Are you looking for a way to keep your fitness goals on track in 2021?  The WellPower Challenge may be for you.

This free web-based program encourages you to increase your daily physical activity with an opportunity to earn virtual badges and prizes for achieving and logging healthy activities, both physical and mental.  The challenge is part of the WellPower Movement, a new year-round activity-tracking website from the Wellbeing Partners and the Nebraska Sports Council.  The web portal content is focused on Nebraska organizations, but the WellPower Challenge is open to companies and organizations in Iowa and Nebraska.

The goal of the WellPower Challenge is to log at least 100 activity miles between Feb. 1 and April 30.  Activity miles can be achieved by walking, running, biking, and/or converting other physical and mental health activities.  Those who log 100 miles by April 30 earn the WellPower 100 badge and will be entered into a drawing for more than 100 top-tier prizes. Prizes will also be awarded for earning 25- and 50-mile badges.

You may join individually or invite friends, family, and co-workers and compete as a group.

For more information, please email linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

As we begin the new year, it’s crucial that we all remain aware of the threat that email attacks pose and how to respond to them. As a reminder, here are some indications that an email might be dangerous or suspect:

• A strange sender or one that you don’t expect
• Coming from a Drake University colleague but sent from a Gmail or Yahoo account
• A request that you take urgent action
• Asking you to buy something for someone else
• Links or attachments that don’t match the message content or that you don’t recognize

Before acting on any of these, slow down and take a second look. If you receive an email that you suspect is phishing or spam, don’t click any links, download an attachment, or reply. Instead, you can block the sender from sending you additional emails using the junk mail folder option in Outlook. You can also forward the email as an attachment to informationsecurity@drake.edu and then delete it.

ITS will be continuing phishing education this month using emails that mimic real attacks. A short training lesson will be assigned to any faculty and staff who repeatedly click links or open attachments in phishing emails, simulated or not.

For additional information on how to report phishing emails, please see the IT Service Portal guide, Reporting a Phishing Message (How-to).

— Jeremy Calvert, ITS

Final grades for J-Term courses are due by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3. If you have difficulty entering final grades, contact the Office of the Registrar at 271–2155 or registrar@drake.edu.

— Kevin Moenkhaus, Office of the Registrar

At Drake, we recognize how important it is for our employees to stay healthy. We are also committed to creating an environment where faculty and staff feel engaged and supported.

Therefore, we are conducting a 2021 Faculty and Staff Wellness Interest Survey to determine your interest in participating in worksite wellness initiatives. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to provide you with the programs, presentations, and activities designed to meet your needs.

Please help us by taking a few minutes to complete this brief survey.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Drake reimburses mileage for use of personal automobiles by employees for actual miles driven during business travel. The reimbursement rate is based on the current standard mileage rate issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the standard mileage rate issued by the IRS for the use of a car will be 56 cents per business mile driven, down from 57.5 cents in 2020.

The standard mileage rate is evaluated annually by the IRS and is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile.

If you have any questions regarding the reimbursable mileage rate, please visit the IRS website or contact Accounting at accounting@drake.edu.

— Jennifer Baugher, Accounting

Please join your friends and colleagues for Drake Trivia, hosted by All Staff Council and Drake Human Resources. The trivia event will take place Thursday, Jan. 21, from 3–4 p.m. on Microsoft Teams.

Teams of five will compete for prizes. Members of the top team will each receive $10 Bulldog Bucks.

If you want to create your own team, please designate a team leader and email ascspecialevents@drake.edu with your team. You do not need to join a team, however. Those without full teams will be randomly placed in a team of five, if possible.

Please see the event on the University Calendar for the link to the Teams Meeting.

— Tyler Spoon, on behalf of All Staff Council

The deadline has been extended to Jan. 15 for Drake faculty and staff to submit a proposal for the FY22 Global Partnership Grants.

Drake University has established formal partnerships with multiple institutions abroad. Joint faculty and staff projects with our global partner institutions may be eligible for financial support through the Global Partnership Grants. Full details are available on our website.

Eligibility:
Full-time faculty and staff members are eligible to apply for activities taking place during FY22.

Application process:

1. Discuss the proposed activity with your unit director or dean prior to submission.
2. Submit the online application via Qualtrix, which includes a description and budget.
3. Deans/directors will review all proposals for their unit with the Global Partnerships Coordinator and the Executive Director of Global Engagement for prioritization and to make collaborative funding decisions.

Contact Hannah Sappenfield, global partnerships coordinator, with any questions about the grant program or application process.

— Hannah Sappenfield, Global Partnerships Coordinator

Nominations are invited for the Principal Financial Global Citizenship Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to global engagement and internationalization of the campus and curriculum on the part of faculty or staff. The selected awardee will receive a plaque, up to $3,000, and will be announced at the 2021 Global Citizen Forum in March. A screening committee will review all nominations and make recommendations to the Provost. Nominations should be submitted to Bonnie Ehler at bonnie.ehler@drake.edu by Friday, Feb.12, 2021. Please review the following details:

A letter of nomination should be submitted recommending an individual for the award and explaining the context and manner in which the nominator has come to know the faculty or staff member. This letter should speak to the following qualifications:

Pursuant to the University’s mission to develop “responsible global citizens,” explain how the nominee has made outstanding contributions at Drake toward realizing the following:

1. Serve as a global knowledge hub that brings value to external partners in local, national, and international settings.
2.  Infuse global and multicultural perspectives across the campus and curriculum.
3. Develop infrastructure, resources, and communication systems to support internationalization and global engagement.

The nominee must be a faculty or staff member with at least four years of service at the University. The nominee cannot have won this award within the past five years. Faculty and staff members who report directly to Global Engagement are ineligible.

Nominees who indicate a willingness to be considered will be invited to submit a c.v. and a statement discussing their contributions to the above goals. One or two letters of support from faculty, staff, or students will be accepted (this is optional).

Any individual who was nominated for the award in 2020 may be re-nominated if the nominator resubmits a letter offering the individual for consideration this year. Files of previous nominees are maintained for one year. If a faculty/staff member is re-nominated, the nominator will be invited to review the file from the previous year to ensure that the nomination is as current as possible.

Past recipients include:

2020 – Jody Swilky, Ellis and Nelle Levitt Professor of English

2019 – Pramod Mahajan, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, pharmaceutical, biomedical and administrative sciences

2018 – Tim Knepper, professor of philosophy

2017 – John Rovers, professor of pharmacy & health sciences, pharmaceutical, biomedical and administrative sciences

2016 – Ellen Yee, professor of law

Nomination letters are due by Feb. 12, 2021, and should be sent as an attachment to bonnie.ehler@drake.edu.  Questions may be directed to Annique Kiel, executive director of Global Engagement and International Programs, at annique.kiel@drake.edu.

— Annique Kiel, Global Engagement