Emma Daily, senior strategist, visual design in the Office of University Communications, was surprised in early March with the Called to Be True Blue Award from All Staff Council. Her nominator, colleague Tim Schmitt, praised Emma, in particular, for her work as a designer and project leader in support of the Annual Fund.

“She effectively leverages and combines her experience as an alum with her professional knowledge and experience to communicate Drake’s message in ways that go far beyond her role as a designer,” Schmitt wrote. “Perhaps more important is [her] skill at bringing every person on a project together in a collaborative effort that is natural and effective. She is the model of an effective communicator.”

Make your own nomination!
The Called to be True Blue Award recognizes Drake staff members and teams who epitomize the values of leadership, teamwork, integrity, and commitment to the University. If this sound like someone you know, please nominate them at www.drake.edu/asc/recognition. Recipients are automatically in the running to win a year-end Sapphire Award, the highest staff recognition at Drake.

—All Staff Council Recognition Committee

Single-session tickets to the 108th Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee are now available! As a reminder, faculty and staff can take advantage of discounted pricing by visiting or contacting the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or tickets@drake.edu.

The book club selection is available for checkout at Cowles. Our next book will be Lab Girl by Hope Jahren; this book just won a National Book Critics Circle Award, so it should be a great summer read. Cowles Library has books available for checkout on a weekly basis (hint: ask for the book on reserve at the circulation desk).

Contact Sara at ascspecialevents@drake.edu if you have any questions, would like to receive future book club info directly to your email, or would like to RSVP for the discussion. We are planning to meet Thursday, July 20, at 4:45 at Eatery A—hopefully on the patio—we’ve had a lot of fun at these, please feel free to join us.

If you can’t make the discussion, we hope you’ll enjoy the book recommendation—we’ll also be looking for book selection ideas for the next fiscal year, so feel free to send any book suggestions our way.

Drake Book Club—previous selections:

The Kind Worth Killing – Peter Swanson

Thirteen Ways of Looking – Colum McCann

The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown

The Nest – Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Hidden Figures – Margo Lee Shetterly

Bottomland – Michelle Hoover

Lab Girl – Hope Jahren (current selection)

—ASC Special Events Committee and Cowles Library
Sara Heijerman and Dan Chibnall
(Current Book Club Contacts)

Nominations are now being accepted for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award and the Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Awards. These awards will be presented at the All Staff Council Sapphire Awards Event. Nominations are due Friday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m.  No late nominations will be accepted.

Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award
Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Criteria for the award include:

• 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.

Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Awards
The Employee Excellence Award is presented to up to two staff employees who demonstrate exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award include:

• Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake
• 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

Nominees must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

NOMINATION PROCESS

Submit a letter of nomination to the Levitt Award Committee c/o Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent via campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.

A nomination letter detailing specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria is desirable. Additional letters of support are not necessary. A review committee will make award recommendations to the President’s Council. Nominations must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

—Laura Schwarz, Human Resources

It’s time to submit your course material requests for Fall. The deadline for submitting your materials is April 15, 2017. Receiving your list of materials as soon as possible allows us to source the most affordable books for your students and provide top dollar for students selling books back at the end of this term. With our Online Adoption Tool, selecting your course materials is fast and easy.

Access the Online Adoption Tool:

• Visit www.drake.bkstr.com
• Go to Books in the top navigation and under the Information heading, click Online Adoptions.
• If you need additional training to use the Online Adoption Tool, please contact me.

Are You a New User?

1. Follow the steps listed above.
2. Click on New? Register Here and complete the required fields.
3. Enter 1623 in the Bookstore Supplied Password field.

Download 6 Ways to Help Students Save on Textbooks to learn about Follett’s different types of course material purchasing options. If you have any questions about the Online Adoption Tool or how to save students money, please contact me anytime.

—Donna Hallstrom, Drake Bookstore

I am looking for staff and faculty to sit on award review committees for the Adams Leadership Convocation. The awards allow us to honor the outstanding efforts of our students in their contributions to campus this year. The time commitment would be about two hours of nomination reading and a 1.5 hour meeting (maximum) between April 5–April 12. Please email me if you’d like to review (meghan.baeza@drake.edu); thanks in advance for offering your time!

—Meghan Baeza, Office of Student Involvement and Leadership

A phishing simulation sent to 500 faculty and staff in February was met with outstanding results: 94 percent of those that received the email either didn’t click the link or enter any information on the webpage. This week we will be sending out another simulation email to 500 random faculty and staff members. If you receive the email and open the attachment, you’ll be sent to an informational page. If you receive an email you suspect is phishing, simulated or not, please forward it as an attachment to informationsecurity@drake.edu.

Participating in training like this is an effective and risk-free way to learn about the dangers of phishing and help protect individual and campus data. If you have questions or concerns, please contact informationsecurity@drake.edu.

—Peter Lundstedt, Information Security Manager

Applications for 2017–2018 Development and Enrichment Grants are now being accepted for activities beginning July 1, 2017. Please note that the form still says 2016–2017 because we are still accepting those proposals. Be sure to indicate this is a 2017–2018 proposal in the application. If you have questions, please contact arthur.sanders@drake.edu.

Faculty and staff are invited to join Information Technology Services for a town hall meeting on Thursday March 23, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., at the Shivers Hospitality Suite, adjacent to The Knapp Center. The town hall will precede the Drake social.

ITS will be reviewing progress made in the last year, summarizing the current organizational structure, highlighting the results of the ITS portion of the fall administrative-services satisfaction survey, describing the service commitments the division is making to the University, and responding to your questions.

The town hall will be followed by a Drake faculty/staff social from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Attendees will receive one complimentary ticket for beer or wine. Water, soda, etc. are also on the house. Nearby parking is available.

—Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost