All posts by Linda Feiden

HR Information Archive

Join the Eat Right for Life challenge

There is a vast amount of information on nutrition, and it is easy to get confused by all the related studies and theories. But, healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated. To help sort it all out, we are bringing back the Eat Right for Life challenge.

This five-week program begins Monday, Oct. 11. It works well as both a starter program for our first timers and a refresher program for those tackling it again.

During the challenge you will read a chapter a week from the book Eat Right for Life by Ann G. Kulze, M.D., assess your current eating habits, select a weekly nutrition goal from a list provided, and track your progress. Along the way you will receive additional resources and tips.

To register, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

HR Information Archive

HR welcomes Trevon Smith, department is fully staffed

Can you believe it? Human Resources has not been fully staffed since June 2020. At times, we were down three people out of a seven-person team. This has made for some challenging times.

On Monday, Sept. 27, we were thrilled to have Trevon Smith join the HR team. We now have a full bench—we even have a student employee! Exciting times for us and we hope this will mean quicker response times, increased training opportunities, updated processes, and greater service for you when you need HR assistance or have a question for us.

Trevon joins us in a new role—HR Generalist. Trevon joins us from the insurance world and has a wealth of HR experience. He’s a certified HR professional, has an extensive background in benefits and disability, and he is delightful.

We will be positioning Trevon as our “go to” HR professional to help employees with HR questions. He’ll be able to assist with common questions, triage inquiries when volume is high, and redirect more complex and time-consuming matters to the right subject matter experts. We want to give Trevon a few weeks to settle into the new role. Then, we will share with campus details about a new HR customer service model—which we think will better serve you in many ways.

As you may recall, Teresa Downs joined our team last month and she really hit the ground running. With a focus on data, she’ll often be behind the scenes, but she will be helping us with workflow and our internal processes. Her work will have a direct impact on our ability to quickly and efficiently serve Drake employees.

Anthony Leto has been moved into a Talent Acquisition role and we definitely have our work cut out for us there. The recruitment space right now is both challenging and unpredictable. You may see us trying out new tactics to more proactively attracts candidates. We will work on long-term strategies, but we, like many other employers, are facing unique challenges in attracting good candidates right now. With certain positions, this has not been an issue. With other positions, it’s been tough. We will now have more dedicated time to attend to both short- and long-term recruitment practices.

While we have a long list of projects to tackle, we are thrilled to have the key pieces in place. Thank you for your support and patience. More to come later this month about our new customer service model.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

For Students Archive

Drake Student Health walk-in flu vaccine clinic

Drake’s Student Health Center is holding a walk-in flu vaccine clinic on Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 9–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m. There is a $25 fee, which can be paid via debit/credit card, cash, or check.

For students with prescription insurance, flu shots are also available free of charge through the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Hy-Vee. Find more information and schedule an appointment.

— Jackie Robinson, Student Health Center

For Students Archive

Summer 2022 travel seminar applications live

Applications are live for Summer 2022 travel seminars. Priority deadline for applications is Dec.r 15. Start an application today.

Summer 2022 travel seminars are:

Additionally, information sessions for each of the Summer 2022 travel seminars will be held in the coming weeks. For Germany and Poland, a virtual session will take place on Friday, Oct. 8, at 12 p.m. For Uganda, a hybrid session is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 11, at 5 p.m. in Meredith Hall, Room 102.  Session links and additional information on these events can be found on the University calendar.

To apply for a travel seminar, visit Terra Dotta, Drake’s online application portal. Use your Drake ID and password to login.

For questions about a specific travel seminar, contact the course instructor. For general study abroad questions or issues with Terra Dotta, contact studyabroad@drake.edu.

— Nathan Jacobson, Education Abroad Coordinator

For Staff Archive

Task force on remote work finalizing recommendations

The task force that was assembled to consider the future of remote work and flexible schedules for staff is finalizing its general recommendation and will soon be soliciting the feedback of University leadership.

The task force first met on June 29 and has been diligently working to consider how Drake may best take the lessons learned from the pandemic to rethink and modernize its policies and practices guiding when, where, and how staff work.

“Following the valuable feedback received from campus, the task force has been focused on bringing a more modern look and feel to the proposed policies and guidance. We are working toward building a framework that will stimulate workplace culture and be sustainable for the future,” said task force member Heather Travis, associate chief financial officer/controller.

Once the President’s Council has had the opportunity to review and consider the task force’s recommendations, the task force will schedule a virtual “Task Force Debrief,” where staff can learn more about the collaborative process the task force applied to its work, including the importance of the feedback provided in the staff survey. This would also be a good opportunity to hear ideas and suggestions on where the task force approach may work in other policy, operational, and strategy spaces.

