With the University’s fiscal year-end (June 30, 2024) approaching, below are recommended guidelines for efficient and effective year-end processing of financial transactions. View full guidelines with year-end processing timeline here.

Accounting for departmental expenses:

In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, Drake is required to report transactions in the proper fiscal period. For that reason, expenses are recorded in the period when goods are received and/or services are rendered. In short, items expensed to the FY24 budget will need to be received before the ‘end of the day’ on June 30, 2024. Factors such as budget allocation, invoice receipt, or payment issuance would not impact the application of expenses within a fiscal period.

Exceptions to this general rule apply when a benefit of service or receipt of an item extends into multiple fiscal years. In such cases, the following guidelines will be applied.

• Expenses less than $5,000: will be charged against the fiscal year in which the majority of the expense will be incurred. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $3,000 and covers the period of 7/1/23 through 12/31/24, the expense would be charged to FY24 because 12 months are in FY24 and only 6 months are in FY25).
• Expenses greater than or equal to $5,000: will be split into the fiscal years according to the percentage of benefit received during each fiscal period. (For example, if a subscription is purchased for $10,000 and covers a period of 7/1/23 to 6/30/25, $5,000 would be charged to FY24 since 12 months are for FY24 and $5,000 charged to FY25 because the remaining 12 months is in the following fiscal year).

The University’s guidelines for year-end purchases are subject to external audit. As you make purchases during this period leading up to and overlapping our fiscal year-end, it is important to note when the goods or services were received so they are expensed according to reporting requirements. If the timing of receipt is not clearly noted on the invoice, it would be beneficial to help call the receipt date to the attention of accounting by clearly noting the appropriate fiscal year, based on the above guidelines, in the business description in Finance Self Service.

Please review the notice for processing year-end transactions through the Finance SelfService tool as well as a timeline for processing year-end transactions.

Please contact Jeni Baugher at x4509 or Jenifer.Baugher@drake.edu with any questions you might have.

As part of Employee Appreciation Month, Human Resources has been sharing shout-outs submitted by faculty and staff.  Thanks to everyone who participated this month.  Even though Employee Appreciation Month has come to an end, we hope you continue to find ways to show your appreciation to staff, faculty, and student employees across campus.  Sharing positive energy is contagious.  When you look for the good in people, you strengthen relationships, improving both their lives and your own.

Read the final shout-outs submitted the past couple weeks!

“A shout-out to Katherine Coady for her amazing support for the recent 11^th Annual Murphy Cup event.  Katherine provided fantastic support in the planning and implementation of this event.   Her dedication and expertise made the Murphy Cup a huge success.  Katherine truly went the extra mile in her involvement and support of the 2024 Murphy Cup.” – Mary Edrington

“A shout-out to Annette Watson for her continued involvement and support for the Annual Speed Networking event.  The 16^th Annual Marketing Speed Networking event was a huge success thanks in large part to Annette Watson’s expertise.  She provides outstanding organizational and logistical support for the event and both the students and marketing professionals continually rave about Annette Watson.” – Mary Edrington

“A shout-out to Maureen De Armond, human resources executive director: Maureen’s genuine interest and involvement in individual employee career goals and her creative collaboration to empower and advance those goals is the embodiment of Drake’s core values of joyful accountability, generosity of spirit, all in this together, and commitment to mission.” – Thad Smull

“A shout-out to Karen Pomeroy, Debbie Coyle, and Cindy Liska for your hard work and dedication to serving Zimpleman undergrad students! We have been a mighty and agile team, and I appreciate your commitment to our students and each other!” – Lauren McCarthy

“A shout-out to Judy, Jessica, and Christine who make things happen for the OIRA team. Your commitment to Drake, thoughtful work, and growth mindset makes a difference. Thank you for the “can do” spirit, the creative thinking, and the laughter.” – Kevin Saunders

“A shout-out to Sara Hughes:  Sara is awesome!  She helps things keep running in the Law Deans Office.  She keeps track of so many meetings, events, deadlines.  She is so organized and always positive with a smile on her face.  She is one of the first to jump in and help out wherever needed.  Thank you Sara, for all you do!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Dawn Brown:  Dawn is a newer employee, but she has jumped right in and hit the ground running.  She has had to plan events; she is helping out during a staff vacancy.  She is always willing to learn and help out anyone.  She is a great addition to our team and we’re lucky to have her.  Thank you Dawn!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Kristi Longtin:  Kristi is such a valuable co-worker.  She is organized, with an attention to detail I admire.  She assists full time and part time faculty and is currently taking on additional duties, covering for a vacant staff position.  She is such a problem solver, always looking for the solution.  Kristi always helps me with any technical questions about Excel or Word.  She is our resident Help Desk.  Thank you Kristi!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Kris Magill:  Kris is a bright light in the Deans Office.  She always has a smile on her face and is welcoming to everyone.  She has great attention to detail, which is so important as she confirms students have met all their requirements to graduate; produces class rankings and plans Law Commencement.   Even with all those tasks (and more) she is always willing to help out whenever needed.  Thank you Kris for all you do!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Deb Wiley:  Deb answers a million questions I have.  She is knowledgeable and always willing to work through any scenarios that I have.  I appreciate that she has a great sense of humor, with all the multiple tasks she undertakes.  Thank you Deb for all you do!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Sheri Gavin, Ashley Rasmussen, Diana Newman & Valerie Thacker:  My fellow Budget Managers, thank you for the tireless work you do.  I appreciate our group chats and meetings to support each other, answer questions, share information & ideas and to problem solve.  Keep doing the great work!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Maureen DeArmond:  Thank you Maureen for all you do, especially with helping me with postings on Jobs@Drake.  You are quick to respond and get things going.  You’re always available to talk through many scenarios and offer guidance.  I appreciate you!” – Susan Edwards 

“A shout-out to Kathy Veach:  Kathy is always so helpful and answers all my questions.  I appreciate her knowledge with Restricted & Endowed funds, keeping track of it all and providing Budget Managers with the information we need.  Thank you Kathy!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Jeni Baugher & Shelly Biondi:  Jeni & Shelly are the dynamic duo.  They process all A/P, handle pcards and many other very important tasks.  They always answer my questions.  I appreciate their positive attitudes, and both have an awesome sense of humor.  Thank you for keeping things moving!” – Susan Edwards

“A shout-out to Jazlin Coley, Terrance Pendelton and team for planning and organizing Bulldogs Belong, a Drake DEI Week! There were great opportunities to bring the campus community together to celebrate and reflect.” – Amanda Martin

“A shout-out to Amy Guiter for her expertise, dedication, resilience, and hard work to ensure every student visiting the Drake campus has an exceptional experience!  As a mom of a college student, Amy completely understands the impact of the campus visit experience in the college search process and is passionate in her work to exceed expectations of visitors every day!” – Deneen Dygert

“A shout-out to Chrystal Stanley:  Chrystal has a legacy of providing excellent support, direction, guidance to students in their pursuit of a career path as well as coordinating employer partners with Drake students.  Drake boasts an impressive accomplishment rate for graduates as well as one of the most impressive response rates largely due to her dedication and leadership on the Drake campus.  Thank you, Chrystal for your years of exceptional service to Drake students and alumni!” – Deneen Dygert

“A shout-out to Michelle Laughlin:  Michelle’s passion for student’s is extraordinary.  She has dedicated her career to ensuring students have access to quality programs and services to assist them in the path to success and has provided leadership to ensure our campus community is united in our goal to serve all students in the pursuit of academic excellence. We are all so fortunate to have Michelle as a colleague and as the Director of Access and Success.” – Deneen Dygert

“A shout-out to Marietta Jackson:  Have you ever met someone with a brighter or more welcoming smile?  This shout out is to Marietta who welcomes students daily at The Hubb and provides that special dose of happiness and encouragement that students have come to expect and appreciate as they enter Hubbell Dining Hall.  Marietta is a gift to the Drake University community and has positively impacted all who dine in The Hub through her infectious joy-filled welcome!” – Deneen Dygert

The 2024 All Staff Council Sapphire Awards will be held on Tuesday, April 16, in the Cowles Library Reading Room.

The Sapphire Awards will begin at 3:30 p.m. and will be immediately followed by the regular Provost’s Social at 4 p.m. Please join us to enjoy some refreshments and celebrate our colleagues!

Refreshments will include light snacks, assorted beverages, and cake. This is a family-friendly event, so please feel free to bring your children or partner.

— Madison Bemus, Office of the Provost

On Monday, March 25, all faculty and staff should’ve received an email from “Drake Information Technology Services (ITS)” with the subject line “You’ve been enrolled in ITS security awareness training” regarding a mandatory security awareness training module from our training partner, KnowBe4. If you haven’t completed the training, you’ll receive a reminder message with a link to the training module later this week. The course should be completed as soon as possible and will take you about 15 minutes. 

Cyber security awareness training provides our Drake community information to effectively protect both institutional and personal data. This training is also required for Drake to comply with applicable data privacy laws and helps contain our cyber insurance costs.

We appreciate the number of people who reached out to verify the legitimacy of the message. If you have other questions or concerns, submit an Account/Security Request or call the ITS Support Center at 515-271-3001.

— Becky Klein, ITS

Thank you to the 337 faculty and staff members who have already completed the 2024 faculty and staff survey. However, we need more responses and have not yet reached our participation goal of 60%. The good news is, there is still time to complete the survey. The survey period ends tomorrow, April 3, so if you have not completed the survey, please consider taking this opportunity to make your voice heard.

The survey link can be found here.

Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify opportunities to improve. Overall responses are reviewed to identify actionable areas for improvement over the next year. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and complete the results. It is easy, quick, and completely anonymous.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President, & Maureen DeArmond, Human Resources

Each spring, we have partnered with ModernThink to administer the Great Colleges to Work For survey. New this year, we are providing an internally developed survey to focus on growth areas from prior ‘Great Colleges’ surveys and to save on survey costs. Earlier today (March 19), all full-time faculty and staff received an email from President Martin to participate.

How was the survey developed this year?
Our spring survey is the primary employee survey used by the University to gather feedback on our workplace culture. By controlling our costs we also have the opportunity to hone-in on specific areas of our culture. Many, many stakeholders across campus have been involved in crafting this new survey. The survey has been structured around three areas: 1) the University, 2) unit & department, and 3) you. There are only 19 questions and it is estimated to take about 5–15 minutes to complete the survey depending on the amount of feedback you provide.

Why should I participate?
Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify opportunities to improve workplace satisfaction and engagement. Your responses provide valuable insight into employee opinions and needs. This especially applicable given the challenges and opportunities we collectively face.

Overall responses are reviewed to identify actionable areas for improvement over the next year. Last year, 67% percent of all full-time faculty and staff responded to the survey. This year, our goal is to achieve at or about that same response rate. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and complete the results.

Is participation mandatory?
Participation is voluntary, although we do hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your feedback and make sure your voice is heard.

Are my responses confidential?
Yes, your participation and the feedback you provide will be completely anonymous. No one at Drake will be able to trace results back to individuals. The survey is being administered in Qualtrics and the only two questions asked of respondents are ‘unit’ and ‘faculty or staff’ (with the later optional). The Qualtrics survey has been set to not record IP address or location data.

How is the data used and will the results be shared?
Consistent with past practice, a summary of the University survey results will be shared with employees and will be used to identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement. Unit-level reports summarizing the survey results for each unit will be distributed to the applicable unit leader. This information helps senior leaders and individual units can make informed, strategic decisions about improving our culture.

Can I complete the survey during work hours?
Yes. Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the survey during working hours. Completing the survey is an important contribution that you can make to strengthen our campus community.

For further questions, contact Nate Reagen or Maureen De Armond.

Thanks for your support in advance.

— Nate Reagen, Office the President

On Monday, March 25, ITS and our partner KnowBe4 will release a mandatory cybersecurity training module to all Drake employees. KnowBe4 will email instructions to access the training module that day, which should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. You’ll have four weeks to finish this mandatory training, but we encourage you to complete it right away.

Topics include phishing awareness, password hygiene, data protection, and safe online practices through reading, videos, and a brief assessment. This training is required to maintain compliance with security laws applicable to the University and help reduce cyber insurance premiums. It also helps our Drake community be safer online and more effectively protect both institutional and personal data.

Thank you for investing your time to better safeguard Drake University against cyber threats.

— Chris Mielke, ITS

Colleagues: In conjunction with the First Gen Student Organization, the Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is seeking a faculty or staff member to assist in the creation of a faculty/staff first generation college student group. If you have any interest in being part of this group, please contact me at terrance.pendleton@drake.edu.

— Terrance Pendleton, Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion