Nathan Newman, EdD, ATC, associate professor of athletic training, is conducting a study on the impact of low-level laser therapy on lower extremity injuries. Low-level laser therapy is an experimental treatment that may decrease pain and inflammation in common musculoskeletal injuries. Faculty and staff members that have recently suffered a lower extremity injury, or suffer one in the near future, may contact Nathan Newman at nathan.newman@drake.edu about participating in the study. Compensation will be provided to participants who complete the entire study. This study has been approved by the IRB.

Nathan Newman, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

The Student Services Center/ID Card office is temporarily located in Quad Creek, the lower level of Hubbell (next to the C-Store), to allow for flood repair in Carnegie Hall. The department plans to be in this location for most of the fall semester.

Please visit the Student Services Center for assistance with parking passes, ID cards, office/lab keys, student employment paperwork, or any of our other services. Student Services can be reached at studentservices@drake.edu or 515-271-2000.

Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

Final plans are being made for the 2018 Drake Learning Symposium, Building Trust: Leading the Conversation. There is still time to register by visiting the Eventbrite page. This year, the symposium is being held at the Olmsted Center and will feature Dr. Kathy Obear of the Center for Transformation and Change. For more details and a full description of the sessions, visit the symposium webpage.

Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

Each month, ITS will offer various Tech Tuesday sessions designed to provide you with resources to use technology more efficiently in your job (and possibly your life). Some Tech Tuesday topics are being offered twice, please register by session. All sessions are 50 minutes, including time for Q&A.

Upcoming dates & topics:

Tuesday, Aug. 21: Getting Started with Blackboard
1 p.m., Olmsted Center, TMR 132
Taught by Karly Good & Clayton Mitchell, ITS
We will be providing basic tips and tricks for working with Blackboard. We will focus on course menus, navigation, grade center setup, and more.

Tuesday, Aug. 28: Setting up Your Blackboard Course to Match Your Syllabus
10 a.m. or 1 p.m., Olmsted Center, TMR 132
Taught by Karly Good, ITS
This practical, hands-on session will help you to take what is provided in your completed syllabus and build your Blackboard course to match what you have already developed.

Future Tech Tuesday topics include the IT Service Portal, Qualtrics, IT security, project management, and Office 365, as well as additional Blackboard training courses. Registration is open for all classes now.

Sign up and learn more today.

Carla Herling, ITS

All faculty and staff are invited to the Provost’s first Drake Social of the 2018-2019 academic year on Monday, Aug. 20, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Cline Atrium. The social will be held mid-afternoon, just after the Drake Learning Symposium.

President Marty Martin will welcome attendees, and talk about our next steps in actualizing the Core Values. In fact, the Drake Socials will become an exciting part of that implementation with recognition opportunities, prizes, and even use of some of our outdoor spaces to fully celebrate the Drake community.

We hope you will attend the Drake Learning Symposium, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, and conclude the day at the social. To register for the Learning Symposium, visit the Eventbrite page. The social does not require registration.

Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

On an average day, about 206,000 malicious emails are sent to Drake faculty, staff, and students, comprising nearly 80 percent of all the email sent to us. Most of these spam and phishing messages are blocked before they reach our mailboxes, but we cannot let down our guard on the content that does reach us.

Earlier this week, UnityPoint Health announced the potential breach of 1.4 million patients’ personal information. Attackers sent an email to employees disguised as an official communication from a senior executive that directed recipients to a fake website asking for their username and password. Once entered, the attackers accessed patient information stored in the email accounts.

Each of us stand between attackers and the information entrusted to us by students, alumni, community partners, donors, and each other. Fortunately, we have a set of tools available to combat this problem.

• Delete old information that you no longer need, especially if it contains personal or grade information.
• Report suspected phishing messages.
• If you receive an email claiming to be from someone at Drake and it has the [External Email] label, take a closer look.
• Email informationsecurity@drake.edu with any questions about information and device safety.

ITS will continue to provide training throughout the academic year through simulated emails and follow-up training, to help faculty and staff identify and respond to these attacks.

Peter Lundstedt, ITS

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