Don’t wait. Nominations for the Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence and Distinguished Community Service Awards are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 29. Late nominations will not be accepted.

Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Recipients are chosen on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated personal commitment to volunteerism and community service.
• An outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services and activities contributing to the quality of life in our region, state and/or the nation.
• Professional and personal values and behavior that typify the ideals of “giving back to others” and “making a difference in the lives of others.”
• The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award include:

• Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake University
• Outstanding dedication to providing courteous, prompt and quality service.
• Demonstrated commitment to University programs, initiatives and services.
• Professional values and behavior that demonstrate exceptional service to others and a commitment to Drake University 
• The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to the Levitt Award Committee, care of (c/o) Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu. The letter should detail specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria. Additional letters of support are not necessary. 

A screening committee will review all nominations and make appropriate recommendations to the President’s Council. Winners will be announced during this year’s Sapphire Awards or the Faculty Honors Luncheon.

Linda Feiden, Wellness & Recognition Specialist, Human Resources

Reminder: the online course Prevent Discrimination and Harassment Together is to be completed March 31 by faculty and staff.

This is the third online course to be completed by faculty and staff this year. The online courses, Drake University Online Information Security Awareness and Prevent Sexual Violence Together, were to be completed by faculty and staff by Dec. 7. The courses are part of Drake’s new online programs, which underscore Drake’s commitment to safety and security. The courses feature realistic scenarios based in a higher education setting and participants interactively answer related questions.

Training is completed at your own pace and the courses may be accessed multiple times. Courses retain previously completed content and will return you to the place you last viewed course information. The Blackboard system electronically records your status as “completed” when you finish each course.

Course Access
Log in to myDrake and click the Blackboard app in the shaded blue area near the top of the screen. Click Agree and Continue at the pop-up screen describing Privacy, Cookies and Terms of Use. Next, enter your Drake Banner numeric ID and password, and you’ll be directed to the Blackboard home page. The courses are listed in the My Courses area of the page.  The Prevent Sexual Violence Together and Prevent Discrimination and Harassment Together courses are bundled within the link titled Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual Violence Prevention.

Unsure If You’ve Completed a Course?
Click on the course title and then My Grades on the left menu. A green checkmark indicates you’ve completed the course.

Next Steps
Deans/administrative leaders will receive a spreadsheet listing their faculty and staff who need to complete the courses that were due Dec. 7. They will provide information to managers for follow-up.

Need Help?
The home page of Blackboard includes a link to On Demand Help topics. If you experience technical issues, click the Blackboard Issues link in the Bb Student News section of the home page and submit your request. For questions about course content, contact Peter Lundstedt, director, Information Security and Compliance; Kathryn Overberg, Title IX coordinator and equity and inclusion policy specialist; or Mary Alice Hill, director, HR Partner Services.

Mary Alice Hill, Human Resources

Mobile devices store more sensitive data than people realize, often more than what’s on your computer. This may include:

• Where you live, work, and visit.
• Contact information for family, friends, and co-workers.
• Phone, text and chat history and content.
• Stored browsing history, passwords, and account access.
• Personal photos and videos.
• Health information, including age, heart rate, exercise history, or blood pressure

Regardless of how you dispose of old mobile devices, be sure to first securely erase all that sensitive information. Simply deleting is not enough—you need to reset the device. This process varies among devices, below are the steps for the two most common brands:

• Apple iOS: Settings | General | Reset | Erase All Content and Settings
• Android: Settings | Privacy | Factory Data Reset

If you’re unsure, or need assistance, ask for help from a technician at the store where you purchased it. Attackers can and will use old mobile devices to gain access to your information and accounts, impersonate you, and phish you and your contacts.

ITS will be continuing phishing education this month using emails that mimic real attacks. If you receive an email that you suspect is phishing, don’t click any links, download any attachments, or reply. 
For more information on reporting phishing emails, see the IT Service Portal guide Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to).

Peter Lundstedt, ITS

In an effort to improve efficiency, achieve faster payment settlement, and be more environmentally responsible, Drake has contracted with Paymerang, a third party vendor, to provide payment services.

This partnership will allow Drake to transmit payments electronically to some vendors (excluding student and employee reimbursements). Paymerang will be executing vendor payments on the University’s behalf starting in March. 

This change will not impact how payments are requested or approved. A payment request form should still be submitted to the accounts payable team with proper documentation and approval. Payments will be processed as normal between 5–7 business days.

If you are contacted by a vendor regarding the partnership or payment, please have them reach out to Paymerang directly. Paymerang will work with the vendor to get them enrolled in their network. They can contact the Paymerang Team by calling 1-877-680-7332 or emailing support@paymerang.com.

Erica McGowan, Finance & Administration

This semester, through a collaboration between the Public Safety, Title IX and Violence Prevention, and Equity and Inclusion departments, Human Resources launched a new series of programming focused on safety and inclusion called Bulldog Bites.

The final session in the series is Wednesday, March 13, at noon in Cowles Library, Room 201. The session is titled, “Title IX/Prevention part 2 – Bystander Intervention for Faculty and Staff.”

The goal of Bulldog Bites is to make our own campus experts accessible to faculty and staff to talk about how we can all make our community feel safe and inclusive.

Those who attend the March 13 session will enter a drawing for Hubbell Dining Hall and annual parking passes.

Mary Alice Hill, Human Resources

We are taking “last minute” nominations to honor Drake faculty and staff who exemplify our fourth Core Value: Commitment to Mission. Those nominated will be recognized at the Provost’s Drake Social, Wednesday, March 6, at Shivers Hospitality Suite, beginning at 4 p.m. Join us for snacks, refreshments, and good conversation. 

Commitment to Mission means we are united in service to students and our communities. We act with integrity and purpose. We are optimistic about our future. Watch the video of Drake colleagues talking about what Commitment to Vision means to them.

Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. today. Send them to Drinda Williams at drinda.williams@drake.edu.

Drinda Williams, Academic Support Specialist, Office of the Provost