The Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is excited to support faculty and staff affinity groups. Please see the following descriptions, schedules, and contact information for existing and emerging groups. If you are interested in starting an affinity group that aligns in support of Drake’s stated institutional mission for diversity, equity and inclusion please reach out directly to Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion Jennifer Harvey.

The AAPI Faculty & Staff Affinity group welcomes all AAPI faculty and staff to join. You will be able to connect and network with other AAPI faculty and staff on campus. Please come to our visioning meeting on Monday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. We will meet outside at the covered space just east of Colliers-Scripps to determine how we can support the AAPI campus population. We will plan meetings and events based on what serves AAPI faculty and staff best. Please contact Maureen Yuen (maureen.yuen@drake.edu) with any questions.

The Black Faculty & Staff Affinity group welcomes all Black faculty and staff to join us for our Virtual Brown Bag Lunch Fellowship on Microsoft Teams. You will be able to connect and network with other Black faculty and staff on campus. We meet on the first Friday of each month starting Oct. 1. We will hold space between 12–1:30 p.m. You may join us from 12–1 p.m. or 12:30–1:30 p.m. or anytime in between. To receive the Teams invite, email brandi.l.miller@drake.edu.

The Latinx Affinity group is a space for LatinX faculty and staff to get to know one another socially and provide support for each other. We will be planning an outdoor gathering later this fall. Please email marina.verlengia@drake.edu to be included on our distribution list and to get information about our fall gathering. We also have a Facebook group, please click here to join!

The Office of Campus Equity and Inclusion is particularly interested in exploring whether faculty and staff with disabilities and/or who identify as lgbtq+ would like to form an affinity group to provide mutual support and connection. Please reach out directly to Jennifer Harvey if you would be interested in facilitating such a group.

— Jennifer Harvey, Campus Equity and Inclusion

Global virtual learning can be generally defined as technology-supported, people-to-people dialogues and collaboration sustained over a period of time. If you’re interested in adding global virtual learning to your course or program, Global Engagement has support and resources available for faculty and staff.

Global Virtual Learning Faculty Fellow
Dr. Alanah Mitchell, associate professor and chair of information management and business analytics in the College of Business and Public Administration, is serving as Drake’s inaugural Global Virtual Learning Faculty Fellow. This new fellowship program is sponsored by the Principal Center for Global Citizenship. It is designed to facilitate and support the development of global virtual learning experiences within the Drake community.

If you are considering or already planning to offer a global virtual collaboration project in your course or program, or looking to brainstorm or ask questions about virtual learning activities (including partner identification, assignment design, technology choice, reflection activities, or assessment), contact alanah.mitchell@drake.edu.

Global Enhancement Grant
This grant program was developed to support Drake faculty and staff in bringing virtual global enhancement to their existing courses and programs. Examples may include (but are not limited to):

• Inviting a guest speaker or panel to present virtually on a specific topic
• Facilitating a virtual tour to complement coursework
• Developing a module or project to connect virtually with students in another part of the world

Assistance is available through Global Engagement to connect Drake faculty and staff with provider organizations and global partner institutions that can serve as resources for potential projects. Learn more on our website or contact Annique Kiel for more information: annique.kiel@drake.edu.

Current Opportunities in Mexico and Malaysia
There are currently open opportunities for Drake faculty to to engage virtually with partner institutions in Mexico (Tecnológico de Monterrey) and Malaysia (Taylor’s University). This may include one-off virtual guest lectures (fall or spring), sustained course-to-course engagement (Spring only), or a combination of the two. Fill out this Qualtrics form to notify us of your interest.

—Hannah Sappenfield, Global Partnerships Coordinator

Faculty and staff, please review these helpful tips for sending and receiving departmental mail.

Please use the exact physical address where your office or department is located for all package and most paper mail deliveries—not Drake University’s main street address. This allows delivery services to take packages directly to your building.

View building addresses: drake.edu/directory/shippingaddresses/

Please let us know if your physical address has changed recently and does not match this website. We are happy to make updates, so your correct address is reflected.

Also, for future deliveries, update your personal and/or business information with all commercial mail carriers (USPS, FEDEX, UPS, AMAZON, DHL, etc.) and any local businesses using their independent courier services for deliveries.

These important steps with our combined efforts will effectively help to prevent misguided and misplaced packages and will ensure you get your packages as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Mail Operation Center at: campusmailoperations@drake.edu or 515-271-3162.

— Natalie Russell, Campus Mail Operations

Bulldogs United In Learning Drake (BUILD) is a learning and development series available to faculty and staff who wish to enhance their professional skills, improve their wellbeing, and expand their boundaries.

We encourage all employees to check out the BUILD Fall 2021 schedule that is now available on myDrake. To register for any class, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.

September offerings:

Microsoft Teams Calling Level 100
Sept. 14 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Microsoft Teams

Take a Mindfulness Break: Breathing, Dynamic Breathing, & Body Scan
Sept. 15 from 12–12:30 p.m.
Microsoft Teams

Take a Mindfulness Break: Gatha (Meditation Poems)
Sept. 30 from 12–12:30 p.m.
Microsoft Teams

Active Shooter Training
Sept. 21 from 12–1 p.m.
Olmsted Center, Conference Rooms 310–311

Overcoming Anxiety as We Return to Work
Sept. 23 from 2–3 p.m.
Microsoft Teams

It’s Not You, It’s the Situation! Tools for Identifying and Combating Pandemic Fatigue
Sept. 29 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Microsoft Teams

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Aligned with the University’s Big Ideas initiative, participants will be introduced to the concept of changemaking, explore the concept in practice, and discuss strategies for incorporating changemaking into course assignments and research projects.

This session will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.

RSVP on Eventbrite. 

Facilitated by: Renee Sedlacek Lee, director of Community Engaged Learning, and Dr. Sara Johnston, Olson Fellow for Global Service-Learning, and Dr. Jimmy Senteza, director of the Rolland and Mary Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs.

Guest presenter: Susan Sanning, associate dean and director of service and social innovation in the Center for Careers, Life and Service at Grinnell College.

This session is the first in a series offered this fall by the Office of Community Engaged Learning. For more information about upcoming faculty and staff development for engaging students in social impact visit: drake.edu/cel or contact renee.sedlacek@drake.edu.

— Renee Sedlacek Lee, Community Engaged Learning

On Thursday, Aug. 26, you should have received an email with a link to calendar entires to mark the significance of the upcoming Jewish holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover.

These calendar entries are a reminder to not schedule co- and extracurricular events on these Jewish holidays as well as the evenings prior (each of these holidays begins at sunset the prior day).

Open the email sent Aug. 26 with the subject line “Jewish Holidays Calendar for Download” and follow the steps below to add the holidays directly to your Outlook calendar:

For PC computers:

1. Drag the .ICS file (attached in my email sent to campus Aug. 26) into your calendar tab. The dates should appear on your personal calendar.

For Mac computers: 

1. Double-click the file to open it. If it doesn’t open, you might need to save your file to your computer before you can open it. 
2. When you open the .ICS file, Outlook opens automatically. The event will open in a separate window with the subject: Rosh Hashanah.  
3. Click Save & Close on the event window to save the holidays to your calendar. 

The individual dates are also listed below if you need to add them manually.

There are several holidays in which Jewish law officially says Jewish people are not to work and there are parts of the country where, whether or not you are Jewish, your business or organization would be closed in observance of these holidays (New York City, for example!).

I want to urge the Drake campus community to avoid scheduling events on:

• Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish new year. (In 2021, beginning at sundown on Sept. 6 and concluding the night of Sept. 8).
• Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement and considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. (In 2021, beginning at sundown on Sept. 15 and concluding the night of Sept. 16.)
• The first and second days of Passover mark a week of honoring the deliverance of the Hebrew people from enslavement in Egypt and through a seder—a ritualized meal, shared in community while remembering the Jewish story of liberation. (In 2022, beginning at sundown on April 15 and concluding the night of April 17.)

Many Jewish members of our community cannot participate in anything that we schedule on these dates.

I want to strongly encourage you to import these calendar holds, and especially as Rosh Hashanah is only a few weeks away. But also, the Office of Equity and Inclusion is working on creating a University-wide Outlook calendar that is inclusive of other major religious holidays. We plan to have this available for you sometime in the next several weeks.

Jewish Holidays

2021
Rosh Hashanah      
Evening (6:00) September 6 all the way through September 8, 2021

Yom Kippur
Evening (6:00) September 15 all the way through September 16, 2021

Passover
Evening (6:00) April 15 all the way through April 17, 2022

2022
Rosh Hashanah        
Evening (6:00) September 25 all the way through September 27, 2022

Yom Kippur
Evening (6:00) October 4 all the way through October 5, 2022

Passover
Evening (6:00) April 5 all the way through April 7, 2023

2023
Rosh Hashanah       
Evening (6:00) September 15 all the way through September 17, 2023

Yom Kippur
Evening (6:00) September 24 all the way through September 25, 2023

Passover
Evening (6:00) April 22 all the way through April 24, 2024

— Jen Harvey, Associate Provost of Campus Equity and Inclusion

As we start a new semester, here are a few changes, and reminders about all things tech at Drake.

ITS support: Due to campus COVID-19 protocols, the support center in Carnegie Hall is not open for walk-in assistance for faculty and staff. Visit our IT service portal at service.drake.edu/its (or click the ITS Support button in myDrake) to find answers or report any tech issues. You can also call 515-271-3001. Teaching on campus and have a classroom emergency? Call ext. 3002.

ITS staff are able to resolve many problems remotely. In-person appointments will only be scheduled if remote resolution doesn’t work.

eduroam wireless network: Connect to the eduroam network on campus and sign in using your Drake email address and password. Reminder: DUGuest is only for visitors and many campus resources are unavailable from this limited network.

Blackboard Learn Ultra: Within Blackboard Learn Ultra you’ll see a little purple question mark in the bottom corner of your screen where you can access help. If you run into technical issues, visit the Blackboard Learn Ultra category in the IT Service Portal to request assistance. Learn more about changes and key features at www.drake.edu/its/learnultra.

MyDUSIS/Self Service: Over the summer, we released updated screens and functions in MyDUSIS/Self Service. There are two new buttons in myDrake in the Human Resources section: My Information and Employee Dashboard. My Information takes you to an updated screen to access your personal information. You’ll go to the Employee Dashboard to submit or approve time or leave, view your tax information, review past jobs, and access your pay information. Learn how to use these updated features in the MyDUSIS/Self Service guides in the IT Service Portal.

Campus printing: New printers are being rolled out across campus, so if you don’t see a new device in your area, you will sometime this semester. Reminder: faculty/staff prints and copies now charge to your home organization in Banner- the department that pays your salary, instead of being able to select from multiple FOAPALs. Learn more by visiting the printing project FAQ at www.drake.edu/its/printing or Printing for Faculty and Staff (How-to)

Connect with ITS: Want to know about tech changes? Outages? Watch for more ITS information in upcoming issues of OnCampus, follow Drake ITS on Twitter @DrakeITServices, watch our news feed on drake.edu/its or service.drake.edu/its, or sign up for outage text messages by texting DrakeITS2021 to phone number 226787. NOTE: You must be already signed up to receive texts from Bulldog Alerts to add the ITS outage messages.

Not sure what other tech Drake ITS offers? Visit drake.edu/its/facstaff to learn about tech resources and tools available to you.

— Carla Herling, ITS

Did a student miss an assignment? Was there an absence that requires follow-up? You have a few communication options, depending on what you’re comfortable with: 

Messages via Blackboard Learn Ultra 

Pros: Maintains a centralized location for all class-based communications. In case of emergency, another faculty member could start where you leave off.  

Cons: You must communicate that faculty and students should use messages rather than email for communications. One vehicle for this would be a statement in the syllabus about expected usage for a class. 

Drake email  

Pros: It’s been used for years and is easy.  

Cons: No one else can access your academic communications with students. If another faculty member needed to pick up where you left off, students email communications would be inaccessible.  

Starfish Student Success

Starfish Student Success is the tool to use when working with students about conversations on academic well-being.

A link to the Starfish Student Success tool can be added from your Blackboard Learn Ultra course. Use the (+) menu in the content, choose Content Market, and then click the (+) on the Starfish Student Success tool.

Pros: Using Starfish to raise concerns about issues such as poor attendance or a pattern of missing/late assignments helps contribute to a complete picture of a student’s academic portfolio across multiple courses.   

Cons: If you do not communicate where the portfolio is gathered (e.g. choosing to email even though the issues continue or escalate), it is much more difficult to plan any needed intervention processes.  

What other communication tools are available? 

• Announcements via Blackboard allow you to post time sensitive information as a pop-up inside the course. Upon entering a course, announcements will pop up in a window that prevents students from being able to access course materials without first dismissing the window. Announcements can also be set to send immediately via email. If students have the Blackboard App, announcements will also send a push notification (dependent upon the student’s personal notification settings). 
• Messages via Blackboard are an alternative to email, and help keep communications centralized within a given course: 
• Course Messages provide multiple notifications to students based on individual preferences. 
• Notifications can be received by email or push notifications in the Blackboard Mobile App. 
• New Messages are identified with a count badge on the Blackboard homepage. 
• Messages can be sent on an individual basis or to some or all class participants.  
• Enable Class Conversations to allow students to discuss course materials and/or assignments directly in context. This promotes a community of support and helps identify student understanding. Though this tool is available system-wide, it is up to instructors  to apply the Conversations feature to each gradable item throughout the course. 

