We have been keeping campus informed about the planned extensive changes with Blackboard Learn Ultra, the update to our learning management system. This past fall we upgraded to a new navigation to make our system more user-friendly, but there are more significant changes coming.   

Blackboard Learn Ultra is comprised of three components:  

• Ultra Base Navigation (completed as of August 2020): Modern navigation that provides quick access to the most critical information from across all courses. 
• Original Course View (Drake course view through Summer 2021): This is the current course view that instructors and students are familiar with. There have been minimal changes to the features and workflows through regular system updates. 
• Ultra Course View (Drake course view starting Fall 2021): This new course view will offer a streamlined, more intuitive interface and workflows. The Ultra Course View is fully responsive for optimal use on any device, and new functionality and enhancements will be added regularly. 

Throughout November, we’ve released training modules covering the new navigation and the new look and feel for the Ultra Course View. In addition, we’ve provided all instructors with sandbox courses where you can practice using new functions and see how your current course structures will translate.   

Communication and training will continue to be provided throughout Spring of 2021 to support your preparedness for your Fall 2021 courses in the Ultra Course View. It is important to be engaged with the training offered as the changes in workflows and functionality will be extensive.  

Watch a video from Blackboard to see a preview of the Ultra Course View: 

— Karly Good, ITS

Faculty, final grades are due by 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16. Exception: Final grades for the Law School are due on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Your ability to submit final grades will be disabled at that point.

View instructions on how to send your final grades from Blackboard to MyDUSIS.

Those of you who want to submit grades directly into MyDUSIS should begin by clicking the Grading button in the “Faculty & Advising” menu in MyDrake and then finding the “Final Grades–Submittal Link.”

The final evaluation schedule includes a listing of when courses are scheduled to meet for their final evaluations.

— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

The Office of Community Engaged Learning is now accepting nominations for the Newman Civic Fellowship.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a national award that recognizes and supports community-committed students (undergraduate and graduate) who are changemakers and public problem-solvers. Students should engage in collaborative action with others from campus or from surrounding communities in order to create long-term social change, take action in addressing issues of inequality and political polarization, and demonstrate the motivation and potential for effective long-term civic engagement. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides students with training and resources that nurture their assets and passions and help them develop strategies for social change.

Nominees must be enrolled at Drake for the Spring 2021 semester, and 2021–2022 academic year.

To nominate a student, please submit 1–3 paragraphs including information about the nominee’s approaches to addressing the root causes of social issues. This may include involvement in public policy reform, community organizing, community-based research, social entrepreneurism, or other efforts to build the capacity of community-based organizations. Additionally, please include why you believe this person has the motivation and potential to develop innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public problems and to contribute to a network of similarly committed students.

A committee will review nominations to select one student from Drake University to be nominated for the Fellowship. That student will need to complete additional paperwork.

Please submit nominations to Amanda Martin, Assistant Director of Community Engaged Learning,  amanda.martin@drake.edu, no later than January 10, 2021.  More information about the Fellowship can be found at compact.org/initiatives/awards-programs/newman-civic-fellowship.

— Amanda Martin, Community Engaged Learning

There is still time to submit a proposal for the FY22 Global Partnership Grants!

Drake University has established formal partnerships with multiple institutions abroad. Joint faculty and staff projects with our global partner institutions may be eligible for financial support through the Global Partnership Grants. Full details are available on our website.

Eligibility:
Full-time faculty and staff members are eligible to apply for activities taking place during FY22.

Application process:

1. Discuss the proposed activity with your unit Director or Dean prior to submission.
2. Submit the online application via Qualtrix, which includes a description and budget. Deadline: Dec. 18, 2020
3. Deans/Directors will review all proposals for their unit with the Global Partnerships Coordinator and the Executive Director of Global Engagement for prioritization and to make collaborative funding decisions. Final award decisions will be announced in February 2021.

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Partnerships Coordinator

Each month, a faculty member, nominated by their dean, is recognized for their efforts to integrate innovative technology into their classroom. November’s digital faculty member of the month is Jill Allen, assistant professor of psychology & neuroscience, College of Arts & Sciences. Read an interview with Jill:

What course do you use this technology in? Psychology 030: Social Psychology

What type of technology do you use? In-Class real-time polls, built into the University Zoom platform.

In what context do you use this technology? The polls operate as a type of formative assessment; they are graded based on completion and contribute to an overall amount of “participation” in the online course. These polls punctuate the lecture, by giving students active participation in constructing their knowledge, and then sharing their rationale with the class, via their mics.

How does this type of technology align with your teaching pedagogy? I need students in this course to be active consumers of the social psychological concepts, and as such, these questions serve as a check point to prepare them for exams.

Where did you get the inspiration to make a change? I have been a polling enthusiast from my first introduction, thanks to colleagues Olga Lazareva in Psychology and Karly Good in ITS and dear friend and former colleague, Jaime Grandstaff in Accounting. My favorite polling software is PollEverywhere, and in the online context it is in Zoom. I enjoy the “real time” engagement – a step above and beyond the “looks of aha moments” on students’ faces (or conversely, sticking points of clarification/confusion), which are often missing in online classes, without all students having cameras turned on.

How long did it take for you to implement this technology? I began to use the polls in 2017, and became a “regular” on the helpline with the regional reps for Turning Point Technologies and our own Learning Management team on campus. After a few weeks, I would have considered myself a novice user and by the end of one semester, I felt confident in leveraging the technology. However, I have switched platforms several times, and each time, it is a new opportunity to learn/grow/compare/contrast with previous software. Importantly, and most interestingly, the goal never changes – but the medium and device does!

Since transitioning to remote teaching, how has your use of this technology changed, if at all? I was presented with an interesting dilemma regarding my go-to polling software, PollEverywhere. It has an online component, and it would have been possible to continue using it for Zoom synchronous lectures (students pay a modest yearly fee). On the other hand, teaching and learning online is a lot of change, so I opted to use the free/integrated features in Zoom. I like facilitating the discussions from within the same platform, and I think this creates more consistency and equity in experience for students who may be joining across many different types of devices.

Since transitioning to remote teaching, have you started using any new technology in your teaching? Interestingly, I had an experience last semester (pre-COVID) in which I noticed my students in this course were “in a rut.” Despite I love the polls and all they can offer; the class environment lacked the kind of energy and excitement as the start of the term provided. So, I walked into class, and presented a slide that said, “In a Rut? Let’s get unstuck…” in which I told students they would be working on a problem-based activity of cognitive dissonance on a shared Google doc (each group would have a different problem, but once complete they could review the class responses), that they would be numbered off so they worked with different folks than their usual table seating arrangements, and that the class collective responses would be the basis for a few new exam questions I would create. And you know what, IT WORKED! This type of collaborative activity is one I have adopted into Zoom breakouts, so that students can engage with peers in a structured way and I’m happy to have experimented with it in a F2F class setting.

Overall, what lessons do you think you have learned while transitioning to remote teaching? I think the biggest take-away from mid-March to now in a fully virtual setting for my classes, has been to create social connection. What I cannot control is how students engage with each other, but I can create a welcoming, warm, and humanizing environment in the way would have tried to create if we were in person. For instance, I use my camera for all synchronous lectures, try to share humorous anecdotes from my own life of teaching remotely and the oddities of COVID-life, and share reminders to seek balance and self-care, despite a pandemic that have been helpful for me and may be helpful for students, as well.

Did Drake ITS assist you in implementing any of these technologies? I would be remiss to not share gratitude for the tireless support of Karly Good in ITS. She has answered my early morning and late-night emails, phone calls, formal ticket requests, and connected me with colleagues on campus with similar teaching goals/pedagogies. This summer I took advantage of the Center for Teaching Excellence consultation opportunities, and gained excellent insight from Bill Klein, in Drake Online & Continuing Education, about making the “leap” between Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom. I also received generous support from the A&S Dean’s Office to fund a better remote-teaching setup, as well – all of which, helped me to bring the best “online” version of myself to the classroom that is possible.

Are you interested in trying out new technology in your classroom? Want help from ITS? Schedule a technology adoption consultation.

Want to learn more about using Blackboard Collaborate, PollEverywhere or Zoom in your course? Explore these knowledge base guides/categories:

Blackboard Collaborate:
https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/2025/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=45313&SIDs=5893

PollEverywhere: https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/2025/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=63097&SIDs=2012

Zoom:
 https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/2025/Portal/KB/?CategoryID=18578&SIDs=7847

— Jon Hurdelbrink, CPHS, and Carla Herling, ITS

Postal Operations has made some adjustments to its internal processes. Read the announcement below for info on when to expect your mail and the department’s holiday hours.

Process updates: Due to changes at our local Post Office, mail has been arriving to campus later in the day then has traditionally been the case. This has caused us to adjust our daily delivery schedule, and we have been completing our morning mail route later in the day (closer to lunch hour). We will continue this schedule through the remainder of the academic year to ensure you are getting the majority of the mail that arrives each day. We appreciate your cooperation as we adjust to this new flow. Mary Cecil normally completes the morning route, and Christian Law normally completes the afternoon route. Please feel free to work with them directly if you have questions about when to expect your mail daily, and we will work to communicate with our building contacts if schedules are drastically off the daily norm.

Thanksgiving break: Mail will be delivered Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week (Nov. 23 and Nov. 24), but Postal Operations will be closed for the holiday break (Nov. 25–Nov. 29). Mail delivery will resume on campus the week of Nov. 30.

Remainder of the semester: Students living on campus through the end of the semester can pick up their mail at Postal Operations between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, on days that the mailroom is open. We will continue our normal campus mail delivery through the remainder of the semester.

Winter break: The mailroom will close during the University break (Dec. 19–Jan. 3), and deliveries to campus buildings will resume on Jan. 4.

Thank you for your support and partnership this year, and feel free to contact us at campusmailoperations@drake.edu if you have any specific questions or concerns regarding the upcoming schedule.

— Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

There has been a change on the power outage on Nov. 25. On Nov. 25, Facilities Planning and Management will be cleaning three electrical high voltage vaults on campus. This means that Olin, Bell Center, Field House, and Fine Arts north will be without electricity. The power outage will start about 7 a.m. and end at 12 p.m. Please remember to turn off your electronic devices before leaving for the Thanksgiving Holiday period. Please contact Ron Tart, chief electrician, with questions.

— Ron Tart, Facilities Planning and Management