The Great Colleges to Work For (GCTWF) survey is back!  On Monday, March 24, all full-time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate. 

What is the Great Colleges to Work For survey? 
The Great Colleges to Work For survey is the primary employee survey used by the University to gather feedback on our workplace culture. The survey is administered by ModernThink, a management-consulting firm focusing on workplace quality in higher education.  More information about the Great Colleges to Work For survey is available at greatcollegesprogram.com. 

Why should I participate? 
Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify opportunities to improve workplace satisfaction and engagement. Your responses provide valuable insight into employee opinions and needs. Overall responses are reviewed to identify actionable areas for improvement over the next year. For our last ‘Great Colleges’ Survey, 67% of full-time faculty and staff responded to the survey. This year, we are aiming to match or exceed that response rate. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and complete the results.  

Is participation mandatory? 
Participation is voluntary, although we do hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your feedback and make sure your voice is heard. A high response rate will help ensure an accurate representation of employee perspectives. 

Are my responses confidential? 
By having a third-party provider facilitate the survey process, your participation and the feedback you provide will be completely anonymous . No one at Drake will be able to trace results back to individuals. Drake will receive reports summarizing the results, but will not have access to any individual response data. Furthermore, ModernThink does not report back results for areas that have less than five respondents.  Learn more by reading the Statement of Confidentiality. 

When and how do I participate? 
The 2025 survey period begins Monday, March 24^th, and ends Friday, April 4^th. The survey is administered online by ModernThink. Full-time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate in the survey from ModernThink on March 24. 

How long will it take to complete the survey? 
It typically takes about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey depending on the amount of feedback you provide. 

How is the data used and will the results be shared? 
Consistent with past practice, a summary of the university survey results will be shared with employees and will be used to identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement. All of our units on campus, with greater than five employees, will also have results shared with that unit-leader. Several key measures and targets in the University’s continuous improvement plan (CIP), and in many unit-level CIP’s, are tied directly to feedback from the survey. ModernThink also provides valuable benchmark data that we can use to compare our results against other similar institutions. This information helps senior leaders and individual units can make informed, strategic decisions about improving our culture. 

Can I complete the survey during work hours? 
Yes. Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the survey during working hours. Completing the survey is an important contribution that you can make to strengthen our campus community. 

For further questions, contact Nate Reagen or Erica Kluver.   

Thanks for your support in advance! 

It’s that time of year when many departments across campus are planning summer camps and other programming for middle and high schoolers. There is a lot to think about when hosting minors on campus, including how to mitigate risk, ensure compliance with legal and insurance requirements, and, most importantly, provide a positive experience for participants. If you are planning an event involving minors on campus, please review carefully the resources provided by the office of Risk and Insurance found here. Also, make sure to submit a youth program or camp request form well in advance of the planned event or camp.  If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Risk and Insurance Office at durisk@drake.edu.

— Venessa Macro, Finance and Administration

The March Provost’s Social will be held Monday, March 24, in the Cowles Reading Room beginning at 4 p.m.

This month’s social will include a special celebration of faculty research and academic achievement. Those who submitted their recent publications will be featured on a rolling slide show, and their physical publications may be displayed. Please join us to celebrate our colleagues!

Refreshments will include an assortment of snacks and beverages. This is a family friendly event. Feel free to bring your children or partner.

— Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost

The Drake University SPARC office is happy to provide a one-hour grant writing workshop to assist you or your colleagues with developing their grant writing skills. To schedule a date and time for a workshop, contact lori.bryd@drake.edu. The workshop that will cover the core components of proposal development and grantseeking.

What is included in the session:

• One-hour workshop presentation
• Curated funding opportunity list to your discipline
• Question and answer session

— Preston Miller, Sponsored Programs Administration and Research Compliance

Faculty and staff are invited to join the Center for Teaching and Learning for a faculty social in the Howard Hall Faculty Lounge (Room 212) on Wednesday, March 5, from 3:30–5 p.m.

The social is informal and family-friendly. There will be food and drinks available, music and art from Drake faculty, and of course, darts. If you have not come to see the new Faculty Lounge we would love to have you stop by.

— Bret Sikkink, Center for Teaching and Learning

ITS staff will re-implement the new security measures on our campus wireless network the evening of Thursday, March 6. The first attempt, which was initiated on February 19, caused several issues and was subsequently rolled back. These changes will only affect Drake faculty and staff using personal devices to connect to eduroam.

What’s Changing?

Employees connecting with personal devices will have limited access to certain Drake services, including Banner Admin Pages. However, essential services like myDrake and Microsoft 365 apps will remain accessible and unaffected.

Why the Change?

This update will enhance our network security by ensuring only Drake-owned devices have full access.

Need Help?

If you experience issues on your personal devices after this change or connectivity issues on any other devices, submit a ticket though the ITS service portal or call the Support Center at 515-271-3001.

— Becky Klein, ITS

Throughout the spring, join the Center for Teaching & Learning and your faculty and staff colleagues for informal lunchtime conversations about the on-going influence of generative AI on campus.

Held each month in the Faculty Lounge, Howard Hall, Room 212, each Spring D(AI)logue is scheduled multiple times throughout the week to accommodate as many schedules as possible. Visit the Campus Calendar page for more information, including all the available dates and a brief description of each month’s topics.

— Bret Sikkink, Drake Online

The Principal Center for Global Citizenship invites nominations for the Global Scholar/Practitioner-in-Residence program for Spring 2026, seeking to attract talented individuals from academia or the professions who have outstanding international expertise to teach a course, mentor students, give public lectures, work on joint research with faculty, and aid the global capacity-building of the institution through fruitful external collaborations. One scholar will be selected.

Nomination Instructions

Candidates should be nominated by the academic unit to which they will be attached. Please submit the following supporting materials:

• A nomination letter discussing the qualifications of the candidate and expected contributions to the department and University as a whole
• Candidate’s biographical information and CV
• A letter of interest from the candidate
• A letter of support from the department chair and college/school dean, including how the scholar advances departmental and college/school strategic goals related to internationalization

Nominations should be directed to Annique Kiel, executive director of Global Engagement and International Programs, by April 4, 2025. Preference will be given to practitioners or scholars from one of Drake’s global partners. Units considering a nomination are encouraged to consult with Annique prior to submission.

Among the criteria to be considered for the nominee:

• A record of recognized international leadership and distinguished professional accomplishment in their field
• A demonstrated commitment to global capacity-building and responsible global citizenship
• An ability to bring a uniquely global perspective to the Drake community
• A willingness and ability to offer courses that complement the existing curriculum and meet rigorous academic standards.

In recognition of their contributions, Global Scholars/Practitioners receive a stipend, a travel allowance, an appropriate workspace in the host college/school, and access to university facilities. Global Scholars/Practitioners will be affiliated with an appropriate academic unit for the semester and will offer at least one course.

— Erin McSween, Cowles Library

Starting Feb. 19, new security measures will be implemented on our campus wireless network. These changes will only affect Drake faculty and staff using personal devices to connect to eduroam.

What’s Changing?

Employees connecting with personal devices will have limited access to certain Drake services, including Banner Admin Pages. However, essential services like myDrake and Microsoft 365 apps will remain accessible and unaffected.

Why the Change?

This update will enhance our network security by ensuring only Drake-owned devices have full access.

Need Help?

We’re here to assist you through this transition. For questions or support, submit a ticket though the ITS service portal (service.drake.edu/its) or call the Support Center at 515-271-3001.

— Becky Klein, ITS

It is important to know what to do if law enforcement comes to campus to request information or access. Last week faculty and staff received an email highlighting what steps to take should that occur. That information is now posted on the Human Resources internal site here. The key thing to remember is that if law enforcement requests information or access, even with a judicial warrant, the first step is to notify Public Safety at 515-271-2222 and ask law enforcement to wait until an authorized representative is contacted. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the confidentiality of student records and personally identifiable student information and similarly, there are also protections for certain information about employees. To ensure we adhere to these laws and policies, it is important that only authorized individuals respond to requests for information from law enforcement. Please read the guidance carefully. Questions can be directed to Scott Law (scott.law@drake.edu) or Venessa Macro (venessa.macro@drake.edu).

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer