Mapping our technological needs

What are the technological capacities required to drive our mission forward? This is the question we sought to answer through the development of a technology roadmap.

That roadmap is still being finalized, but the preliminary conclusion is that a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) is a natural answer to this question. And the timing couldn’t be better.

Led by the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Queen’s has been working on the development of a university-wide or “enterprise” CRM system for over two years. I also took the opportunity to present the need for a CRM as part of university budget presentations earlier this month.

Given the preliminary recommendation for our technology roadmap, Advancement is now working with the CIO to consider if our requirements could be developed as a focus area for initial implementation. There are a lot of details to be sorted out, and new questions still to be resolved. I am nonetheless pleased to report that we now have at least a preliminary destination on our technology roadmap. 

The Notebook wins again

Written by Scott Anderson, Executive Director, Marketing, Communications and Donor Relations

The Notebook: A Journey of Giving has been honoured by the Canadian Public Relations Society’s Toronto chapter in the Community Relations Campaign of the Year category. The Advancement initiative received a bronze in the Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Awards in a year that saw a record number of entries.

This is the second major award for The Notebook, which also received a bronze 2021 CASE Circle of Excellence Award this past spring.

ACE awards “recognize outstanding work in the practice of public relations, as judged by some of the industry’s most accomplished communicators. An ACE Award is synonymous with talented insight and skillful execution.”

There were no gold or silver honours awarded this year, but The Notebook was in good company — also receiving a bronze award in this category was McDonald's Canada and its agency, Weber Shandwick Canada, a global communications firm.

The Notebook initiative was Advancement’s way of recognizing graduates in the Class of 2020 and 2021 who had overcome significant challenges to finish their degrees during some of the worst days of the pandemic. It was also intended to set them on a path of giving, allowing them to give to a charity of their choice (last year the Class of 2020 gave nearly $15,000 to Food Banks Canada as part of The Notebook) and providing a unique way for them to give time to their communities with the #180For180 challenge, which was first imagined by Deborah Melman-Clement. The Notebook culminated with the inaugural Golden Ticket Event, which was a great success and brought together some of our most distinguished alumni with some very lucky recent graduates and young alumni.

The Notebook, conceived by Ben Seewald, Ruth Dunley, and Lisa Riley last fall, was accomplished through the hard work of many on our Advancement team, as well as our faculty partners. 

Congratulations to the many people who were involved in this initiative, and a special thanks also to Deborah for her role in coordinating and writing all our awards submissions.

Developing our leaders

Written by Deanna Bennett, Executive Director, Office of the Vice-Principal (Advancement)

The Office of Advancement is dedicated to the success of our employees through professional development, and we are committed to investing time and resources in learning and growth opportunities.

This year, we are building on our leadership development initiative called Everything DiSC® 363™ for Leaders to include all Advancement leaders with direct reports. We have partnered with The Learning Edge Inc. to ensure the confidentiality of the 363 process. This program will be used for professional development, not for appraisal. The 363 is designed to give leaders a better understanding of how their colleagues see their leadership behaviours—both strengths and challenges—and to get direction on how to become more effective leaders.

This is an important initiative, and we are asking for your help in making it successful. While not everyone will participate as a leader, many, if not all of you, will contribute in some way. Whether you’re a leader, a rater, or someone working on the implementation, this is a team effort. And for those of you who are not participating at this time, we want you to be aware of the program.

Thank you in advance for helping to make Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders a success in our organization. If you have any questions, please talk to your manager or Advancement Leadership Team (ALT) member.

Watch the budget presentation

Written by Deanna Bennett, Executive Director, Office of the Vice-Principal (Advancement)

On Monday, Oct. 4, Karen presented the Office of Advancement's three-year budget submission to the Provost's Advisory Committee on Budget (PACB). A recording of Karen's Office of Advancement - Budget Submission 2022-23 presentation is viewable on the intranet (\\wfs.queensu.ca\adv\Workgroups\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\Budget\Office of Advancement - Budget Submission 2022-23 (1).mp4).

Please don’t hesitate to ask any member of ALT any questions related to Advancement's budget submission.

Employee spotlight

The Employee spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new 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!  A few weeks ago we welcomed one new member to Advancement:

Jessie Mercer in the position of Coordinator, Advancement Communications and Events, Athletics & Recreation. Learn more about Jessie and what the one thing is she cannot live without.

This week's current Advancement staff feature is Deborah Melman-Clement, in the position of Senior Development Writer, Advancement Marketing, Communications, and Donor Relations. Can you guess how many languages she speaks? 

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.

Apply for available positions