Drake Online and Continuing Education is partnering with IBM Skills Academy to offer educational opportunities in the area of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, block chain, data science, cloud computing, and/or design thinking. The IBM Skills Academy is the integrated program incorporating a week of faculty training, pre-built curriculum, hands-on cloud based labs, use cases, quizzes, exams and badges.

All of the offerings in these areas will be non-credit and will take the form of boot camps, non-credit certificates, and smaller workshops.  To offer these non-credit workshops and seminars, we are seeking instructors to participate in the IBM Skills Academy.  Potential instructors must be good facilitators and have basic IT literacy, such as working within an operations system such as Windows, copying and pasting items, and using the Internet.  Instructors will attend training and must commit to teaching at least twice within a 12-month timeframe.  To become an instructor, there is a mandatory, weeklong training at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY.  Drake Online and Continuing Education will support the travel costs.  Instructors will be compensated for instruction of seminars, although detailed rates have not been set at this early stage.

All faculty and staff who may be interested in becoming an IBM Skills Academy instructor can contact Christina Trombley at christina.trombley@drake.edu or at extension 2506.

—Christina Trombley, Executive Director, Online Programming

The University faculty/staff development opportunities webpage has an updated link: www.drake.edu/fsdo/.

Whether you’re interested in developing a short-term learning experience abroad or better incorporating writing into your courses, the web page makes it easy to browse upcoming development opportunities.

—Sandra Harris, Administrative Support Specialist, Provost’s Office

We’ve now been using Duo multi-factor authentication with Office 365 and other applications for over a year, and I appreciate the positive response we’ve had to this important security enhancement. Here are a few metrics that show the massive scale and usage of this security tool.

• 154,428 logins using Duo over the last 365 days, averaging more than 423 per day.
• 34,116 logins expedited through the Remember Me function.
• 1,881 faculty, staff, student worker, and vendor accounts protected.

Top authentication methods:

Duo Push: 75%
Phone Call: 20%
Duo Mobile Passcode: 2.5%
SMS Passcode: 2.1%
Invalid Passcode: 0.4%

If you’re not already using Duo Push as your primary method to log in, I’d encourage you to try it. Duo Push comes from an app installed on your smartphone that provides a quicker, easier, more secure, and cheaper method than receiving phone calls or text messages.

Why is Duo Push the best method?

• It’s quicker than a phone call or text. You simply approve a notification on your smartphone.
• It’s more secure. Duo Push uses end-to-end encryption that SMS and phone calls can’t, and the screen displays detailed information about the application and device the initiated the request.
• Each push uses very little data. 500 pushes to your device will use about 1 MB of data, roughly equivalent to loading one webpage on your smartphone.

The Duo Mobile app required to use Duo Push does not have any control over your phone. It cannot change settings, read emails, see browser history, and requires your explicit permission to send notifications. You are always in control of the app.

If you don’t have wi-fi or cell reception, you can still log in using the app. Tap the ▼icon to generate an authentication passcode anytime, anywhere.

Read more about how to set up a device with the Duo Mobile app in the IT Service Portal guide Using the Duo Self-service Portal (How-to).

Duo is designed to prevent attackers from using lost or stolen passwords to access personal information. The primary way passwords are lost and stolen is through phishing. If you encounter an email or webpage that you suspect is malicious, don’t click links, download attachments, or reply. ITS will be continuing phishing education this month using emails that mimic real attacks.

For more information on how to report phishing emails, see Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to).

—Peter Lundstedt, ITS

The first in our monthly Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) lunches is Friday, Sept. 27, at noon in TMR 133.  These discussions are opportunities for those engaged in SoTL projects at any level—from just thinking about starting one to almost complete—or those simply curious about SoTL to share ideas, seek advice, or ask questions of colleagues engaged in this process. Please register before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24, to receive a lunch.

—Arthur Sanders, Associate Provost

Today’s Drake Social has been moved to Levitt Hall in Old Main due to rain.  The social will begin at 4 p.m. and feature a popcorn bar, warm cider, and lemonade. Faculty and staff who have childcare responsibilities right after work are invited to bring the kids along, as well as spouses and partners.

—Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

New to Drake? Want to get away from your desk and interact with other Bulldogs? The All Staff Council Special Interest committee is launching a networking luncheon series this fall called Bulldogs Connect.

Join your fellow Bulldogs for the $5 staff lunch at Hubbell Dining Hall for the Bulldogs Connect lunch networking series. Members of the Special Interest committee will be at each lunch and will bring networking topic suggestions. Anyone is welcome to come – bring a new Bulldog along with you! Look for the table with the Drake swag and a special Bulldogs Connect table tent in Hubbell!

The networking lunches at Hubbell Dining Hall are scheduled for the following dates from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.:

Wednesday, Sept. 18
Wednesday, Oct. 23
Wednesday, Nov. 6
Wednesday, Dec. 11

The spring dates are still being finalized. As a reminder, staff can take advantage of the $5 lunches at Hubbell every Wednesday, whether it’s a planned networking lunch or not.

—Niki Smith, University Communications & Marketing

Faculty, if you teach multiple sections of a course and would like to consolidate your course’s final exams into the same room at the same time during finals week, please email the Registrar’s Office at registrar@drake.edu no later than Monday, Sept. 16.  Requests received after Sept. 16 may not be accommodated.

Find more information on final exams. The full exam schedule, including courses with consolidated final exams, will be finalized by Oct. 1.

—Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar