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Nominations open for Philanthropy Bug Award

Please consider nominating a colleague for the second annual Philanthropy Bug Award. Submissions are due to Emily Weaver by Friday, March 20.

The Philanthropy Bug Award recognizes faculty and staff members who embody Maddie Levitt’s spirit of philanthropy and service to Drake University. Maddie Levitt was a longtime volunteer, friend, and tireless advocate for Drake University.

Throughout her years of service to Drake, her beloved yellow Volkswagen Bug was a constant presence outside of Old Main, and it became a symbol of her enduring commitment to bettering Drake University for future generations of students.

If you would like to nominate a colleague who you think exemplifies Maddie’s spirit of philanthropy and generosity please submit their name, title, and a short paragraph explaining why you believe they are deserving of the award to Emily Weaver, director of donor engagement, at emily.weaver@drake.edu by Friday, March 20.

Last year’s recipients included Dan Alexander, Deb DeLaet, and Jen Harvey. These three faculty members were recognized for their efforts to establish the Catalyst Scholarship and Emergency Fund.

Award winner(s) will be celebrated at a Faculty/Staff Donor Appreciation Breakfast on May 6.

— Emily Weaver, University Advancement

Bulldog Applause: Law School staff

Drake’s All Staff Council Recognition Committee recently recognized Law School staff with a Bulldog Applause. Read the Q&A below to learn more about the Law School team.

How many staff members are in the department? 
The Law School employs 28 support staff and administrative personnel in areas including admission, student services, career development, marketing, alumni relations, advancement, Legal Clinic administration, and general support to the faculty and deans. 

Who has been with the team the longest? 
The longest serving member of the team is Kara Blanchard, assistant dean for admission and financial aid. Kara joined the Law School in 1996—24 years ago.

Who is the newest team member? 
The newest member of the team is Elicia Ropte, public services associate in the Drake Law Library. Elicia joined the Law School staff last fall.  

What campus buildings do your team members “live” in? 
Law School staff work in Cartwright Hall, Opperman Hall, and the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center. 

Anything else noteworthy/interesting/special about your department that bears mentioning? 
Serving on the Law School staff is like being part of a big family. We support each other’s ups and downs, someone always has your back, and we throw a mean pot luck!

Recognize Colleagues for Commitment to Mission at March Social, Trivia Night to follow

Drake faculty and staff who exemplify the Core Value of Commitment to Mission will be recognized at the next Provost’s Drake Social on Tuesday, March 10, from 4–6 p.m. at Cowles Library Reading Room. The social will be preceded by a town hall with President Martin at 3:30 p.m. Trivia Night, hosted by All Staff Council, will begin at 4:45 p.m.

To nominate a colleague who demonstrates Commitment to Mission, please use the Qualtrics form at http://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyQjH9nLSaWziy9. You can nominate up to five colleagues on each form. Feel free to fill out multiple forms. All those nominated will be recognized on a rolling display.

How do we define Commitment to Mission at Drake? We look for colleagues who are united in service to our students and communities, and who are optimistic about our future, and act with integrity and purpose as we deliver on our mission. When you nominate colleagues, be prepared to describe how each colleague meets these descriptions. From among those nominated, several will be chosen at random for prizes.

Trivia Night
All Staff Council will host a Trivia Night beginning at 4:45 pm. Trivia teams will register on site at the social. Trivia teams are limited to five people. There will be raffle prizes awarded between rounds with a grand prize to the winning team. If you feel so inclined, please bring non-perishable foods and items for Drake’s Little Pantry Initiative. For any questions regarding Trivia Night, please contact ascspecialevents@drake.edu.

Refreshments at the social will include wine, beer, soft drinks, and light snacks. This is a family friendly event.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Reminder: April 30 deadline for ordering computers

In order to prepare for the computer ordering deadline on April 30, you should begin to review your computer needs now.

Our vendors have a higher volume of orders in the summer, which often results in back orders and delays. Adhering to the April 30 deadline will ensure that products and invoices arrive prior to the end of the fiscal year.

The ITS purchasing team handles a large volume of year-end license renewals along with computers, classroom, and network hardware orders and needs extra time to process invoices during the last two months of the fiscal year.

  • For computer lifecycle replacements using FY20 funds, submit orders between now and April 30.
  • Budget managers can contact Greg Christie (ext. 3705) for a departmental computer asset list to confirm which computers have reached the maximum lifecycle.
  • For any new hire computers using FY20 funds, submit orders between now and April 30.

We cannot guarantee that a computer ordered in May or June will be shipped in a timely manner. Orders can be submitted during these months, but the expense is not guaranteed to be posted in FY20.

Equipment received on campus in June will expense in FY20, anything received in July, will be expensed in FY21.

Exceptions:

  • For Fall 2020 faculty new hire computers and faculty lifecycle replacement computers—ITS works closely with the Provost’s office and academic budget managers to coordinate a specific timeline for these orders.

For additional information on the computer purchasing process, please see the IT service portal knowledge base article, Computer Purchasing Guidelines and Standard Computer Models (FAQ).

—Alicia Mann, ITS

All In This Together prize winners

Over 100 individuals were recognized by colleagues for their spirit of “All In This Together” at the Provost’s Drake Social on Feb. 4. Prize winners were chosen at random and are:

  • Mary Beth Olander, a gift card to St. Kilda
  • Brady Randall, an apple pie baked by the Provost
  • Yolanda Griffiths, office treats

Thanks to everyone who took the time to recognize a colleague for exemplifying this Drake core value. Those recognized embrace robust communication and transparency, and thrive through collaboration and teamwork.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Social media privacy 

No one would walk into a crowded room and begin broadcasting to total strangers all the details of their personal life—from health issues to their friends’ and family’s names, ages, jobs, schools, etc. But too often, people don’t think twice about posting such private information on social media. The ramifications of oversharing have an impact on your personal and professional life, and those of your friends and family. 

Social media can be a great place to connect, share, and learn, but once information is posted online, you’ve lost control of it. Ensuring your privacy settings are strong isn’t enough to protect yourself, you also need to understand what data is being collected and how it’s being used. 

Privacy Settings: Regularly review the privacy settings on your social media accounts, especially when the site’s terms of service or privacy policy changes. Remember that these controls can prevent other site users from accessing your posts and information, but your information is still being collected, mined, stored, and sold by the social media platforms themselves. 

Privacy Tree: Privacy settings won’t prevent someone that you’re connected with from viewing and downloading your posts and/or sharing them with others. 

Artificial Intelligence: AI, social media, and marketing are a perfect combination. Marketers now use information gathered from your online habits to feed you ads focused on your last search or purchase and continue to learn even more about you. 

Digital Death: When a person dies, their online presence becomes even more vulnerable to abuse if their accounts aren’t actively maintained or deleted by their survivors. Most of the major platforms have established procedures to help decommission accounts of the deceased, but they aren’t always used. 

Unintentional Disclosure: The information you post about yourself has the potential to reveal much of your personal history, including the answers to your online secret security questions. 

The more information you share, and the more others share about you, the more information can be collected and used by corporations, governments, and others. One of the best ways to protect yourself online is to limit what you share and what you allow others to share about you. 

The information you share online is commonly used in highly targeted phishing attacks. ITS continues to simulate these attacks and will assign training to individuals who are routinely susceptible to these simulations. If you’re concerned that you’ve been the target of phishing, see Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to). 

Peter Lundstedt, ITS 

Welcome new Bulldogs

Please join the Human Resources department in welcoming 12 new, full-time Drake University employees for the month of January.

  • Nicholas (Nick) Roby, Law School, Clinician-in-Res./Instr./Dir., Transactional Clinic
  • Dorothy (Dorie) Knight, Law School, Ref.&Instr.Lib./Assist.Prof.Law Librarianship
  • Ashley Rasmussen, Arts & Sciences, Budget Manager
  • Claudia Kyalangalilwa, Arts & Sciences Administrative Assistant
  • Brooke Sanders, Dean of Students, Coordinator for Student Disability Services
  • Emily Mason, Head Start, Head Start Teacher
  • Kathleen Zrostlik, Head Start, Health and Nutrition Assistant
  • Melissa Brown, FP&M, Facility Maintainer III
  • Monica Mabok, FP&M, Facility Maintainer III
  • Manuel (Manny) Zuniga, FP&M, Facility Maintainer III
  • Robert (Rob) Ebel, FP&M, FP&M Project Manager
  • Kwangmin Jung, CBPA, Visiting Assistant Professor, Actuarial Science

— Laura Schwarz, Human Resources