The Provost’s Drake Socials will resume in March. Dates and locations for the remainder of the semester are:
Wednesday, March 23, Cowles Reading Room
Monday, April 11, Shivers Hospitality Suite
Tuesday, May 3, with the annual Human Resources retirement and years of service recognition, Shivers Hospitality Suite
The Socials will begin at 4 p.m. and are family friendly. There will be snacks, beer, wine, soft drinks, and water.
We will have Drake Core Value recognitions in March and April. If you would like to recognize a colleague for demonstrating our Core Values, please go to this Qualtrics page to provide information. Everyone entered will be recognized via a scrolling PowerPoint and several will have their names drawn for prizes.
The Bulldog Applause program was created by the All Staff Council to let staff know how much they are appreciated, and to inform campus about the different departments at Drake.
Congratulations to the Institutional Research and Academic Assessment department for being recognized with the most recent Bulldog Applause. We appreciate all the work you do at Drake! Since Griff II was unavailable for the meeting, Christine shared her dog, Lucy, for the photo. Read a Q&A to learn more about the department:
The All Staff Council Recognition Committee honored the Institutional Research and Academic Assessment team with a Bulldog Applause. Since Griff II was unavailable to attend the meeting, Christine’s dog, Lucy, joined.
How many staff members are in the Institutional Research and Academic Assessment department? We are a small but mighty team of three staff members.
What is the primary function of the team? The Office of Institutional Research and Academic Assessment serves as a source of information about Drake University. Our mission is to provide data, reports, and research that support institutional planning, strengthen teaching and learning, and promote understanding of the nature and quality of education at Drake University.
What staff member has been on the team the longest? Christine Marchand, institutional research coordinator, has been on the team for 13 years.
Who is the newest team member? Jessica Armstrong, data analyst
What campus building does your team “live” in? Howard Hall
What are some recent accomplishments that others in the University might not know? The team is going to roll out a suite of new reports using PowerBI as a reporting tool, which will add visualization and filtering tools to make information more accessible.
How does this staff foster a sense of community and belonging through their activities or sharing together here at Drake? The OIRA team enjoys engaging with others across the campus community in an effort to put information to good use. We may be data and assessment geeks, but the interactions with others is great fun. We frequently engage in projects that gather information about ways to improve our community (e.g., Climate Survey).
Giving a shout-out is a great way to recognize your colleagues for their hard work, talent, support, and creativity, and it can simply brighten their day.
As part of Employee Appreciation Month in March, Human Resources is encouraging every employee—faculty, staff, and student workers—to submit “shout-outs” for deserving colleagues.
Giving a shout-out is quick and easy—simply write a sentence or two thanking a colleague or team for a job well-done, going the extra mile, or showing support during another challenging year. Submit your shout-outs to Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu. Shout outs will be compiled and posted in OnCampus.
To help you get started, here is a shout-out I would like to give:
“A shout-out to the All Staff Council: Thank-you for your ongoing efforts in finding ways to support staff both on campus and remotely. You truly live Drake’s core values of Joyful Accountability, Generosity of Spirit, All in This Together, and Commitment to Mission. I appreciate everything you do!” — Linda Feiden
Please take a few minutes to submit a shout-out and show your gratitude for our amazing colleagues!
Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two articles with a read time of 10 minutes.
Good faculty mentoring increases our ability to retain high quality faculty; it also helps create and sustain job satisfaction across the lifespan of a faculty career. There are several models for creating a good mentoring program—one that supports faculty from the moment they are hired until the moment they retire.
Are you interested in being part of a faculty mentoring program—either as someone who receives mentoring, or as someone who provides it? I’d like to have a conversation about what your needs, expectations, experiences, and capacities might be as I look forward to launching a comprehensive faculty mentoring program as part of the Center for Teaching Excellence over the summer.
Please plan ahead to participate in a conversation after spring break, Friday, March 25, from 1:30–3 p.m. in Howard Hall, Room 210. Register here, so we can provide hospitality. If you cannot attend but would like to be a mentor—or be assigned a mentor—please email renee.cramer@.drake.edu to inform me.
Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two articles with a read time of 10 minutes.
Our March read for Books for Breakfast is Nathan Grawe’s Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Change. You will remember Professor Grawe from the 2019 Learning Symposium, and before that through faculty senate’s engagement with his work during the 2018–2019 school year. This book is his newest, and it constitutes a follow-up to the one about the dreaded demographic cliff.
Even better, we have guest facilitators for this book: Sean Severe (CBPA) and Natalie Bayer (A&S). Please join Sean, Natalie, and me on March 8 and March 22, from 8:30–9:30 a.m. in Howard Hall, Room 210. Register here by Feb. 25.
The Midwest Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning takes place at Indiana University at South Bend April 1. The theme is Authentic and Joyous Learning, and my office is (joyfully) able to offer financial support to two faculty who wish to attend and share what they learn, with a preference for funding to those faculty who are currently engaged in SOTL work. Please email renee.cramer@drake.edu and nicki.kimm@drake.edu by March 1 if you would like to access this opportunity; we will contact you by March 4 for planning purposes.
Drake Men’s Basketball will host Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 3 p.m. during their final home game of the season. Each faculty and staff member can receive up to four complimentary tickets to the game. Redeem tickets here.
For more information on all Faculty and Staff Appreciation days, visit DrakeTix.com/facultyandstaffdays. Please remember that per Drake University policy, masks are required in the Knapp Center. Please email tickets@drake.edu with any questions.
ITS received some questions about the scope of the upcoming requirement to encrypt email messages that contain certain types of confidential information that was announced in the Feb. 1 issue of OnCampus.
To clarify, emails that include the following types of information will initially be flagged by the system and an automated notification will be returned to the sender, but the message will still be sent:
Social Security numbers
Tax Identification numbers
Driver’s License numbers
US Passport numbers
Credit card information
Starting May 1, any unencrypted email to a non drake.edu email address that includes the type of confidential information listed above won’t be sent. You will receive an automated response letting you know your email was not sent. You can then either follow the provided instructions and encrypt your email, or resend without the confidential information.
See instructions below on how to send and open encrypted emails:
