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 

The World Language and Cultures Department is offering a free six-session workshop to learn Arabic. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to join. The workshop will be held every Monday from 5:30–7 p.m. from April 1 through May 6. Register for the workshop.

Ibrahim Khalaylih, World Languages and Cultures

The National Weather Service will conduct a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday, March 27. A test tornado watch will be issued around 10 a.m. followed by a test tornado warning around 10:15 a.m., in which sirens will sound.

The statewide drill allows us to test our planning and readiness and practice seeking appropriate shelter in case of a real tornado. Faculty, staff, and students should participate in the drill by following campus severe weather plans and going to the lowest level of their building, away from doorways and windows. View a list of designated severe weather shelters.

In the event of actual severe weather in the state during the drill, backup days are scheduled for March 28 and 29.

Learn what actions to take when a tornado hits, whether you are outside in a manufactured home or in a building.

Wherever you are, remember that most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so protect your head.

Tornado facts:

• Tornados may strike quickly, with little or no warning.
• Funnel clouds usually last less than 10 minutes before dissipating, and many only last several seconds. On rare occasion, cyclones can last for over an hour.
• Tornados may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.
• The average tornado moves southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.
• The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 mph, but may vary from stationary to 70 mph.
• Damage paths of tornadoes can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long.
• Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.

Tornado watch: Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to the NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

Tornado Warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Seek shelter immediately.

Chris Nickell, Environmental Health and Safety

There will be no OnCampus newsletter Tuesday, March 19, during spring break. OnCampus will resume the following week.

Ashton Hockman, University Communications and Marketing

Facilities Planning and Management is asking all faculty, staff, and students who will not be on campus over spring break to help conserve energy by following these simple guidelines:

• Shut down and unplug computers, monitors, televisions and all auxiliary devices if you leave them behind. When plugged in, many electronic items use electricity whether they’re turned on or not.
• Don’t forget to unplug phone chargers and small appliances, like coffeepots and microwaves as well.
• Turn off room lights in your space and any task lighting.
• If you can manually adjust the thermostat in your space, turn it down to low and adjust temperature to 65 degrees.
• Empty out refrigerators and unplug if they are not needed. This is a great time to dispose of old food items and clean the refrigerator. Be sure to keep the door open while you are away for the week.
• Make sure all windows are shut. If you have a window air condition unit, ensure it is turned off and unplugged.

Thank you for taking these simple steps to help Drake save energy across campus.  Have a wonderful spring break!

Kevin Moran, Executive Director, Facilities Planning and Management

Due to decreased traffic during Spring Break, we will be adjusting the building open hours to better secure the campus and improve resident safety. Please note that this will not affect any academic/administrative building “after-hours” card access. 

Almost all academic and administrative buildings will be closed on Saturday and Sunday during break (March 16, 17, and 23). Most buildings will have open hours from 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. during the week of Spring Break (March 18–22). Regular hours will resume on Sunday, March 24. 

Cowles Library open hours/after-hours are listed on their website.

Please contact Public Safety (515-271-2222) if you have a door access emergency during this time, or contact the Student Services Center (515-271-2000 or studentservices@drake.edu) if you have a general card access question or concern. 

Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

ITS supports campus technology with on-campus and offsite data centers. Recently, our offsite data center raised its rates. To avoid increasing our annual costs, ITS is moving our offsite data center to a new location. At the same time, we are replacing aging equipment and improving internet connectivity by offering additional redundancy for campus. A project team has been created and is currently planning this work. 

Below are a few key project dates: 

• Spring Break (March 18 and 19) – Preparation work will begin by bringing new server storage online and moving some servers.
• Mid-April – New internet connections will be established and network communication equipment will be placed in our new location.
• After Relays – Equipment will be moved from the old offsite data center to the new offsite data center. The team will also make sure the new offsite data center communicates properly with the main data center.

Watch for additional OnCampus articles updating you on the project in April, May, and June. Also, ITS leadership will be providing more detailed information to some key stakeholder groups in the near future.

Please be aware that moving the offsite data center introduces the risk that campus technology may become unavailable. This is because for a period of time we will be unable to fail over to our offsite data center. The team is working to identify ways to minimize or eliminate any potential outages. In the event that any outages do occur, we will notify campus through our regular communication channels. 

Kris Brewster, ITS

Cowles Library is proud to present a collaborative project with Professor Sarah McCoy and her students entitled “Inspiring Women of Drake and the State of Iowa.” The Cowles Library Diversity Task Force formed the idea, and Professor McCoy’s students in the graphic design course “Content and Audience” visited our University Archives to research a woman of their choosing. The result is a collection of beautiful prints and posters that will be displayed throughout the month of March in celebration of Women’s History Month. Please come visit us and enjoy the artwork.

Dan Chibnall, STEM Librarian