Category Archives: Campus Announcements Archive

Go All In April 4–5

Last year, 132 employee donors went All In for The Drake Fund in the 24-hour fundraising campaign. This year, the All In campaign has set a goal to have more than 500 donors donate over $100,000 in the 24-hour period.

The faculty and staff social will be Tuesday, April 4, from 4-6 p.m. in Parents Hall South. We’re excited to involve students in this social because, for the first time ever, they are participating in the All In campaign as well.

A few challenges have been set for faculty and staff only. All members (students, faculty, and staff) of the campus community who give during the campaign will be entered into a drawing for a homemade pie hand-delivered to their office from Provost Mattison. The drawing will be held at the April 4 social event and you must be present to win. Staff member Niki Smith, JO’08, GR’15, will donate $1 for every faculty and staff who give during the campaign. Finally, the first 50 faculty and staff donors will receive a special prize delivered to them.

For now, you can like the Facebook pageRSVP to the Facebook event, and invite your friends to go All In with you.

Statewide tornado drill March 29

The Iowa Statewide Tornado Drill on Wednesday, March 29. A Test Tornado Watch will be issued at 10 a.m. for the entire state followed by the Test Tornado Warning around 10:30 a.m.

Severe weather can strike at any time in Iowa, making it important for all of us to be prepared to find the most secure shelter available no matter where we are. The statewide drill provides the Drake community with an opportunity to test their planning and readiness to be able to quickly seek appropriate shelter in case of a real severe weather emergency. By practicing and increasing readiness across the campus, Drake’s students, faculty, and staff can feel confident and prepared in the event of actual severe weather emergencies.

Tornado Facts:

  • They 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.
  • They 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.

Know the Terms:
Familiarize yourself with these terms to help identify a tornado hazard:
Tornado Watch—Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

Tornado Warning—A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.

If you are under a tornado warning, seek shelter immediately! Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head.

If you are in: Then:
A structure Go to a pre-designated area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of a small interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck.
In a high-rise building, go to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
Put on sturdy shoes.
Do not open windows.
A manufactured home or office Get out immediately and go to a pre-identified location such as the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.
Outside with no shelter If you are not in a sturdy building, there is no single research-based recommendation for what last-resort action to take because many factors can affect your decision. Possible actions include:
Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. If your vehicle is hit by flying debris while you are driving, pull over and park.
Take cover in a stationary vehicle. Put the seat belt on and cover your head with your arms and a blanket, coat, or other cushion if possible.
Lie in an area noticeably lower than the level of the roadway and cover your head with your arms and a blanket, coat or other cushion if possible.
In all situations:
Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.
Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter.
Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.

—Chris Nickell, Environmental Health and Safety

Fiscal year-end purchasing guidelines

With the University’s fiscal year-end (June 30, 2017) approaching, below are recommended guidelines for efficient and effective year-end processing of purchases.

Accounting for departmental expenses:

In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, Drake is required to report transactions in the proper fiscal period. For that reason, expenses are recorded in the period when goods are received and/or services are rendered. In short, items expensed to a FY17 budget will need to be received before June 30, 2017.  Factors such as budget allocation, invoice receipt, or payment issuance would not have an impact on the application of expenses within a fiscal period.

Exceptions to this general rule apply when a benefit of service or receipt of item extends into multiple fiscal years. In such cases, the following guidelines will be applied.

  • Expenses less than $5,000: will be charged against the fiscal year in which the majority of the expense will be incurred. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $3,000 and covers the period of 7/1/16 through 12/31/17, the expense would be charged to FY17)
  • Expenses greater than or equal to $5,000: will be split into the fiscal years according to the percentage of benefit received during each fiscal period. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $10,000 that covers a period of 7/1/16 through 6/30/18, $5,000 would be charged to FY17 and $5,000 charged to FY18)

The University’s guidelines for year-end purchases are subject to external audit. As you make purchases during this period leading up to and overlapping our fiscal year end, it is important to note when the goods or services were received so they are expensed according to reporting requirements. If the timing of receipt is not clearly noted on the invoice, it would be beneficial to help call the receipt date to accounting’s attention by clearly marking the appropriate fiscal year for the expense, based on the above guidelines, on the pay request.

Please contact accounting at x2125 or accounting@drake.edu with any questions you might have.

Year-end timeline:

In order to facilitate efficient and effective year-end processing, the following timeline is recommended for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.

Deadline Action Additional Information
June 1 Initiate final FY17 purchase orders Please contact Caron Findlay at x2424 or caron.findlay@drake.edu with any questions you have regarding purchase orders.

 

Please contact Monita Jackson at x3918 or itspurchasing@drake.edu for computer order requests.

 

June 15 Complete FY17 purchases with vendor All purchases should be completed by this date in order to allow for settlement of the transaction and receipt of the goods or services by June 30.  

 

Clear outstanding FY17 Travel Advances Please contact accounting at x2125 or accounting@drake.edu with any questions you have regarding outstanding travel advances.

 

June 23 Review FY17 account activity through May All accounts should be reviewed in Banner on a timely basis throughout the fiscal year. Any corrections for July through May activity should be submitted to accounting by this date.

 

Submit all FY17 payment requests All payment requests for FY17 should be submitted to Accounting.

 

June 30 Review and submit all FY17 purchasing card statements All FY17 purchasing card statements should be reviewed and submitted to Accounting with required documentation.

 

July 14 Submit requests for FY17 restricted or endowed spending transfers.

 

All requests for restricted or endowed spending should be submitted to Kathy Veach at kathy.veach@drake.edu.

 

Final review of FY17 account activity At this point, only June transactions should need to be reviewed. It is highly recommended that prior months’ activity be reviewed as stated above in the timeline. Any corrections should be submitted to accounting by this date.

—Heather Travis, Finance and Administration

Improvements coming to self-service password change tool

ITS has been developing a new and improved password change tool for the last few months. Set to launch on April 10, this new tool will make it easier for students, faculty, staff, and all campus constituents to reset their passwords or recover forgotten passwords.

Instead of having to call the Support Center to reset a forgotten password, everyone will be able to reset their own password. The first time anyone uses the new password change tool, they will be asked to answer security questions, provide a personal email address, or enter a personal mobile phone number. If you later forget your password, this information allows you to recover it without Support Center assistance.

The password tool will still be located at password.drake.edu, just with improved functionality and usability. Passwords will continue to expire annually, with email notifications from ITS to inform users of the need to change their passwords.

Strong passwords are the first line of defense to keeping personal and institutional data safe. Want to learn more about how to create them? Try this password game from Carnegie Mellon University.

—Carla Herling, ITS

Upcoming ITS maintenance planned for April 2

ITS is making updates to network infrastructure. As a result, internet access and access to Drake online resources will be unavailable between 5 and 6 a.m. on Sunday, April 2. This upgrade is being made to ensure that our back up services are automated from our data center in Shakopee, Minn.

We appreciate your patience while we perform this necessary work. If you continue to have any issues after the planned maintenance window, please contact the Support Center at 515-271-3001 or supportcenter@drake.edu.

—Carla Herling, ITS

Seeking nominations for Adams Leadership Convocation honors

All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to nominate individuals and student organizations that have shown exceptional leadership and contributions to the Drake community. The recipients will be awarded at the Adams Leadership Convocation on Friday, April 21.

All nominations are due by midnight on Friday, March 31. Criteria and nomination forms for the various awards may be found here: http://bit.ly/AdamsConvocation 

Awards categories include:

Individual Leadership Awards
Class Year Awards: Top First-Years, Sophomores, Juniors (P1), Seniors (P2)
Outstanding President/Chairperson
Outstanding Student Organization Officer
Outstanding Residence Hall Leader
Wanda Everage Peer Mentor Award
Drake Service Award for Individual
Organization Adviser of the Year
Ron & Jane Olson Outstanding Global Service-Learning Student Award

Student Organization & Programming Awards
Drake Service Award for Student Organization
Outstanding Student Organization
Outstanding Educational Program
Outstanding Social Program
Outstanding Equity & Inclusion Program
Outstanding Weekend Alcohol Alternative Program
Outstanding Collaboration Award

Oreon E. Scott Outstanding Senior of the Year 
The Oreon E. Scott award nomination process, requires a letter of nomination from faculty, staff, and/or students highlighting the senior’s achievements in the areas of scholarship, leadership, involvement, and service. More about the nomination process for this award can be found here.

—Meghan Baeza, Office of Student Involvement and Leadership

New service request system for ITS

This past week ITS began using a new system for tracking service requests. If you submit a request online, or call the Support Center, you’ll see a different look and feel to the emails you receive. This is the first step toward the launch of a new campus-facing service portal coming in May. Watch OnCampus for more information and upcoming opportunities to try out the new system for yourself. You can also hear more about this and other upcoming ITS projects at Thursday’s Town Hall. Feedback? Let us know at carla.herling@drake.edu.

—Carla Herling, ITS