Human Resources is now located on the third floor of Old Main. Beginning Aug. 3, HR team members will work on-site on a staggered schedule combined with continued telecommuting. To mitigate risk, we ask that you contact us by email so virtual interaction may take place as much as possible. For questions, please contact drakehr@drake.edu.
— Mary Alice Hill, Human Resources
As we all navigate through a new academic calendar and course offerings/formats together, it is more critical than ever to drive student success, preparedness, retention, and savings through timely course material decisions. We are one month from classes starting and we are at about 87% of adoptions compared to last fall. If you have not provided information, please do so this week, if possible.
For specific methods on how to submit your Fall 2020 book order, email/phone/online order submission are all acceptable. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out myself or Donna Hallstrom by phone or email.
Three easy steps to access Follett Discover via Blackboard
— Katie Wilz, University Bookstore
The University Bookstore has made an important change to its text department. As part of the Bookstore’s new Shop by Author program, course materials are now arranged on shelves alphabetically by author instead of by course.
Whether it is a student shopping or a team member picking online orders, a person now starts at “A” and walks through the department one time, collecting course materials based on authors’ last names.
Before Shop by Author, students may have had to jump around to different areas of the text department to find their books, especially when a title was used in multiple courses. This new alphabetical arrangement will save students time and ultimately deliver a better shopping experience.
In future semesters, the Bookstore will introduce students to technology that will allow them to scan a QR code as they enter the text department to see a shopping list by author, specific to their class schedule.
However, this fall, in light of COVID-19, the Bookstore will be promoting its website as the best way for students to shop for their textbooks. This change to its layout will allow the store team to be more efficient fulfilling these online orders and give the Bookstore more space to store the packages that student’s have selected to pick-up in-store. In addition to the website, the University Bookstore will have clerk service to assist the student’s who come to the store to shop, rather than using the website.
As your classes get underway, ensure students are prepared by letting them know they can find their materials at the University Bookstore. Don’t forget to share that the Bookstore price matches against eligible competitors, so students can shop with confidence knowing they’re getting their materials at the lowest cost possible.
If you have any questions about the Bookstore’s new Shop by Author program, or any of its course materials affordability programs, please feel free to email Katie Wilz at kwilz@follett.com or call 515-274-3401.
— Katie Wilz, University Bookstore
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is making improvements to security and adding new meeting features, along with other updates.
June 13 changes:
Shared camera option: The share camera option gives you the ability to share more than one camera. Share your video and share another camera connected to your computer. Students can see you and anything else you want to show. You’re only limited by the number of cameras and USB ports in your computer. NOTE: The video will appear backwards to you in the preview but will appear correctly to others in the session and in recordings.
New edit session layout: The settings are separated into three tabs rather than three expandable menus. Update user experience for creating and editing sessions which also prevents unintended changes to a session from being accidentally saved. Administrators and session owners now need to save changes with the Save button.
Download polls: Now moderators, instructors, and administrators can download a session’s Poll report. This report (found in the Session Reports) includes the poll question and how each attendee responded.
Download recordings: Recordings are available all the time for session owners and system administrators. Use the Allow recording downloads check box to let everyone else download the recording.
Whiteboard tool updates: It is now easier to select and rotate items on the whiteboard.
Added in April/May:
Guest access changes to improve security: The Guest Access check box is clear when a new session is being created. The check box must be selected to allow guest access. Scheduler users still have the option to enable guest access if they choose, in order to allow public access to their session.
Meetings larger than 250 members (webinar mode): More on Collaborate’s webinar mode. Current upper limit is 500 members.
July 16 update:
— Karly Good, ITS
ITS is updating current campus Microsoft licenses to a new version that will allow all faculty and staff to take advantage of the dial-in conferencing capabilities of Microsoft Teams. After the new licensing is applied, you will be able to schedule meetings in Teams and have attendees join meetings by calling a toll free phone number instead of using the Teams app. As the new licensing is applied, you will receive an automated email letting you know your conference phone number and associated PIN. Please watch your inbox for an email like the example below in the coming week. We recommend that you save this email for future reference.
For more information on using Teams for meetings, see Holding Virtual Meetings Using Microsoft Teams (Best Practices).
— Christopher Mielke, ITS
As your bookstore, we understand a lot more is going into your decision-making process for fall adoptions in this COVID-19 world. We know you are facing new challenges as more courses adjust to online formats. We have reached the end of June and students are less two months away from arriving on campus.
As always, we ask for your adoptions as early as possible so we can better source used materials that may be available. In addition, timely textbook adoptions keep campus in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). To this end, we want to work with you to assist in any way that will allow you to make your textbook adoption decisions and allow us to get the postings completed. While we recognize that some of you may still be trying to make decisions, this is only a friendly reminder that Fall textbook adoptions were due on April 15.
Reach out if you need any assistance maneuvering Follett Discover or feel free to email or call with your adoptions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!
Three easy steps to access Follett Discover through Blackboard
— Donna Hallstrom & Katie Wilz, University Bookstore
Drake’s Speaking Center, which was on hiatus in the 2020–2021 academic year, will be reopening in Fall 2020. More details will be forthcoming as the semester approaches, but if you have used the Speaking Center in your classes in the past, you can include it in your planning for the fall.
— Arthur Sanders, Associate Provost
The University will now require all students pursuing an undergraduate degree from Drake University to complete the FAFSA prior to July 1 (preceding the academic year enrolled) as part of the Tuition Rebate Application process.
This requirement ensures that eligible students are considered for the Iowa Tuition Grant (which partially funds tuition and reduces the cost of offering this benefit). In addition, students will be considered for the Federal Pell Grant, which would be available to cover the costs of other educational expenses like room, board, or books.
This new requirement became effective April 1, 2019. This requirement may be waived students who can demonstrate that they would not qualify for the Iowa Tuition Grant (see the Tuition Rebate Policy for details).
— Brandy Eganhouse, Student Financial Planning
As your bookstore, we understand a lot more is going into your decision-making process for fall adoptions in this COVID-19 world. We know you are facing new challenges as more courses adjust to online formats. We have reached the middle of June and students are two months away from arriving on campus. We are at 50% of the titles we would expect so the importance of preparing for Fall is upon us all.
As always, we ask for your adoptions as early as possible so we can better source used materials that may be available. In addition, timely textbook adoptions keep campus in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). To this end, we want to work with you to assist in any way that will allow you to make your textbook adoption decisions and allow us to get the postings completed. While we recognize that some of you may still be trying to make decisions, this is only a friendly reminder that Fall textbook adoptions were due on April 15.
Reach out if you need any assistance maneuvering Follett Discover or feel free to email or call with your adoptions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!
Three easy steps to access Follett Discover through Blackboard
— Donna Hallstrom & Katie Wilz, University Bookstore
With the University’s fiscal year-end (June 30, 2020) approaching, below are recommended guidelines for efficient and effective year-end processing of purchases.
In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, Drake is required to report transactions in the proper fiscal period. For that reason, expenses are recorded in the period when goods are received and/or services are rendered. In short, items expensed to a FY20 budget will need to be received before June 30, 2020. Factors such as budget allocation, invoice receipt, or payment issuance would not have an impact on the application of expenses within a fiscal period.
Exceptions to this general rule apply when a benefit of service or receipt of item extends into multiple fiscal years. In such cases, the following guidelines will be applied.
The University’s guidelines for year-end purchases are subject to external audit. As you make purchases during this period leading up to and overlapping our fiscal year end, it is important to note when the goods or services were received so they are expensed according to reporting requirements. If the timing of receipt is not clearly noted on the invoice, it would be beneficial to help call the receipt date to accounting’s attention by clearly marking the appropriate fiscal year for the expense, based on the above guidelines, on the pay request.
Please contact Jeni Baugher at x4509 or Jenifer.Baugher@drake.edu with any questions you might have.
— Heather Travis, Finance and Administration