you have not scheduled your annual physical yet with your PCP, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

Please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Drake non-discrimination policy updated and posted for comment

Drake University’s Non-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment (Non-Sex-Based) Policy has been revised and all interested members of the Drake community are encouraged to review and comment on these policy revisions by Nov. 19, 2021.  The revisions to this policy, many of which were prompted by students who requested additional clarity in Drake University’s policies regarding reporting and addressing discrimination, harassment, and bias-motivated incidents, provide for a strong commitment against discrimination and harassment within the Drake community.

The policy begins with the following purpose statement, which reflects Drake’s Core Values and the culture we strive to cultivate at all levels of our institution:

There is no place in the Drake community for discrimination, discriminatory harassment, abusive, and bias-motivated conduct. Drake University condemns discrimination in all its forms. 

In addition, many of the definitions and corresponding examples have been modernized and options for reporting discrimination, harassment and other misconduct have been updated. It is important for every member of the Drake community to know what options they have in reporting misconduct—whether that misconduct was directed towards, or witnessed by, them.

Our hope is that this policy will provide additional clarity and detail. If you have observations or suggestions to make it even better, we want to hear them. You can review the revised policy and offer comments here. The review period closes on Nov. 19, 2021.

— Jessica Morgan-Tate, Finance & Administration; Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Staff Archive

Virtual town hall for staff Oct. 22, hosted by HR and ASC

All Staff Council (ASC) and Human Resources are looking forward to co-hosting a virtual town hall for staff on Friday, Oct. 22. It is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. and can go as late as 3 p.m., depending on the number of attendees and questions. Attend via Teams here. We know this is a busy time of year for everyone, so if you cannot make the town hall, we will provide a summary along with a link to a recording in next week’s OnCampus.

So far, we have received many thoughtful questions. If you have a burning question, there is still time to submit questions to ASC. We have received a few questions we thought we could answer here in hopes of reserving as much time as we can at the town hall for the more complex and discussion-provoking topics.

We look forward to receiving more questions. Your questions will help us plan the agenda. We hope to see you at the virtual town hall!

Q: If you are able to share more about the benefits of using Broadlawns at this time with us, that would be great!

A: Great question! Please check out next week’s OnCampus for a bit more information. But note, Open Enrollment starts Nov. 1. Throughout the month, HR will be sharing a lot of information about benefits for plan year 2022, including additional details about the new Broadlawns partnership, which takes effect on Jan. 1. With the start of Open Enrollment, HR also will be rolling out a beautiful digital benefits guide that we think will be really helpful to employees and their families. It will contain core information about Broadlawns pricing, but more detailed information will be provided throughout the month of November. Keep an eye out for HR communications in November.

We are happy to share that Broadlawns will have a presence at the Benefits Fair on Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Parents Hall South.

As a reminder: if you ever have specific questions about your benefits, please feel free to directly contact Drake’s Benefits Specialist Marlene Heuertz (marlene.heuertz@drake.edu).

Q: Could we allow rollover of a certain number of vacation days into the following year that need to be used by a specific deadline?

A: This question comes up frequently. Unfortunately, this is not an option that is available with our current leave structure, as we are not able to carry over the financial liability from one fiscal year into the next. True, we did allow this once due to COVID—as an exception—with review from our tax accountants.

This is not to say that we cannot revisit how vacation leave, sick time, and other forms of leave are handled at Drake—but that would be a big (big) project. It may be helpful to gauge how pressing this is compared to other projects that will also be time consuming—we can revisit this at the town hall, if there is interest.

In the meantime, we encourage all staff to plan out vacations with the ebbs and flows of the academic year in mind. We understand COVID has made such planning extremely difficult in the past two years and we know it has been frustrating to see unused vacation time end with the fiscal year. Let’s all hope that planning will be easier in 2022.

Q: Are you considering letting us use sick time to cover the time of annual appointments?  With us now having to go to our PCP for our insurance coverage, it would be nice to be able to use sick time and not vacation for these appointments.

A: Another great question. We had to do some historical research to get to the bottom of why the current sick leave policy is drafted like it is. Turns out, way back in June of 2004, someone asked this same question! Drake recognized that we really do want to encourage staff to seek routine and preventative care. At that time, the decision was made to not revise the sick leave policy, but instead to provide staff with a second personal day. The short answer: the reason why staff get two personal days per year is because one of them was intended to be used for routine and preventative care. People hired since 2004 would not necessarily know this history, so there you go.

Q: Under what conditions are staff empowered to tell their manager they don’t want to have in-person meetings, but would rather hold them via Teams or Zoom?

A: An employee certainly could ask whether there is an option to attend a meeting remotely. However, managers do get to direct their employees to attend meetings and events in person. The only conditions where an employee could arguably refuse to follow such directions would be if the employee was out on protected leave (like FMLA) or sick and physically unable to come to work. Without knowing more about what the question-asker has in mind, this is the short answer. If there is a follow-up question, please submit it!

Q: What options will be open to staff moving forward for remote work?

A: We know staff are really anxious to learn more about this important topic! The task force reviewing remote work, flexible schedules, and the like has finalized its recommendations. Those recommendations were just presented to the President’s Council on Oct. 13. Please see today’s OnCampus with a separate article on the task force’s work. It provides more details about what happens next.

— Andy Verlengia, on behalf of All Staff Council; Maureen De Armond, Human Resources