All posts by Kristin Economos

Campus Announcements Archive

Congratulations to the 2024 Adams Leadership Award winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Adams Leadership Awards! This ceremony, held on May 4 recognized student leadership and achievement across Drake’s campus through a variety of award categories. Please see below and congratulate the following Drake student, staff, and organization winners:

  • Outstanding First Year Students: Macy Gardner & Elliot Nelson
  • Outstanding Sophomores: Morgan Ryan & William Lainez
  • Outstanding Juniors: Mia Stefani & Carissa Johnson
  • Outstanding Seniors: Joe Frommelt & Andrew Kennard
  • Outstanding Bright College Student: Rachel Manna
  • Outstanding Transfer Student: Dena Gerhart
  • Outstanding Student Organization Officer: Macy Gardner & Eli Benson
  • Outstanding Student Organization President: Ashlynn Keck
  • Outstanding Student Organization: Drake Environmental Action League
  • Outstanding Organization Advisor: Mary Edrington
  • Outstanding Residence Hall Leader: Tyler Butler & Ethan Nguyen
  • Wanda E. Everage Peer Mentor Award: Ethan Duesterhaus & Ryan Frederick
  • Ron & Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service Learning Award: Catalina Samaniego
  • Principal Global Citizenship Award: Hannah Heiss
  • Seed Coalition President’s Student Leadership Award: Lara Rahman
  • Outstanding Individual Service Award: Kamari Jones
  • Outstanding Group Service Award: Next Course Food Recovery
  • Outstanding Social Program: Halloween Hoops (Student Alumni Association)
  • Outstanding Educational Program: Middle East Peace and Prosperity Alliance (MEPPA)
  • Outstanding Equity and Inclusion Program: Bulldogs Belong: Cultural Food and Art Fair
  • Outstanding Alcohol Alternative Program: Dogtown After Hours
  • Outstanding Collaboration Award: Violence Intervention Partners (VIP)
  • 2024 Oreon E. Scott Outstanding Senior of the Year Award: Ruwayda Egal

— Kristin Economos, Office of Student Involvement and Leadership

For Faculty Archive

Ultra Hours before Summer 2024

Prepare for fall semester today. As you wrap up the spring semester, we invite you to come to Ultra Hours, hosted by Drake Online & Continuing Education and the Center for Teaching Excellence, to update and copy the courses you need for fall.

Where: Howard Hall Room 131 (Ground floor)
Time: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Dates: Thursday, May 16; Monday, May 20; Wednesday, May 22

If possible, please complete this form to indicate when you plan to come and what you plan to work on. If a virtual appointment or another time works better for you, fill out a service request and one of our instructional design staff will be in contact shortly.

— Bret Sikkink, Faculty Development Specialist

For Staff Archive

Update: Fair Labor Standards Act

On Tuesday, April 23, the Biden administration announced the Final Rule increasing the salary threshold required for many employees to remain salaried (and, thus, exempt from/ineligible for overtime).

Starting July 1, the rule increases the salary threshold at which executive, administrative and professional (“EAP”) employees are exempt from overtime pay from the current salary threshold of $35,568 to $43,888. The rule makes an additional adjustment to $58,656, effective January 1, 2025 (and automatic adjustments are built into the rule every three years thereafter).

Drake HR is working with members of the President’s Council and impacted managers to assess exempt positions that will fall short of the new July 1 and/or January 1 salary thresholds.

Drake HR is also working to create a webpage that will provide more information about the new Final Rule and how FLSA exemptions work. It will also address some of the ways Drake will assess impacted staff.

We do expect legal challenges to the Final Rule. For those of you who recall the 2016 Final Rule, it was subject to a court injunction right before it went into effect. We’ll be keeping a close eye on any legal developments and will share those, should they occur.

Please watch for more OnCampus updates and the roll-out of a FLSA webpage (hopefully by the end of this month).

— Maureen De Armond & Debra Wiley, Human Resources

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Register for the All Staff Council kickball tournament

All Staff Council is bringing back the highly anticipated staff and faculty kickball tournament on Tuesday, May 21, to celebrate the start of summer. Register your team or as a free agent today. Registration has been extended and must be submitted by Thursday, May 16.

Important Details

  • First round begins around 1:30 p.m. and final round begins around 3:30 p.m.
  • Single elimination
  • Teams of 10 to 12

Spectators welcome and encouraged. Yard games and refreshments will be provided—we look forward to seeing you there.

