Can you believe it? Human Resources has not been fully staffed since June 2020. At times, we were down three people out of a seven-person team. This has made for some challenging times.

On Monday, Sept. 27, we were thrilled to have Trevon Smith join the HR team. We now have a full bench—we even have a student employee! Exciting times for us and we hope this will mean quicker response times, increased training opportunities, updated processes, and greater service for you when you need HR assistance or have a question for us.

Trevon joins us in a new role—HR Generalist. Trevon joins us from the insurance world and has a wealth of HR experience. He’s a certified HR professional, has an extensive background in benefits and disability, and he is delightful.

We will be positioning Trevon as our “go to” HR professional to help employees with HR questions. He’ll be able to assist with common questions, triage inquiries when volume is high, and redirect more complex and time-consuming matters to the right subject matter experts. We want to give Trevon a few weeks to settle into the new role. Then, we will share with campus details about a new HR customer service model—which we think will better serve you in many ways.

As you may recall, Teresa Downs joined our team last month and she really hit the ground running. With a focus on data, she’ll often be behind the scenes, but she will be helping us with workflow and our internal processes. Her work will have a direct impact on our ability to quickly and efficiently serve Drake employees.

Anthony Leto has been moved into a Talent Acquisition role and we definitely have our work cut out for us there. The recruitment space right now is both challenging and unpredictable. You may see us trying out new tactics to more proactively attracts candidates. We will work on long-term strategies, but we, like many other employers, are facing unique challenges in attracting good candidates right now. With certain positions, this has not been an issue. With other positions, it’s been tough. We will now have more dedicated time to attend to both short- and long-term recruitment practices.

While we have a long list of projects to tackle, we are thrilled to have the key pieces in place. Thank you for your support and patience. More to come later this month about our new customer service model.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

As a reminder, the first 100 faculty and staff who stop by the Human Resources Office at 319 Old Main with proof they have received a flu vaccine will receive a Drake 24 oz. Tritan Sports Bottle.  We also have a limited supply of Drake 1 oz. hand sanitizers with a travel clip top.

Getting the flu vaccine is recommended every year. However, with the continuing threat of COVID-19 and all its variants happening at the same time as the flu season getting a flu shot and reducing your risk of contracting the flu is especially important this year.

Let’s roll up our sleeves and fight the FLU!

Drake University recognizes the importance of community involvement and encourages faculty and staff to participate in volunteer and service activities.  This benefit is an excellent reflection of Drake’s Core Value of Commitment to Mission, which encourages us to serve not just our students, but also our communities.

The Drake University Community Service Leave benefit allows non-bargaining, non-grant funded staff employees to voluntarily participate, with pay, in community service activities that occur during regularly- scheduled work hours, with manager approval.

Full-time staff may receive up to eight hours of paid time to engage in community service leave each fiscal year.  Part-time staff, working 20 or more hours per week, may receive up to four hours of paid community service leave each fiscal year.

If you are looking for a great way to get involved, a list of volunteer opportunities can be found at drake.edu/volunteer.

Please note that employees wishing to provide community service leave must complete a Community Service Leave Request Form.

For more information, please view the Community Service Leave Policy.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Grab your walking shoes and join this year’s Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

We know that you spend a lot of time working, and it is important to find ways to prioritize staying healthy and active. The Iowa Healthiest State 11^th Annual Walk, presented by Delta Dental of Iowa, is a great way to get started, or keep moving.

To mitigate risk, we will not meet as a large group to start the walk together this year. Instead, we are asking faculty, staff, and students to take a break sometime during the day on Oct. 6 and go for a walk. Thirty minutes is ideal, but any amount of time is great. If you are on campus, walk the Bulldog Mile. This one-mile path begins on the sidewalk east of the Olmsted Center. Just follow the signage and big blue paw prints.

As an added bonus, everyone who sends an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu after they complete their Healthiest State Walk will be placed in a drawing for a chance at prizes.

Let’s get moving and “Walk the Dog”—the “Bulldog Mile!”

—Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Important reminder: Employees on Drake’s health plan who wish to receive a wellness health insurance premium discount in 2022, need to complete a physical with their Primary Care Physician (PCP) between Dec. 1, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2021, and submit a Physician Exam Completion Form by Dec. 2, 2021. This is the only option to receive the discount in 2022.

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.

If you have not scheduled your annual physical yet with your PCP, you are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.

Please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu with questions.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources

Around this time every year, HR provides campus with a reminder of Drake’s policy prohibiting discrimination and discriminatory harassment. While it’s helpful to be regularly reminded that the policy exists, it is also worthwhile to periodically reflect on why the conduct prohibited in the policy is particularly incompatible with Drake’s Mission and Core Values.

Some framing may be helpful: one can think of work-culture as fitting on both sides of a coin. One side of the coin represents organizations telling you what not to do. Employers often bluntly and unartfully say: don’t do bad stuff (such as don’t discriminate), or you’ll get in trouble.

On the other side of the work-culture coin, organizations often emphasize the importance of cultivating a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming work environment. One can think of this side of the coin as encouraging you to do good stuff. This side is often more eloquent, but it doesn’t always give you great insight into how you are supposed to go about building or contributing to a positive culture.

At Drake, we have amazing Core Values that create a natural roadmap for building a better working—and learning—environment. If we can each commit to living these values to the best of our abilities, we’ll see the bad stuff squeezed out (okay, not all of it, but a lot of it) and we’ll see more and more space for the good stuff to grow.

Through Joyful Accountability we strive to be our best each day, share our successes, and take ownership when we fall short—we’re all human, it happens. Through our Generosity of Spirit, we cultivate and exude trust and respect—we embrace notions of equity and inclusion and celebrate what makes each of us unique. As we reflect on what it means to be All In This Together, we recognize the contributions of every member of the team and find value in collaborating. By sharing a Commitment to Mission, we are bound by our mutual purpose and a shared vision for the better future. Put them all together and you can see a culture recognizing that, by working together, our mutual efforts can represent something so much greater than the sum of our individual contributions.

One can hope that the more we resolve to both embrace and live these values, the less space we’ll see for discrimination and bias to subsist. We also know that any healthy culture still needs to actively root out, deter, and react to the bad stuff—including discriminatory conduct in all its forms. As an institution, we must be vocal and unequivocal in not tolerating this kind of conduct. Having a strong and visible policy is a basic building block for that. It will always be important for every member of the Drake community to know what to do if they have a question, concern, or complaint about suspected discrimination. You can learn more by reading the policy—which, by the way, is currently under review—and you can always reach out to these people who are ready and willing to help you:

• For student-related matters, contact the Dean of Students at (515) 271-3246 or hannah.clayborne@drake.edu
• For employee-related concerns, contact the Executive Director of Human Resources at (515) 271-3133 or maureen.dearmond@drake.edu
• Conduct prohibited by Drake’s non-discrimination policy can also be reported to the Title IX Coordinator at (515) 271-4956 or titleix@drake.edu
• Anonymous reports can also be made through Drake’s EthicsPoint.

FACULTY WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITY:  In 2021-2022, the Office for Equity and Inclusion will offer a series of capacity-building workshops for members of the Drake campus community with Jennifer Harvey, Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion, and Jazlin Coley, Director of Equity and Inclusion. Attend the three-part faculty series on September 10, 17, and 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. All faculty are welcome. Learn more and register here.

STAFF SAVE THE DATE: Interested in taking part in training offering individual and collective tools, language, and habits to actively grow a more inclusive, equitable, and just racial environment in which we all can thrive? BUILD is offering a 2-part workshop titled: “S.T.A.R.T. – Standing Against Racism Together.” Dr. Jennifer Harvey, Associate Provost, Campus Equity and Inclusion, will facilitate those sessions on Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 from 1-3 p.m. In the meantime, keep an eye on additional learning opportunities offered by Dr. Harvey and related BUILD courses—we have more learning opportunities in the works.

Do you have specific ideas or suggestions on how HR can help foster a more positive and harmonious working environment? Please share, we’re always eager to listen (drakehr@drake.edu).

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Drake Human Resources is thrilled to share that Teresa Downs made the move to HR on Aug. 23. Many of you are already familiar with Teresa as she has worked in the Admissions Department for more than five years, where she will surely be missed.

In her new role with HR, Teresa will serve as a data entry and process specialist. HR is pleased not only to welcome such a talented individual to the team but also to provide an existing Drake employee with the opportunity to try something different and learn new skills. Teresa will be a wonderful addition to HR.

We are equally pleased to share that Anthony Leto is taking on new responsibilities within HR. Effective Aug. 1, Anthony shifted into the role of talent acquisition specialist after having served as an HR systems and recruitment coordinator. Anthony has also explored varying opportunities at Drake—having worked in Student Accounts for several years prior to joining the HR team in 2019.

A hot topic in HR is examining and modernizing talent acquisition strategies. HR wants to be a better and more strategic partner in recruiting (and also retaining) talented faculty and staff. Anthony is very excited to take a larger role in those efforts—including targeted strategies designed to increase the size and diversity of the candidate pools, providing more structured guidance for onboarding new employees, and defining ways to support existing employees advance their careers within the institution. These initiatives will take time (and we’ll need help from campus for ideas and suggestions), but we are excited to start focusing on efforts such as these.

Additional announcements about personnel changes in HR and how we plan to support employees moving forward will be shared in the coming weeks. Thank you for your encouragement, feedback, and patience as we fill vacancies and realign our priorities to better serve you.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources

Drake University is proud to provide a tuition rebate waiver to Drake employees and their family members. This benefit reflects Drake’s commitment to lifelong learning and represents an investment in our employees and their families. This benefit extends to full-time Drake employees and their spouse/partner and dependent children. This benefit allows eligible employees and family members to take classes either at the undergraduate or graduate level with the tuition fully or partially waived (visit the website or policy for tuition waiver details). If you are employed in a full-time, regular position and are on the University payroll the first day of classes of a semester or summer term, you and your eligible family members can take advantage of this benefit.

Through the Tuition Rebate Waiver benefit program, all full-time regular employees may carry a maximum of eight credit hours during each fall and spring semester, and no more than eight credit hours during the interim and summer terms, combined. Besides the employee, up to two persons, either one spouse/partner and one dependent child or two dependent children, are eligible to take classes through this benefit.

As a reminder, employees are required to submit the tuition rebate waiver form prior to the beginning of each semester that the benefit is used. Additionally, employees, spouses/partners, or dependents who are pursuing undergraduate degrees at Drake University are required to complete the FAFSA prior to July 1. If you have questions about the FAFSA requirement, please contact Student Financial Planning at 515–271–2905 or financialaid@drake.edu. Questions about the Tuition Rebate Waiver benefit can be directed to HR by emailing us at drakehr@drake.edu.

— Debra Wiley, Human Resources

To better assist our employees manage through this year, Drake University amended its FSA plans to permit prospective mid-year health care and/or dependent care election changes. Through the end of this calendar year, employees may:

• Elect to participate in Drake’s health care and/or dependent care FSA plans – even if they previously have waived the benefit.
• Elect to terminate current participation in Drake’s health care and/or dependent care FSA plans.
• Increase or decrease current health care and/or dependent care elections.

Please note: you cannot increase contribution amounts to pay for expenses that have already been incurred. Increased contributions must be used for the remaining portion of the 2021 calendar year. Increased election amounts will be deducted throughout the remainder of the calendar year beginning with the first payroll after the election is made. Contribution limits for the 2021 calendar year are as follows:

Health Care FSA (2021)

Minimum Contribution:  $120                           Maximum Contribution:  $2750

 Dependent Care FSA (2021)

Minimum Contribution:  $300                           Maximum Contribution:  $10,500

Additionally, health care FSA participants may carry over up to $550 of unreimbursed contributions to the 2022 calendar year. To make changes to your current (2021) FSA participation, please complete and return the FSA Mid-year Change Form to  drakehr@drake.edu   As always, should you have questions regarding your benefits, please feel free to directly contact marlene.heuertz@drake.edu.

— Marlene Heuertz, Human Resources

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.

Human Resources would like to thank those who provided suggestions for future BUILD training topics. Your input helped guide our class offerings this academic year.

Here is a sneak peek into the Fall 2021 schedule:

• We’ve added three more Microsoft classes this fall – Teams Calling, Teams Channels and Files, and Teams Forms. In addition, Christine Marchand, institutional research and academic compliance coordinator, will facilitate two Qualtrics classes.
• If you need a little relaxation break, we are offering three virtual 30-minute mindfulness classes over lunch. Each covers a unique mindfulness technique.
• Danielle Green, director, Student Counseling Center, will lead a discussion that focuses on the stress and anxiety you may be feeling as we return to campus, and ways to combat it.
• Maureen De Armond, executive director, HR, will present three classes this fall, including a class that focuses on tools for identifying and combating pandemic fatigue.
• We are holding both an active shooter training session and a self-defense class, facilitated by Scott Law, executive director, Public Safety and Operational Services.
• For those needing healthy eating ideas, join our on-campus dietitian Samantha Matt, as she leads a session on healthy eating, cooking, and shopping tips.
• And learn more about what you do best and how to apply your personal strengths to your personal and professional life in our two-part Strength Finders course. Kristin Economos, director of student leadership programs, will present.

We are still adding classes and already have a great list of topics for this spring, including time management, CPR, leading hybrid teams, social media best practices, implicit bias, an anti-racism capacity-building workshop, reducing screen time, STEM Hub at Drake, and much more.

The complete Fall 2021 BUILD schedule will be available on myDrake by the end of the week.

To register for a class, please send an email to linda.feiden@drake.edu.

— Linda Feiden, Human Resources