The Office of the Provost is seeking internal candidates for two positions.

• Associate Provost of Campus Equity and Inclusion
• Deputy Provost

Application materials for Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion are due Feb. 5. Application materials for Deputy Provost are due Feb. 15.

Find additional information and application procedures on the internal Drake HR page. Go into myDrake, and choose Human Resources from the top menu. Then enter this address: https://www.drake.edu/hr-internal/positions/ .

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Do you miss the chance to visit with your Drake colleagues on the way to the “water cooler”? Please join our virtual break, hosted by All Staff Council and Human Resources. The event will take place Thursday, Jan. 28, from 3–4 p.m. on Microsoft Teams.

During the event we will host small group break out rooms where you can reconnect, get to know new people, and maybe leave with some recommendations of fun things to do in the area.

Please see the event on the University Calendar for the link to the Teams Meeting.

— Kevin Saunders, on behalf of All Staff Council

Student Disability Services and Academic Achievement have joined together to launch the new Access & Success office. This resource-neutral approach will yield increased capacity, allow for more proactive intervention, and support sustainable collaboration to best serve students. Access and Success will clear a pathway for the campus community to get students connected to needed resources.

Access and Success will serve all Drake students and focus on a holistic, wellness centered approach. In addition to disability services and peer tutoring, other resources may include, but are not limited to, academic coaching appointments, webinars, and workshops.You can quickly and easily connect your students to these resources by making an access and success referral in Starfish.

If you host a webpage or maintain any pdf resources that link to Academic Achievement, please note the URL will change on Feb. 1 to drake.edu/access-success.

— Michelle Laughlin, Access and Success

Are you looking for a way to keep your fitness goals on track in 2021?  The WellPower Challenge may be for you.

This free web-based program encourages you to increase your daily physical activity with an opportunity to earn virtual badges and prizes for achieving and logging healthy activities, both physical and mental.  The challenge is part of the WellPower Movement, a new year-round activity-tracking website from the Wellbeing Partners and the Nebraska Sports Council.  The web portal content is focused on Nebraska organizations, but the WellPower Challenge is open to companies and organizations in Iowa and Nebraska.

The goal of the WellPower Challenge is to log at least 100 activity miles between Feb. 1 and April 30.  Activity miles can be achieved by walking, running, biking, and/or converting other physical and mental health activities.  Those who log 100 miles by April 30 earn the WellPower 100 badge and will be entered into a drawing for more than 100 top-tier prizes. Prizes will also be awarded for earning 25- and 50-mile badges.

You may join individually or invite friends, family, and co-workers and compete as a group.

For more information, please email linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

As we begin the new year, it’s crucial that we all remain aware of the threat that email attacks pose and how to respond to them. As a reminder, here are some indications that an email might be dangerous or suspect:

• A strange sender or one that you don’t expect
• Coming from a Drake University colleague but sent from a Gmail or Yahoo account
• A request that you take urgent action
• Asking you to buy something for someone else
• Links or attachments that don’t match the message content or that you don’t recognize

Before acting on any of these, slow down and take a second look. If you receive an email that you suspect is phishing or spam, don’t click any links, download an attachment, or reply. Instead, you can block the sender from sending you additional emails using the junk mail folder option in Outlook. You can also forward the email as an attachment to informationsecurity@drake.edu and then delete it.

ITS will be continuing phishing education this month using emails that mimic real attacks. A short training lesson will be assigned to any faculty and staff who repeatedly click links or open attachments in phishing emails, simulated or not.

For additional information on how to report phishing emails, please see the IT Service Portal guide, Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to).

— Jeremy Calvert, ITS

Final grades for J-Term courses are due by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3. If you have difficulty entering final grades, contact the Office of the Registrar at 271–2155 or registrar@drake.edu.

— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

At Drake, we recognize how important it is for our employees to stay healthy. We are also committed to creating an environment where faculty and staff feel engaged and supported.

Therefore, we are conducting a 2021 Faculty and Staff Wellness Interest Survey to determine your interest in participating in worksite wellness initiatives. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to provide you with the programs, presentations, and activities designed to meet your needs.

Please help us by taking a few minutes to complete this brief survey.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Drake reimburses mileage for use of personal automobiles by employees for actual miles driven during business travel. The reimbursement rate is based on the current standard mileage rate issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the standard mileage rate issued by the IRS for the use of a car will be 56 cents per business mile driven, down from 57.5 cents in 2020.

The standard mileage rate is evaluated annually by the IRS and is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile.

If you have any questions regarding the reimbursable mileage rate, please visit the IRS website or contact Accounting at accounting@drake.edu.

— Jennifer Baugher, Accounting

Please join your friends and colleagues for Drake Trivia, hosted by All Staff Council and Drake Human Resources. The trivia event will take place Thursday, Jan. 21, from 3–4 p.m. on Microsoft Teams.

Teams of five will compete for prizes. Members of the top team will each receive $10 Bulldog Bucks.

If you want to create your own team, please designate a team leader and email ascspecialevents@drake.edu with your team. You do not need to join a team, however. Those without full teams will be randomly placed in a team of five, if possible.

Please see the event on the University Calendar for the link to the Teams Meeting.

— Tyler Spoon, on behalf of All Staff Council