Over the summer, a 128.02 kW solar array project was completed on the roof of the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. This project comprises of 346 solar panels that produces 165,900 kWHours a year. Over the last year, every light in the tennis center and parking lot were changed to LED, which also included replacing the court lights with a more efficient fixture using 75% less energy and providing twice as much illumination ensuring the courts meet NCAA standards for competitions. With the reduction of electricity use from lighting upgrades, the project engineer determined that 346 solar panels were sufficient to produce enough electricity through renewable energy that would equal the amount used in the building for the entire year making it a “net zero” building. Over the next 25 years, the solar array will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2695 metric tons, equivalent to 371 homes’ energy use for one year, or 2,894,737 pounds of burned coal, or 6,497,619 miles driven in a passenger car.

The solar panels started to produce electricity on Sept. 10. To view the dashboard and learn more about the system performance and amount of energy created per day along with the environmental benefits of this project using renewable energy, visit Roger Knapp Tennis Center Solar Project. 

Using renewable energy sources is particularly important for Drake University in achieving the goals of the University’s Climate Action Plan, https://www.drake.edu/sustainability/.  Solar power is one of the cleanest, most reliable forms of renewable energy available.  This project was made possible through a generous gift from John Lorentzen and Penny Fillmor and our food service partner Sodexo.

— Kevin Moran, Executive Director, Facilities Planning and Management

The overall results of the 2019 Great Colleges to Work For survey are available.  Thank you to the 566 employees who participated!  As a reminder, this is our primary (and annual) employee survey administered in the spring. These results have been shared with each unit leader on campus, for their respective areas. We are also sharing the University results, as a whole, to be transparent on what is working well and what needs improvement. You’ll also note in the presentation for the coming year, our focus areas are:

1. Strengthening the internal cascade of communication
2. Continued focus on authentic recognition
3. Continued clarification on employee benefits

At the same time, we celebrate the strengths of our active contributions to the community, positive supervisor relations, and our employees’ sense of autonomy.  Further questions?  Please contact Mary Alice Hill or Nate Reagen.

— Mary Alice Hill, Director of Human Resources, & Nate Reagen, Chief of Staff

Last year, Drake University introduced Big Ideas—a campus-wide initiative that called upon faculty, staff, and students to identify transformative ideas that, with support from passionate donors, will help to define the University’s future and positively impact society for generations to come.

Following a successful launch of the initiative, which generated participation from more than 300 faculty, staff, and students who put forth or collaborated on 50 Big Ideas submissions, we are ready to enter the second phase of the project: capturing the imagination of potential donors.

The Big Ideas process
As a reminder, in April, Drake’s Board of Trustees narrowed the 50 Big Ideas submissions to 29 following thoughtful discussion and per the recommendation of the Big Ideas Steering Committee. These 29 ideas were organized and classified into six themes:

• Changemaker Initiative
• Public Democracy
• Digital Proficiency Platform
• Intergenerational Campus
• Sustaining Rural America
• Drake University Center

What happened over the summer
Champions of the advancing ideas and steering committee members were invited to participate in a weeklong workshop in July with 160over90, the University’s branding and marketing consultant. During the workshops, stakeholders provided important feedback, which is currently being used to develop a case statement summarizing the six themes.

What’s next
Later this month, President Martin and University Advancement representatives will use the case statement to seek feedback on the themes from nearly 150 targeted University insiders. The purpose of these conversations is to invite our alumni and friends to offer their advice, counsel, and insight regarding the six themes. Feedback from these discussions will be shared and discussed with the Board of Trustees during their January meeting, during which the Board will ultimately determine which themes will shape the narrative and priorities of our next comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Throughout the academic year, we will share monthly updates with you on the progress of the Big Ideas—including details surrounding each theme and our future fundraising priorities as they are confirmed. Please reach out to me or a member of the Steering Committee with any questions.

I am excited about the possibilities the Big Ideas initiative creates, and sincerely thank the many members of the campus community who have shown great enthusiasm for the initiative. I am honored to work among such talented colleagues who are passionate about advancing the future of Drake.

—John Smith, Vice President, University Advancement

It’s been a beautiful start to the new academic year, and I’m pleased to report that the ITS start has been generally smooth, as well. Our team has certainly seen a number of issues with computers, classrooms, and other technology, but most have been minor and quickly resolved.

Sometimes it’s what we don’t experience that tells us that our technology is working well. On August 23, as the return to campus was well underway, CenturyLink experienced a major regionwide Internet service interruption. Before this summer, any CenturyLink outage would have disrupted campus Internet access as well, but last spring we made changes that resulted in a different outcome. Drake still uses CenturyLink but we also have a redundant connection from a second service provider, UPN. When our team became aware of the CenturyLink outage, they disconnected campus from CenturyLink and our Internet access continued as normal through UPN. I can’t promise we won’t experience another Internet outage, but our connection is now more robust than it was last academic year and we know that because of what you didn’t experience.

