Rec Services will have shortened hours November 24-December 1 for Thanksgiving. See attached flyer for specific hours.

—Allison Bjork, Recreational Services

Thanksgiving: Campus building hours will be adjusted for the Thanksgiving Holiday – most of campus will be closed Wednesday 11/27 through Saturday 11/30. Card access will still allow you to enter your authorized buildings, and most regular door schedules will resume on Sunday, December 1^st.

End of the Fall semester: Building schedules will also change for the Winter Break and the start/end of the semesters.  Following finals, we will adopt “administrative hours” for most campus buildings while classes are not in session (buildings will be open on weekdays from 7:30 am – 4:30 pm 12/16-12/20).  Most extended hour student access plans will also be disabled for the break.

Winter Break: Doors will be locked for the winter break from December 21st to January 1st.  Faculty and staff will still be able to utilize their authorized access plans (for example, 24/7 access to their office buildings), but extended hour student plans will continue to be shut off during this time.

Start of J-term semester: “Administrative hours” (7:30am – 4:30pm) will resume for the staff’s return on 1/2 and 1/3, and then regular Monday – Friday academic year building hours and extended student access will resume at the start of J-term (January 6^th).  Due to decreased weekend traffic during J-term, we will again lock buildings on the weekends through January and will be 100% back to our normal schedule when Spring semester starts, the week of January 27.

If you have a scheduling conflict that will be affected by this door schedule, please speak to your building manager so they can put in a ticket to unlock the doors outside of our planned schedule.  Please note that not every building will follow this schedule exactly (Rec, Cowles, Law, and Olmsted often have some schedule variations), so feel free to check in at those buildings if you are unsure of their schedules.

Please contact Public Safety (515-271-2222) if you have a door access emergency during this time. Feel free to email studentservices@drake.edu if you have a general (non-emergent) card access question or concern.

Happy Holiday Season!

—Sara Heijerman, Finance & Administration

This is an invitation to attend the reception for the upcoming exhibition, “Place and Belonging: A Collaborative Oral History Project of the Drake Neighborhood.” The exhibition showcases the stories collected by students of the “Practice of Oral History” class in collaboration with the local and global communities of the Drake Neighborhood.

—Chloe Lepak

Join Drake GroupX on Dec 5th from 6:30-7pm for Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is a relaxation and meditation practice that guides participants to a state of conscious relaxation, blurring the line between wakefulness and sleep. Practiced lying down, it involves systematic relaxation, breath awareness, and guided visualization to induce deep physical, mental, and emotional relaxation. Check the Drake Rec App for details and sign-up!

—Gail Witte, Recreational Services

Join us at the Bell Center on Dec 6th from 12:15-12:45 for a relaxing yoga session and a cup of tea to de-stress from finals. Check the Drake Rec App for details and sign-up!

—Gail Witte, Recreational Services

Ready to make this year’s Drake Road Races even better? We’re thrilled to announce our brand-new “Run Together, Earn Together” referral program, designed to help you save while bringing your favorite people to join the race!

Here’s how it works: For every one friend or family member who signs up using your unique referral link, you’ll earn $5 back. You can keep earning up to the full amount of your entry fee – which means, with enough friends, you could be running for free!

Here’s how to get started:

1. Register for the Drake Road Races, if you haven’t already.
2. Grab your unique referral link from your registration confirmation email.
3. Share your link via text, email, or social media – anywhere your friends can see it!

It’s that simple. Run together, earn together, and experience the excitement of race day with the people who make it all worthwhile.

—Ben Huftalin, Drake Relays

Due to the holidays, several payroll deadlines 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 deadline for monthly direct pays for payroll will be changed to:

• Dec. 10, 2024, for payroll direct pays for the December monthly payroll, which will be paid on December 20.

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

• Dec. 2–Dec. 15 hours paid Dec. 20, 10:00 AM Monday, Dec. 16, for employees and noon that day for approvers.
• Dec. 16–29 hours paid Jan. 3, 10:00 AM Wednesday, Dec. 18, for employees and noon that day for approvers. Employees will need to estimate hours for Dec. 18–29.

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

• Dec. 1–31 hours paid Jan. 10, noon on Thursday, Jan. 2, for students and 11:59 PM Jan. 3 for approvers

—Lisa Etnyre, Controller

Break’s Coming—Find Your Perfect Read!

Need a cozy escape for the break? Swing by the library and check out our Award Winners collection. This month’s display features some of the most celebrated books in literature, including titles recognized by the Booker Prize, National Book Awards, and Pulitzer Prize.

Stop by the library every month and explore our featured  materials. From inspiring reads to hidden treasures, there’s always something new to discover.

—Joanna Stankiewicz, Cowles Library

Deadlines for monthly direct pays and ESFs are:

• 12/10/24 for payroll direct pays and ESFs for the December monthly payroll

Deadlines for biweekly direct pays and ESFs are:

• Pay period 11/18/24-12/1/24 direct pays and ESFs are due Monday 12/2/24 at 10:00 AM
• Pay period 12/2/24-12/15/24 direct pays and ESFs are due Monday 12/16/24 at 10:00 AM
• Pay period 12/16/24-12/29/24 direct pays and ESFs are due Wednesday 12/18/24 at 10:00 AM

Deadlines for student direct pays are:

• Pay period 11/1/24-11/30/24 direct pays are due Monday 12/02/24 at noon
• Pay period 12/1/24-12/31/24 direct pays are due Thursday, 01/02/25 at noon

Deadlines for the biweekly time sheets are:

• Pay period 11/18/24-12/01/24 timesheets must be submitted by Monday 12/02/24 at 10:00 am and approved by Monday 12/02/24 at noon. Payment date is 12/6/2024
• Pay period 12/2/24-12/15/24 timesheets must be submitted by Monday 12/16/24 at 10:00 AM and approved by Monday 12/16/24 at noon. Payment date is 12/20/2024
• Pay period 12/16/24-12/29/24 timesheets must be submitted by Wednesday 12/18/24 at 10 AM and approved by Wednesday 12/18/24 at noon (remember to estimate your hours for the holiday break). Payment date is 1/3/2025.

*Medical, Dental, and Vision insurances for the biweekly payrolls will be deducted on the 01/17/25 and 01/31/25 paychecks*

Deadlines for student time sheets are:

• Pay period 11/1/24-11/30/24 timesheets must be submitted by Monday 12/02/24 at NOON and approved by Monday 12/03/24 by NOON
• Pay period 12/1/24-12/31/24 timesheets must be submitted by Thursday 1/02/25 at NOON and approved by Friday, 1/03/25 at NOON

If you will be out of the office, plan ahead to ensure these tasks are completed by the stated deadlines. 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.

—Lisa Etnyre, Controller

On Thursday Nov 7, Dr. Maura Lyons, of the Art & Design Department, and the twelve students in her Curatorial Seminar opened the exhibition they curated Acts of Projection: Magic Lantern Shows and the U.S. Civil War at the Anderson Gallery. The exhibition encompasses both the material artifacts of lantern shows – hand-painted slides and period projectors – as well as large-scale projections of digitized slides to simulate the original viewing experience. Acts of Projection also includes a site-specific work by the multimedia artist Johnny DiBlasi to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the projection format.

The exhibition will be open through January 17th, 2025 at the Anderson Gallery and there are several associated events. Click here for more information.

—Lilah Anderson, College of Arts & Sciences