Effective July 1, the Office of Student Records and Academic Information became the Office of the Registrar. This name change coincides with the onboarding of Jenny Tran-Johnson as interim registrar, who officially begins in her new role July 15.
—Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar
Drake, in conjunction with the City of Des Moines, will be replacing several sections of concrete sidewalk around the exterior of campus July 11–17. The project will enhance campus compliance related to ADA concerns. Please see the attached map to determine if the project will interfere with your daily walking routes. The concrete repairs are marked in red. The repairs will impact the following locations:
• 27th Street and Clark Street
• 2700 block of Forest Avenue
• 2804 Forest Avenue
• 29th Street and Forest Avenue
• 30th Street and Forest Avenue
• 30th Street and Carpenter Avenue
• 27th Street and University Avenue
• 28th Street and University Avenue
• 2800 University Avenue
—Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning & Management
In collaboration with Drake’s risk management, insurance broker, and vehicle insurer, a formal Over 8 Passenger Rated Vehicle Driver Approval process will begin on July 1. These new driver approval protocols are being implemented to improve Drake’s current vehicle/driver safety program and to help reduce potential accidents and losses.
Go online to review the full driver approval process, best practices and safety resources at: How to Become an Approved University Driver to Drive Over 8 Passenger Rated Vehicles.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
—Donna Blunck, Director Risk and Insurance
As a reminder, the University does have an UAS (drone) policy.
Drake is within five miles of the Des Moines International Airport. This proximity to the airport creates a no-fly zone unless several approvals are obtained to meet FAA regulations. Those requirements can be found online, and the B4U Fly Map App is online at www.faa.gov/uas/where_to_fly/b4ufly/
There is also a formal Drake UAS approval process to fly on campus that must also meet FAA regulations and requirements. The approval process can be found here.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
—Donna Blunck, Director, Risk and Insurance
ITS needs to make an important upgrade to the system that controls Drake Cards. As a result, access to the following services will be unavailable on July 8 and 9:
There is also the possibility that door access may be slower than usual.
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 visit service.drake.edu/its to report your issue.
—Carla Herling, ITS
It won’t be long before the two new STEM@DRAKE buildings will be complete. This is an exciting time, but also means there is work to do to relocate the faculty and staff who will move into the Science Connector Building and Collier-Scripps Hall. In an effort to keep track of all the moving parts, a process for keeping new building occupants up to date and informed began this spring. Several transition logistics, from key access to telephone transfer, have been carefully planned as we move toward move-in day. If you are impacted by a move, please watch for information from your dean, who is receiving monthly updates on moving logistics and planning.
In addition, in the coming weeks, communications directed at building occupants will be sent via email. OnCampus will continue to be the source of information for the general campus on the project.
As move-in day approaches, various individuals stand ready to help and support those impacted by the move. Questions can be directed to Kelly Foster at kelly.foster@drake.edu or Jolene Schmidt at jolene.schmidt@drake.edu.
—Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
The Drake University Social Media Directory displays the URLs for every Drake-affiliated social media page. Take a look around to see which departments have pages, follow them, and invite your friends to follow along. While you’re looking around, let us know if your department page has changed—maybe you have a department name change, you want a new cover photo, or you don’t see your account’s URL on the directory at all. Either way, let University Communications know by emailing Niki Smith at niki.smith@drake.edu.
If you want to learn more about creating an official presence on social media for your department or unit, reach out to Niki Smith.
Also, there is a student social media directory for all student organizations. Niki is also the contact for that directory if you see anything to add or update.
—Niki Smith, University Communications
This summer, Hubbell Dining Hall is undergoing some changes, including new furniture and lighting, to spruce up this high-use space. This change is made possible by Sodexo Dining Services, which provided the funding for the improvements. In addition to Dining Services staff, students provided input on furniture and color selections. The improvements will be completed and ready for the beginning of the academic year.
—Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer
With assistance from several campus focus groups, ITS has made the decision to adopt Microsoft OneDrive as the campus cloud storage solution.
The decision to use OneDrive was based on its integration with Office365, Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to the development of new features, and the financial resources invested in the solution.
Starting this summer, ITS staff will work with departments across campus to assist with moving individual storage and to explain the benefits of the new system. Once all areas have moved their individual storage, we’ll begin the process of working with departments to migrate shared storage and begin transitioning off current campus storage solutions like blueSpace.
We are starting the process with administrative units this summer, and then will work with academic units starting during the fall semester. We will be sending additional communications to campus as we move forward. We’ll also be reaching out individually to unit leaders to plan timing and to coordinate efforts.
The transition of Drake’s storage into the cloud offers significant opportunities to improve how our faculty, staff, and students work and collaborate. We’re excited for this change and hope others will be as well.
—Carla Herling, Information Technology Services
Drake, in conjunction with the City of Des Moines, will be replacing several sections of concrete sidewalk around the exterior of the campus. The work will begin on June 12 and should be completed by June 16. This project will enhance the campus compliance with ADA concerns on the exterior of the main campus. Please look at the campus map below to see which repairs may cause issues with your normal walking path; the concrete replacement is marked in red.
The repairs include areas at 27th Street & Clark, 2700 block of Forest Avenue, 2804 Forest Ave., 29th Street and Forest Avenue, 30th Street and Forest Avenue, 30th Street and Carpenter Avenue, 27th Street and University Avenue, 28th Street and University Avenue, and 2800 University Ave.
—Jolene Schmidt, Facilities Planning & Management
