A noble profession

By Jeanette Hepburn, executive director of Development and Alumni Engagement at Smith School of Business
 

I have been reflecting a lot on “change” lately and the pace of change in society.  Some good, some long overdue, some scary and some definitely overwhelming. For me, 2021 has been the ultimate in change – personally and professionally – empty nesting, hybrid/virtual work, new leaders, new colleagues, and new exciting ideas on how we approach our work together and support Queen’s desire to change and have an impact on society.

Through all the change, I think often about a dear colleague that I worked with who always referred to our work as a noble profession. Our work in advancement is noble. Noble can be defined as morally good or generous in a way that is admired. Often people are lost in their careers as they don’t feel they have purpose or are making an impact – but we do! We help change lives through education.  

Her description of our profession has stuck with me and lifts me up when the pace of work and change is overwhelming. At Smith, we are fortunate to have an opportunity to connect regularly with students and volunteers and hear stories from our alumni who have benefited from awards and/or the interaction with a special faculty or staff member. We share these stories to help fuel more change. Read our latest Impact Report, The Changemakers. 

I leave you with this quote as an inspiring reminder of our overarching noble purpose and collective work together at Queen’s.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela

Hybrid Pilot Q&A

With the start of our yearlong hybrid pilot in sight it might good to feature a Q&A over the next few weeks. If you have a question related to Building a Better Workplace and/or the hybrid pilot phase, please send it to the Advancement Leadership Team (ALT) through Advancing Your Voice. Here are the questions we received this week:
 
Question: How will parking work for Advancement staff once remote work agreements begin? Are shared parking passes an option given many of us will only require it a couple of days per week? If so, can this be organized centrally or do we need to seek out a parking buddy?

Answer: Parking will continue to be the responsibility of the employee. Information on Queen’s parking permits and rates can be found on the Facilities website. For information regarding city street parking, please see the City of Kingston website. To learn about available public transportation, visit the Kingston Transit website.
 
Question: Has some thought been given to a production space that we can book and leave the supplies for the project we're working on? For example, the "With Love From Queen's" frames or large hard copy mail. This typically takes two to three days and having to pack this task up daily could be problematic. 

Answer: If you have a large production project like the examples given, you can book an office or meeting room through the excel booking tool that will be posted in Sharepoint at the end of March for the time required. 

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:

Maddy Palmer is in the position of Development Officer, Annual and Leadership Giving in the Faculty of Arts and Science. Learn more about Maddy and their favourite hobbies.

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.