Domestic Trip Risk Mitigation Process Update. A more streamlined process for domestic trip registration and tracking of forms was developed over the summer. This updated process has resulted in a decentralized approach where departments, schools/colleges, and student organizations have ownership of their specific online trip forms and can easily monitor the receipt of the form(s).

A travel risk mitigation decision checklist tool was created to help identify the risk level for the domestic trip (low, medium or high) and then based upon risk level, determine what risk mitigation form(s), if any, to complete. Currently several travelers are using this process. Learn more. Please remember to book any airline travel through Shorts Travel.

>8 Passenger Vehicle Driver Approval Process.

Reminder: the driving >8 passenger rated vehicle driver approval process can be found online.  These driver protocols were implemented last year to improve Drake’s current vehicle/driver safety program and to help reduce potential accidents and losses.

Donna Blunck, Director, Risk and Insurance

The University Book Store hours for Fall Break:

Saturday:10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Monday: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Tuesday:10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Katie Wilz, University Book Store

With classes back in full swing and a multitude of activities taking place on campus we want to take this opportunity to remind those of us who operate golf carts and other vehicles on campus to always put safety first. It is important to keep in mind that there are a large number of pedestrians on campus and the potential for serious accidents can be very high. Here are a few safety tips to follow when operating a golf cart around campus that can help keep everyone safe:

1. Always inspect your cart or vehicle before operating. It is important to make sure that your cart is functioning properly before operating it.
2. Always use caution when driving around pedestrians. Keep in mind that pedestrians have the right away. If necessary pull over and stop to let pedestrians by.
3. Use caution when entering or exiting pedestrian walkways. This is especially important for blind spots where you may not be able to see pedestrians using the walkway.
4. Park in appropriate spots. Never block pedestrian walkways or access to emergency equipment such as fire hydrants.
5. Keep your arms in legs inside the cart at all times when it is moving.
6. Never ride with more passengers than seats. It is also important to keep everyone, including the driver, inside the cart at all times while operating a cart.
7. Avoid distractions while driving. Your primary focus when driving should be driving. Make sure to stay off your phone and don’t allow yourself to become distracted by passengers.
8. Do not drive with items obstructing your view. It is important to always be able to see where you are going when operating a vehicle of any kind.

Another important thing to keep in mind when operating golf carts and other vehicles around campus is that not everyone will be paying attention when walking. Students and other pedestrians might be engaged in conversations or listening to music and there’s a good chance they won’t see or hear you driving near them. This makes it all the more important that those who operate carts take their time, drive slowly, and watch for pedestrians.

Chris Nickell, Environmental Health and Safety

Want to be notified of technology outages by text? Opt in by texting DrakeITS2018 to phone number 226787. Text messages will only be sent between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The list is cleared at the end of each academic year, so if you were signed up last year, please re-enroll. We will continue to also post outage and news on the ITS website, IT Service Portal, and our ITS Twitter account.

If you run into issues signing up for the service, first try responding HELP to any error message you might receive. Sometimes the service isn’t configured correctly for your carrier. If that doesn’t work, contact your cell phone provider to make sure they have enabled short code texting.

Questions regarding this new service? Call 271-2356 or email carla.herling@drake.edu.

Carla Herling, ITS

At most universities, space is a scarce and valuable resource. Here at Drake we try to utilize every square foot available. Storage rooms can be found in every possible location across the campus.

That has also brought up a concern lately with items being stored on floors. Even though they are climate controlled, it is not always a good idea to store items on the floor as the items can become susceptible to getting dirty, incurring water damage, or taking up an unnecessary amount of storage space.

We encourage everyone to organize items, so that items can be found easily when needed, and create walkways to make for easy access. If you are going to store items on the floor, be sure you take every precaution to protect items from damage. It is recommend to raise items off the floor several inches or place on shelving units, use plastic or other containers to protect valuable stored items from getting damaged or wet.

Facilities Planning and Management thanks you in advance for your cooperation and support.

Manny Toribio, Facilities Planning and Management

Polk County will offer an opportunity for qualified voters to cast their ballots early for the November General Election at a satellite voting location in the Olmsted Center on Thursday, Oct. 11, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Qualified voters who live in the following precincts will be able to cast their ballots at that time: 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 46. To confirm your precinct, visit the Iowa Secretary of State website at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx.

Please be advised that voter registration forms will be available at the petitioned satellite station in Olmsted. Electors with a disability that need an accommodation to participate should call the Polk County Election Office at 515-286-3247 for assistance or email election@polkcountyiowa.gov

Drake University does not endorse or oppose any candidate or party for public office.

Jarad Bernstein, University Communications & Marketing

Watch the video above produced by Giada Morresi, Student Activities Board President and Student Senate VP, for a quick look at how to use the calendar. 

With nearly 5,000 students, 1,000 faculty and staff, and more than 160 clubs and organizations, there’s always something happening at Drake. In an effort to better promote our vibrant life on campus, University Communications & Marketing, in partnership with Student Senate, is excited to launch calendar.drake.edu, a new online calendar for the University.

