The Tuition Waiver Policy is available for public review and comment on the Policies Under Review webpage. In summary, this policy provides tuition waiver benefits to employees, their spouse/partner and dependent children. The proposed policy now confirms the benefit level for dependents and spouse/partner of John Dee Bright College programs and clarifies the benefit levels in undergraduate and graduate programs. This policy will be posted through October 9, 2024.
–Debra Wiley, Human Resources
Bulldogs United in Learning & Development (BUILD) provides faculty and staff learning opportunities throughout the academic year to enhance professional skills, improve wellbeing, and create conversation. BUILD is a great platform for learning new ideas as well as an opportunity to collaborate with others from across campus.
The Fall 2024 schedule is available online and registration is open. Please take a moment to check out the classes on the Drake HR website under Learning & Development. Click on BUILD – Upcoming Sessions for the full list, including detailed descriptions. There is an online registration link to a Qualtrics survey that makes signing up easy.
We continue to add new classes so be sure to check back to find the latest offerings. As an example, we recently added a new class on public speaking and presentation skills!
Most classes are only an hour in length, and many are facilitated by our own faculty and staff. This is a great way to invest in yourself, support your colleagues, and take in the culture that Drake has to offer.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
According to Mental Health America, one of the main reasons employees may not use their Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services is that they are not aware that EAP exists, what services they offer, and how to access them.
Let’s fix that! Drake’s EAP provider is Employee & Family Resources (EFR). They offer employees and their family members access to free and confidential support and resources. You may reach EFR by phone (800-327-4692) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or visit their website.
Often when we think of an employee assistance program, we think of counseling services. EFR does offer confidential counseling but that is just one of their many services.
Need help with budgeting or other financial matters? Need assistance with a living will? Have you recently had your identity stolen? Are you looking for care for a child or aging relative? EFR can help. Are you struggling to balance work, family, friends, and other responsibilities? Is your teenager seeking guidance on their future career path? A life coach from EFR can help.
EFR offers a full range of free EAP resources, including life coaching by a licensed professional counselor, financial and legal consultation, identity theft restoration, child/elder care resources, First Responder Coaching, and an online support peer community called Togetherall. Check out the EAP Service Summary link on our EAP page for details on the number of free sessions, etc.
EFR’s website is also home to webinars, podcasts, a blog, self-assessment tools, posters, newsletters, and a free mobile app for our employees and their immediate families. And for managers, they offer manager support and employee referral services.
If you would like to learn more about EFR and their EAP services, representatives from EFR are available to attend a department or staff meeting (in-person or virtually) to highlight their resources and help answer any questions. They will present to groups of any size, for any length of time. If you would like EFR to speak during one of your meetings, please send an email to Teresa Belden, EFR Account Manager, at tbelden@EFR.ORG or phone 515-471-2368.
Remember, the intention of an EAP is to serve as a convenient, and readily accessible support when life matters keep you from being your best. You do not need to be in a crisis to use or benefit from the EAP services, although it is there for that as well. Take some time to check out these resources. Everyone can benefit!
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
During the last several pay periods, many individuals contacted Human Resources questioning the accuracy of the timesheet and leave report reminders that were sent. Because the reminders generated many questions, we have temporarily paused these system generated messages.
We encourage employees to create Outlook reminders for themselves to submit and approve the time reported. In addition, as a temporary solution, Human Resources and Payroll will manually send specific reminders to the employee and approver to accomplish these time reporting tasks for the various pay cycles.
HR, Payroll, and ITS will continue to work through the reminder message programming to re-deploy it for your use. Our goal is to provide you meaningful messages that you can confidently act upon.
We do apologize for this inconvenience.
— Human Resources and Payroll
Earlier this year, a new TIAA Financial Consultant was assigned to support Drake employees. In his Financial Consultant role, Ricardo (Richie) Diaz will focus on helping participants plan for their financial well-being and retirement readiness. He will meet with employees one-on-one to provide personalized counseling, education and advice, including specific asset allocation and fund selection recommendations.
Richie began his financial services career in 2012 and has been with TIAA since 2016. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business. Richie is based in Coralville, Iowa, and will make regular trips to Drake to meet with Drake employees in person.
You may schedule an in-person counseling session with Richie at www.TIAA.org/schedulenow or by calling 800-732-8353. To schedule a virtual counseling session, you may call 319-356-8042 or email ricardo.diaz@tiaa.org. Richie will conduct in-person counseling sessions at Drake HR on August 23, September 13 and September 27.
— Marlene Heuertz, HR
As a reminder, employees on Drake’s health plan who wish to continue receiving the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2025 need to complete a physical exam with an in-network provider between Dec. 1, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2024, and submit a Premium Discount-Annual Physical Form by Nov. 30, 2024. This is an annual event, so if you submitted one last year, you will need to do it again this year.
If you already had your physical since last December, please fill out the form and turn it in now. If you have not scheduled your annual physical yet, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Also note that our Wellmark health plan allows for one physical per calendar year, so you should not need to wait a year and a day between physicals.
Besides receiving a premium discount, an annual physical is a great way to receive important health information through age and gender specific examinations, schedule recommended preventative screenings, and create a doctor-patient relationship.
Please contact linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions on the wellness premium discount physical form.
— Linda Feiden, HR
Bulldogs United in Learning & Development (BUILD) provides faculty and staff learning opportunities throughout the academic year to enhance professional skills, improve wellbeing, and much more. BUILD is a great platform for learning new ideas as well as an opportunity to collaborate with others from across campus.
The Fall 2024 schedule is now available for viewing and registration is open. Please take a moment to check out the classes on the Drake HR website under Learning & Development. Click on BUILD – Upcoming Sessions for the full list, including detailed descriptions. There is an online registration link to a Qualtrics survey that makes signing up easy.
Most classes are only an hour in length, and many are facilitated by our own faculty and staff. This is a great way to invest in yourself, support your colleagues, and take in the culture that Drake has to offer.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
FLSA Update
Despite several legal challenges, the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) new Final Rule took effect July 1. It remains a question as to whether the January salary threshold will hold—as the legal challenges remain on-going.
For purposes of the increased July 1 salary threshold, around 23 filled and three vacant positions were impacted. Some of those impacted were converted to hourly employees. A few were given the modest salary increases needed to maintain exempt status.
If the January 1 salary increase survives the legal challenges, that list of impacted staff will be much longer. A reassessment of that list and the anticipated decisions will be completed in the fall when there is more certainty about the implementation.
We will maintain the FLSA Update page as we move toward January 1.
Staff Leave Policies
Thank you to those of you who made time to review the revised Staff Sick Leave and Vacation Policies that were posted on the Policy Development page in June. As shared, those revisions were prompted by anticipated changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, resulting in more hourly (non-exempt) staff at Drake.
Our goal was to equalize vacation time, especially for those staff who may be reclassified from salaried (exempt) to hourly (non-exempt). We appreciate both the praise and the constructive criticism we received on this change. Ultimately, we believe this is the right change to make at this time—even if rushed a bit due to the anticipated changes to federal regulations.
Effective July 1, this is the new vacation allotment chart for vacation-eligible employees:
| Employees Years of Service | Annual Vacation Allotment |
| 0-14 Years | 160 hours |
| 15+ Years | 200 hours |
We also made some updates to the sick leave policy to clarify appropriate use of this leave for routine visits and check-ups—a change that seemed to be welcomed by everyone. We did not have any proposed edits to the Personal Time Policy, so it remains in effect and unchanged. The updated Sick Leave and Vacation policies are posted in the HR section of the Policy Library.
If you are unsure about how or when to request time off, please speak with your manager, as Departments may appropriately adopt (or update) procedures for requesting time off.
Leave allotments for Fiscal Year 2025 will appear in your Employee Dashboard by July 31.
— Maureen De Armond & Debra Wiley, Human Resources
Join us in July for HealthyU Bingo. The goal is to fill up a blank bingo card (or two), during the month, with healthy activities completed from a provided list, and then play some games of HealthyU Bingo for prizes.
To get started, send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu. Deadline to register is Friday, June 28. All participants will receive a packet that includes a list of HealthyU Bingo activities and a blank bingo card. You are welcome to make copies for your family. This is a fun activity that you can share with them. For questions, contact Linda Feiden.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources
As a reminder, employees on Drake’s health plan who wish to continue receiving the wellness health insurance premium discount in 2025 need to complete a physical exam with an in-network provider between Dec. 1, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2024, and submit a Premium Discount-Annual Physical Form by Nov. 30, 2024. This is an annual event, so if you submitted one last year, you need to do it again this year.
If you already had your physical since last December, please fill out the form and turn it in now. If you have not scheduled your annual physical yet, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Some physician’s offices require a long lead time for appointments. Also note that our Wellmark health plan allows for one physical per calendar year, so you should not need to wait a year and a day between physicals.
Besides receiving a premium discount, an annual physical is a great way to receive important health information through age and gender specific examinations, schedule recommended preventative screenings, and create a doctor-patient relationship.
Please contact linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions on the wellness premium discount physical form.
— Linda Feiden, Human Resources