Please join us for a retirement reception in honor of Donna Blunck, director risk and insurance, on April 24 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Old Main, Suite 216. If you are unable to make it, you are invited to stop by at another time prior to April 24 and wish Donna well. We are grateful for Donna’s incredible service to the University.
Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
University Communications and Marketing (UCM) holds open portrait sessions during the fall and spring semesters. The sessions rotate around campus making it more convenient for the campus community. These sessions are free to all faculty, staff, and students. High-resolution portraits are made available for download through SmugMug.
The next headshot day is April 12 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at CBPA, Aliber Hall, Room 108.
No appointment necessary.
— Jeremy Sievers, University Communications & Marketing
April brings a great energy to campus. With spring in the air and Drake Relays just weeks away the campus is buzzing. Without extinguishing all the excitement we want to acknowledge and participate in Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year VIP and several other organizations have come together to make sure Drake is supporting victims, discussing healthy sexual relationships, and bringing awareness to this issue throughout campus. Be on the look out for ways you can participate.
Victim Support Pledge
Tuesday, April 9, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Olmsted Breezeway
Condoms & Conversations-A Multicultural Discussion on Healthy Sexual Relationships
Tuesday, April 16, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., Hellmick Commons
International Denim Day
Wednesday, April 24, 9 a.m.–9 p.m., All throughout campus
— Lynne Cornelius, Violence Prevention & Programming
On Friday, April 12, the first-grade class at Findley Elementary School will be visiting Drake for a day full of educational activities, an opportunity to see campus and a college classroom, and the chance to engage in physical activity with Drake athletes. We want to help the first-grade students feel welcome and right at home here at Drake from the moment they arrive. All Drake students, faculty, and staff are invited to come to the Olmsted parking lot close to the Olmsted building at 9:40 a.m. on April 12 to form a welcome tunnel for the students. The first-graders will be arriving at 9:45 a.m. Wear your Drake Blue and lend a high five! Contact amanda.martin@drake.edu for more information.
Amanda Martin, Assistant Director of Community Engaged Learning
Last month, we shared that our offsite data center is moving. Step one was successfully completed over spring break and included bringing new storage online and moving some servers. The team is now preparing to make internet connection changes.
On Saturday, April 13, ITS will perform maintenance on the campus connections to the Internet. This maintenance will result in additional Internet bandwidth and redundancy. Work will begin at 5 a.m. and should be completed no later than 7 a.m. Every precaution is being taken to avoid disruptions during the maintenance window, but there could be brief periods between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. on April 13 where Internet connectivity to and from campus is down.
Throughout April, there will be additional OnCampus communications to share details of the next steps in the internet connection and data center move work.
Kris Brewster, ITS
Please be aware that Drake will not switch from heating to cooling season until overnight temperature are above 40 degrees. As a reminder, the University has a two pipe system that only allows for either heat or air conditioning in campus buildings.
Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning and Management
The Adams Leadership Convocation is an annual, campus-wide event that celebrates the achievements of student leaders and organizations at Drake University. As part of this special ceremony, please consider nominating Drake students and student organizations who’ve exhibited strong leadership and excellence throughout the 2018–2019 academic year. Nominations can be submitted by any Drake student, faculty, or staff member. View a full list of awards and the nomination form. Nominations are due Sunday, March 31, at 11:59 p.m.
In addition to submitting your nominations, please save the date for this year’s Adams Leadership Convocation on Friday, April 19, at 12 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium (appetizer reception following). If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Economos, director of student leadership programs, at kristin.economos@drake.edu.
Kristin Economos, Director of Student Leadership Programs
After a delay in order to resolve technical difficulties, ITS is making changes to the faculty and staff contact directory. Beginning on April 4, contact information for individual faculty and staff members will only be available via myDrake from the Campus Directory link (under the Commonly Used Apps section).
After the change, the campus directory at drake.edu/directory will contain the main departmental contact information only. This change is being made to decrease unwanted spam and phishing of faculty and staff by having individual contact information unavailable to the general public.
Carla Herling, ITS
For nine years, Drake ITS has paid for a campus subscription to Lynda.com to provide access to online self-paced training for software programs like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite.
We announced in March of 2018 that we were unable to successfully negotiate a new long-term agreement that met our budgetary needs. Lynda.com quoted an annual fee that was substantially more money each year than our current fees.
As a result, ITS signed a one-year extension of our current subscription. On June 30, 2019, this extension will expire. We initially had planned to seek out a more cost-effective replacement for Lynda.com, but due to budget changes, we are no longer able to fund a replacement.
We have, however, developed curated lists of Technology Training Resources that we hope are helpful:
Faculty and staff resources
Student resources
Questions? Please email me at carla.herling@drake.edu.
Carla Herling, ITS