The calendar will replace the previous University calendar and serve as the central hub for all campus events—important academic dates, athletic events, music performances, lectures, readings, films, job fairs—you name it. The calendar is user-friendly, efficient, and allows anyone with a drake.edu email address to submit events. Other benefits include increased awareness and web traffic. The tool will help University events to appear at the top of Google search results, increasing traffic to our website. The calendar can be accessed through the drake.edu website by clicking News & Events or by simply going to calendar.drake.edu.

To date, there are already more than 300 events on the calendar.

Submitting events
Anyone with a drake.edu email address can submit events—and is encouraged to do so. Click on the orange “Submit an Event” button, and you will be prompted to login using your Drake ID. When filling out the submission form, enter as much information as you can and then click “Add Event.” Your submission will go into a pending queue where it will be approved or rejected by your respective area’s calendar editor. Submissions that don’t have a complete description, are not a University organized/sponsored event, or violate the University’s Statement of Principles, will not be accepted. Please be aware that it may take 2–3 days for a submission to be approved and appear on the calendar. Submitting events at least seven days before the start date of your event is encouraged.

Customizing your view
A scrolling slide of “Featured Events” is displayed at the top of the page, followed by trending events. Click the “Upcoming” button to see everything happening this week, or select “All Events” to see events by day, week, or month. To further customize your view, you can filter events by type, audience, or topic, such as “Arts & Entertainment” or “Science & Technology.”

Add events to your personal calendar
Want to add all of the upcoming lectures to your calendar automatically? It’s easy. Just select the category you want on the right-hand side of the page, such as “Equity & Inclusion.” A new page will open listing the events within this category. Click on the appropriate calendar icon at the top of the page (Google, Outlook, iCal). All future events in this category will be added to your calendar.

For complete how-to guides and tips for calendar users, visit calendar.drake.edu/help/about. Localist, the company that developed the new Drake calendar, also has a collection of helpful resources to access as well. See the list.

If you have any additional questions regarding the calendar, please contact Kelsey Faybik, associate director of brand integration, at kelsey.faybik@drake.edu.

Jeremy Sievers, University Communications & Marketing

In January of 2017 the university adopted the preferred name policy. Since that time, we have experienced success with students finding it easier to update their preferred name. This policy is helpful for many students, and is especially meaningful for international and transgender students.

Places the preferred name currently shows up are:
· Drake ID card
· Residence hall roster (for on-campus students)
· Blackboard listing
· Class list with photos
· Advisor list with photos
· MyDUSIS classmate search
· Email

Documents that list legal name:
· Transcript
· Diploma
· Document with the Office of Student Financial Planning
· Official University records
· Visa verification

We continue to work to update our extensive systems that display student names to confirm that preferred names are displayed where appropriate. As you navigate engaging preferred names, below are some tips for navigating respectfully and thoughtfully.

Why is this important?

What to do if you accidentally misgender someone/misuse someone’s name:
While misgendering/misusing someone’s name can be harmful and uncomfortable for both parties, we are all human and make mistakes. How someone responds after making a mistake is important. Often, the best thing to do is simply correct the mistake by saying something like, “Sorry, I meant ‘she’ is attending the event” and then move on with conversation. Try not to call too much attention to the situation or apologize profusely—this puts the person who has been misgendered in the position of comforting you and can make them feel even more uncomfortable. It’s best to say a quick apology, move on, be more diligent in the future.

Keep it confidential:
If you notice a document that uses a legal first name (besides the areas listed above), continue to refer to the person by their preferred name. Notify the department/area in charge where you noticed the discrepancy so it can be evaluated and updated.

What if you know a student who would like to update their preferred name?
Check out this FAQ.

Tony Tyler, Student Engagement, Equity, and Inclusion 

Drake University will switch from cooling to heating season within residence halls Oct. 10. For other campus buildings, heat will be turned on Oct. 15. An important reminder, once the University switches to heating, we cannot switch back to cooling. Normally, we will experience a few warm fall days and we will not have cooling available.

Jolene Schmidt, Facility Planning and Management

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) tomorrow, Oct. 3.

What’s happening?
On Oct. 3 at 1:18 p.m., FEMA and the FCC will conduct a nationwide test of both WEA and EAS. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of national emergency or disaster messages and determine whether technological improvements are needed. This is the first national WEA test to cell phones. The message will be a Presidential Alert and will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The WEA test will be sent through IPAWS as part of the nation’s alert and warning infrastructure that automatically authenticates alerts.

These test notifications are occurring outside of our Bulldog Alert (Rave Alert/Rave Guardian) platform, Drake is not initiating or using our systems for the alert. However, as this is the first time FEMA is testing a Presidential Alert, it is likely that all or a majority of the campus community will receive this alert (there is no way to opt-out of the Presidential Alerts). It is our hope that this does not cause confusion as to the origin of the alert.

If Drake University initiates a Bulldog Alert tomorrow, as always the alert will start with the statement “Bulldog Alert” and then the appropriate information will follow.

Questions on the national test can be sent to FEMA-National-Test@fema.dhs.gov.

Scott Law, Public Safety and Operational Services