All Staff Council will also draw a winner for the parking pass at this event, names collected for events throughout the semester.

— Courtney Conrad, On behalf of All Staff Council

Campus Announcements Archive

Traveling abroad? Let ITS know

Will you be traveling abroad over the summer? Make sure to notify ITS before you go so we can ensure your access will continue uninterrupted. Submit an Account/Security Request before you leave and you’ll be set. Even if you have submitted a notification in the past, a new request is necessary this summer.

Also, remember that the eduroam wireless network is available at more than 33,000 locations worldwide. Check to see if your destination is on the list at https://eduroam.org/where/.

— Jeremy Calvert, ITS

Campus Announcements Archive

Payroll deadlines moving up due to July 4

Due to the July 4th holiday, payroll deadline will be moved up.

Instructions to set up a proxy to approve time sheets in your absence are at https://www.drake.edu/hr-internal/managerstoolkit/ under Online Time reporting.

The deadlines for the biweekly time sheets and direct pays will be:

  • June 17–30 hours paid July 3, 2 p.m. Thursday, June 27, for employees and 3 p.m. that day for approvers. Please note that employees will need to estimate their hours for June 27–30.

The deadlines for student time sheets and direct pays will be:

  • June 1–30 hours paid July 12, 12 p.m. Monday, July 1, for students and 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 2, for approvers.

— Lisa Etnyre, Payroll Coordinator

Campus Announcements Archive

Mindful and Mellow May at Drake Rec

Join us May 3 at 6 p.m. for an exhilarating Acro yoga class, where you’ll defy gravity, build trust, and soar into a world of playful balance. Ready to relax before finals? Join us May 9 at 5:30 p.m. for a soothing session of Yoga Nidra and May 10 at 12:15 p.m. for NAMAStea– a relaxing yoga workshop followed by a cup of tea to soothe your nerves before finals week. Sign up using the Drake Rec App.

— Gail Witte, Recreational Services

Campus Announcements Archive

Cowles Library sensory tools collection

We’re excited to share that Cowles Library, in collaboration with Access and Success, is introducing a Sensory Tools Collection. Crafted by Sarah Hulstein, an Occupational Therapy Doctoral student, this collection is curated to equip students with resources for sensory regulation, increased focus, and improved task completion that may be affected by sensory processing. Visit the Cowles Information Desk to explore the kits which include wobble cushions, fidget spinners, balance boards, noise-canceling headphones, and more. Please don’t hesitate to contact Cowles Library at cowleslibrary@drake.edu with any suggestions for additional tools or resources that could further support your needs. These resources are accessible to everyone, ready to be checked out and utilized within the library or in your own study spaces.

— Joanna Stankiewicz, Cowles Library

HR Information Archive

Congratulations to this Year’s Sapphire Award and Madelyn M. Levitt Award recipients

The annual Sapphire Awards ceremony was held on April 16.  During this event, more than 30 people were recognized for having received either an individual or team Call to be True Blue Award this past academic year.

2024 Sapphire Awards

Two Sapphire Awards were also presented.

  • Michelle Laughlin, operational director, Access & Success, Student Disability Services, received this year’s Individual Sapphire Award
  • Katherine Coady, administrative support specialist, Julie Olinger, administrative assistant 2, and Cindy Liska, administrative assistant 2, all from the Zimpleman College of Business, received this year’s Team Sapphire Award

2024 Madelyn M. Levitt Awards

Congratulations also go out to the winners of this year’s Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence and Distinguished Community Service Awards.

  • Sydni Jennings, director student affairs, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, is the recipient of this year’s Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award
  • Danielle Shelton, professor of law, University Law School, is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Community Service Award

Congratulations to them all! We encourage everyone to take time to congratulate these amazing Drake faculty and staff, and to find ways to recognize others.

It’s never too early to start thinking about True Blue awards! These will start up again in August at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year.  All Staff Council’s Recognition Committee invites everyone to fill out an online Called to be True Blue nomination form at that time, if they know of someone deserving of this honor.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Welcome Weekend DEIJ session speaker opportunity

Welcome Weekend this fall will feature a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice session. The program will take place on Thursday, Aug. 22. The session will feature a variety of speakers sharing about their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice journey with our incoming class in a short TED Talk style about 5–10 minutes long.

If you are interested in sharing your DEIJ story, we would love to hear from you! Selected speakers will receive a stipend. Please fill out this short application by Friday, June 10.

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs