The University will now require all students pursuing an undergraduate degree from Drake University to complete the FAFSA prior to July 1 (preceding the academic year enrolled) as part of the Tuition Rebate Application process.

This requirement ensures that eligible students are considered for the Iowa Tuition Grant (which partially funds tuition and reduces the cost of offering this benefit). In addition, students will be considered for the Federal Pell Grant, which would be available to cover the costs of other educational expenses like room, board, or books.

This new requirement became effective April 1, 2019. This requirement may be waived students who can demonstrate that they would not qualify for the Iowa Tuition Grant (see the Tuition Rebate Policy for details).

— Brandy Eganhouse, Student Financial Planning

As your bookstore, we understand a lot more is going into your decision-making process for fall adoptions in this COVID-19 world. We know you are facing new challenges as more courses adjust to online formats. We have reached the middle of June and students are two months away from arriving on campus. We are at 50% of the titles we would expect so the importance of preparing for Fall is upon us all.

As always, we ask for your adoptions as early as possible so we can better source used materials that may be available. In addition, timely textbook adoptions keep campus in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). To this end, we want to work with you to assist in any way that will allow you to make your textbook adoption decisions and allow us to get the postings completed. While we recognize that some of you may still be trying to make decisions, this is only a friendly reminder that Fall textbook adoptions were due on April 15.

Reach out if you need any assistance maneuvering Follett Discover or feel free to email or call with your adoptions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!

Three easy steps to access Follett Discover through Blackboard

1. Log into myDrake.
2. Click on the Bb icon on the main ‘mydrake’ screen.
3. Find the Tools channel, scroll down and click the Follett Discover link OR find the Follett Discover channel and click the Launch Discover link.

— Donna Hallstrom & Katie Wilz, University Bookstore

With the University’s fiscal year-end (June 30, 2020) approaching, below are recommended guidelines for efficient and effective year-end processing of purchases.

In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, Drake is required to report transactions in the proper fiscal period. For that reason, expenses are recorded in the period when goods are received and/or services are rendered. In short, items expensed to a FY20 budget will need to be received before June 30, 2020.  Factors such as budget allocation, invoice receipt, or payment issuance would not have an impact on the application of expenses within a fiscal period.

Exceptions to this general rule apply when a benefit of service or receipt of item extends into multiple fiscal years. In such cases, the following guidelines will be applied.

• Expenses less than $5,000: will be charged against the fiscal year in which the majority of the expense will be incurred. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $3,000 and covers the period of 7/1/19 through 12/31/20, the expense would be charged to FY20)
• Expenses greater than or equal to $5,000: will be split into the fiscal years according to the percentage of benefit received during each fiscal period. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $10,000 that covers a period of 7/1/19 through 6/30/21, $5,000 would be charged to FY20 and $5,000 charged to FY21)

The University’s guidelines for year-end purchases are subject to external audit. As you make purchases during this period leading up to and overlapping our fiscal year end, it is important to note when the goods or services were received so they are expensed according to reporting requirements. If the timing of receipt is not clearly noted on the invoice, it would be beneficial to help call the receipt date to accounting’s attention by clearly marking the appropriate fiscal year for the expense, based on the above guidelines, on the pay request.

Please contact Jeni Baugher at x4509 or Jenifer.Baugher@drake.edu with any questions you might have.

View the year-end timeline

— Heather Travis, Finance and Administration

With the overwhelming popularity of always-listening devices including Amazon Echo, Google Home, and smartphones, you’ve probably heard stories of these devices joining in on conversations without being prompted. It might have even happened to you!

These devices are also not designed or built with security in mind, which often leaves them vulnerable if your home network is not securely configured.  

Here are some tips to protect your private information, and conversations, from these always-listening devices: 

• Review and delete voice recordings. Your device stores your search and activity history to create a customized experience. To protect your privacy you can review and delete these recordings from the device. 

• Mute the microphone. You can mute the microphone to ensure that your device is not listening and recording when you are not using it. It won’t record until you turn the microphone back on.
  
• Don’t link accounts with sensitive information to your device. If you have any accounts containing personal or university information, don’t link those accounts to your device. This will prevent that information from being impacted by any potential breach.
  
• Change the settings to manually manage data stored by the device. Managing what data is connected with your account will give you more control over the information that is being stored and will make it easier for you to delete your history.
  
• Turn off your device when you’re away. If your device doesn’t have a power button, simply unplug it.

By creating habits to better control these always-listening devices, you can protect your personal information and prevent this modern twist on phishing.

ITS will continue to simulate phishing attacks and assign training to those most susceptible. If you believe you’ve been targeted, see Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to). 

— Peter Lundstedt, ITS