ITS is excited to share that Banner 9 Admin Pages are now available in production and our campus launch has begun. A special thank you to the Registrar’s Office, Human Resources, Finance Office, and other members of the project team who have been working diligently for over a year and a half.

Here are a few highlights about the upcoming rollout:

• Current Banner users will be invited to one or more training sessions to learn general Banner 9 navigation along with any changes specific to their area.
• Banner 9 will be accompanied by new required security methods for current Banner users to better protect campus data. Ahead of Banner 9 training, each user will receive an invitation to sign up for Duo, a multi-factor authentication tool. Use of Duo verifies anyone logging into Banner, and ensures that their username and password haven’t been compromised.

Banner Training Timeline:

Human Resources Pages: Live now
Student Pages: July—September
Finance Pages: Early September (followed by budget office manager training in early November)
Financial Aid Pages: Mid to late September

It may be somewhat challenging through the end of December as some current users work in Banner 8 and others in Banner 9. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this time of transition.

— Kris Brewster, ITS

Mark your calendars for the employee picnic on Tuesday, July 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hubbell Dining. The location is different from years past, so that the event can take place rain or shine. The lunch is free, and is a chance to socialize with coworkers across campus. Faculty and staff can enjoy a luau themed menu, including Kalua pulled pork, macaroni salad, luau beef stew, Hawaiian pizza, fresh pineapple, and more. Then, after lunch, head outdoors for some yard games, and to conclude the event, a prize drawing will be held. To be eligible for the drawing, bring at least one non-perishable item that will go to the Drake Little Food Pantries on campus. We look forward to seeing everyone there! 

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Registration is now open on Eventbrite for the 2018 Drake Learning Symposium Building Trust: Leading the Conversation. Be sure to review the Learning Symposium program before registering. This year’s Learning Symposium will be Monday, Aug. 20, and will be held at the Olmsted Center.

The 2018 Drake University Learning Symposium will feature Dr. Kathy Obear, Center for Transformation and Change, who will open the symposium with her workshop, Facilitating Difficult Dialogues. She will follow up with a breakout session for faculty that focuses specifically on facilitating difficult conversations in the classroom. In the afternoon, Dr. Obear will offer a session for staff focusing on difficult conversations in the workplace. Dr. Obear has spent over thirty years as an organizational change consultant helping organizations create inclusive, equitable environments where all people feel valued and respected.

This year’s Learning Symposium will conclude with the year’s first Drake Social, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., at the atrium in Cline Hall.

For more information, please see the Learning Symposium web page.

— Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office

The All Staff Council Special Interest Committee has been crafting a new mentor program for Drake University staff members. A survey link to sign up for the mentor program will go live July 24 and will be linked in OnCampus. Staff members who are interested in being either a mentor or mentee are asked to complete the survey. In addition, faculty members are invited to apply to be mentors.

The final deadline to sign up will be August 21. From there, placements will be made and the program will launch during the fall semester.

Visit www.drake.edu/asc/specialinterest/ to learn more about the new program. The survey link to apply will go live on this webpage July 24. If you have any questions, please reach out to Committee Chair Carla Herling at carla.herling@drake.edu or 515-271-2356.

As a reminder, the Special Interest Committee explores initiatives, questions, and/or concerns presented to All Staff Council through research, planning, and collaboration with appropriate offices on campus. If you have questions or topics of interest for the committee, please contact Carla Herling.

— Niki Smith, University Communications/All Staff Council

Nominations are open to faculty and staff for the Principal Financial Global Citizenship Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to global engagement and internationalization of the campus and curriculum. The selected awardee will receive a plaque, up to $3,000, and will be announced at the August 2018 Learning Symposium. A screening committee, appointed by the provost, will review all nominations and make recommendations to the provost. Nominations should be submitted to Bonnie Ehler at bonnie.ehler@drake.edu by June 30, 2018.

Nomination details:

A letter of nomination should be submitted recommending an individual for the award and explaining the context and manner in which the nominator has come to know the faculty or staff member. This letter should speak to the following qualifications:

Pursuant to the University’s mission to develop “responsible global citizens,” explain how the nominee has made outstanding contributions toward realizing the three main goals of the Internationalization and Global Engagement Strategic Plan, 2015-2020:

Goal 1: Serve as a global knowledge hub that brings value to external partners in local, national, and international settings.

Goal 2: Infuse global and multicultural perspectives across the campus and curriculum.

Goal 3: Develop infrastructure, resources, and communication systems to support internationalization and global engagement.

The nominee must be a faculty or staff member in at least her/his fourth year of service at the University. The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. Faculty and staff members who report directly to Drake International are ineligible.

Nominees who indicate a willingness to be considered will be invited to submit a c.v. and a statement discussing their contributions to the above goals. One or two letters of support from faculty, staff, or students will be accepted (this is optional). The deadline for submitting supporting materials is July 15.

Any individual who was nominated for the award in 2016 or 2017 may be re-nominated if the nominator resubmits a letter offering the individual for consideration this year. Files of previous nominees are maintained for two years. If a faculty member is re-nominated, the nominator will be invited to review the file from the previous year to ensure that the nomination is as current as possible.

Nomination letters are due by June 30, 2018, and should be sent as an attachment to bonnie.ehler@drake.edu. Questions may be directed to Jeff Kappen, acting director of the Principal Center for Global Citizenship, at jeffrey.kappen@drake.edu.

— Bonnie Ehler, Center for International Programs and Services

Last month, John Gitua, associate professor of chemistry, was invited to speak at Egerton University in Kenya. While there, he also delivered a talk to students at St. Vincent Lioki Secondary School. After touring the both institutions, he was surprised to learn that the unavailability of books, including textbooks and fiction and non-fiction works, is a major problem among many schools. In the secondary school, there was not a single book in the library, only empty shelves.

To assist, Professor Gitua is collecting books to send to these schools. If you have textbooks or fiction/non-fiction works that you are not using and would like to donate, contact Professor Gitua at john.gitua@drake.edu. He will pick them up and ship them to the schools. Thank you in advance for your willingness to support these underprivileged students.

— John Gitua, College of Arts & Sciences

Registration is now open for the Drake University 2018 Learning Symposium, Building Trust: Leading the Conversation. The symposium will be Monday, Aug. 20, at the Olmsted Center. Please review the program to choose your break-out sessions prior to going to Eventbrite to register. For links to the program and Eventbrite, please visit the Learning Symposium web page.

— Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office