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With our commitment to provide staff with at least four weeks’ notice before our Advancement spaces re-open, the leadership team is pleased to announce that staff can return to our newly configured hybrid space beginning Monday, April 11. As detailed in Charting a course for the future, several considerations led to a slightly delayed return when compared to the rest of campus, which returned to in-person learning on Feb. 28.

A vendor has been secured to assist with the reconfiguring of furniture in Summerhill, which will serve as our base of operation during this pilot. This activity will take place on Friday, March 18 and will set the stage for the reintroduction of technology and the optimization of spaces to support our in-person activity. 

Our primary focus is the provisioning of common workstations, which will consist of – where applicable – one well-sized monitor, docking stations, and other tools such as keyboards and mice. We will also focus on ensuring that our meeting spaces will support effective team collaboration. While one size will not fit all, it is our goal to anticipate as many needs as we can upfront. But, no doubt, we will learn with you and evolve as we go. 

With this date solidified, many of your colleagues will be working diligently over the coming weeks to make our collective vision a reality. We will share more information over the next month on several items, including procedures for booking spaces, enhanced safety measures, hard file storage, and others. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Kate Bearse. Please note that Summerhill will unfortunately not be available to those attending the March 21 planning meetings at the Donald Gordon Centre in person.

All Advancement staff meeting

As you may have noticed by now, the all-staff meeting will be done a little differently in March. 

As noted in Easing into the 'newer' normal, the week of March 21 will proceed as an in-person week. With public health guidelines changing rapidly, however, we recognize that not everyone is comfortable meeting in person. So, we have decided to stick to shorter, 30-minute meetings with small mixed groups at the Donald Gordon Centre (the groups are no larger than 30 people). Please note that attendance in person is optional and a virtual option will be available via Zoom. Our commitment to Advancement is that there will always be virtual options for every in-person engagement. If you have not received an invite for March 23, or have any questions, please reach out to Kate Bearse.

If you are planning to attend virtually, we ask that you so we can determine how to best set up the room for the meetings. We truly appreciate your time.

2022-23 Planning Timeline Changes 

Some changes have been made to the 2022-23 planning timeline, previously communicated January 31, Planning for the year ahead.  Planning days have been shortened and some programming functions have been combined.  Also, some time has been added between the planning days and finalization of plans on April 13.  Between April 14 and April 29 individual objectives and faculty plans will be finalized. 

The week of March 21 will still serve as the official launch of our 2022-23 planning cycle with the management team.

Beginning March 28-March 30, cross-functional teams will meet virtually to work collaboratively and build annual plans to support Forward, Together in three key areas:

1. March 28 – Alumni Engagement (reference Forward, Together Strategic Objectives 3) alumni programming and 5) communications)
2. March 29 – Fundraising (reference Forward, Together Strategic Objectives 4) major, principal and planned gift fundraising and 5) communications)
3. March 30 – Internally focused planning (reference Forward, Together Strategic Objectives 1) shaping the university 2) high-performing culture and 6) developing leadership capacitites) 

Some changes have also been made to the planning teams, visit I:\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\2022-23 Planning\Multi-disciplinary teams - revised.xlsx to see the updates.

Reflections on International Women’s Day

By Corrine Beckner

As we mark (IWD) on Tuesday, March 8, I have taken some time to reflect on what this day means to me and why it still relevant to us in 2022 – 111 years since its inception. 

At first, I thought this exercise of reflection would be quite simple; IWD is a day for us to collectively reflect on women’s history, to celebrate the accomplishments of those who came before us, and to consider what opportunities still lie ahead. While this is certainly true, when it comes to my own personal feelings and thoughts on this day, I’ve come to realize my own relationship with IWD is far more nuanced and complex.

For me, IWD means reflecting upon my own biases and considering what I can do differently to address systematic inequalities for all persons. It is taking the time to consider whose stories have been left out and making room at the table for those unlike me. It is recognizing how precarious the systems and structures of our society are and taking nothing for granted. It is a day to recommit myself to doing the work, taking action, and speaking up to #BreakTheBias. 

Join us! 

Join us for a today, Monday, March 7, from 11:45-noon (EST) hosted by our own Erica McIlquham. All Advancement staff are welcome. Or, reflect on what International Women’s Day means to you by sharing your thoughts in the channel on Tuesday.

Continued Partnership with LiveAlumni

As reported in past editions, the Office of Advancement ran two concurrent pilot engagements with . This innovative tool allows staff the ability to query the latest employment information, organizational memberships, and volunteer roles of our alumni. As the platform has continued to evolve and offer new features, we will look to provide updated training materials and opportunities in the coming months for those that wish to incorporate the use of the tool in support of their programming.   

CCAE Member Dashboard 

A few years ago, Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) developed member dashboards to provide a snapshot of each institutions’ participation and investment with CCAE. Please view the to see how our organization engaged with CCAE in 2021.

The board and staff of CCAE will continue to strive for innovative programming over the 2022/23 fiscal year that considers both in-person and virtual offerings and keeps pace with an increasing demand for contemporary programming. Please visit the for upcoming programming including the return to an in-person National Conference planned for May 24-26 in Niagara Falls.  

Reminder: Help shape Advancement Enhancement Day

We wanted to send a friendly reminder that there is still time to volunteer to participate in the Advancement Enhancement Day committee!

Advancement Enhancement Day is a day dedicated to staff, where we celebrate each other together and take part in personal and professional development activities. This year we will be doing this on June 15. The plan for this year is to deliver a diverse in-person program.

Keeping with tradition, Enhancement Day programming will be designed by staff for staff. If you are interested in being a co chair and/or volunteering to help plan and deliver Advancement Enhancement 2022, please email Kate Bearse by end of day on Friday, March 11.  

Our first planning meeting will be scheduled for the week of March 21. Subsequent meetings will be on a bi-weekly basis (weekly in May and June). If you have any questions, please connect with Kate Bearse.

Employee Spotlight

The Employee Spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new and existing staff by profiling responses they share through a fun and informal survey that will help us get to know them better. Be sure to review these profiles and use these fun facts and tidbits to find commonalities, embrace differences and spark a conversation. 

This week’s feature includes:

Valerie Tinkess in the position of Administrative Assistant, Alumni Strategy. and what her favourite family tradition is!

Jobs with Advancement

We need your recruitment help. Know great talent that would be a good addition to our team? If so, please promote the vacancies below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and résumé) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla Ferreira Rodrigues or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.