October was established as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in 2004 and is a collaborative effort between government agencies and private industry to help individuals protect themselves online, especially as threats to technology and confidential data become more commonplace.

Your Role

This year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme is See Yourself in Cyber. It highlights the reality that cybersecurity is ultimately about people and not a technology issue. To protect ourselves and our data, we all need to make smart decisions on the job, at home, and at school.

See Yourself in Cyber means recognizing the part you play in cybersecurity no matter what your role may be. As an individual, take basic steps to protect your online information and privacy. As a student, faculty, or staff member, be vigilant in protecting your institutional identity and the data entrusted to you. While the University has implemented strong cybersecurity policies and practices, the burden of keeping information safe rests on us. We each need to play our part.

4 Things You Can Do Right Now

• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever possible, not just your Drake accounts
• Use strong, unique passwords for every account
• Recognize and report phishing
• Keep software & apps up to date on all of your devices

Additional Resources

Go to  https://www.drake.edu/its/csam/ to view some helpful and humorous videos about cybersecurity topics as well as take the cybersecurity quiz!

The first 150 people to complete the quiz will receive a coupon to use at the campus Starbucks, and all participants will be entered into a random drawing for 1 of 15 Griff II T-shirts!

— Chris Mielke, ITS

Grab your walking shoes and join tomorrow’s Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 5.  For those working on campus, we invite all faculty, staff, and students to meet at noon at the start of the Bulldog Mile.  This one-mile path begins outside the Olmsted Center (just southeast of the building).  We will start with a drawing for prizes and then follow the signs and giant paw prints on the sidewalk as we make our way around and through campus.  Bring a colleague or make it a team or department event!  If it is raining, we will move the event to the indoor track at the Knapp Center.

For those not on campus, we encourage you to take a break sometime during the day on Oct. 5 and go for a walk. Then send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu for a chance at additional prizes.  Let’s get moving!

— Linda Feiden, HR

Family Weekend kicks off Thursday, Oct. 6, with Hoops Fest in the Historic Court Avenue District.  Hoops Fest is from 5–8 p.m. and will feature the Drake Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams competing in various competition on a temporary court on Court Avenue. Along with the action on the court there will be giveaways, drink specials, food trucks, and much more!

Friday the volleyball team opens its home slate in a newly renovated Knapp Center at 6 p.m. It’s a “Blue Out” so there will be a T-shirt giveaway plus bring your Drake Hoops Fest mug and get in free. Saturday is Family Day as the football team welcomes San Diego at 1 p.m. followed by volleyball back in the Knapp Center at 6 p.m.

The weekend wraps Sunday at 1 p.m. as the Women’s Soccer team faces off against UIC at Drake Stadium.

For a full list of athletic events during Family Weekend visit, draketix.com/familyweekend.

A variety of other events such as a family game night, coffee social, campus and neighborhood tour, tailgate cookout, sweetheart sing, and a 5K and one mile run/walk will also round out the weekend. Learn more and view the Family Weekend schedule.

— Michael Admire, Athletics

Drake will hold fire drills Oct. 19, 20, 21, and 24 in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act and in conjunction with National Fire Prevention month. All drills will be conducted at 10:45 a.m. with the exception of the residence halls, which will be conducted from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 24. We have planned this to minimize disruption to classes, and the majority of academic buildings will be completed the week of fall break. This also allows us to have a more efficient utilization of our staff for these drills. The residence halls will be done from 6–9 p.m. to increase participation in the residence hall evacuation.

Fire alarms will be activated in all campus buildings to signal the start of the drill. When the alarm sounds:

• Evacuate the building.
• Buildings will be locked down and cannot be re-entered until the drill ends.
• Remember to dress accordingly.

The fire drills will be coordinated through the Office of Public Safety (271-2222) working with the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (271-3804) and Facilities Planning and Management (271-2706). Please report any fire alarm malfunctions or evacuation problems to Facilities or Public Safety. Your cooperation in this very important campus safety exercise regarding the Drake University Emergency Response Plan is appreciated.

Fire drill schedule:

Oct. 19
Cowles
Opperman
Cartwright
Harmon Fine Arts Center
Howard
Carnegie
SJMC at 25th

Oct. 20
Olin
Science Connector Building
Medbury
Collier-Scripps
Harvey-Ingham
Cline
Fitch
STAH
Occupational Therapy

Oct. 21
Aliber   
Olmsted Center
Hubbell
Student Health
Alumni House
ROTC
Fieldhouse
Tennis Center

Oct. 24
All residence halls (6–9 p.m.)
Bell Center
Cole
Dial Center
Kinne Center
Knapp Center
Legal Clinic
Old Main
Public Safety
Vote Smart

— Chris Nickell, Environmental Health & Safety

Grab your walking shoes and join this year’s Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 5.  For those working on campus, we invite all faculty, staff, and students to meet at noon at the start of the Bulldog Mile.  This one-mile path begins outside the Olmsted Center (just southeast of the building).  We will have a drawing for some prizes, and then follow the signs and giant paw prints on the sidewalk as we make our way around and through campus.  Bring a colleague or make it a team or department event.  If it is raining, we will move the event to the indoor track at the Knapp Center.

For those not on campus, we encourage you to take a break sometime during the day on Oct. 5 and go for a walk. Then send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu for a chance at additional prizes.  Let’s get moving!

— Linda Feiden, HR

This is the fourth year of Drake’s Walktober step challenge with Des Moines University and Wesley Life.  Each site has won the challenge (and coveted trophy) once, which makes this the tie breaker year.  To bring the trophy back to the Drake campus, we need your help, by joining the Drake Walktober step challenge team.

You will receive a journal and instructions to track your daily steps both on and off campus during the month of October.  Any movement that records steps will count toward the total. Along the way, you will receive fun facts and have a chance at individual prizes.  This event is open to all faculty, staff, and students.  Send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu to register.  Registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 30.

— Linda Feiden, HR

I would like to take a moment to remind everyone to make sure they have had an opportunity to review the two active shooter video’s (academic and residence hall) that were sent out Sept. 1.  These videos focus on what to do if there is an active shooter on the Drake campus.  While we hope we will never face an active shooter situation, we must focus on preparedness like we would for any other emergency, such as fire or weather events.

In support of our educational efforts in the area of active shooter response, Drake has revised two important policies that have direct implications. The University has posted for review of the policies on a Violence Free Campus and the Policy on Firearms, Other Lethal Weapons, Fireworks and Dangerous Objects.  Members of the Drake community are encouraged to review and comment on these policy revisions by Oct. 16, 2022.

— Scott Law, Public Safety and University Operations

Come practice speaking in Spanish with conversation facilitators from Bolivia and Argentina. Students, faculty, and staff of all levels are welcome to join Kate and Ana at the at Cowles Library during the following days and times:

Monday/Lunes: 4:30–5:30 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 234A

Tuesday/Martes: 4:30–6:30 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 234

Wednesday/Miércoles: 6–7 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 045

Friday/Viernes 4:15–5:15 p.m., Cowles Library, Room 045

There are no Conversation Hours during University holidays and finals week. For accommodations or questions, email inbal.mazar@drake.edu.

— Cati Davis, Office of the Dean of Arts & Sciences

Starting today, the Self Service registration-related pages have new features. You will see a new link: Registration & Schedule on the Registration card and on your Student Profile left navigation menu. From this link you will access the new registration landing page where you can register for classes, view the schedule of classes, the course catalog, and your current and past schedules. You can view registration-related Knowledge Base articles to help you navigate the new screens.  If you experience a technical issue with the new registration pages, please submit an ITS ticket here.  As a reminder, you will be able to access the former registration pages by clicking the Registration and Schedules (Legacy) link on the Registration card.  This link will be available through Feb. 17, 2023.

Faculty and staff also use the new registration landing page to access the schedule of classes and course catalog. If you do not currently see the Registration card in your Self Service screen, click the blue Discover More button. To add the card to your homepage, click the bookmark icon in the upper right corner of the card. You will continue to provide registration overrides and viewing your advisees’ schedules and degree audits in the current Self Service pages.  For more instructions on navigating these pages, view the Self Service Knowledge Base articles here.

— Jenny Tran-Johnson, Registrar

The Spring 2023 schedule of classes and related registration information is available online. Registration begins Monday, Oct. 31.

View registration information, including the registration time table that shows when you become eligible to register. View the schedule of classes.

Some courses will be temporarily reserved for students who have declared a certain field-of-study (major, minor, concentration, or endorsement). On Monday, Nov. 14, those reservations will be removed. Note that some courses have restrictions that are permanent.

If you are an undergraduate or pharmacy student intending to make any changes to your field-of-study and have those changes take effect before registration begins, file your changes via the change of record request no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24. Requests submitted after this date may be delayed.

— Ryan Trump, Office of the Registrar