As always, information security is at the top of my priorities list. Perhaps you saw a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article about a major security incident at Stevens Institute of Technology or reports about a similar incident at Regis University in Denver.

Neither institution is providing much information about the incidents or what they have learned, but two things are clear – these were sophisticated, targeted attacks designed to severely disrupt the business of these universities (who don’t look too dissimilar from us), and these types of attacks are becoming more frequent.

You will be learning about new security initiatives over the coming months. I ask you to help us protect Drake and you by taking information security seriously and remaining vigilant about your online activity. If you would like more information about how to protect your computer and data, please feel free to contact either Peter Lundstedt (director of information security) or me directly.

Beginning last month, Drake is now part of eduroam, a global federation of educational wireless networks. After you connect to eduroam at Drake, your device will then be able to connect to the wireless networks of over 1000 institutions in over 100 countries. Students and employees at other eduroam member institutions will also be automatically connected to eduroam on Drake’s campus.

I encourage you to move to using eduroam soon to avoid any last-minute issues. ITS will be retiring DUStudent on September 13 and DUFacStaff on December 31. After that, eduroam will be Drake’s single primary wireless network. Learn more about eduroam at https://www.drake.edu/its/eduroam/.

Finally, if you’re not already using our self-service support resources, please take a look at the wealth of tips and tools we make available through the IT service portal at https://service.drake.edu/its. You can either browse or use the search tool in the upper right corner to find something specific more quickly.

I hope you have a productive and engaging semester and please feel free to let us know how we can improve our service in support of Drake’s mission.

—Chris Gill, Chief Information Technology Officer

As the fall semester starts, we are excited to celebrate the opening of the new Starbucks in Olmsted Center. It has been a busy summer getting all the components of this project completed in a short period of time. We are pleased that contractors and training of staff were able to finish ahead of schedule. We are also hard at work on continuing to improve our campus environment, and setting up some great projects for next summer. A few updates on what to expect around campus:

University Avenue City Sewer Separation Project and Drake Streetscape Project:
Construction is progressing on-schedule, including work along University Avenue and several adjoining streets. Lane closures will continue along University Avenue through Spring 2020. Sewer work will be completed first, with MidAmerican following with new streetlight and traffic lights next year. Our streetscape improvements will follow this work for final completion Summer 2020.

During the construction, the contractor has closed several sidewalk connections across University Avenue. Due to the large equipment and limited sight lines, students, faculty, and staff are asked to use the designated crossing at Aliber and Olmsted parking lot which aligns with the pedestrian light on University Avenue for safety.

Art in DART:
We have received grant funding (thanks to our fantastic Advancement Team) for the inclusion of art within the two new DART bus shelters located on the north side of the University Ave. An RFP is currently open for artists to submit their proposal. These will be the first bus shelters in Des Moines to include art. We are proud to be leading this effort with many community and neighborhood partners.

The Harkin Institute:
Construction will begin the end of September for the new Harkin Institute on 28^th and University. Ave. Construction anticipated to be complete Fall 2020, and to coincide with the 30^th anniversary of the founding of the ADA, a significant legislation legacy of Senator Tom Harkin.

Hubbell Dining Hall:
Design is underway for the remodel of Hubbell Dining hall kitchen and Quad Creek spaces. We anticipate a spring 2020 start of construction with completion wrapping up for start of classes Fall 2020. Work to include a complete remodel and refresh of the kitchen space, serving stations, and dining experience.

Merge Moves:
We are very excited about the Merge Development being planned for the Kinne Block between 24^th and 25^th and University Ave and Carpenter.  In order for this vibrant addition to our Drake neighborhood to happen, we are finding new homes for over 100 Drake and City staff members that have offices on this block, and reorganizing offices of various departments on campus to optimize our existing space.

We are currently assessing our existing facilities to determine the best locations on campus that can accommodate large and small work groups.  We have met with each department to understand their needs, and have had great discussions with these groups about what the office of our future looks like.  We are working toward an end of September goal to have the department relocations identified.

Alongside the space planning, we are capturing the overall budget needs for building and furniture improvements to successfully relocate everyone.  To provide the best improvements and extend our budget dollars, our in-house FPM team (project managers, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, painters, HVAC) will be involved in completing the improvements.  Anticipated Move dates could start as early as December and proceed through summer 2020.  Look for more information in future editions of OnCampus.

Parking Garage Feasibility Study:
We are underway in a feasibility study for a new parking garage to be located between 24^th and 25^th and Carpenter Ave. and Forest Ave. The parking garage would serve the needs of the Merge Development residents and retail customers, Drake faculty and staff, Drake event parking, and campus visitors. Look for more information in future OnCampus.

—Michelle Huggins, Facilities Planning & Management