Mark your calendars for a retirement reception to honor Drinda Williams, academic support specialist, Office of the Provost, on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 1–2:30 p.m. in Old Main, Levitt Hall.

— Ann Guddall, Provost’s Office

Join us on Dec. 7 for Roadmaps to Retirement: Taking Stock and Looking Forward.

A shocking number of Americans have done little to prepare for post-employment life. This free event will feature two panels of experts: Social Security and Disability at 11 a.m., moderated by Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Agency, and Employer Retirement Savings Programs at 1 p.m., led by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of the U.S. Department of Labor. More details are available on The Harkin Institute website.  

Registration is required, sign up here on eventbrite. This event will have American Sign Language (ASL) and Real-time captioning (CART). Contact harkininstitute@drake.edu with questions or to request other accommodations. 

— Lila Johnson, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement

Please join us in congratulating our most recent recipients of the True Blue Award. Here is a little information about our honorees with excerpts from their nominations.

Rob Ebel, FPM Construction Manager, Facilities Planning and Management

“Managing construction projects also means that you manage change. It is with a servant’s heart that he strives to help our clients (faculty, staff, students) through the changes that construction progress brings.”

Sara Heijerman & Erica McGowan, University Book Club Leaders

“Although the book club is not part of their regular responsibilities at Drake, they show their generosity of spirit by joyfully taking on this project, and carefully planning it out to make sure the book selections are diverse, all participants have a say in the selections, and that the social gatherings are varied to accommodate both on campus and remote employees.”

Terry Janssen, Mechanic, Facilities Planning and Management

“To Terry these Core Values are more than words on paper they are the foundation of which we stand. Terry is a dedicated and valued employee whose abilities are truly a blessing to the Drake community.”

Kevin Moran, Executive Director, Facilities Planning and Management

“Instead of asking me to find another location or make do with what was available, he sought out the information and approvals he needed to meet the needs I had expressed for myself and my students. This was not just Kevin doing his job, but going above and beyond with a spirit of generosity, all in this together, with a commitment to mission at the core.”

Do you know of a staff member or department that has gone above and beyond to exemplify True Blue spirit? Nominate them today!

— Betsy Wilson, On behalf of All Staff Council

All Staff Council is holding a Bulldog Connect Networking lunch on Wednesday, Nov.16, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come join us for a $5 lunch at Hubbell Dining Hall. We encourage attendees to wear their Drake name tag. Anyone is welcome to come—bring a fellow Bulldog along with you. Look for the table with the Drake swag and a special Bulldogs Connect table tent in Hubbell.

Also a reminder that All Staff Council invites you to share any suggestions, concerns, or other feedback you’d like us to look into using this form. (If you’d like us to respond to your feedback directly, please include your name and contact information, otherwise let us know your thoughts anonymously.)

— Megan Franklin, On behalf of All Staff Council

Curious about teaching opportunities in the John Dee Bright College? Attend a teaching Q&A panel next week.

 Instructor Q&A Panel Session:

Nov. 10 from 10–11 a.m. CST – virtual, Zoom
Link to register: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EA5AD28A4FDCF8-bright1

 If you are interested in learning more about teaching for Bright College, please join us for an informal Q&A panel session where Megan Brown, Stacy Gnacinski, and Craig Owens will share their lived experiences teaching in the college as well as outline potential opportunities for future instructors. This is a prime opportunity to ask any/all questions you may have about teaching in the college. As these sessions are merely informational, please know that your attendance in no way implies commitment to involvement in the college.

Thank you in advance for your interest and attendance.

— Stacy Gnacinski and Megan Brown, John Dee Bright College Associate Deans

Curious about teaching opportunities in the John Dee Bright College? Attend a teaching Q&A panel next week.

Instructor Q&A Panel Sessions: 

Nov. 7 from 10–11 a.m. — in-person, Medbury Honors Lounge
Link to register: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EA5AD28A4FDCF8-bright

Nov. 10 from 10–11 a.m. — virtual, Zoom
Link to register: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EA5AD28A4FDCF8-bright1

If you are interested in learning more about teaching for Bright College, please join us for an informal Q&A panel session where Megan Brown, Stacy Gnacinski, and Craig Owens will share their lived experiences teaching in the college as well as outline potential opportunities for future instructors. This is a prime opportunity to ask any/all questions you may have about teaching in the college. As these sessions are merely informational, please know that your attendance in no way implies commitment to involvement in the college. Refreshments will be provided.

Thank you in advance for your interest and attendance.

— Stacy Gnacinski and Megan Brown, Associate Deans, John Dee Bright College

Drake HR has received our results from the 2022 Survey of Administrative Services (SAS). We want to start by thanking those who took the time to provide us with feedback. In 2021, 108 people indicated on the survey that they regularly work with Drake HR and completed the HR section of the survey. This year, 234 people provided us with feedback. That is a huge increase and that means the feedback is more reliable and more representative of the thoughts and perspectives of our campus. Thank you.

To the question, “Overall, how satisfied are you with HR,” we saw an increase from 4.29 in 2021 to 4.55 in 2022. While we are thrilled with the improvement, we know we have a lot of work to do.

In 2021, 43 people took time to provide narrative comments. This year, 63 people made time to do this. We are thankful for detailed responses.

Your Comments

Your comments are both relevant and meaningful—even when offering constructive criticism. We want to receive such feedback (yes, we really do) out of this important annual survey. And, you don’ have to wait for the SAS to provide feedback. One of the enhancements we adopted last year was a short “how are we doing” survey that we all have included in our signature blocks. You can access that survey and offer feedback any time.

Based on your feedback, here are the areas that will receive extra attention over the next year:

• Responsiveness: We’ve made strides in our responsiveness but have more work to do here. Our department designed and adopted customer service standards last year. We are going to take a fresh look at them and see if they need to be further revised. We know that to build and sustain trust we simply must be responsive. If you ever find yourself waiting on HR, please contact me (Maureen) directly. I really do want to know if you are experiencing a delay in assistance and can help determine what’s going on.
• Staff Performance Evaluations: We need to spend some time with the staff performance evaluation process. While we offered manager training and updated/expended tools this year (all are posted in the manager toolkit), it’s clear both managers and staff want more out of this process.
• Always Open to Suggestions for BUILD Topics & Wellness Programming: We welcome additional feedback on topics for BUILD and Wellness programing for 2023. We’ll look into providing at least some remote BUILD options and additional ways to make primarily live BUILD sessions available to those who cannot attend in person.
• Student Employment: We made some improvements to supporting student workers, but this was a learning curve year for us—thank you for your patience. We know we have some kinks to work out to assure we are responsive and paying attention to the details. A couple of recent improvements: Over the summer, Marli and I revamped the Bulldogs@Work presentation for new student orientation. Marli spent time in Olmsted during the first few weeks of the semester to make it more convenient for student workers to complete paperwork. Marli and I attended new student worker orientation with Rec Services to help their new student workers complete their employee paperwork  (big thank you to Jerome in ITS who was able to find a desk top scanning solution for us so we can complete I-9s outside of our office!).

To everyone who took time to provide feedback through the SAS, thank you. We review the responses in great detail and will use the quantitative and qualitative feedback to set goals and priorities for the coming year. Your experiences, suggestions, and feedback really does make a difference. Thank you!

— Maureen De Armond (and the whole Drake HR Team)

Nearly 40 Drake faculty and staff were celebrated at the Provost’s Drake Social in October for exemplifying the core value of joyful accountability, which is defined as:

• We are creative and curious, brave and bold.​
• We strive each day to do our best.​

Each was nominated by a colleague, and several were chosen at random to receive prizes:

• Valori Bross, Admission, application operations facilitator: pie baked by the Provost
• Rob Ebel, Facilities, project manager: baked good
• Marlene Heuertz, Human Resources, benefits specialist: office breakfast
• Diana Newman, CPHS, budget and office manager: office snack break
• Christine Urish, CPHS, professor of occupational therapy: premier parking

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost