Drake University Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night
Women’s Basketball vs. Iowa
Friday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m.
Knapp Center

All Drake University Faculty/Staff are eligible to receive up to four  complimentary general admission tickets to a Women’s Basketball game versus Iowa on Friday, Dec. 21. Tickets may be picked up at the Knapp Center Ticket Office Monday–Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or at the ticket window on game day. Must show valid Drake Card at time of pick up.

For more information please contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or visit GoDrakeBulldogs.com.

—Ryan Harris, Athletics 

All Staff Council and Human Resources invite faculty and staff to attend its Holiday Cheer gathering on Wednesday, Dec. 12, near the Pomerantz stage in the Olmsted Center. Faculty and staff are welcome to come and go as they please from 9 to 11 a.m.

Guests can enjoy a hot chocolate bar and cookie decorating station. Griff will also be in attendance and ready for holiday photos.

If you bring at least one non-perishable food or other goods for Drake’s Free Little Food Pantries you will be entered into a drawing for prizes, including a Drake Parking Pass. Drawing for the parking pass takes place at the end of the school year but the drawing for other prizes will take place immediately following Holiday Cheer.

This event is a chance to give back to others in the Drake community, while mingling with coworkers.  Please take a moment to stop by, grab some cheer, and drop off a donation.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Last week, the University launched its Big Ideas initiative. The initiative invites faculty, staff, students, and volunteers to submit “big ideas” that have the potential to make a powerful and momentous impact on Drake, the region, and the world. The initiative invites the University community to take a shared ownership in defining Drake’s future.

During this initial phase of the project, and until the submission window opens Jan. 14, I urge all faculty and staff to think big and to be bold, and to help us envision the dynamic future of our University.

Positioning Drake as a great university
The Big Ideas initiative signifies our commitment to support a number of multidisciplinary, large-scale projects that have the potential to create a transformational impact by leveraging areas where Drake already is uniquely positioned to lead. The proposals can cover a range of outcomes and impacts, varying from student-oriented to research-oriented to community-oriented. The submitted proposals will be reviewed by the Big Ideas Steering Committee, with select proposals being used by University Advancement to attract and inspire private giving in the years ahead.

Learn more
Visit the Big Ideas website to read more about the submission process and timeline. The website contains an FAQ to help you better understand the project. In addition, you will have an opportunity to learn more about the initiative at the faculty and staff social on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 3:30 p.m. at Shivers Hospitality Suite. More communication will be shared about the process in the coming months.

I invite you to begin preparing a proposal for your Big Idea to help us solidify Drake as a leading institution for generations to come. Your vision, leadership, and creativity will help to elevate Drake University and the work and service you carry out each day.

John Smith, University Advancement

All Drake faculty and staff are eligible to receive up to four complimentary general admission tickets to the Women’s Basketball game versus Iowa on Friday, Dec. 21. Tickets may be picked up at the Knapp Center Ticket Office Monday–Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or at the ticket window on game day. Must show valid Drake Card at time of pick up.

For more information please contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or visit GoDrakeBulldogs.com.

Ryan Harris, Athletics

The Offices of Finance and Student Financial Planning would like to thank everyone for taking the time to complete the Administrative Survey in October 2018.  We have gained valuable feedback to help us maintain and improve the services we provide to faculty and staff.

Our median scores, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, were as follows:

Each of our departments individually scored between 4 and 5 on all survey questions, with the average score = 4.31 for both 2017 and 2018.  In addition, we scored between 4 and 5 on each of our core values.

In accordance with our continuous improvement plan, we currently have initiatives in place to meet the following service-oriented objectives:

• Ensure our constituents are engaged and informed
• Ensure integrity and transparency
• Process university resources timely and accurately
• Improve service excellence

We appreciate all the comments included in the survey.  Thank you for the many positive comments, which support our efforts to be prompt, helpful, responsive, and friendly.  Thank you, too, for providing feedback to help us make improvements in the future.  Based on those comments, we are taking the following steps to make improvements:

• We recently attended a process improvement training presented by the Education Advisory Board (EAB). We intend to review our processes using the EAB model, in order to:
  • Simplify
  • Communicate better
  • Collaborate more
  • Be more consistent
  • Reduce paper processes
  • Streamline operations
  • Improve customer experience and satisfaction

As part of this work, we will include stakeholders in the process review and communicate the results of our work.

• We have also reaffirmed our commitment to our Finance Service Standards, namely:
• Provide Solutions not Excuses
• Take Ownership
• Foster an Innovative Environment
• Be Accountable as Team Members and Individuals
• Value and Trust Others
• Uphold Professional, Ethical and Confidential Standards
• Exceed Expectations
• Be an Ambassador for Drake
• Recognize Contributions

Teresa Krejci, Chief Financial Officer

I wanted to share with you the most recent results from this year’s Survey of Administrative Services as it relates to ITS. We are pleased to report that over the three years of this survey, data indicates a steadily improving sense of satisfaction with ITS.

In 2018, overall satisfaction with ITS has increased from 3.8 to 4.0 on a scale of 1 to 5. We are proud that the campus community recognizes the work that’s been done, but the results clearly leave room for additional improvement.

Figure 1 – Overall Satisfaction with ITS 2016-17 Trend

Questions related to satisfaction with ITS staff showed almost uniform improvement, although satisfaction with quality showed the least improvement year over year.

Figure 2 – ITS Staff Satisfaction 2016-18 Trend

From left to right

• ITS staff are courteous
• ITS staff are professional
• ITS staff are knowledgeable
• ITS staff resolve my requests in a timely manner
• ITS staff resolve my requests without errors
• ITS staff provide regular communication about the status of my requests
• When I contact ITS, I have confidence my requests will be resolved to my satisfaction

Responses to questions related to ITS’s continuous improvement efforts also show increasing satisfaction across all questions. Limited improvements to the question I have the right technology tools I need to do my job effectively show that the availability of functional, reliable technology remains an ongoing campus-wide concern.

Figure 3 – ITS Continuous Improvement Satisfaction 2016-18 Trend

From left to right

• I have the right technology tools I need to do my job effectively
• I know how to use the technology I need to do my job effectively
• I have the right level of support to use technology effectively
• I know how to get training when I need to learn new technology
• I know how to find information about the status of technology issues or problems on campus
• ITS keeps me aware of changes to technology that will impact my work

During the past year, ITS has paid particular attention to improving the consistency and frequency of communication to campus and we are pleased to see this effort reflected in the survey’s results. Two of the questions that showed the largest increase year-over-year are ITS staff provide regular communication about the status of my requests and I know how to find information about the status of technology issues or problems on campus.

This coming year, we are creating procedures to ensure that we have fully addressed your service requests to your satisfaction before closing them. We will also continue to focus on providing consistent communication regarding progress on your individual requests and on issues affecting the campus community to ensure future progress in these areas.

Although we are pleased to see your recognition of our hard work, we recognize that trust must be constantly earned. Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedules to provide us with your helpful feedback and perspectives. Our goal is to make sure that you see the benefits of that feedback in the overall quality and consistency of our services.

Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer

Please plan to attend the Provost’s Drake Social, Thursday, Dec. 13, at Shivers Hospitality Suite. Employees who exemplify Generosity of Spirit will be recognized.

You may nominate a colleague as one who exemplifies Generosity of Spirit until Monday, Dec. 10. Submit their name and a sentence or two explaining why they embody this Drake Core Value to Drinda Williams, drinda.williams@drake.edu.

Generosity of Spirit: We trust, empower, and assume the best of each other. We treat our colleagues with care, respect, and civility. We remain committed to equity and inclusion.

Anyone nominated will be part of a rolling display at the event. Three will be selected at random to choose from a menu of prizes that this month includes: preferential parking space for a month, baked goods, restaurant gift certificates, and more!

The Social will be preceded by a town hall budget update presented by Teresa Krejci, chief financial officer, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Social will follow immediately afterward.

The Drake Social is a time to relax with colleagues and enjoy wine, beer, soft drinks, and snacks.

Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Applications are now being accepted for 2019–2020 Drake Research Grants and Undergraduate Assistantships. If you have questions, contact Associate Provost Sanders.

Art Sanders, Associate Provost