A limited number of $75, lower bowl, 100-level tickets to the Hy-Vee Classic are available for Drake faculty and staff to purchase. This college basketball event on Saturday, Dec. 16, brings together the four Division I men’s basketball programs in the state of Iowa. The Drake men’s basketball team will take on the University of Iowa at 1 p.m. followed by the Iowa State–Northern Iowa game at 3:30 p.m. Seats within Drake’s designated sections can be purchased, while supplies last, at The Knapp Center Ticket Office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are valid to both games of the event.

A pregame event, hosted by the Drake Alumni Association, will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall in the Community Choice Credit Union on the day of the game. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the pregame.

For more information, contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or tickets@drake.edu.

Ryan Harris, Drake Athletics

ITS continues to make progress with the release of a cloud storage solution to campus. OneDrive has been rolled out to several administrative units across campus, with more scheduled to be complete before winter break. As previously mentioned, a phased approach is being taken for the release of OneDrive to ensure adequate technical support is available to faculty and staff as they get familiar with this new platform for document storage. Implementation will continue through the end of the fiscal year. A full schedule for the OneDrive project is available on the ITS website.

In order to prepare for the launch of OneDrive, ITS staff pushed the OneDrive client to all Drake-owned Mac computers on Nov. 10. The client will be pushed to Drake-owned Windows computers soon. There is no need to do anything with the OneDrive software at this time. ITS staff will continue to work directly with departments across campus to provide additional instructions and training as the OneDrive roll out continues throughout the rest of this fiscal year.

Chris Mielke, ITS

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

The Ray Center invites faculty and staff to visit its new offices located in the lower level of Collier-Scripps Hall for complimentary doughnuts tomorrow, Nov. 29, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.  The Starbucks machine will be up and running for $1.50. ––Amy Smit, The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center

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

Drake International is now accepting proposals from faculty and staff who are interested in collaborating with one of Drake’s international strategic partner institutions. International partnerships have proven to be an important way for faculty and staff to engage globally in meaningful ways.

Interested individuals should complete the application through Qualtrics by Nov. 30.

Please direct questions to Annique Kiel, executive director of global engagement and international programs, at annique.kiel@drake.edu.

––Annique Kiel, Drake International

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

Thanks to those who participated in and attended the first annual All Staff Council Chili Cook-Off event last month.

Attendees were invited to sample chili by making a donation to Drake’s Free Little Food Pantries. The Olmsted pantry was filled with non-perishable food and other items thanks to many generous donations.

Congratulations to the chili cook-off’s People’s Choice Award winners:

• First place: Sonja Brightwell, office of residence life
• Second place: Sara Heijerman, student services center
• Third place: Christine Marchand, institutional research, and Mikayla Olson, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

View the winning chili recipes here. Thanks to Sodexo as well for providing a chili and corn bread buffet lunch. Read about more upcoming events and opportunities on the All Staff Council web page.

Jill Batten, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences/All Staff Council

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

Art Sanders, Associate Provost