Faculty, staff, and students are invited to come together virtually at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, as the University shares bold, ambitious, and inspiring plans for its future. Faculty, staff, and students are the heart of this University, which is why we hope you will join us at drake.edu/nextgreatera to be a part of history with your fellow bulldogs.

There has never been a more important moment in Drake’s history to meet the challenges faced by our campus, our community, our country, and our world. 

The only way we can transform lives, strengthen communities, unite this nation, ignite the youth, and push society forward—is to do it together. We are the ones built for change.

We are the bulldogs. The devoted alumni, the dedicated friends, the driven faculty and staff, the diverse student body—the dynamic, connected, committed, and capable—redefining what a university does by reimagining what a university should be. We are a collective determining our own destiny.

Note: If you are unable to join on Oct. 28, the content will remain accessible at drake.edu/nextgreatera to view at a later date.

Starting Wednesday, Oct. 20, there will be a new process for obtaining a COVID-19 test on campus.

Test Iowa self-administered saliva PCR test kits will be available at the Student Services Center in the Olmsted Center. Students, faculty, and staff can pick up a test kit at no cost, and no reason is needed to receive a test kit.

Students with COVID-19 like symptoms are asked to notify the Student Health Center before administering a test so they can help determine if a provider visit is needed.

To take the test, follow the instructions included in the test kit. Please remember to record the test’s bar code number, which is needed to look up test results. Upon completion, return the test kit to the Student Services Center. Important: Student Services will only accept returned test kits between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday–Friday.

Public Safety will collect returned test kits every weekday at 2:30 p.m. and deliver the samples to Polk County Health Department for testing. Results will be available through Test Iowa within 24 hours after the test kit is received. 

If you have a positive test result, please email the Contact Tracing Team immediately at contacttracing@drake.edu.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to come together virtually at 6:30 p.m. next Thursday. Join us at drake.edu/nextgreatera.

There has never been a more important moment in Drake’s history to meet the challenges faced by our campus, our community, our country, and our world. 

The only way we can transform lives, strengthen communities, unite this nation, ignite the youth, and push society forward—is to do it together. We are the ones built for change.

We are the bulldogs. The devoted alumni, the dedicated friends, the driven faculty and staff, the diverse student body—the dynamic, connected, committed, and capable—redefining what a university does by reimagining what a university should be. We are a collective determining our own destiny.

An important aspect of our Continuous Improvement Plan is assessing our performance in delivering services to the campus. To that end, I encourage you to complete this year’s survey of administrative services. It is completely anonymous and often takes less than five minutes to complete.

The survey focuses on six areas: Facilities Planning and Management, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology Services, Public Safety, and University Communications and Marketing. You will only be asked to provide feedback on the services which you worked with in the past year. The survey was developed by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment in collaboration with several other of our colleagues.

Continuous improvement efforts such as this drive intentional and strategic action. Your input is reviewed, and acted upon as your feedback helps us better meet the needs of our University. Direct action plans are developed as a result of your input.

Thank you in advance for your participation by Tuesday, Oct. 19.

— Nate Reagen, Office of the President

In last week’s OnCampus, the Drake community reviewed highlights from the 2021 Great Colleges To Work For (GC2WF) survey. Based on themes in survey responses, three focus areas have been identified for the year. As a reminder these are:

1. Ensure a consistent and robust cascade of communication;
2. Facilitate re-connection and attend to our culture; and
3. Leverage internal, professional development opportunities for leaders.

While the GC2WF survey results are insightful and enlightening for big picture purposes, we need to drill deeper to identify concrete opportunities for improvement for each of these three focus areas. Your targeted suggestions and specific ideas for change and innovation in each area are what we need now. From there, we will work on pulling together proposals and initiatives for concentrated efforts in each these areas.

For the next few weeks, we’ll focus on idea-gathering relating to the first priority. Please share your ideas on ensuring a consistent and robust cascade of communication is shared with and accessible to faculty and staff.

How can you contribute?

First, you can complete this short survey. It consists of 3 questions asking for your ideas, suggestions, and observations about communication. The survey should only take a couple minutes, but it will be of tremendous help to us. This survey is open now and will be open through Oct. 5.

Another option is to attend one of two virtual brain-storming sessions. In these sessions, we will first talk a bit more about the GC2WF survey, review existing communication practices, and then we’ll share ideas for how to improve communication practices:

• Communication Brainstorming Session 1: Thursday, Sept. 23, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Join via Teams.
• Communication Brainstorming Session 2: Friday, Sept. 24, from 2–3 p.m. Join via Teams.

In future OnCampus issues, we’ll share your feedback and focus on what actions can be taken to ensure there is a consistent and robust cascade of communication. Once we feel we have a firm plan of action addressing the first priority, we’ll move on to the second priority focusing on connection and culture.

Quick Note on Pulse Surveys: Drake regularly relies on surveys to gather ideas and feedback. As a reminder, the GC2WF survey in the spring and the Administrative Services survey in the fall are the two primary annual surveys used to gather regular and general feedback from campus. Some colleges and departments conduct targeted annual surveys as well.

You should also expect to see periodic invitations to respond to short, pulse surveys—such as the one linked above—designed to solicit either quick feedback or diver deeper into a narrow topic. While we expect employees to participate in the GC2WF and Administrative Services surveys and comply with college or department expectations for responding to targeted surveys, pulse surveys are optional, even if participation is encouraged and helpful.

— Maureen De Armond, Human Resources, and Nate Reagan, President’s Office

The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is partnering with Hy-Vee Pharmacy to offer flu vaccinations on campus at the Harkin Center, 2800 University Avenue, for Drake University faculty, staff, and students.

Step 1: Sign up for an appointment
Appointments will be offered on Mondays, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Fridays, 12 to 3 p.m., from now through Oct. 15.

Step 2:
IMPORTANT: Two to three days prior to your appointment (and not earlier than two weeks prior), please complete the online Hy-Vee vaccination consent form and enter your prescription insurance information at: https://tinyurl.com/HyVeeFluForm .

• Please note on the Hy-Vee online form: You will be asked to select an appointment time, so please select the same day/time you selected for your scheduled appointment on this Drake sign-up form you are completing now.
• You must complete this online consent form at least 2 days prior to your scheduled the flu clinic appointment.

Prescription insurance is required for this flu vaccination clinic. (We are unable to accept cash/credit card payments for services at this clinic). Most insurance plans cover the cost of a flu vaccination.

For individuals without prescription insurance, flu vaccinations are available for $25 at the Drake Student Health Center. Contact the Drake Student Health Center to make an appointment at: 515–271–3731.

— Nora Stelter, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences