All posts by Carla Herling

Campus Announcements Archive

Virtual EMS (VEMS) planned outage Oct. 15

ITS is updating Virtual EMS (VEMS) in order to facilitate single sign on (SSO). VEMS is the system that faculty and staff and Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) use to request space on Drake’s campus.

In order to make this change, VEMS will be unavailable between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15. If you are unable to access this system after the planned maintenance window, please contact the support center at 515-271-3001 or visit service.drake.edu/its to report your issue.

VEMS can be found at ems.drake.edu/EmsWebApp/ or on the Employee Home page of myDrake under Administrative Tools >Request A Room.

After the upgrade you will no longer have to enter your credentials a second time when you access VEMS from the myDrake portal, or if you previously signed into another Drake system connected via SSO.

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

— Carla Herling, ITS

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Reminder: Submit your project requests before Dec. 18

The next technology project request review is happening in just a few months. If you have a project idea for consideration, please submit it by Dec. 18 by using the Technology Project Request form. The Submitting a Technology Project Request (How To) guide is available and explains how to complete the submission process.

Want to know about the current ITS projects? Visit the project management section of the ITS website.
Need additional assistance? Please reach out to Kris Brewster.

— Carla Herling, ITS

Campus Announcements Archive

Gift card drive for families of Iowa Domestic Violence programs

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Violence Intervention Partners (VIP) are hosting a gift card drive for children and families of Iowa Domestic Violence Programs. Many domestic violence survivors endure a number of hardships and VIP wants to ensure that resources remain available. Please consider donating a $10 gas station or grocery store gift card.

VIP has partnered with Student Senate to create a prize drawing for those who donate. Two individual prizes will be drawn and an additional prize will be awarded to the organization with the most donations.

Donations can be left in the locked mailbox outside the Violence Prevention Office in the Student Leadership, Involvement and Inclusion Office in Olmsted or you can contact lynne.cornelius@drake.edu for pick up between now and Oct. 30. Make sure to label the gift cards with your name and organization (if affiliated).

VIP is looking forward to partnering with the Drake community to create a sizable impact in survivors lives.

— Lynne Cornelius, Violence Prevention & Programming

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Proactive steps to protect your privacy

When was the last time you reviewed the privacy and security settings on your mobile devices? When a new version of your phone’s operating system (OS) is released, do you install it right away? How often do you update your mobile applications (apps) or delete those you don’t use?

These questions are about more than staying up to date, they are about being proactive to protect important data. Your phone is so much more than just a way to stay in touch. It lets you pay for purchases; answers your questions; entertains and informs you; and holds vast amounts of sensitive, personal, and valuable information.

One of the best ways to protect your personal information involves updating your devices on a regular basis. Most OS and app upgrades include security improvements, and delaying installation of those updates can expose your private information to attacks designed to exploit known security holes in older versions. Learning how to protect devices and personal information takes time, but keeping your phone’s OS and apps up to date, and deleting unused apps can help keep your information safe online.

Another way to protect your information is by regularly reviewing your phone’s security settings. The National Cybersecurity Alliance provides a resource page with more information on securing mobile devices and key accounts.

ITS will continue to simulate phishing and assign training to those most at risk. If you’d like to discuss any information security issues, please feel free to reach out to ITS or email informationsecurity@drake.edu.

— Information Security, ITS

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Midterm grades due Oct. 19

Midterm grades are due by 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 19. Students are able to view their midterm grades as soon as you submit them.

To access the MyDUSIS grade-entry link, log into myDrake, click on the “Grading” icon under the Faculty & Advising section, and then click on “Mid Term Grades–Submittal Link.”

Those of you who would like to send your midterm grades from Blackboard to MyDUSIS can follow the instructions here.

Students have until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, to drop a course with a “W.”

— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

Campus Announcements Archive

Rec Services Halloween challenge

Dig Halloween or just plain competitive? Join Drake Recreational Services for our costume contest! To compete, tag @drakerec in your photos or email them to wellness@drake.edu.

Here’s how to participate:

Wear your costume to our facilities during the week of Halloween, and you might win a prize. The winners will be named in each of the following categories:

  1. Best throwback photo of a childhood costume
  2. Rec pro-staff favorite
  3. Most original
  4. Biggest LOL
  5. Participating in Rec Services (wearing a costume during GroupX, Intramurals, or during your rec reservation, tag us in the picture!)

— Emily Madsen, Recreational Services

Campus Announcements Archive

Take the face-to-face learning survey for a chance to win an Amazon gift card

You are invited to participate in a research study about face-to-face courses at Drake University. This study is being conducted by a team of Drake University faculty on behalf of the Center for Teaching Excellence. The purpose of this study is to explore student and faculty perceptions and attitudes of face-to-face learning environments.

We are seeking your participation in an anonymous Qualtrics survey, which should take no more than 5-10 minutes to complete. You are eligible to participate if you are 1) enrolled as a student or faculty member at Drake University, 2) have taken or instructed face-to-face, in-person college courses, and 3) are 18 years of age or older. Participation in the study is completely voluntary, and no identifiable information will be tied to your survey responses.

If you choose to participate, you may complete the survey via the following link: http://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vEe3r1rZIdN99r.

At the end of the survey, you will be invited to enter a drawing for one of ten $20 Amazon gift cards, five for students and five for faculty members. All surveys must be completed by Monday, Oct. 19.

For questions regarding the survey or this research project, contact Eliza Dy-Boarman at eliza.dy@drake.edu.

Thank you,

Eliza Dy-Boarman
Rachel Allen-McHugh
Chinatsu Bachman
Kevin Carlson
Cris Wildermuth

Campus Announcements Archive

Campus buildings to switch from cooling to heating

Generally, Oct. 15 is our target date to transition campus buildings from cooling to heating season. However, with variable temperatures in the forecast, we are closely monitoring temperature predictions to determine the best date to initiate the switchover. Changing from air conditioning to heat takes about one week to complete with student housing starting first. Once the process is complete, air conditioning will no longer be available. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please email Brett Lovelady at brett.lovelady@drake.edu.

Campus Announcements Archive

Connect with ITS during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and be entered to win a prize

Cybersecurity starts with you and is everyone’s responsibility. There are currently an estimated 4.8 billion Internet users—over 62% of the world’s population! As this number continues to grow, protecting personal and institutional information and devices becomes even more important.

To bring focus to this important topic, and make sure Drake students, faculty, and staff know how to stay safe online and keep their devices safe, ITS is holding a cybersecurity awareness contest.

Follow @ITServices on Twitter and retweet a #DrakeCyberSmart tip between Oct. 12 and 23 to learn how to stay safe online and be entered in a prize drawing!

Open to all current Drake students, faculty, and staff members. Full contest rules can be found at drake.edu/its/cybersecure.

— Carla Herling, ITS

Campus Announcements Archive

Free financial and medical powers of attorney and living will clinic

Drake Law School is offering a free community clinic to help individuals prepare powers of attorney and/or living will documents as part of Cady Day of Public Service, Friday., Oct. 23. Participants may choose from three convenient sessions: 10–11 a.m., 2–3 p.m, or 5–6 p.m.

Each session will consist of a 30-minute overview about powers of attorney and living wills followed by a one-on-one appointment with a Drake Law student to complete the required documents. Attorneys will be available to answer additional questions. Participants will have the opportunity to obtain signed and notarized documents for their files.

The clinic will be held at the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center, 2400 University Ave. This is an in-person clinic. Social distancing guidelines will be observed. Face masks are required.

Register here.

— Theresa Howard, Law School