The task force will share additional details with campus about its recommendations and outline next steps once it is clear which recommendations are being adopted. It is possible the President’s Council will have some suggestions that will require an additional round of work by the task force. In short, we want to be transparent with campus, but we also want to be sure that the final versions of recommendations are shared to avoid confusion or the circulation of outdated drafts.

The task force does want to share now that the approach it is recommending is to consolidate remote work and flexible work options into one holistic policy, a Customized Work Arrangement Policy. If that policy moves forward, it will undergo Drake’s normal policy review process, where it will be posted for comment for at least 15 days. Any staff member with a question, comment, or suggestion will be empowered to share their thoughts through the existing policy review process.

The task force is excited to be wrapping up this stage of the work and is looking forward to next steps.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Strategic Updates Archive

Faculty and Staff: Please complete the Survey of Administrative Services—Your input is very important

An important aspect of our Continuous Improvement Plan is assessing our performance in delivering services to the campus. To that end, I encourage you to complete this year’s survey of administrative services. It is completely anonymous and often takes less than five minutes to complete.

The survey focuses on six areas: Facilities Planning and Management, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology Services, Public Safety, and University Communications and Marketing. You will only be asked to provide feedback on the services which you worked with in the past year. The survey was developed by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment in collaboration with several other of our colleagues.

Continuous improvement efforts such as this drive intentional and strategic action. Your input is reviewed, and acted upon as your feedback helps us better meet the needs of our University. Direct action plans are developed as a result of your input.

Thank you in advance for your participation by Tuesday, Oct. 19.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

For Staff Archive

All Staff Council and HR to host virtual town hall for staff

All Staff Council (ASC) and Human Resources are teaming up to facilitate a virtual town hall for staff tentatively planned for Friday, Oct. 22, at 1:30 p.m. While we want staff members to feel comfortable, empowered, and encouraged to bring questions to the town hall, we want to gage the amount of time needed to have a productive and meaningful dialogue. Consequently, we invite staff to submit questions to ASC ahead of time.

Final decisions regarding the meeting date and time will be based on the topics and volume of questions received. We ask that questions be of general interest to staff and can be directed to All Staff Council and/or Human Resources. We will reserve time during the town hall for interactive dialogue but believe we can best plan and schedule the event if we have some sampling of the ASC and HR questions that are top of mind for staff.

At present, HR’s new Executive Director Maureen De Armond will kick off the event with a few comments about early observations at Drake and describe some of the HR initiatives staff should expect to hear more of in the coming months.

Members of the ASC Executive Committee, including Andy Verlengia, Jenny Jones, Sara Heijerman, and Linda Feiden, will be present to share information about upcoming ASC events and describe some of the ASC priorities for the academic year.

If this sounds like an event you are interested in attending, save the date: Friday, Oct. 22, at 1:30 p.m. As soon as we solidify the date and time, we will provide an update with meeting details.

— Andy Verlengia, Director, Alumni Relations

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Tuition exchange applications now open for 2022–2023

Full-time employees in a regular position at Drake are eligible to participate in two tuition exchange programs, which offer waived or discounted tuition at other participating institutions for employees, their spouse/partner, or eligible dependent(s).

Those wishing to apply for tuition exchange in the 2022–2023 academic year can apply now. Applications are only for students not currently participating in tuition exchange—those who are receiving tuition exchange during this academic year will automatically be re-certified for consideration in the 2022–2023 academic year (assuming the employee is still eligible).

There are three main steps in the tuition exchange application process:

  1. Employee submits the tuition exchange application (and the student should also apply for admission at the schools listed on the application).
  2. Drake’s Office of Student Financial Planning will confirm and certify the employee’s eligibility to participate in the tuition exchange program. This is done on a rolling basis as applications are received.
  3. Each school listed on the application will determine whether they can offer the student a tuition exchange award.

Schools have different application deadlines and timelines for announcing award determinations. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit the tuition exchange application early enough to allow time for step #2 to be completed in advance of each school’s deadlines.

Details about each of Drake’s tuition exchange programs are provided below:

Tuition Exchange, Inc. (TE)
TE has over 670 participating schools. Visit tuitionexchange.org to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

Council of Independent Colleges & Universities Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP)
CIC-TEP has over 440 participating schools. Visit cic.edu/tep to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid

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 one of the information sessions being offered. Click here to sign up for a session.

  • Wednesday, Oct. 13., at 7 p.m. in Olmsted Conference Room 310
  • Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m., Zoom 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

For Students Archive

Apply for financial aid for 2022–2023

The 2022–2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available. Students who wish to be considered for need-based grants and federal work-study for the 2022–2023 year must complete the FAFSA. The FAFSA is also required in order to borrow federal student loans, which are usually the best student loans available.

Pharmacy students who would like to be considered for the Health Professions Loan must include parental information on the FAFSA (even if not required to do so).

If you need assistance with the FAFSA, contact the Office of Student Financial Planning.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid