May is Mental Health Awareness Month*. While stigma around mental health and treatment has decreased in recent years, there are still people who hesitate to take steps to address mental health challenges, seek care, and talk about mental health with friends, family, and even their medical providers. Given the additional stress and uncertainty that have accompanied the past couple of years, it’s as important now as it has ever been to talk about mental health.

*Note: World Mental Health Day is in October.

The goals of Mental Health Awareness month are multifaceted, and include:

• Educating the public and raising awareness
• Combatting stigma
• Supporting mental health policies
• Providing support
• Removing treatment barriers for people with mental illness

Now for some history about Mental Health Awareness Month: While it may be hard to believe, this was first celebrated in 1949 (73 years ago!). The commemoration was started by the predecessor to the National Mental Health Association, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Today, the National Mental Health Association is the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit mental health organization.

The National Committee for Mental Hygiene was founded by Clifford Whittingham Beers. Beers was born in 1876 in Connecticut. He was one of five children in his family, all of whom—including Beers—suffered from mental illness and psychological distress.

Beers spent time in a mental health institution and would later author “A Mind That Found Itself.” Gaining popularity and support from medical professionals, Beers founded the National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Beers was dedicated to ensuring that mental health patients received appropriate care and did not feel alone.

Another organization, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), helps raise awareness and combat stigma. NAMI has recently published a thoughtful guide for Mental Health Awareness Month this year. For 2022’s Mental Health Awareness Month, NAMI identified “Together for Mental Health” as its theme. This theme pairs nicely with Drake’s Core Value of All In This Together.

Make It OK – Free Webinars May 2 and May 20 Make It OK is a national campaign which encourages everyone to talk more openly about mental illness in hopes of de-stigmatizing it so individuals will feel more open to seek care.  If you would like additional resources to help you help others, they are offering a free Make It OK presentation on May 2 and May 20. In the 50-minute presentation you will: Learn more about Make It OK Better understand what you can do to reduce the stigma through key messages and resources Feel more confident in talking more openly about mental illness, and helping people get the care and support they need You can access additional Make It OK – Iowa resources here.

For details about additional events, activities, and suggestions to observe Mental Health Awareness Month, please see the May HR Monthly. If you have never explored Drake’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), our EAP provider offers a wonderful range of resources—including confidential counseling, free webinars, podcasts, a blog, self-assessment tools, a free mobile app, and more. Make some time for yourself this month.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Now that spring has sprung, it is time to go outdoors and get moving. If you need a little nudge, we are bringing back the Walk this May team step challenge. During the month of May, teams of four to five will record their weekly step counts. Totals and how teams rank will be shared weekly to keep the competitive juices flowing. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the month.

To register, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu by April 26 with your team members and team name. Grab your shoes and let’s get going!

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Now that spring has sprung, it is time to go outdoors and get moving. If you need a little nudge, we are bringing back the Walk this May team step challenge. During the month of May, teams of 4 to 5 will record their weekly step counts. Totals and how teams rank will be shared weekly to keep the competitive juices flowing. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the month.

To register, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu by April 26. You may register as a team of 4 to 5 or register individually and you will be placed on a team. Grab your shoes and let’s get going.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Human Resources is pleased to announce that it has hired its first ever talent acquisition and diversity, equity, and inclusion specialist. Some of you may already know Marli Jefferson, as she is an existing member of the Drake family. Marli joined Public Safety in 2017, and upon obtaining her master’s, she was eager to take on a new challenge.

Although diversity, equity, and inclusion are topics we all deeply care about in Human Resources, our department has not yet had a person with the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion in their job title. Make no mistake, DEI is a part of each of our roles. However, we both wanted and needed additional expertise in these areas, as we strive to continuously grow, change, and improve. We are thrilled that Marli brings both expertise and enthusiasm to the table when it comes to DEI. And, if you have been involved in any hires recently, you already know that talent acquisition is a space where we could use some more help.

“I am so happy to continue my professional journey at Drake,” said Marli. “I am excited to bring my expertise but most of all my passion and willingness to learn to this new position. There is tremendous space for modernizing how we approach talent acquisition and further embed DEI principles in the work that we do. I am looking forward to contributing to these efforts.”

In the TA/DEI specialist role, Marli will play a prominent part our talent acquisition strategies and practices—including new employee orientation, search committee training, and student employment. As some of you may have heard, the parent company of Hire Touch, our current applicant tracking system, is going to sunset the program at the end of the year. Marli will be part of the project team searching for Hire Touch’s replacement. Her timing in joining our department could not be better.

We thank you for your Generosity of Spirit as we managed these past several months without a full team. We also want to thank those who served on the search committee as their feedback was incredibly valuable in the vetting process. Drake HR is happy to once again be fully staffed.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

In recent months, Drake HR has shared some information about updates to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. However, some people may still not have heard about it, or they are not aware of the recent changes made to the program. If you still have student loans, please check to see whether you qualify for this program—it has become easier to apply and the approval rates have increased dramatically since the program was modified last year.

In fact, a current faculty member just let us know that their application was approved and *poof* all their student loans were forgiven. Here is their experience with the process:

I applied for consolidation of my loans in November 2021 and also submitted my verification of employment history shortly thereafter. My loans had been previously held by Nelnet. Once the loan consolidation application was approved, my loans went into forbearance as my application was reviewed. I was initially denied in February because I had not been under a previously approved repayment plan; however, the application was then turned over to the Department of Education. I was then notified in March of this year that the loan was forgiven. So, from start to finish it was an almost 5 month process but definitely worth it!  -Current Drake Faculty Member

The Skinny: After you make 120 qualifying monthly payment for PSLF while working for a qualifying employer, all you need to do is submit the PSLF form to receive loan forgiveness. As a not-for-profit institution, Drake University is a qualifying employer. Even if you do not yet fully qualify, the PSLF website recommends that you still submit the form annually, so it will be easier when you do fully qualify.

Drake HR is here to help! Page 2 of the form consists of Section 3: Employer Information. This is the section Drake HR will complete for you. Send an email to drakehr@drake.edu and let us know you need it completed. If you send us your partially completed form, please omit your social security number—you never want to email that. If you have worked at a variety of qualifying employers over the course of your 120 monthly payments, you will need those employers to complete their own page 2 (Section 3) of the form.

Special Notice for the COVID-19 Emergency: To take advantage of a limited-time PSLF waiver during the COVID-19 national emergency, it is recommended that you submit this form for each qualifying employer you’ve had since October 2007, even if you had an ineligible loan type, repayment plan, or some other disqualifying factor. You must submit your application by Oct. 31, 2022. Learn more here.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Have you completed your annual physical since last December? If you have and you are on Drake’s health plan, don’t forget to take a copy of the Premium Discount – Annual Physical Form to your appointment. This form can be found on myDrake in the Human Resources Employee Wellness section.

Those on Drake’s health plan who complete a physical with their PCP between Dec. 1, 2021, and Nov. 30, 2022, and submit a Premium Discount – Annual Physical Form by Dec. 2, 2022, will receive the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2023, which is a savings of approximately $30 per month. 

Please contact linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Drake’s core values form the foundation of how we perform our work, how we conduct ourselves, and how we interact with one another. Our core values serve as a foundation to help guide us in building a stronger, more vibrant campus culture.

Over the next four weeks, we will explore how each core value specifically supports an environment where employees are appreciated and can appreciate each other. Let’s start with:

Joyful Accountability

• I am curious and creative, brave and bold.
• I strive each day to be my best.

What an empowering core value to have! In many organizations, accountability is thought of as almost a punitive concept. The subject comes up when something doesn’t go right—when someone messes up. An image of accountability is often a pointing finger assigning blame.

Not here. This value tells us that it’s actually okay to be wrong—it’s acceptable to try and fail. We value improvement and innovation and sometimes even our best efforts in those areas miss the mark. And that’s okay. When we are diligent and things don’t pan out quite as we wanted, we can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again.

This value equally encourages us to be accountable for how we approach each day, as well as share in each other’s achievements and recognize our colleagues when they succeed. Let’s celebrate each other’s triumphs, learn from each other’s missteps, and strive together to think up new and better ways of carrying out our work.

Is there a staff member you want to hold accountable for their awesomeness—their propensity to be curious, creative, brave, or bold?  Why not nominate them for a Called to be True Blue award? If you know of a student worker who has been coming up with ideas and suggestions to help your department improve? Why not have the department put together a nice thank you card? Write them an unsolicited letter of thanks and recommendation that they can have on hand for the future? If you know a faculty member who has been going above and beyond with their ideas and suggestions for improvement—send an email to the Dean, heck the Provost, so their good work garners additional visibility.

“A culture of accountability makes a good organization great and a great organization unstoppable,” wrote author Henry Evans. Let’s channel accountability to inspire and fuel us. We can help contribute to such a culture by appreciating—embracing and encouraging—the ideas, suggestions, and innovative steps we all take with Drake’s students and best interests at heart. If you stop and think about it, it feels like appreciation is baked into this sentiment of joyful accountability. Isn’t that great?

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources; Nate Reagen, President’s Office

As part of Employee Appreciation Month, Human Resources is encouraging everyone to submit a shout-out for a faculty, staff, or student employee. Simply write a sentence of appreciation for a colleague and submit it to Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu. Deadline to submit a shout-out is March 24.

Read some of the shout-outs submitted this week!

“A shout-out to Trevon Smith: Trevon is always friendly and helpful for new Drake employees. He has embodied the Drake joyful accountability core value and displays it every day with a smile.” – Teresa Downs

“A shout-out to Brett Lindman: Brett is great to work with at Sodexo and does what he can to make every order count.” – Teresa Downs

“A shout-out to Drinda Williams: Drinda is always organized and has many great ideas. I enjoy being a co-chair with her on the ASC Recognition Committee.” – Teresa Downs

“A shout-out to Ann Guddall: I am newer to BOM meetings and Ann has a wonderful way of explaining topics in an easy-to-follow way. It is a pleasure to work with her.” – Teresa Downs

“A shout-out to Diana Newman for once again taking the lead on covering for CPHS staff absences/openings and assisting in areas beyond her responsibility. Her attention to detail and follow-through helps everyone else to be able to manage their responsibilities. Despite the additional work, she is always positive and helpful, even when she gets asked the same question multiple times!” – Renae Chesnut

“A shout-out to Laura Krossner: Laura has taken over e-reserves, etc. in Cowles Library. She’s been amazing this year as I have a lot of films and other things that need to go on reserve. When I needed a very difficult Interlibrary Loan, she called Duke Libraries, negotiated with their Interlibrary Loan folks, and secured the request. It took her a couple of weeks. I needed this obscure item for a conference paper. She’s just so infinitely helpful and is the type of person who will email me in the evening to tell me she followed through on a request.” – Dina Smith

“A shout-out to Phoenix Ford: I just got out of my evening class, and lo and behold, IT tech Phoenix Ford emailed me at 6 p.m., still working on my laptop. He’s been so helpful to me and others who have had laptop issues. I heard a story from a colleague that he stayed until 10 p.m. one night fixing her laptop so she could fly out of town the next morning.” – Dina Smith

“A shout-out to Nicki Kimm who worked diligently to correctly title and list my FYS course in the fall.  I require film screenings for FYS, and the schedule always seems to be wrong the first time it’s loaded.  Not this time around.  Nicki worked with me closely to get the course scheduled properly and found an old description for a revitalized FYS I plan to teach.  She’s wonderful!” – Dina Smith

“A shout-out to Ashley Rasmussen for always being so quick and efficient. I often have to get bits of information for the Provost’s Office, and Ashley never seems bothered by my repeated emails. She is pleasant and efficient. Thank you, Ashley!” – Drinda Williams

“A shout-out to Emily Fleming: I am so thankful for you and your great attitude no matter what comes along. It has been so wonderful working with you these last several months, especially as we have had to learn so many new things together. I appreciate how you are always willing to take anything on, and how you dig in and find out the best way to tackle a project. You are awesome, and I’m so glad you are here!” – Kristi Longtin

“A shout-out to Allyssa Fluit for helping to cover for staff absences and openings in the CPHS over the past few months. Even though she is new to Drake, she has been a quick learner and has taken on more responsibility to help cover for absences. She has a great can-do attitude and is always willing to pitch in and help!” – Renae Chesnut

“A shout-out to Ann Regan: Ann tackled a big project related to community college transfer credits that has allowed Drake to move forward with an important initiative.  Thanks to Ann, we are way ahead of where we would otherwise be with this project. She cheerfully worked through lots of tedious data, and I appreciate her efforts!” – Lauren McCarthy

“A shout-out to Jean Myers and Atong Nyok for their work keeping Collier-Scripps Hall clean and disinfected. It is nice to see their smiling face when I arrive in the morning.” – Cheri McDaniel

“A shout-out to Tricia McKinney, who has graciously taken on the interim Title IX Coordinator role for the past few weeks.  Tricia has helped ensure we continue to provide important information and support during a time of transition.  Her expertise and willingness to assist is much appreciated and valued!” – Venessa Macro

“A shout-out to Amanda Martin and Melissa Sturm-Smith for carrying the balls of so many projects while I was out on maternity leave.  They kept all the balls in the air and moving so that I could catch them upon my return.  Thank you!” – Renee Sedlacek Lee

“A shout-out to Trevon Smith: I greatly appreciate how Trevon Smith is always quickly responsive, courteous, and thorough.  I’m so thankful to have him at Drake!” – Valerie Thacker

“A shout-out to the Accounting Team: I love working with you ALL, and I appreciate all you do for this campus!  It’s always a pleasure to work with your team, and I appreciate your expert help.  You never make me feel like I’m asking a dumb question (which I might be) and are always patient when I make a silly mistake.  I can’t imagine all the things you process in a month – you’re a well-oiled machine, with great personalities to boot!  Keep up the amazing work.” – Sara Heijerman

“A shout-out to Natalie Russell: You have done such an amazing job taking over the reins in the mailroom – you’ve made incredible improvements in such a short period of time, and your dedication to “customer service” for the whole campus community is impressive and appreciated.  You clearly love what you do, and you are a breath of fresh air in my work life.  Keep up the great work!” – Sara Heijerman

“A shout-out to Korrine Jackson: You’re always so helpful and great to work with.  I really appreciate your collaboration when I need help with something – you’re always so kind and patient.  I really appreciate you, and Drake is lucky to have you!” – Sara Heijerman

“A shout-out to the Grounds Team: Thank you for keeping our campus clean and beautiful ALL YEAR, but especially for what you do in the spring and summer.  As a plant lover, I appreciate nothing more than walking the grounds and checking out all the impressive landscaping and flower arrangements.  You all do an AMAZING job, and I can’t wait to see this summer’s planters around campus!” – Sara Heijerman

“A shout-out to the IT Department: You are so knowledgeable and quick to respond.  I joke that I try to provide you all job security, but in truth, you make everything happen and you provide everyone else job (and other) security!  Thank you so much for all you do!” – Julie Olinger

“A shout-out to Suzanne Wisslead:  Thank you for all your guidance, support and patience!  I truly appreciate you.” – Julie Olinger

“A shout-out to the Grounds crew: Not only do you keep the grounds beautiful, but you also do an amazing job with snow removal, garbage, and event preparation.  Thank you for all your behind-the-scenes contributions!” – Julie Olinger

“A shout-out to Dr. Cris Wildermuth: I know Cris in several capacities: 1) Her reputation of excellence in teaching from her students in her graduate program. 2) Her YouTube webinars (always with Drake recognition) she offers on various technological skills. When she knew I was going to participate, she made sure I had access via captioning (I am Deaf) which she did herself for several situations.  She also used auto-speech recognition captioning and went back to the video to edit the captions! 3) Her blog (again supporting Drake) which she offers freely to share countless leadership and networking knowledge & skills. 4) Her participation in my ASL and Deaf Culture classes – she is my technology partner and has helped me learn about so many wonderful teaching technology tools. 5) Her beliefs in making student learning meaningful, fun, accessible, understandable, with rigor.  Sadly, Cris will be leaving Drake for new adventures in Florida at the end of this semester. She will be leaving a huge hole, as she is indispensable with her knowledge, ideas, passion, and influence. Those who have worked with her or learned under her have truly been wonderfully impacted in an enormous way that we will never forget Cris and her many amazing contributions.” –  Polly Brekke

Have you ever thought about something special you’d like to do or an amazing place you’d like to visit? It is easy to let the years go by without taking the initiative to do big things that really make you happy.

If you are ready to make a change, join the Bucket List Challenge. The goal is to create your personal bucket list, pick at least one item from your list, set a date, and check it off.

Are you ready? Send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu to participate.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Over the last couple years, we collectively have been challenged to change everything we do—from educating students and maintaining campus operations, to how we go about our lives at home and in the community. Through it all, employees have continued to make a positive difference in the lives of students, parents, colleagues, and the community.

To help show our appreciation, Human Resources and All Staff Council invite you to take a break and join in on the upcoming Employee Appreciation Month events. Here’s what’s happening this week!

March 9: $5 Wednesday Lunch at the Hubb. If you haven’t taken advantage of Sodexo’s $5 Wednesday lunches at the Hubb (in Hubbell Dining Hall), this is a great week to give it a try. In addition to the $5 lunch, Sodexo will serve special sheet cake and brownies for dessert in honor of Employee Appreciation Month.

March 9: GRIFO! (BINGO). All Staff Council and Human Resources invite faculty and staff to play GRIFO (Drake BINGO). Attend in-person at Parent’s Hall in the Olmsted Center from 3-4 p.m. and say hello to Griff II.  If you are working remotely, register to participate virtually using this link.  A multitude of prizes are available from Griff socks to a FREE parking pass!

March 11: Mindfulness & Moving Forward. Scarlett Lunning, from Employee & Family Resources, will facilitate a special live class via Zoom for Drake employees from 11 a.m. to noon. Please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu to register.

In addition, we have brought back the Shout-Out program for Employee Appreciation Month. This is a great way to recognize your colleagues. Simply write a sentence or two thanking a colleague or team for going the extra mile or showing support to others. Submit your shout-outs to linda.feiden@drake.edu between now and March 24. They will be compiled and posted in OnCampus.

And, All Staff Council in coordination with Human Resources has started a High-Five from Griff II program. One hundred magnets with a picture of Griff II ‘high-fiving’ have been distributed across campus. If you receive one, keep it for a few days and then pass it along to another colleague who also deserves a high-five. The magnets can be handed off again and again, with the hopes of reaching as many of Drake’s amazing staff members as possible.

Take some time this month to let others know you appreciate their efforts and know that YOUR efforts are appreciated every day!

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources