FYS proposals are due Friday, Feb. 9. Visit the FYS Resource Page to find the submission form. The form asks you to rank order the four FYS times, so we ask everyone to fill out the form, even those who have taught the FYS they are proposing in the past. For questions, contact Art Sanders at arthur.sanders@drake.edu.
— Art Sanders, Associate Provost
Applications for the Drake Research Grants and Undergrad Assistantship Programs are due Feb. 9 in the office of your dean or program director. Find more information here.
— Art Sanders, Associate Provost
The next in a series of meetings focused on creating inclusive learning environments will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, in the Olmsted Center, Drake Room. These meetings provide an opportunity for anyone on campus to come and discuss the challenges, successes, and failures we have faced as we try to navigate the difficult issue of creating inclusive learning environments. For questions, contact Art Sanders at arthur.sanders@drake.edu.
— Art Sanders, Associate Provost
Save the date for the 2018 Drake Learning Symposium on Monday, Aug. 20. This year the symposium for faculty and staff will be held at the Olmsted Center to make it easier for everyone to attend all or part of the event. The theme this year is Building Trust: Leading the Conversation. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Kathy Obear of the Center for Transformation and Change. Her topic will be Facilitating Difficult Dialogues. A call for proposals for break-out sessions will be going out in a few weeks. See the Learning Symposium web page for more details.
—Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost
Looking for a unique Valentine greeting for friends, colleagues, or family? The Drake Choir will deliver singing valentines on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Each singing valentine is a special delivery and can be presented at work, a restaurant, a retirement center, home, or wherever you designate; the choir has sung at construction sites, schools, offices, hospitals, and many more venues, so creativity is welcome.
We deliver to the entire Des Moines metro, including West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the day and 5:30 to 8 p.m. during the evening. In Ankeny, Altoona, Waukee, and Norwalk, we deliver from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
To order a singing valentine, visit http://www.drake.edu/valentines/ or call 515.271.3024. The deadline is Feb. 9.
Choose from one of three great packages:
True Romance—one rose and a song, $30
Cupid’s Favorite—six roses and a song, $45
Hopeless Romantic—one dozen roses and a song, $65
Add an appearance from Griff for an additional $25
A new feature of our singing valentines is the opportunity to have Griff join the Drake Choir singers in presenting your order. You can add a Griff appearance to any order package for an additional $25. Griff is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Please note that Griff is a certified therapy dog and loves people. However, if you’re having us deliver a valentine to a building in which security clearance is needed to gain entry, you’ll need to work out those details ahead of time with a building supervisor. Our students will not have time to negotiate that aspect of things when they arrive, so please make sure that Griff is expected and welcomed.
Why a singing valentine?
In addition to winning brownie points with your valentine, you’ll be supporting the Drake Choir’s May 2019 international tour. No University funds are used for these tours, so your support is important and greatly appreciated.
— Aimee Beckmann-Collier, Music
Final grades for J-Term courses are due by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb 7. If you have difficulty entering final grades, contact Kevin Moenkhaus or Shannon Odenbach.
— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of Registrar
Faculty and staff are invited to a social hosted by the provost on Tuesday, Feb. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Shivers Hospitality Suite, adjacent to The Knapp Center. Snacks, soft drinks, beer, and wine will be served.
— Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office
Instructors, view a list of educational technology resources available to you. This soon-to-be comprehensive A-Z list of technologies benefit teaching and learning experiences as well as research endeavors. The number of resources will continue to grow as will the content within each resource. If you visit this website at least once a semester, you should find something new that could enhance your courses and support student success.
— Karly Good, ITS
Drake continues to be targeted by individuals attempting to coerce faculty and staff to give away confidential information like usernames and passwords, personally identifiable information (PII), or computer access. Other attacks try to gain financial benefit by using fake invoices and wire transfers.
Because of this constant threat, ITS provides training on how to detect and respond to these types of attacks using simulated emails. These emails are a risk-free way to teach faculty and staff how to detect and report phishing. If you receive a simulated phishing email and open the link or attachment, you’ll be directed to an informational page letting you know the signs you may have missed.
Because phishing represents such a significant risk to campus, ITS is beginning to assign additional training to faculty and staff members who repeatedly click links or open attachments in phishing emails, simulated or not.
If you receive an email you suspect is phishing, don’t click any links, download any attachments, or reply. Instead, forward the email as an attachment to informationsecurity@drake.edu.
For more information on how to report phishing emails, see the IT Service Portal guide, Reporting a Phishing Message.
— Peter Lundstedt, ITS
Faculty and staff can eat for only $5 at Hubbell Dining Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Present your Drake ID to the cashier to receive the discount.
— Jennifer Bowersox, Drake Dining
