Applications are now being accepted for 2018–2019 Drake Research Grants and the Undergraduate Assistantship Program. Apply today.

––Art Sanders, Associate Provost

The next in a series of meetings focused on creating inclusive learning environments will be Monday, Dec. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in Cartwright Hall, Conference Room 137. 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

The final Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) lunch of the semester is Friday, Dec. 8, at 12 p.m. in Olmsted Center, TMR 133. These discussions are opportunities for those engaged in SoTL projects at any level—from just thinking about starting one, to almost complete, or those simply curious about SoTL—to share ideas, seek advice, or ask questions of colleagues engaged in the process. This year, members of ITS will attend to provide information about SoTL projects that might involve technology usage. While it is too late to order a lunch, those interested are still welcome to attend and bring their own.

—Art Sanders, Associate Provost

Following graduation on Dec. 16 and through Dec. 21, most campus buildings will adopt administrative hours. This means buildings will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Starting Dec. 22, doors will be locked for the winter break. Faculty and staff will still be able to utilize their authorized access plans and enter their office buildings 24/7. Student plans will be shut off during this time. Regular building hours will resume on Jan. 3, the start of January Term.

Cowles Library open hours/after-hours are listed on their website.

Contact Public Safety at 515-271-2222 if you have a door access emergency during this time, or contact Student Services Center at 515-271-2000 or studentservices@drake.edu if you have a general card access question.

—Sara Heijerman, Student Services Center

All Staff Council and Human Resources invite faculty and staff to attend its Holiday Cheer gathering on Thursday, Dec. 14, 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, cookie decorating station, music, and drawings for prizes. Griff will also be in attendance. To be eligible for prize drawings, please bring at least one non-perishable item that will go to the Drake Food Pantries on campus.

Holiday Cheer will replace the holiday breakfast previously hosted by Human Resources. The event is a chance to give back to others in the Drake community, while mingling with coworkers.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

In the coming weeks, another phishing simulation email will be sent out to faculty and staff. If you receive the email and respond by opening the link or attachment, you’ll be directed to an informational page. Because phishing represents such a significant risk to campus, ITS will be assigning additional training to individuals who repeatedly click links or open attachments in phishing emails, simulated or not. Participating in training like this is an effective and risk-free way to learn about the dangers of phishing and help protect individual and campus data. If you have any questions or concerns, contact informationsecurity@drake.edu.

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.

—Peter Lundstedt, ITS

Sign up for the next Tech Tuesday to be held Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Dial Center Large Conference Room. This session, taught by Dan Chibnall of Cowles Library, will help you search smarter, find quality sources, efficiently navigate massive amounts of information online, and become more confident with online technology. Attendance at Tech Tuesdays counts toward BUILD credit.

—Carla Herling, ITS

Faculty and staff are invited to the Shivers Hospitality Suite, adjacent to The Knapp Center, for a social hosted by the provost on Thursday, Dec. 14, at 4 p.m. CFO Teresa Krejci will present information on the University’s budget. Snacks, soft drinks, beer, and wine will be served. Be sure to attend to learn about the budget and enjoy the company of friends and colleagues.

—Drinda Williams, Provost’s Office

Maura Strassberg, professor of law, was selected as ITS’ digital faculty member of the month for November. Read a brief interview between Strassberg and ITS.

What type of technology (hardware/software) do you use? 

Peerceptiv website/software

What course do you use it in? 

Contracts I

In what context do you use this technology? 

Guided peer review of answers to problems testing understanding and written communication of application of the law to facts.

How does this type of technology align with your teaching pedagogy? 

Students learn the most from active use of what they learn, but need considerable feedback to recognize deficiencies. Peerceptiv allows me to guide students’ review of their peers’ work in a way that approximates my own review, which is important for a class of 50+ students. I especially appreciate the way it exposes them to a wide range of peer answers anonymously, which allows them to start differentiating better, worse, and alternative ways to address the problem. It handles all the administration of this, from submission of student answers, distribution of anonymized peer answers for their review, and an algorithm-based grading mechanism that I used more to identify students who were behind their peers than to generate grades.

Where did you get the inspiration to make a change? 

I started taking an online course in evidence-based pedagogy in the STEM fields and stumbled on a reference to it.

How long did it take for you to implement this technology?

A fair amount of time. I worked online over the summer with a small group of law professor pioneers attempting to adapt this STEM-oriented program to the law school setting, creating rubrics and exercises and then testing them on ourselves. Once I started to adapt my old problems and answers to this platform, it took several hours a week to redesign the materials and input materials into the platform. Next time will be much easier. I hope that having my experience to support them will make it easier for my colleagues to give it a try.

Are you interested in trying out new technology in your classroom? Want help from ITS staff? Schedule a technology adoption consultation.  

—Erin Ulrich, CPHS, and Carla Herling, ITS 

Winter break check processing schedule:

Winter break:

• All check requests are due to Accounts Payable by the end of the business day on Friday, Dec. 15.
• For requests received by Dec. 15, checks will be processed and available after 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19. This will be the last check run before winter break.
• The accounting office will be closed during winter break. Normal check processing will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 3.

Thank you for your help in coordinating to ensure we meet all needs during the upcoming season. Please contact Accounting at ext. 2125 with any questions.

Jeni Baugher, Accounting