ITS has been working to streamline and consolidate our service options in the IT Service Portal over the last year to make it easier for faculty, staff and students to know which service to use. The most recent changes have taken place in the Blackboard Learn Ultra category.

Where there were previously a number of services available to choose from, there are now only two options: Blackboard Learn Ultra Issue and Blackboard Learn Ultra Request.

The Blackboard Learn Ultra Issue will continue to be used in the same way as in the past. If you have an issue, are seeing errors, or need assistance with troubleshooting a problem, submit a Blackboard Learn Ultra Issue.

The new Blackboard Learn Ultra Request option combines multiple previous ticket types into one. Use the Blackboard Learn Ultra request for any of the actions below:

• Add/change/remove user access
• Consultation on how to best use Learn Ultra features
• Training
• Create custom course/site
• Merge courses
• Restore archived course
• Share/copy course content

When you submit your request, the form will guide you through a series of questions to determine the nature of your request and ensure you provide the necessary information for ITS staff to assist you.

The IT Service Portal is the preferred method of requesting assistance from ITS staff and allows for the best experience.

— Karly Good, ITS

First-generation college students are an important part of the Drake community—about 14% of our campus community are first-gen students. Drake defines this as a college student whose parents/legal guardians have not received a bachelor’s degree from a four-year university. The office of New Student Programs offers resources and programs to support first-generation students at Drake. We will be celebrating National First Generation Student day on Nov. 8. We would like to include first-generation faculty and staff in this celebration. First-generation faculty and staff can play a huge role in supporting and mentoring first-gen students.

If you are a faculty or staff member that identifies as first-generation and would like to participate in first-generation student programs and connect with these students, please email Marina Verlengia at marina.verlengia@drake.edu.

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs

Grab your walking shoes and join the All Staff Council in walking the Bulldog Mile every Friday at noon through Nov. 19.

It’s simple: show up at the start of the Bulldog Mile (sidewalk southeast of the Olmsted Center) and follow the signage and large blue paw prints while enjoying the fresh air and a conversation with a colleague. An ASC committee member will greet you (weather permitting), and walk the Bulldog Mile with you. We look forward to seeing you there!

— Sydni Jennings, On behalf of All Staff Council

Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day at Men’s Soccer will take place Saturday, Oct. 23, when the Bulldogs host Loyola at 7 p.m. at the Cownie Soccer Complex. Admission is free so come out to Cownie to cheer on your Bulldogs!

— Aimee Lane, Athletics

Drake Latinx faculty and staff are invited to get together for lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 27, in Hubbell Dining Hall. We will have meal tickets available for pick up at the Student Life Center in Olmsted starting Tuesday, Oct. 19. We will also have someone to welcome and hand out tickets at Hubbell on Oct. 27 from 11 to 11:30 a.m.

We look forward to this time together to get to know other Latinx faculty and staff on campus. We hope you will join us!

— Marina Verlengia, New Student Programs

Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two informative articles with a read time of 10 minutes.

On Friday, Oct. 22, my office is sponsoring two events.

First, we’ve invited Craig Owens, dean of John Dee Bright College, to be (virtually) present to talk about the semester-long John Dee Bright College Faculty Fellowship. Bright College, Drake’s newest academic division, is currently recruiting faculty who might wish to take part in co-teaching an interdisciplinary seminar or leading a practicum for a semester in the next two years. Compensation includes a combination of course release, stipend, and faculty development funding. Faculty at any rank from any college, school, or division are welcome to join Craig for a virtual lunch-adjacent conversation about these opportunities on Friday, Oct. 22, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Email nicki.kimm@drake.edu to register/get the Zoom link. More information about Bright College is available at www.drake.edu/bright.

Second, we’ll be hanging out in Mars Cafe from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 22, having a MID-TERM GRADING PARTY. Stop by, drink some coffee, do some grading or other mid-term work, see colleagues you’ve not seen in a while, or meet those you’ve never met, talk pedagogy and assessment and mid-term evaluation practices.

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Every Tuesday in OnCampus the Deputy Provost shares two informative articles with a read time of 10 minutes.

We heard at Faculty Senate this week that our students are feeling under pressure as we “return to normal.” They find themselves questioning the way that normal felt/feels, and they ask specifically for more “grace” from us, their faculty. I’ve been hearing a similar thing from faculty friends and colleagues—a sense of already feeling exhausted (and it’s barely mid-term!), stressed, and overwhelmed.

I’m not going to ask that we pretend that we’re not living through exceptional times, and I’m certainly not going to ask that we pretend we’re not stressed and exhausted and occasionally frayed.  But, I will suggest that we will better serve our students (and ourselves) if we take some time to recenter and ground, to breathe and relax, to remember our purpose as faculty and staff committed to higher education.

To those ends, I’ve found these two resources helpful and share them in the hopes that you’ll find a bit of time to engage with one or both, and feel a bit more settled, and less stressed.

First, this article from FacultyFocus, offers some great suggestions.

Second, this video of an address by Joshua Eyler made the rounds at the beginning of summer. Revisiting it now offers a powerful and poignant reminder not to lose track of ourselves, or our students, during the transition back to “normal times.”

In November, I’m setting aside development time to talk together about the lessons we’ve learned in the past 18 months (both the practical/pragmatic/pedagogical, and the more ephemeral), as well as finding ways to extend grace to our students when we are feeling decidedly …. clumsy (not graceful).  Please consider joining, as well, for the book group on BurnOut in November, and The Slow Professor in December (details to follow, next week).

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

A new, internal Continuous Improvement website has been created as a reference for all unit-level Continuous Improvement Plans (CIPs) and Continuous Improvement Planning in general.  It’s a great reference to see the objectives, measures, targets, and initiatives for each unit on campus, including the University as a whole.  This also replaces the prior “conversations” site.

It also has supporting information on Continuous Improvement Planning along with many resources, white-papers, templates, and more.

Please use this as a resource to see how other areas around campus achieve these four main goals:

1. Align activities to strategic priorities
2. Improve communications
3. Monitor performance
4. Drive purposeful action

As always, please reach out with any questions.

— Nate Reagen, President’s Office

Back in January, ITS began the extensive project of upgrading the campus phone system. The first phase, now complete, involved moving faculty and staff extensions to Microsoft Teams. For the next phase, ITS staff is transitioning department extensions and conference room phones to Teams calling, and determining if any extensions are no longer required.

All indoor red security phones and outdoor blue emergency phones across campus will remain in place. Other public area phones will be removed, unless identified as essential.

In addition to the campus security phones, students, faculty, and staff can use the free Rave Guardian mobile phone app. The app includes a panic button with a direct connection to Public Safety. Learn more.

You can learn more about the Teams calling project by visiting the FAQ page. For questions, contact Jeff Regan at jeffrey.regan@drake.edu.

— Carla Herling, ITS