Over the past few months, ITS has been developing a framework to better support Drake-owned computers remotely. These solutions will help ensure campus-owned computers are kept up to date, remain secure, and streamline tasks such as changing passwords from off campus.

The first step toward remotely managing Drake-owned computers is to change the way everyone signs into Microsoft 365 applications including myDrake, Teams, Outlook, and Office. This requires moving from our current login process to using Microsoft’s authentication solution.

On Monday, Aug. 31, ITS will begin using Microsoft’s authentication workflow. After this change, all logins to Microsoft 365 applications will require you to use your Drake email address as your username instead of your  9-digit Drake ID. This change will only affect Microsoft-connected applications like myDrake. Non-Microsoft 365 applications will continue to accept either your Drake email address or 9-digit Drake ID as a username.

We are working on creating documentation and will provide more information as we get closer to this change.

— Christopher Mielke, ITS

In last week’s employee update, President Martin asked each of us to do our part to protect the health and safety of the Drake community by completing a 15-minute training course on COVID-19. In keeping with our #DrakeTogether Commitments, please complete the COVID-19 training course, presented by Chris Nickell, director of Environmental Health & Safety, by no later than Monday, Aug. 31. The course is available to all employees through Blackboard and can be accessed via my.drake.edu. Upon selecting the Blackboard link under “Commonly Used Apps,” employees can access the course via the left hand menu under the “Courses” tab by clicking on the course entitled “Drake University Awareness Training for Returning to Campus During COVID-19” and following the instructions within the course. 

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer 

As some faculty and staff return to campus, here’s a reminder about how best to get assistance with your campus tech needs.

In order to comply with campus social distancing requirements, the support center in lower level Carnegie Hall is closed for walk-in assistance and is open by appointment only.

Please either visit our IT service portal at service.drake.edu/its or call 515-271-3001 to learn more about the tech resources available or to receive assistance with any issues. Please note that the tech support phone line is currently unavailable due to storm damage.

We continue to update our online resources including our knowledge base filled with guides to help you answer your most pressing tech questions, our service catalog where you can report issues or request assistance, and remote support capabilities so our techs can provide support from a distance. Due to our most recent update, you will be asked additional questions about any issue to ensure we are triaging requests appropriately.

— Carla Herling, ITS

On Aug. 15, 16, 17, and 18 we will welcome students back to campus. This year’s move-in process will be unique, and Residence Life needs faculty and staff assistance to make it as welcoming of an experience as possible. You may sign up for 2- and 4-hour shifts here.

Volunteers will report to the Carpenter front desk on Aug. 15 and 16 and Morehouse front desk on Aug 17 and 18 to receive instructions and the necessary information to properly direct the students arriving for move-in. Your role is to stand outside the student’s car, check the student’s dash sign to confirm they have completed preliminary information and their COVID-19 test (if they have not, re-direct them to the Olmsted lot). Step-two is to check the student’s government ID to verify who they are, and if they’ve completed their COVID-19 test, hand the student a check-in packet to fill out while in their vehicle. Once the student has completed the check-in packet, they will remove their student ID and room key, place signed cards back in the envelope, and return the envelope to you for filing. Lastly, volunteers will inform the student that once the vehicle is unloaded, they need to move the vehicle to a residential parking lot so others may pull up, complete check-in, and unload. At this point the student will begin moving in. Students may have three additional symptom-free individuals to assist—face masks are required.

Volunteers are encouraged to wear Drake apparel and their professional name badge. This helps students and families recognize your welcoming presence and to see the full breadth of support we provide our students.

Volunteers must be symptom-free, and face masks are required.

— Ryan Arnold, director of community engagement (pitching-in, because we’re all in this together)

Starting Aug. 9, when you log into Blackboard, your landing page will look different. Learn more about the updated navigation at Getting Started with Ultra Base Navigation in Learn Ultra (How-to). The basic background and colors will all be a standard Drake color scheme.

Faculty can, however, customize a course by uploading a banner image. Learn more about customizing course images including guidance around image quality, size, and fair use at Creating Course Card Images/Course Banners in Learn Ultra (Best Practices).

Learn more about the larger Learn Ultra upgrade project, who to contact, and the proposed timeline at our FAQ page at drake.edu/its/learnultra/ and we will continue to add help documentation to the Learn Ultra category in the Knowledge Base of our IT service portal.

— Karly Good, ITS

Did you know that 60% of students taking the COVID-19 survey in the Spring semester reported concerns about their physical and mental health? To learn more, review the COVID-19 Student Survey Highlights.

— Sandra Harris, Provost’s Office

Are you working on an interesting campus project or research topic? Our Drake alumni network would like to hear from you!

The Office of Alumni Relations is looking for faculty & staff to be speakers in a new virtual ‘Back to Class’ series. This is an opportunity for alumni to connect with campus and a chance for you to share your knowledge. The topic and time can be decided based on your schedule. After the session is completed, the video will be accessible on the alumni website.

To sign up or learn more, take this survey. For questions, reach out to alumni@drake.edu.

— Amelia Klatt, Office of Alumni Relations

As faculty and staff return to campus this week, please be aware that construction is still affecting the streets surrounding the University.  University Avenue will have one lane open in both directions and some closure of the south parking lane as the Harking Center and Home2 Suites complete their streetscape. Access to parking lots off University Avenue will remain open. The intersection of 25th Street and Forest Avenue and 24th Street between Carpenter and Forest are currently closed for storm sewer installation and should reopen the week of Aug. 10 after street paving is completed. For those who park in the Fine Arts Lot east of 25th Street, please access the lot from the south off of University Avenue.

— Kevin Moran, Facilities Planning & Management

ITS has completed the work to integrate Zoom with Blackboard and Zoom is now ready for academic use across campus. Zoom uses single sign-on (SSO), so once you’ve logged into Blackboard, you won’t also need to log into Zoom.    

There are instructions and links to Zoom training in the knowledge base area of the IT service portal at https://drake.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/2025/Portal/KB/?CategoryID=18578 

Getting Started with Zoom (FAQ) is full of helpful links for both you and your students including links to videos tutorials, longer recorded presentations, and webinars hosted by Zoom.   

If you encounter issues with accessing or using Zoom, please submit a Zoom Issue online or contact the support center at 515–271–3001.  

–Jerome Hilscher, Information Technology Services