A reminder: Nominations for the Levitt Teacher of the Year Award and Mentor of the Year Award are due Feb. 12.

— Art Sanders, Associate Provost

The next in a series of meetings focused on creating inclusive learning environments will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Olmsted Center, Drake Room. These meetings provide an opportunity for anyone on campus to come and discuss the challenges, successes, and failures we have faced as we try to navigate the difficult issue of creating inclusive learning environments. For questions, contact Art Sanders at arthur.sanders@drake.edu.

— Art Sanders, Associate Provost

Looking for a unique Valentine greeting for friends, colleagues, or family? The Drake Choir will deliver singing valentines on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Each singing valentine is a special delivery and can be presented at work, a restaurant, a retirement center, home, or wherever you designate; the choir has sung at construction sites, schools, offices, hospitals, and many more venues, so creativity is welcome.

We deliver to the entire Des Moines metro, including West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the day and 5:30 to 8 p.m. during the evening. In Ankeny, Altoona, Waukee, and Norwalk, we deliver from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

To order a singing valentine, visit http://www.drake.edu/valentines/ or call 515.271.3024. The deadline is Feb. 9.

Choose from one of our three great packages:

True Romance—one rose and a song, $30
Cupid’s Favorite—six roses and a song, $45
Hopeless Romantic—one dozen roses and a song, $65

Add an appearance from Griff for an additional $25
A new feature of our singing valentines is the opportunity to have Griff join the Drake Choir singers in presenting your order. You can add a Griff appearance to any order package for an additional $25. Griff is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Please note that Griff is a certified therapy dog and loves people. However, if you’re having us deliver a valentine to a building in which security clearance is needed to gain entry, you’ll need to work out those details ahead of time with a building supervisor. Our students will not have time to negotiate that aspect of things when they arrive, so please make sure that Griff is expected and welcomed.

Why a singing valentine?
In addition to winning brownie points with your valentine, you’ll be supporting the Drake Choir’s May 2019 international tour. No University funds are used for these tours, so your support is important and greatly appreciated.

— Aimee Beckmann-Collier, Music

Due to inclement weather, the Drake Social has been moved from today to Thursday, Feb. 15. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the social from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Shivers Hospitality Suite.

— Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office

Last week, Drake’s All Staff Council Recognition Committee celebrated the University Communications (UC) team with a surprise cookie delivery (compliments of Drake Dining). The following spotlight provides facts about UC and how they make Drake a better place.

Primary function: The Office of University Communications works to advance the image and reputation of Drake. The team focuses on the University’s key priorities, developing and implementing comprehensive communication strategies tailored to key stakeholder groups: faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, community members, and the media. They also support campus partners by providing valuable tools that enable them to be strong brand ambassadors.

Staff:  There are 16 members of UC. Currently, there are two open positions.

Longest serving team member: Jeremy Sievers, director, digital communications. Jeremey started in August 2004 (13 years).

Newest team member: Dexter Jacobs, senior strategist, digital communications. Dexter started in November 2017.

What has University Communications been working on that the Drake community should know about?

• UC is in the midst of implementing a new brand platform, with initial efforts focused on admission projects and key advancement needs.
• So far this fiscal year, they have 696 jobs on the books, with 284 active jobs currently in the queue. This doesn’t count PR or internal communication projects.
• They’re launching more self-service tools for campus partners every day.
• Academic websites are in the process of being redesigned and relaunched (see news websites for CBPA, SJMC, and SOE).
• UC planned and executed 31 print pieces in fall 2017 to push applications and encourage prospective students to visit, and helped Admission hit their target of 6,000 applications!

Resources: For great self-service tools, be sure to check out the Toolkit, which contains the recently updated Brand Style Guide as well as editorial guidelines, design standards, templates, social media tips, and more.

The Office of University Communications is located at 1229 25^th Street, which is next door to Public Safety and across 25^th Street from Old Main.

— Terri Howard, Law School/All Staff Council

Alumni tell us they want to stay connected to Drake by contributing to today’s student experience. Have you recently scheduled an alumnus to speak in your classroom during J-Term, participate in a career fair, serve on a panel, or mentor a student? Now there’s an easy way to let Alumni Relations know so we can measure engagement, track interests, and communicate opportunities. Find the online form on the University Advancement Web page, or there is a link on blueView under Faculty & Staff Resources.

 —Andy Verlengia, Director of Alumni Relations

The Office of Disability Services will continue to coordinate student exam accommodations that require a reader, scribe, and/or assistive technology. Faculty should continue to work with Leah Berte and Michelle Laughlin for students requiring the above needs.

Faculty will see an Exam Accommodation process form along with the Academic Accommodation request form detailing out the steps below. The Office of Student Disability Services has been working alongside both the associate and assistant dean to put strategies into place for each college.

For proctored exams only (extended time, low distraction testing area, private testing area):

Faculty should continue to work directly with the student to find a time and place for the student to take the exam.

If the faculty and student are unable to find a way to administer the exam on their own, faculty should contact the associate dean of their college (CPHS should contact the assistant dean) to explore other available options.

If the first two methods outlined above are unsuccessful, the faculty and associate dean and assistant dean of CPHS will work with Leah Berte with the availability outlined below.

The Office of Student Disability Services has space in Cowles Library, Room 45 with student proctors on the following Fridays with reoccurring time blocks from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12 to 2 p.m., and 2 to 4 p.m. with five spaces available per time block.

Feb. 23
March 9
March 23
April 6
April 20
May 4
May 11

Please note: The five spaces available in Room 45 are on a first-come, first-served basis, with Leah Berte managing reservations for the space. If Room 45 reaches capacity, the Office of Student Disability Services cannot accommodate any students in that room. The faculty should return to their associate and assistant deans as each college has put strategies into place for assisting faculty with the exam accommodation process.

The Office of Student Disability Services will also have student proctors available in the library once a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. using available study rooms. Dates are to-be-determined based on proctor’s schedule. The colleges will be notified.

Terminology:

A low distraction space —­­ A quiet room with adequate space between students to avoid distractions. Depending on the size of the room, this may allow one or more students to be in the room.

A private testing space — A solitary room for the student to take their exam.

Reader — A person that reads the exam verbatim to the student. If there are questions, the student will contact the faculty directly during or after the exam.

— Joe Campos, Dean of Students

Faculty are invited to attend an ITS workshop on Tuesday, Feb 6, from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Dial Center Large Conference Room.

After you’ve outlined your course to match your syllabus, you can add and manage content to facilitate improved learning. This workshop will introduce you to some of the lesser known features of Blackboard that allow you to manage content more efficiently. Note: Please bring your own laptop or other internet capable device. If you don’t have a laptop or internet capable device, consider borrowing a laptop from the kiosk located in the lobby of Meredith Hall. The course is taught by Karly Good.

Sign up and see the topics for March workshops at www.drake.edu/edtech.

— Carla Herling, ITS

The Provost’s Council is now accepting break-out session proposals for the 2018 Learning Symposium, “Building Trust: Leading the Conversation.” This year’s Learning Symposium will be Monday, Aug. 20, at the Olmsted Center, and will feature Dr. Kathy Obear as keynote speaker. Please visit the Learning Symposium web page for more details and to download the Call for Proposals document.

— Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office

Endless Adventure Lunch: Faculty, staff, and students are invited to join Hubbell Dining tomorrow, Feb. 7, for its Endless Adventure Lunch, a culinary tour of air, land, and sea.

Students can also sign up for the Endless Adventure Sweepstakes for a chance to win one of six digital prize packages.

Valentine’s Day cookies: Surprise your valentine with a giant fortune cookie with a personal message hidden inside. Visit either the Olmsted Center or Spike’s C-Store to order your cookie. Orders are due by Feb. 9. Cookies will be available for pickup in the C-Store on Feb. 13 and 14.

— Jennifer Bowersox, Hubbell Dining