Tag Archives: staff

Featured Events Archive

Introducing Drake’s new live mascot

Drake University will unveil its newest live bulldog mascot during a special campus event Thursday. All faculty, staff, and students are invited.

The celebration will begin at noon in the southwest corner of Helmick Commons with remarks from President Martin, Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb, Live Mascot Director Erin Bell, and Student Body President Kevin Maisto. In case of rain, it will be held at Pomerantz Stage in Drake’s Olmsted Center.

You can learn a little more about the newest, furriest member of the Drake family here. 

Strategic Updates Archive

From President Martin

Thank you to everyone who attended one of the open forums regarding the Campus Climate Assessment earlier this week. While we have room for improvement in order to ensure Drake is an inclusive and welcoming environment, I’m confident this community can rise to the challenge. One step in that direction is that a commitment to inclusivity and diversity is now part of every senior leader’s essential job functions. Also, as mentioned at the forums, members of the Strategic Diversity Action Team will lead small group discussions to determine actionable next steps based on the survey results. I strongly encourage each of you to attend a session—sign up here.

Another topic important to all of us is campus safety. In light of recent serious crimes taking place near campus, I want to emphasize that the safety of students, faculty, and staff is a top priority for the University. Part of fulfilling that responsibility is ensuring the University is engaged in the Drake neighborhood. We have a number of formal commitments to the surrounding community and are working on ways we can continue to enhance the relationship we have with our neighbors.

As to safety on campus, you may have read in Public Safety Director Scott Law’s message in the weekly OnCampus newsletter that we are implementing additional safety measures beyond the resources already available to the campus community. One feature I want to reiterate from Scott’s message is the difference between Bulldog Alerts and Timely Warnings.

  • Bulldog Alerts are issued for situations involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of Drake students or employees. These range from natural disasters to gas leaks to criminal activity.
  • Timely Warnings are issued when a crime is reported that does not involve an immediate threat. There is also a connection between these warnings and those events for which we report statistics to the government, such as homicides, sex offenses, or robberies. The crime can occur on campus, on immediately accessible public property, or at a non-campus location, such as a remote classroom.

There are several exceptions to these general guidelines for both Bulldog Alerts and Timely Warnings. I have every confidence in Scott and his team to expertly address each case quickly, with the safety of the campus community as their top priority.

Finally, please be sure to utilize and engage with our internal newsletter, OnCampus, which goes out to all students, faculty, and staff every Monday. This newsletter serves as a centralized source of relevant information and contributes to an environment of timely, relevant, and transparent communication on campus.

Regards,

Marty

Campus Announcements Archive

From the Office of the Provost: Week of Sept. 28

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Religious Holidays
The release of the Climate Survey Report serves as a good occasion to remind the campus that in 1974, the University Senate adopted the following action:
“. . . that faculty members be urged to provide an opportunity for students to make up work missed as a result of legitimate absences, including observances of religious holidays.”

Consistent with the Senate action and our ambition to be a more welcoming and inclusive community, I urge all faculty members to provide students with an opportunity to make up work missed due to religious holidays. Since there are many cultures and faiths, University events cannot always be scheduled to avoid conflict with all holidays. Students should make their holiday needs known to faculty in advance, so professors can make arrangements for the appropriate accommodation. Further, I ask that when scheduling events, people check the calendar to avoid conflicts, if possible.

The list of religious holidays for the 2015–2016 academic year can be found at the Calendar link on the Provost’s Office web page.

Drake Social Club
Thanks to everyone who attended—more than 150 of you—the Drake Social on Thursday, making it, so I am being told, a big (and welcome) success. A shout out of thanks goes to Cherie Moen for managing it and making all the arrangements. Given the response, we are already looking for two more dates for this semester—stay tuned for future announcements.

Open Office Hours
If you are looking for me, this week you will find me on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 3–4:30 p.m. at Cowles Cafe.

—Submitted by Joe Lenz, Provost

Campus Announcements Archive

Fire Drill Oct. 7

Drake University will hold a campus-wide building evacuation/fire drill on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, at 9:10 a.m. in compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act and in conjunction with National Fire Prevention month. Fire alarms will be activated in all campus buildings to signal the start of the drill. All buildings will be locked down during the fire alarms. During lock down, buildings can be evacuated, but cannot be re-entered. Members and guests of the campus community will need to evacuate all Drake University buildings at this time. Please dress according to weather.

This drill will be coordinated through the Office of Public Safety (271-2222) working with the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (271-3804) and Facilities Services (271-3955). Please report any fire alarm malfunctions or evacuation problems to Facilities or Public Safety. Your cooperation in this very important campus safety exercise regarding the Drake Emergency Response Plan is appreciated and required by law.

As a reminder:

  • Please evacuate when the alarms sound.
  • If it is cold, please wear a coat.
  • Buildings will be locked down during alarms.
  • Buildings can be evacuated but cannot be re-entered until the drill ends.

—Submitted by Chris Nickell, Director, EHS

Strategic Updates Archive

Climate Assessment: Next Steps

We invite you to share your ideas about how we can make Drake a more welcoming and inclusive University. Our Campus Climate Assessment survey, implemented in February 2015, was designed to gauge the experiences and attitudes of current faculty, staff, and students. The public forums held on Sept. 21 and 22 provided our community with the data from that survey. If you were unable to attend one of the forums, a video recording of the presentation, Powerpoint presentation, and the full report are available on the climate assessment site. Print copies of the full report are also available on reserve in Cowles library.

Now, the Strategic Diversity Action Team is hosting small group conversations where we can come up with actionable next steps for campus. Please read the report, sign up for one of the small group sessions, and be a part of change on campus.

—Submitted by Melissa Sturm-Smith, Associate Provost for Academic Excellence and Student Success

HR Information Archive

Wellness—free flu vaccine clinic for faculty & staff

As a part of Drake’s Wellness programming, we are offering free blood pressure checks and up to 200 free flu vaccines on a first come, first served basis to employees of Drake. The Drake Student Health Center is providing the employee clinic, which was planned to allow dedicated privacy and time for faculty and staff. Please be prepared to show your Drake Card (ID) at check-in.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 7
Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Olmsted 312 & 313
Who is eligible: Faculty & Staff

Contact Cindy Adams x3676 or Diana Lei-Butters x1871 with any questions.

—Submitted by Cindy Adams, Associate Director, Human Resources

Campus Announcements Archive

Faculty & staff: Sign up for interactive workshop

Enhancing Global Experiences Through Critical Reflection and Scholarship

Friday, Oct. 23, 12–4:30 p.m.
Courtside Club Hospitality Suite
The Shivers Basketball Practice Facility

This half-day interactive workshop, led by Patti Clayton, senior scholar, Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, will focus on critical reflection and partnership strategies to enhance student learning in a global context, as well as discuss how teaching can be an opportunity for research while adding to emerging scholarship in service-learning. Participants will leave with critical reflection activities and ideas for developing their own scholarship as it relates to service-learning. Lunch will be served at noon and the workshop will begin at 12:30 p.m. This event is free to Drake faculty and staff.

12:30–1 p.m.—Establish conceptual frameworks to work within for the day (for SLCE, for GSL/ISL, for integrated design, for scholarship)

Overview of example scholarship related to critical reflection and partnerships

1–2:45—Designing critical reflection

2:45–3—BREAK

3–4:15—Inquiring into learning and partnerships (scholarship)

4:15–4:30—Wrap-up

Register today!

—Submitted by Maria Rohach, Global Learning Program Coordinator

Campus Announcements Archive

Tuition Exchange program update

As you may be aware, Drake University participates in The Tuition Exchange, a program with members from 630+ public or non-profit institutions of higher education. The list of participating schools is available at www.tuitionexchange.org.

If you are the parent of a high school senior, have a college-aged dependent, or have a dependent currently receiving a Tuition Exchange benefit, it is time to begin planning for 2016–2017.

The Tuition Exchange benefit is limited to dependent children of Drake employees as defined by Drake University’s Tuition Rebate policy. Application for Tuition Exchange export benefits can be made for both undergraduate and graduate programs at participating institutions. At Drake University, undergraduate export applicants will be given priority over graduate export student applicants.

If you wish to apply for Tuition Exchange consideration, print and complete the application found on the Employee tab in blueView in the Human Resources channel. 2015–2016 Tuition Exchange recipients are required to submit an application to be considered for renewal in 2016–2017.

All applications must reach the Office of Student Financial Planning by Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. This deadline applies to both new applicants and 2015–2016 recipients who wish to be considered for 2016–2017 renewal. The applications will be verified for eligibility by Human Resources and ranked according to Drake guidelines. Applications received after the deadline will be placed on the waiting list.

Drake University’s Tuition Exchange Policy utilizes a point system to rank applicants according to their years of service and prior use of Tuition Exchange benefits. The point system is used to determine those approved for Tuition Exchange benefits when there are more applicants than available export spots.

Applicants will be notified of their status (approved/not approved) beginning Nov. 2.

Please feel free to contact Brandy Eganhouse at X2906 with Tuition Exchange questions or for assistance in completing the application process.

—Submitted by Brandy Eganhouse, Administrative Assistant 1

Strategic Updates Archive

Drake community safety updates

Des Moines Police Patrol
In response to recent incidents in the Drake community, Drake has contracted for a uniformed Des Moines Police Department officer to be dedicated to the Drake campus in the evenings. The officer will patrol primarily from 25th Street to 34th Street on both Forest and University. The officer will primarily be here from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., seven days a week, for the next few weeks to help serve as a visible deterrent and expedite response time.

Safe Ride
As many of you know, Drake recently introduced the new Safe-Ride program, a Drake-owned bus that provides late-night transportation service in the immediate Drake neighborhood. The service has been very successful and demand in the evenings has exceeded capacity on some weekend nights. In order to increase visibility and provide additional capacity, a second bus will operate Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. It is our hope that students will choose to use the Safe-Ride service for travel around the Drake neighborhood at night. The location of the Safe-Ride bus can be found by visiting www.drake.edu/bus. The bus runs 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday–Wednesday and 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursday–Saturday. The two buses will travel opposite circuits around campus to maximize response time.

Drake Guardian App
Drake Public Safety would also like to remind students, faculty, and staff to download the “Drake Guardian” App. This app is available as a free download and enhances safety on campus through real-time, interactive features that create a virtual safety network of friends, family, and Drake’s Department of Public Safety. Features include a panic button that connects you immediately to Drake Public Safety and anonymous texting for crime tip reporting. The app also allows your network to monitor your location when you set a safety timer. For more information, visit the Drake Public Safety site. The app is also available in the App Store and through the Android App by searching for Rave Guardian. Once the Rave Guardian is downloaded and you enter your drake.edu email, the app becomes the “Drake Guardian.”

Timely warnings vs. Bulldog Alerts
The Director of Public Safety or a designee will develop Timely Warning Notices for the University community to notify campus about serious crimes against people that have already occurred on or near campus, where it is determined that the incident may pose an ongoing threat to members of the University community. Timely Warning Notices may be distributed for other crimes as determined necessary by the Director or his or her designee in his or her absence.

Bulldog Alerts are issued for an emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees that is currently occurring on or may imminently affect the campus.

As always, if you see something, say something. If you see something you feel is out of ordinary, no matter how trivial it may seem, contact Drake Public Safety at 811 (emergency) or 515-271-2222 (non-emergency). DPS has 21 sets of eyes, but with the campus community, we have more than 5,000.

—Submitted by Scott Law, Director, Drake Public Safety

News & Achievements Archive

Get your discounted season tickets to men’s and women’s basketball!

Faculty and staff can take advantage of discounted season tickets for men’s and women’s basketball. Get them before they’re gone!

Men’s Basketball
Premium Center (C,D,E,N,O,P)—$124 per seat + $250 Bulldog Club Donation
Premium Outer (A,B,F,G,M,Q,R)—$124 per seat + $150 Bulldog Club Donation
Reserved Center (3,4,5)—$124 per seat + $250 Bulldog Club Donation
Reserved Outer (1,2,6,7)—$124 per seat + $150 Bulldog Club Donation
General Admission (8-25)—$75 per seat + No Bulldog Club Donation

Women’s Basketball
Reserved Sideline (A-G, M-R)—$50 per seat
Reserved Baseline (S-T)—$40 per seat

All Drake University faculty and staff can take advantage of discounted pricing with a valid Drake Card (ID). To purchase your season tickets, contact the Drake Athletics Ticket Office at 515-271-3647 or email tickets@drake.edu.

—Submitted by Tom Florian, Assistant Director, Ticket Operations and Donor Management