Thirty staff and faculty members participated in the ASC Hunger Fight on Oct. 28. They packaged meals at the Meals From the Heartland facility in West Des Moines as part of the natural disaster relief efforts in Haiti. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/DrakeService
—Brett Niederhauser, Public Safety
The second “Stand Up, Speak Up: Drake Women & Leadership Symposium” for faculty and staff will be held on Friday, March 10, 2017. There will be two workshops, lunch, and a social at the end of the day. This event also qualifies for up to 3 BUILD credits.
Mark your calendar and keep an eye out for more announcements!
Questions? Please contact one of the committee co-chairs:
—Stephanie Cardwell
Eight individuals joined the Drake family in October.
Jared Richardson, Head Start
Jordan Smith, Public Safety
Theresa Cody, Dean of Students Office
Sarah Alexander, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Catherine Williams, University Advancement
Teresa Nunez Pina, Facilities Planning & Management
Zineta Ramic, Facilities Planning & Management
David Plutschack, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
—Laura Schwarz, Human Resources
Holiday Trimmings Weight Challenge
Holiday Trimmings is a six-week program designed to encourage you to maintain or lose weight over the holiday season. If you have trouble dodging festive yet fattening foods like pecan pie, sausage stuffing, and egg nog, this challenge is for you.
Beginning and ending weights will be recorded, and throughout the challenge you will receive healthy holiday tips. Everyone who maintains or loses weight will be placed in a drawing for a chance to win prizes.
For more information or to register to participate please email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu with the subject line “Holiday Trimmings.” Deadline to register is Thursday, Nov. 17.
A packet of information will be sent to you. Read through the packet carefully and start the challenge on Monday, Nov. 21.
Let’s make this a happy AND healthy holiday season!
$10 Chair Massages
Step away from your worries and take a 10-minute vacation with a relaxing chair massage. On Nov. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. in Cowles Library Heritage/Collier Room and Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Olmsted Center Drake Room, licensed massage therapist Anne Boal will be giving chair massages.
Cost is $10 for a 10-minute chair massage paid directly to Anne Boal at the time of your appointment—correct change cash or check only. One name will be drawn after the event and that person will receive a gift certificate for a free 10-minute chair massage!
Click the link below to register for the day and time of your choice. You may register for one or two time slots per registration sheet.
For additional information or questions, please contact Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu.
Food & Mood Presentation
When was the last time you monitored your mood as it relates to what and how much you eat? Emotional eating is a common response to stress and fatigue, but it can lead to unhealthy eating habits, which in turn can lead to chronic health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. In this presentation you’ll learn ways to track mood and food,and identify the difference between hunger, boredom, and stress eating.
Join us Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. in Olmsted Center, Rooms 310/311, for this fun and informative presentation. Johanna Dunlevy from Employee & Family Resources will be presenting.
Participants will earn BUILD (Bulldogs United in Learning Drake) credits and be entered into drawings for prizes each semester.
The registration form for this class is accessible through blueView’s Employee tab, in the Learning and Development Channel under Human Resources, or by clicking here. Please email Linda Feiden at linda.feiden@drake.edu for more information.
—Linda Feiden, Human Resources
During the last month, in recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, ITS shared information about identifying and protecting yourself from phishing emails. Now, here’s a chance to see what you’ve learned and help you better protect yourself from online threats such as identity theft and fraud—both on campus and off.
Later this week we are re-launching phishing simulation training. A phishing simulation email will be randomly sent out to 500 faculty and staff members. If you receive the email and click through the link, you’ll be sent to an informational page. If you receive an email you suspect is phishing, simulated or not, please forward it as an attachment to informationsecurity@drake.edu.
Participating in training like this is an effective and risk-free way to learn about the dangers of phishing and help protect individual and campus data. If you have questions or concerns, please contact informationsecurity@drake.edu. To learn more about IT security, please visit our blog at its.drake.edu/category/security-blog/. And don’t forget to enter the ITS phishing contest at its.drake.edu/phish!
—Peter Lundstedt, Information Security Manager
The best outcomes for children and families involved in child welfare are a result of a community with a working knowledge of the impact of trauma and how to avoid exacerbating trauma within the context of child welfare cases. Join Retired Judge Constance Cohen to see how Iowa is bringing science to justice for toddlers, parents, and their families in child welfare cases on Thursday, Nov. 3, 6–7:30 p.m., in Sussman Theater.
—Natalie Deerr
From President Martin:
An important aspect of our Continuous Improvement Plan is consistently and repeatedly examining our performance on administrative processes. We will do so by survey twice per year. To that end, I encourage you to complete the fall 2016 administrative services survey at http://tinyurl.com/AdminServSurvey. This should take 5–10 minutes to complete.
This fall’s survey focuses on Human Resources, Facilities Planning and Management, and Information Technology Services, and was developed by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment in collaboration with President’s Council members. Your feedback will help these departments understand where service gaps may exist and how they can better serve the needs of our University.
Continuous improvement efforts are meant to drive intentional and strategic action. Your response to this survey will shape our future efforts. Thank you in advance for your participation, and we look forward to sharing the results with the campus community and identifying needed action steps.
Please note the following schedule for check processing to accommodate the holiday break:
Thank you for your help in coordinating to ensure we meet all needs during the upcoming season.
Please contact Accounting at ext. 2125 with any questions you may have.
—Jeni Baugher, Accounting
Drake strives to provide quality benefits, responsive to the needs of faculty, staff, and their families. Human Resources works with the University Benefits Committee to make important decisions about benefit plan design and offerings. All faculty and staff are invited to hear more about benefits at Drake and some of the issues the University Benefits Committee has addressed in preparation for this open enrollment period.
An overview of the benefit review process, as well as the status of Drake’s medical and dental plans will be provided by Mark J. Becker during the enrollment period.
During the upcoming town hall meetings, discover:
Please plan to join us at the following Benefits Town Hall Meetings:
—Gary Johnson, Human Resources
Every semester, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement offers a small, intimate group of Drake students the opportunity to meet with local, state, and national leaders for food and conversation. This student lunch and reception series provides undergraduate, graduate, pharmacy, and law students with the networking opportunity of meeting informally with a leader in policy, government, business, and nonprofit industries.
For the fourth and final event in this series this semester, we will bring Michael Gartner, owner of the Iowa Cubs and former president of NBC News to the institute for lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 9. The event is from 11:40 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the Harkin Institute office at 2429 University Ave.
Michael Gartner is one of Iowa’s greatest journalists, businessmen, and public servants. Mr. Gartner has been the page one editor of The Wall Street Journal, a general news executive for Gannett Co. and USA TODAY, and worked in various positions in the Des Moines Register for over 11 years. He was the President of NBC News for five years. Mr. Gartner then worked at The Daily Tribune in Ames, Iowa where he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for his editorials about community issues. He owns the Iowa Cubs baseball team, served on the Iowa Board of Regents, co-owns the media company that publishes the Cityview alternative weekly newspaper, and serves on countless nonprofit boards and advisory councils throughout the state. The Harkin Institute is proud to say that he is one of the founding members of the institute’s National Advisory Council.
Apply here by 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, for the opportunity to have lunch with Michael Gartner.
—Sarah Mattes, The Harkin Institute