Drake faculty and staff have access to a number of services and events for free or at discounted prices. The only problem is that we often don’t know about them. If your department offers any employee perks and discounts, or you know of a perk or discount from outside of your area, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu. This information will be collected and shared on blueView for easy access.

Benefits could include internal perks such as discounted tickets to Drake events or free Microsoft Office software for home computers, or an external discount such as those through Verizon, AT&T and Interstate Batteries.

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Nominations are now being accepted for the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award and the Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award. Nominations are due to Human Resources by Friday, March 30, at 4:30 p.m. Late nominations will not be accepted.

Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award
Madelyn M. Levitt established the Distinguished Community Service Award to recognize the outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the Drake community. Recipients are chosen on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated personal commitment to volunteerism and community service
• An outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services, and activities contributing to the quality of life in our region, state, and/or the nation
• Professional and personal values and behavior that typify the ideals of “giving back to others” and “making a difference in the lives of others”
• The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake.

Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award
The Employee Excellence Award is presented to a staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to excellence in the performance of their duties. Criteria for the award include:

• Exceptional performance as an employee of Drake University
• Outstanding dedication to providing courteous, prompt, and quality service
• Demonstrated commitment to University programs, initiatives, and services
• Professional values and behavior that demonstrate exceptional service to others and a commitment to Drake University
• The nominee must be a current staff member with at least one year of service at Drake.

To nominate a colleague, submit a letter of nomination to the Levitt Award Committee, care of (c/o) Human Resources. Nomination letters may be sent through campus mail or electronically to drakehr@drake.edu.

A nomination letter detailing specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria is desirable. Additional letters of support are not necessary. A review committee will make award recommendations to the President’s Council.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

On Thursday, March 29, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the Olmsted Center, Pomerantz Stage, President Martin will meet with facilities and staff to discuss the University’s draft of core values. This casual gathering will include a chance to provide feedback and ask questions about the core values. If you’d like to suggest a topic for Q&A, please contact Nancy Geiger at nancy.geiger@drake.edu or at extension 3095. The meeting is presented by All Staff Council.

— Nancy Geiger, Office of the Registrar/All Staff Council

Faculty, midterm grades for spring classes are due by 10 a.m. on Monday, March 26. You may enter midterm grades through blueView, MyDUSIS, or Blackboard. Thank you for submitting your grades on time at such a busy time of year.

—Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

Registration and abstract submissions for the 15^th annual Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS) are due March 23. Register and/or view abstract guidelines.

DUCURS will be held Thursday, April 12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Parents Hall. The Conference will feature student oral presentations and poster presentations on current research projects by students and faculty. Following the presentations, awards will be given to the top presenters. All participants and attendees will be eligible to win door prizes.

—Kayla Jenkins, College of Arts and Sciences

Christina Trombley, executive director of online programming, and Kara Wendelin, director of online student support, invite you to meet with them to discuss online learning. Christina and Kara will be at the coffee shop in Olmsted every other Thursday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., beginning this Thursday, March 22.  They look forward to discussing online programs at Drake and answering your questions.

—Christina Trombley, online programming

The deadline for submitting course material requests for the upcoming summer semester is March 15. Receiving material requests as soon as possible enables the Book Store to source the most affordable books for students and provide top dollar to students selling books back at the end of this semester. With the Book Store’s Online Adoption Tool, selecting course materials is fast and easy.

Access the online adoption tool

Visit www.drake.bkstr.com. Go to Books in the top navigation and under the Information heading, click Online Adoptions. If you need additional training to use the Online Adoption Tool, contact Donna Hallstrom at donna.hallstrom@drake.edu.

New User?

Follow the steps listed above. Click on Register Here and complete the required fields. Enter 1623 in the Book Store Supplied Password field.

Download the 6 Ways to Help Students Save on Textbooks to learn about Follett’s different types of course material purchasing options. If you have any questions about the Online Adoption Tool or how to save students money, please contact Donna Hallstrom at donna.hallstrom@drake.edu.

— Donna Hallstrom, University Book Store

All Staff Council added a new committee this year, the Special Interest Committee. The committee explores initiatives, questions, and/or concerns presented to All Staff Council through research, planning, and collaboration with appropriate offices on campus.

The Special Interest Committee has made two recommendations that are moving forward.

Recommendation 1: Add Human Resource policies to the Drake website. In addition, add an explanation of why there is a difference between exempt and non-exempt vacation time in the time card directions section.

Exempt staff begin with 160 hours of vacation, and non-exempt staff begin with 80 hours of vacation. Non-exempt staff use 37.5 hours as their workweek with five 30-minute lunches paid. Over the year, the 2.5 hours they get weekly for their paid lunch amounts to 130 hours. This equates to 16.25 days, which is more than two weeks of vacation time. It’s important to note that some staff do not get a paid lunch.

Recommendation 2: Add to the Drake website and HR policies that full-time staff members in exempt positions, who have 9-, 10- or 11-month contracts, have the opportunity to be paid over 12 months. Faculty already have this opportunity; therefore, the committee recommends that it be offered to staff members as well.

It should be noted that non-exempt staff would not be able to defer their pay because they must be paid on a payroll basis to include overtime earned in the pay period. This does not include Head Start employees as they must pay all employees within the program (fiscal) year and would not be able to defer pay into another program/fiscal year.

Additionally, the committee is working on creating a staff mentoring program scheduled to launch in August 2018.

The Special Interest Committee is interested in your suggestions. If you have a question, issue, or concern, reach out to Pam Pepper at pam.pepper@drake.edu or extension 4558. The committee will review your inquiry and respond. All suggestions are kept confidential.

—Pam Pepper, All Staff Council Special Interest Committee Chair

The next in our series of meetings focused on creating inclusive learning environments will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19, in the Olmsted Center, TMR 132. 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