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

Update your Profile with a professional headshot 
Your profile picture appears on the opening page of a Course (if you are listed as the only instructor). In addition to being a nice aesthetic feature, it’s also a great introduction for your students.  

Adding PDFs that open in the browser 
From the Content area of the course, select the add (+) button and choose Upload. All other methods of adding documents from your computer require students to download them. Blackboard Learn Ultra has announced that other file types and methods of adding files will eventually also be able to open in the browser. 

About Assignments 
You can now add questions to Assignments. Be aware though that adding questions restricts the use of some of the available settings such as rubrics and SafeAssign (an originality checker tool). 

Peer review for qualitative assignments are now available in an updated version. Not all features are available, but more features are expected. In the future, this feature will allow students to use an instructor-built rubric for peer review. 

About Student Preview 
NOTE: If you test your assignments and tests using the Student Preview feature of Learn Ultra, any student-based submission will prevent instructors from editing the assignment or test. You will need to Reset the Student Preview to clear submissions to allow editing. The system blocks editing of an assignment or test after any student submissions have begun. You may adjust using the regrade feature after student submissions are complete. This will ensure that all students have the same experience.  

About Grading 
Due dates are not restrictive. Students can submit after a due date, but based on your course policy (typically in your syllabus), you don’t have to grade late assignments. If your policy is not to grade late assignments, please read the information below on setting automatic zeros. 

Add accommodations (e.g., time-and-a-half for assessments) for a student at the course level. You can also still add one-time individual exceptions. 

Set gradebooks to automatic zero. If your course policy is to not grade late assignments, using this setting will automatically add a zero while continuing to provide students with late notices. Remember to update your syllabi to include your course policies around these Blackboard settings, if applicable.  

 Learn more about Overall Grades, the name of the Total column in Ultra courses.  

—Karly Good, ITS

New printers have started to arrive on campus. As these new machines arrive, our partners at LRI are coordinating installation and training with department contacts. Our project team is thrilled to get this initial shipment, but we still anticipate we’ll encounter supply chain issues. We will continue to adjust our rollout schedule as the machines continue to arrive. 

Just a reminder, faculty/staff prints, and copies will be charged to their home organization in Banner—the department that pays their salary. Individuals can no longer use multiple FOAPALs within their organization or across organizations. Budget and Office managers are currently reviewing any exceptions to ensure there’s accurate information as the new devices and pricing roll out. 

There are Knowledge Base articles available for your reference covering common features of the new machines. However, as we are currently working in a hybrid state with some areas using new devices and others still using old ones, it will be few weeks before these articles align completely. Watch the Printing category in our IT service portal for additional information to come.  

Additional information is also available on our FAQ page at drake.edu/its/printing/.

—Kris Brewster, ITS

Once again, the Nelson Institute will be hosting a student research symposia as part of the spring Global Citizen Forum to be held March 2–4, 2022. Building off the University’s “Big Ideas” initiative, this year’s theme is: Everyone a Changemaker: Perspectives Across Disciplines

A changemaker is anyone who takes creative action to problem solve societal issues and works toward a solution for the good of all. Practicing changemaking is something that everyone can do and we need expertise from all disciplines involved in creating sustainable solutions that serve a rapidly changing world.

The Nelson Student Research Symposia seeks student presentations focused on what it means to be a changemaker in their discipline and how their discipline is addressing a contemporary global issue or societal challenge. I am reaching out to ask that you consider this spring’s theme as you are planning your fall courses and encourage your students to present papers they have written for your course during the spring symposia.

While research presentations that support the theme are encouraged, all global topics from any academic discipline are welcome. We anticipate that the presentations will be about 15 minutes each.

Below are a few reasons why you should encourage your students to consider submitting papers for the symposium:

• It is a great opportunity for students to practice presentation skills, and obtain useful feedback.
• It is a platform for students to share the outcomes of their research on a global topic of interest.
• It is a great addition to students’ resumes especially if they are considering going to graduate school.

Information session:
A Changemaker 101 session is being offered on Sept. 14, 2021, from 12:30–1:30 p.m. to further explore the theme. The session will take place via Microsoft TEAMS and be recorded for those who cannot attend. For more information and to register please visit the Changemaking 101 Registration Page.

Paper submission:
Papers (or concepts) should be submitted to Jimmy Senteza, associate professor of finance, at jimmy.senteza@drake.edu by Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, for consideration. The email should bear the subject line “2022 GCF submission.” I will revert to the authors about the opportunity to present at the conference sometime within a week from the submission deadline. At that time, I will provide presentation guidelines for accepted papers.

Thank you very much for making them aware of this opportunity and let me know if any questions come up.

— Jimmy Senteza, Finance (CBPA)

The Provost’s Drake Social will be Friday, Aug. 20, beginning at 2 p.m. on the lawn just east of Hubbell Dining Hall. This is in conjunction with the Hubbell Grand Opening, which will be marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony and take place promptly at 2 p.m.

You will have an opportunity to go inside of Hubbell to see the latest renovations. Light refreshments will be provided, and there will be two drink stations set up outside of Hubbell for wine, beer, and soft drinks. This is in an effort to provide more social distancing and enjoy our late summer weather. As always, you can get your drink ticket from Drinda Williams at the event.

Let’s get together, share some time and a smile, with the first Drake Social of the academic year.

— Drinda Williams, Office of the Provost

A new class of first-year students will arrive to campus Aug. 23, 24, 27 and 28, and the Office of Residence Life needs your help. Faculty and staff volunteers are needed to help greet students and assist with the check-in process. If you are interested in volunteering (and have approval from your supervisor) please sign up for a shift.

Move-in day volunteer sign up

Volunteers will greet students and their families curbside in front of their residence hall and direct them to the hall front desk to check-in and get their room key. In the meantime, move-in helpers will unload and take the student’s belongings to their room. 

We need 2–3 volunteers per hour, per building for the dates of Aug. 23, 24, 27 and 28 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Volunteers can choose to work one hour or multiple hours. Please select as many hours as you are available, but make sure not to double book. In other words, do not sign up to volunteer at both Morehouse and Carpenter on Aug. 23 from 1–2 p.m. Also, if you can only volunteer for a partial shift, that is okay, just let us know when signing up.

On move-in day, volunteers should report to the residence hall front desk of the building for which they are volunteering to receive instructions. We encourage volunteers to wear Drake apparel, their professional name badge, and a mask. 

Move-in would not be possible without the help of so many gracious faculty and staff volunteers. Thank you for your time and consideration!

— Lorissa Sowden, Office of Residence Life

Bring your questions to Drake Learn Ultra Office Hours for hands-on practice offered in a virtual open house format.

No sign-up required. Simply join this Course Room during one of these times:

• Wednesday, 8/11 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, 8/12 | 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• Monday, 8/16 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, 8/18 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• Thursday, 8/19 | 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, 8/25 | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, 8/26 | 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

— Christina Trombley, Drake Online and Continuing Education