Read the following tips and reminders for using the Short’s travel portal.

Registering for the first time: When first registering for the Short’s travel portal, you must use your Drake email rather than your personal email. Otherwise, it will kick back and require additional approval.

Agent Requests: Some Drake travelers have been concerned with fares they have received because they could find cheaper fares on their own. Agents only have as much information as they are given in the initial request. In many of these cases, we found that the traveler was searching alternate dates, times, and even airports to come back with the lower fares. If your travel is flexible and you would like the agent to research alternate options, please include it in your initial request.

Basic Economy: Basic Economy flights continue to be a challenge with Drake travelers. We do not recommend Basic Economy however if you do wish to book this fare, please remember that Short’s Travel will book Basic Economy  but you are responsible for letting them know you wish to book Basic Economy. This is something that is only done for Drake as a courtesy and requires an approval process by the agent’s supervisor. Basic Economy fares were created with the leisure traveler in mind. These fare are highly restrictive and will not allow the same flexibility for changes as standard economy fares. Agents are required to advise of the restrictions prior to completing your booking.

Fares unavailable in STO (Short’s online booking system): Some airlines do not participate in the GDS (Global Distribution System) that is used to manage inventory and that the agent team uses to book travel. Just because you do not see a flight online, does not mean we can’t book it for you. If you do not see the option you wish to book, please contact the agent team. These will come up most often with Southwest “Wanna Get Away” fares (online availability expected late 2020), Allegiant, and other low cost carriers, however, this may occur in other situations with major airlines. The best practice is to always contact the agent team if you don’t see the fare you wish to book online.

Student Travel: A Drake Faculty member is required to request student travel, as students do not have profiles and the agent team needs to be advised of the student who is authorized to travel, along with any reimbursement limits, travel restrictions, etc.  There are cases where certain student travel is an exception to booking with Short’s. Please contact Caron Findlay if you have questions.

FindIt: The FindIt extension must be downloaded from the Drake Travel Portal home page before using. FindIt should not be used if users are wishing to book basic economy, trips for more than one traveler, multi destination, or international travel. There is a user guide on the Travel Portal that users should review before they use FindIt to make sure they understand functionality.

Profile Information: Please ensure all profile information is accurate. If any information is added to your profile after a reservation has been made, it will not automatically update. For significant name changes, please contact the agent team.

Frequent Flier/Known Traveler Information: This information must be in your profile at the time of booking for it to attach to your reservation. Your legal name must also be listed the same in your profile and in the frequent flier profile for it to attach correctly.

— Caron Findlay, Finance & Administration

The Drake Social on Thursday, Nov. 21, will be preceded by a Town Hall at 3:30 p.m. in celebration of International Education Week. The event will be held in the Cowles Library Reading Room.

Drake faculty and staff who exemplify the Core Value of Generosity of Spirit will also be honored at the social.

To nominate a colleague, please use this Qualtrics form. 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. Generosity of Spirit is defined as colleagues who trust, empower, and presume the best of each other; who practice civility, caring, and respect; and who commit to equity and inclusion.

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.

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

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

In a September OnCampus article, I introduced an upcoming change designed to improve the security of Drake-owned computers. This change will remove always-on administrator access to help prevent web, email, and file-based attacks. When changes that require administrator access are needed, the Make Me Admin tool can be used to receive temporary administrator access for 30 minutes. If you prefer, you can also submit a request for ITS assistance with installing programs or making configuration changes. 

Beginning Nov. 19, and continuing gradually throughout that week, ITS will be removing the always-on administrator access.  

As a reminder, there are guides available in the IT service portal on how to use the Make Me Admin tool: 

How-to guide for Macs
How-to guide for Windows 

For questions about these changes, please contact Peter Lundstedt, director, information security & compliance, at peter.lundstedt@drake.edu.  

— Peter Lundstedt, ITS  

Drake University’s Learning Management System (LMS) review task force has held six out of their proposed eight meetings during the fall semester and has hosted vendor demonstrations of Blackboard Learn Ultra and Instructure’s Canvas solutions.

The demonstrations were conducted to inform the task force about what a modern LMS can do in support of our institution. During the demonstrations and pilot experiences, data was collected based on previously defined criteria that the task force will review in the upcoming weeks. Additional information about institutional impact, including costs, student success rates, and technological integrations, will be considered while drafting our final recommendation.

For further information, please visit www.drake.edu/its/lmsreview and/or reach out to your area’s representative on the task force.

— Karly Good, ITS

The next Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) lunch is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22, at noon in TMR 133. These discussions are opportunities for those engaged in SoTL projects at any level—from those just thinking about starting one, to almost complete, or simply curious about SoTL—to share ideas, seek advice, or ask questions of colleagues engaged in this process. If you would like to order a lunch, please go to: https://sotl-lunch-learn-nov2019.eventbrite.com by Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m.

— Art Sanders, Associate Provost