Category Archives: For Faculty Archive

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Help Drake win this year’s Walktober Step Challenge

Drake University has again challenged Des Moines University and Wesley Life to a step challenge in October.  We are the reigning champions but need your help to keep the title!

As a member of the Drake team, you will receive a journal and instructions to track your daily steps both on and off campus during the month of October.  Any movement that records steps will count toward the total.  Along the way you will receive fun facts and have a chance at individual prizes.  If you are looking for a reason to get moving, this may be the answer.

This event is open to all faculty, staff, and students.  To register, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.  Registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 30.

For Faculty Archive

University Curriculum Committee: AOI application deadline for first meeting

The University Curriculum Committee meets for the first time this year on Thursday, Sept. 30. Faculty who want to apply for a course to meet an AOI or propose a new INTD (interdisciplinary) course should submit applications by Wednesday, Sept. 22, to be considered this month. AOI applications are accepted on a rolling basis and considered at UCC’s monthly meetings.

— Carrie Dunham-LaGree, Cowles Library

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Policy for requesting changes to University spaces

Last year, a new policy was developed to help ensure appropriate resources and planning are in place for any changes to University buildings or grounds. Even small changes may impact other systems or conditions, such as electrical load, air quality, or technology infrastructure. In addition, Facilities Planning and Management staff need to be aware of any safety, cleaning, or HVAC requirements created by the project.

The Capital Project Approval Process requires that all projects involving space on campus begin with Facilities Planning and Management construction management team, regardless of funding source. If the project is $5,000 or less, it may be submitted using the work order system and for projects greater than $5,000 the policy provides a process for prioritization, scheduling, and oversight.

Questions may be directed to Michelle Huggins (Michelle.Huggins@drake.edu) or Kevin Moran (Kevin.Moran@drake.edu).

The full policy can be found in the University Policy Library.

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Tuition exchange applications for 2022–2023

Full-time employees in a regular position at Drake University are eligible to participate in two tuition exchange programs, which offer waived or discounted tuition at other participating institutions for the employee, a spouse/partner, or eligible dependent(s).

Those wishing to apply for tuition exchange in the 2022-2023 academic year can apply now. Applications are only for students not currently participating in tuition exchange—tuition exchange awards for the 2021-2022 academic year will automatically renew for the 2022-2023 academic year if all renewal requirements are met.

There are 3 steps in the tuition exchange application process:

  1. Employee submits the tuition exchange application (the student should also apply for admission at the schools listed on the application).
  2. Drake’s Office of Student Financial Planning will confirm and certify the employee’s eligibility to participate in the tuition exchange program. This is done on a rolling basis as applications are received.
  3. Each school listed on the application will determine whether they can offer the student a tuition exchange award.

Schools have different application deadlines and timelines for announcing award determinations. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit the tuition exchange application early enough to allow time for step #2 to be completed in advance of each school’s deadlines.

Details about each of Drake’s tuition exchange programs are provided below:

Tuition Exchange, Inc. (TE)
TE has over 670 participating schools. Visit tuitionexchange.org to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

Council of Independent Colleges & Universities Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP)
CIC-TEP has over 440 participating schools. Visit cic.edu/tep to learn more, view participating schools, and to submit an application.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid

For Faculty Archive, For Staff Archive

Faculty and staff affinity groups begin

The Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is excited to support faculty and staff affinity groups. Please see the following descriptions, schedules, and contact information for existing and emerging groups. If you are interested in starting an affinity group that aligns in support of Drake’s stated institutional mission for diversity, equity and inclusion please reach out directly to Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion Jennifer Harvey.

The AAPI Faculty & Staff Affinity group welcomes all AAPI faculty and staff to join. You will be able to connect and network with other AAPI faculty and staff on campus. Please come to our visioning meeting on Monday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. We will meet outside at the covered space just east of Colliers-Scripps to determine how we can support the AAPI campus population. We will plan meetings and events based on what serves AAPI faculty and staff best. Please contact Maureen Yuen (maureen.yuen@drake.edu) with any questions.

The Black Faculty & Staff Affinity group welcomes all Black faculty and staff to join us for our Virtual Brown Bag Lunch Fellowship on Microsoft Teams. You will be able to connect and network with other Black faculty and staff on campus. We meet on the first Friday of each month starting Oct. 1. We will hold space between 12–1:30 p.m. You may join us from 12–1 p.m. or 12:30–1:30 p.m. or anytime in between. To receive the Teams invite, email brandi.l.miller@drake.edu.

The Latinx Affinity group is a space for LatinX faculty and staff to get to know one another socially and provide support for each other. We will be planning an outdoor gathering later this fall. Please email marina.verlengia@drake.edu to be included on our distribution list and to get information about our fall gathering. We also have a Facebook group, please click here to join!

The Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is particularly interested in exploring whether faculty and staff with disabilities and/or who identify as lgbtq+ would like to form an affinity group to provide mutual support and connection. Please reach out directly to Jennifer Harvey if you would be interested in facilitating such a group.

— Jennifer Harvey, Campus Equity and Inclusion

For Faculty Archive

Policy on religious accommodations for classes

A reminder to faculty, as the semester gets underway, about religious accommodations.

In December 2020, the Faculty Senate passed a motion that stated: “To ensure equity, Drake University will make a good faith effort to provide reasonable religious accommodations to students whose religious beliefs and practices conflict with an academic requirement unless such an accommodation would create an undue hardship on the University community.”

The full motion provides examples of “reasonable accommodation.”

As a guide to instructors in planning their courses and assignments, a list of religious holidays where observance may compete with the demands of the academic calendar can be found at drake.edu/acad/calendar/religiousholidays/.

The list is not a designation of all religious holidays recognized by the University; it is simply an aid for planning purposes. Instructors should accommodate religious rituals and holidays that are both listed and not listed on this schedule. Please note that there are rituals of some religions that may not be scheduled very far in advance. Any instructor with concerns regarding a given holiday, or the academic implications of a particular student’s religious observance, may seek guidance from the chair of their department, dean of their school, or their Provost.

— Jennifer Harvey, Campus Equity and Inclusion

For Faculty Archive

Writing Workshop opens Sept. 7

The writing workshop is staffed by trained peer tutors who help students identify areas of difficulty and work with them on a range of issues including fluency, organization, development, analysis and argument. Tutors also help students copyedit their work as needed.

The Writing Workshop is located in Cowles Library, Room 47, on the lower level. Students can sign-up for appointments at this website or by calling 271–4712.

If you refer your student to the workshop, please let us know via email (jody.swilky@drake.edu). Have them bring the assignment they are responding to, as well as any writing they have done to complete the assignment.  If a student is referred, the tutor will send an email letting you know that your student has attended, and will briefly describe what work was done. If you do not receive an email from us, your student did not attend. If a student attends on his or her own, we do not inform professors unless the student specifically asks us to.

Workshop tutors are available to speak briefly to classes about the workshop. If you would like a tutor to come to your class, please call or email me. Please also feel free to call or email with questions about writing, about working with students for whom English is not a first language, or with questions about any student who is having particular difficulty with writing.

—Renee Cramer, Provost’s Office

For Faculty Archive

Faculty of color affinity group

Once again this year, the Provost’s Office will be providing hospitality support for pre-tenure and non-tenure-track faculty of color to gather in order to build community, share resources, and create networks of support and collegiality. Assistant Professor of Math Enes Akbuga will be convening all interested faculty for an initial meeting over coffee sometime during the week of Sept. 13. If you are interested in joining us, please send Enes an email (enes.akbuga@drake.edu). Both new and existing pre-tenured faculty are encouraged to join.

— Jennifer Harvey, Campus Equity and Inclusion

For Faculty Archive

Deputy Provost Office: Faculty development and community building opportunities

Here is a brief listing of what faculty can anticipate:

First Year Seminar faculty are invited to join each other for lunch and conversation on Sept. 17, Oct. 15, and Nov. 19 from 11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (Zoom for September; register here).

On Friday, Sept. 24, from 1–3 p.m. there will be an all-faculty-are-welcome Zoom conversation asking “How is Pandemic Changing our Pedagogy?” (venue TBD, register here) . In late November, we will have a session on Decolonizing Your Syllabus.

In October and November, Deputy Provost Renee Cramer and Associate Provost of Campus Equity and Inclusion Jen Harvey will co-sponsor a series of development opportunities meant to help instructors incorporate justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into their AOI courses.

On Oct. 1, Nov. 5, and Dec. 3, we’ll have brown bag lunches devoted to faculty research across the disciplines. Please reach out to renee.cramer@drake.edu if you have research-in-progress that you’d like to share.

Around mid-term, and finals, we’ll host “grading parties”—time set aside to drink hot cider or cocoa, and grade in solidarity with your faculty peers—with occasional breaks to talk assessment and student learning outcomes.

Don’t forget “Books for Breakfast!” We’re reading Burn-Out and The Slow Professor.

Finally, Drake welcomed 30+ at New Faculty Orientation (check out our group photo with Griff). They’ll meet two Fridays a month; established faculty who want to join and informally mentor are more than welcome to contact renee.cramer@drake.edu to volunteer!

—Renee Cramer, Provost’s Office