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April kicks off the period of 2021-22 planning when we are preparing individual PDPs for the next fiscal year. In the May 4, 2020 ALTogether Now Vol. 46 | Advancement (queensu.ca) Deanna provided some helpful guidance on how to draft a PDP that I appreciated so much I saved a copy in my own files. Since April begins this week I thought it was therefore a great idea to share some of more salient points from that year-old newsletter again. 

Written by:  Deanna Bennett, Executive Director, Office of the Vice-Principal
(Text updated to reflect 2021 planning timelines.)

We all know that good goal-setting practices require S.M.A.R.T. goals – goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based. But that doesn’t make it any easier to write them. Sometimes determining the objective can be as challenging as meeting them. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Advancements goals are outcome statements that define what we are trying to accomplish. Consider them like a big umbrella. Underneath this umbrella are the spokes that link department objectives, which are specific actions that support the completion of the goals. From these spokes are each of our individual objectives which are very precise, time based, measurable tactics that support our department and Advancement as a whole.

Don’t confuse objective setting with your core responsibilities. Core responsibilities are the tasks that are required to complete the job and are specific to each position. They are the actions that you are going to take on a regular basis, objectives are the outcomes that are time-based and include a beginning and an end.

Don’t confuse activity with outcomes. It’s the activity that produces outcomes. Work backward if you are confused about the difference. Ask yourself, “What is the desired outcome of my activities?” and look there for your objective statement. Then ask yourself, “How will someone know this objective has been achieved?”

Objectives can be linked to:

•    Activities that align with organizational or departmental strategies
•    New or improved systems and processes
•    Major projects and initiatives
•    Personal or professional development

In terms of process, Advancement unit and department objectives will be finalized on April 30. Your manager will be able to help you understand the connection between your work and the broader goals and objectives. This will help you draft objectives so that, together, you will discuss and identify the core responsibilities, objectives, and behavioural competencies that are most critical to success in your role and department.

For additional resources go to Queen’s University Human Resources Performance Dialogue Process Page.

Advancement EDII Book Club

The Advancement EDII book club is in full swing. 

We are now one month away from the April 28 book club discussion on White Fragility facilitated by Dr. Jacqueline Davis. Participation in this book club and attendance at this discussion are optional, but all staff are welcome to attend if they are interested, and anyone who still needs a copy of the book can connect with Kate Bearse to get one.

The Board of Trustees completed their book discussion on the Queen’s Reads book - Other Side of the Game by Amanda Parris - at their March 6 Board meeting. ALT is now scheduled to discuss Other Side of the Game later in April, and an opportunity to discuss this book with advancement staff will be confirmed at the end of the month. In the meantime, staff interested in more discussion prompted by the 2020-21 Queen’s Reads selection may wish to review a variety of resources on the Queen’s Reads programming site Events & Programming | Student Experience Office (queensu.ca)

Culture of Philanthropy on the Board

After a year-long delay due to pandemic-related priorities, the Queen’s Board of Trustees explored the culture of philanthropy on the Board at their meeting March 6. 

The leadership of our Board in a culture of philanthropy is essential because philanthropy plays a key role in realizing ambitions for the future of a university. While it is true that personal giving is just one measure of a philanthropic culture on a Board, according to the Offord Group Special Report Boards Matter: Governance, Giving and Fundraising in Canada “strategic approaches to board size, the nominations process, setting giving expectations and the education and engagement of board members correlate to higher board giving and higher overall giving.” I am therefore pleased to report that our current Board is working towards 100% of Trustees making gifts each fiscal year – which would align the Board of Trustees with the giving levels of both the Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA) and the Queen’s Student Alumni Association (QSAA).

Trustees can also demonstrate a culture of philanthropy in other ways. On March 6 board members discussed a number of ways to deepen the culture of philanthropy on the Board. Some examples are to

•    partner each Trustee with a Queen’s Advancement staff member to support their activities related to advancement and philanthropy;
•    invite Trustees to participate in more cultivation and solicitation activities; and/or
•    increase the visibility of Advancement at Board meetings (in addition to efforts at the External Relations and Development Committee of the Board (ERD)). 

To be clear, the Board already does support philanthropy. Many Trustees have made gifts to Queen’s for years. The Board Chair has personally phoned donor of new gifts or pledges of $1 million and greater to thank them for their support since 2017, and this process was expanded in 2019 to engage members of ERD to phone donors of new gifts or pledges of $100,000-$999,999 to thank them for their support. 

The discussion March 6 was about deepening the culture of philanthropy on the Board. So while there is undoubtedly still work to do, the discussion March 6 was a great step forward.

CCAE 2020 Membership Report

The Office of Advancement has a clear commitment to professional development for Queen’s advancement professionals. That commitment includes investing in professional memberships that benefit our staff – including our membership in the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE). A dashboard of all the ways Queen’s capitalized on that membership in 2020 is now available.

Your Member Dashboard

If you have not personally taken advantage of this membership, consider investing some time to visit to learn more about the resources and future professional development opportunities that are available through CCAE. 

Whether it is through CCAE or another forum, please use the planning and annual review period we are now in to speak with your supervisor about your professionally development goals and objectives.

VOTE for Advancement Value Action Statements

A friendly reminder to please vote for your top three value action statements. In order to operationalize our values we want to be clear about what we believe and hold important by identifying specific observable behaviours or actions for each value. The list of action statements was created based on the values conversations units had throughout January and February during the Socialize phase.

Please and choose your top three for each value by April 9th.

Working Together to create a better Advancement

By Kacey McCuen, Human Resources Advisor, Office of the Vice-Principal (Advancement)
 
Your Advancing IDEAS group has been working hard to bring forward exciting learning opportunities in an effort to advance our understanding of, and knowledge in, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Indigeneity. One great example of this work was the incredible discussion with Erin LeBlanc earlier this month. I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that discussion was both powerful and educational. In the coming months you will also have the opportunity to take part in the on May 13, 2021 as well as the discussion facilitated by Dr. Davies on Apr. 18, 2021 (see below for information on joining these sessions). 
 
We are also very excited to share that the Staff Hiring Training offered through Queen's Human Rights and Equity Office is now available online! This training is open to all staff who might participate on a hiring panel. At this time, we are asking that all managerial staff complete this training, if they have not already done so via the in-person session, as soon as possible. Please note, completion of this training is mandatory for any employee to participate on a hiring panel. 
 
As you may remember, the Working Together training became mandatory for all employees in grades 2-9, university wide, effective January of this year. To date, our completion rate is only 26% but we know we can do better than that! Our goal is to hit 100% completion before the end of the fiscal year – April 30, 2021. The training is available online via the Equity Training Portal and will take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete. 
 
We are asking all staff to log into their equity training profile to ensure they have completed the Working Together training, as well as all other mandatory training required based on their position. To review your equity training profile, click here and go to Training Portal to access your unique portal using your NetID. Your completed training will be listed in the top under your Training Record. All available training, including Working Together, will be listed below. 
 
To sign up for either the Kairos Blanket Exercise or the White Fragility session, please contact Kate Bearse.
 
Thank you for Working Together to create a better Advancement!

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 or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Available Position:

Fun Fact

Queen’s and the Harry Potter connection, part deux 

Did you know that Queen’s has its own Quidditch club? Quidditch is now an official ‘muggle’ sport inspired by the game played by Hogwarts students in the Harry Potter series, where students fly on brooms and try to score points against the opposing team by throwing balls through hoops and catching the Golden Snitch.

The Queen’s Quidditch club is registered with the International Quidditch Association and has taken part in Canadian Quidditch Cup which started in 2011 and was hosted by Carleton Quidditch team.