— Melissa Sturm-Smith, Academic Excellence and Student Success, and Karly Good, ITS

As we head into the 2021–2022 academic year, Drake University remains committed to the health and well-being of our faculty, staff, students, as well as the larger community. We understand that additional disruptions due to COVID could impact our employees and their families. Consequently, Drake University will be offering supplemental paid leave (“COVID Supplemental Leave”) through December 31, 2021, as detailed below.

Eligibility: To qualify for the COVID-19 Supplemental Leave program, you must be a benefits-eligible employee, which means a minimum of 32 hours a week and a 9-month appointment.

Exhaustion of Accrued Leave: All available sick leave and personal time must be exhausted prior to accessing COVID Supplemental Leave. Consistent with Drake’s FMLA practices, an employee may hold back 40 hours of vacation time. However, employees must exhaust all vacation time in excess of 40 hours.

Bank of Leave: Full-time employees will be eligible for up to 80 hours from Aug. 30 through Dec. 31, or a later date as established by the University. The amount of leave will be pro-rated for those on less than 100% appointments (e.g., an 80% employee would be eligible for 64 hours of COVID Supplemental Leave).

Qualifying Events: For eligible employees meeting the circumstances described above, COVID Supplemental Leave may be requested under these situations:

• Personal or Family COVID-19 Illness: An employee becomes ill with COVID-19 or they are providing care for an immediate family member who is ill with COVID-19. Immediate family includes: the employee’s spouse/partner, child, mother, father, brother, or sister (or the same relatives of your spouse/partner).
• COVID-Related Self-Isolation Directive: The employee, or their minor child, has been advised to self-isolate by Drake or a health care professional and the employee is unable to work remotely.
• COVID-Related Childcare or Eldercare Obligations: The employee’s child’s school or daycare or an immediate family member’s eldercare facility has closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, and the employee is unable to work remotely.

Mitigating Steps: Employees who have the type of job duties where remote work or a flexible schedule would allow the employee to work part of the time, despite experiencing a qualifying event, should discuss options with their managers.  In some situations, a temporary remote work and/or a temporary adjusted schedule will help mitigate the need to use COVID Supplemental Leave on a full-time basis. For example, for eligible employees who have exhausted leave, as described above:

• If an employee is caring for a sick family member but the care does not require full-time attention, such employees should explore options for working part-time. COVID Supplemental Leave should only be requested for the time they are unable to work.
• If an employee is healthy but has been directed to self-isolate and can perform their work remotely, they should work remotely. Under such circumstances, they should not request COVID Supplemental Leave.
• If an employee has a child whose daycare is temporarily closed but the employee can flex their schedule to continue working, while using COVID Supplemental Leave when caring for their child part-time, that possibility should be explored.

Exploring mitigating steps benefit the employee. If such options are feasible, this will help the employee stretch out the available bank of COVID Supplemental Leave, while also supporting their colleagues and departments. We understand that mitigating steps will not always be possible, but Managers should include them as part of the conversation when such situations arise. Managers are encouraged to work with their employees to mitigate absences and effectively manage workload distribution.

Application Process: An employee can apply for COVID supplemental leave by completing this form. The employee and their manager will receive an email response following submission of the request to use the leave. Upon approval non-exempt employees will record the time off in the Supplemental Leave area of the timesheet, and exempt employees will submit the Supplemental Leave on the monthly leave report.

Leave under the FMLA/ADA: If an employee believes that their leave may be covered by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), including COVID resulting in them having a serious health condition or an immediate family member suffering a serious health condition, Drake Human Resources can assist with the FMLA process. Note that FMLA is protected leave, not paid leave. FMLA may run concurrently with COVID supplemental leave.

Alternatively, if a temporary disability caused by COVID-19 may lead to the need to consider a workplace accommodation, HR can also facilitate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) interactive process. If you think either the FMLA or ADA process may apply to your situation, please contact drakehr@drake.edu.

This COVID supplemental leave program remains a temporary measure. However, as the pandemic continues to evolve, we will assess whether additional changes or expansions to this policy may be needed after Dec. 31.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources