The spring is a time of heavy activity for the Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA) Board of Directors. I thought I would share a few details about our incoming President, Colin McLeod, Artsci'10, as well as provide a primer on the roles and responsibilities of the QUAA and Alumni Assembly for our new staff and a refresher for our longer-tenured team.
Both the Board and Assembly can be an excellent resource for you, your teams, and your portfolio. We have a wide cross-section of engaged alumni who always answer our calls for assistance. If you’d like a better understanding of how the QUAA can help you, please give me a call.
A message from Colin McLeod:
It is with optimism and excitement that I begin my two-year term as QUAA President this spring. I'm grateful for the incredible leadership of Rico Garcia, Artsci'13, who has led the QUAA with flexibility and resilience during the pandemic, and who has certainly left big shoes to fill. My vision for the alumni association over the next two years is to move forward as an expansive network, strengthened by lessons learned throughout the pandemic.
As connectors of the global Queen’s community, the QUAA Board of Directors will continue leading a group of motivated volunteers to live out the mission of the QUAA: “To reach out and foster a lifelong association with Queen’s, to engage our members in the life and work of the university, and to serve the alumni community in all its diversity.”
Things can’t return to what they once were pre-pandemic. Nor should they. As a community, we’ve engaged in extensive dialogue around individual identity and experience at Queen's, highlighting the need for affinity-based groups (such as the Queen's Black Alumni Chapter and the Queen's Queer Alumni Chapter) and the value in their development. One of the most impactful shifts within the Queen’s alumni community over the past two years has been toward virtual programming, which has allowed us to reach a wider and more global alumni audience. Moving forward, both virtual and hybrid events and initiatives will play a key role as we actively support the advancement of the strategic goals of the university. I anticipate working closely with QUAA and University Council to collectively shape the future of Queen’s and its global impact through volunteerism and philanthropy, and I look forward to meeting many of you over the next two years.
QUAA Board of Directors
The Board is the senior governing body of the Queen’s University Alumni Association. The Board establishes priorities and policies that further the mission of the association and advance the strategic priorities of the association, including engaging, developing, and celebrating alumni volunteers and assembly.
Current Board:
Alec Attfield (Artsci’86, Ed’87, MPA’04) - Director, Alumni Constituency Groups
Alisha Hobson (Artsci’17) - Director, Digital Media
Allison Williams (Artsci’09) - Director, Alumni Giving
Colin McLeod (Artsci’10) - President, QUAA
Elaine Wu (Artsci’98, Law’03, MIR’00) - Director, Alumni Awards
Jackie Lewis (Artsci’11) - Executive VP, Operations
Julia Reid (Artsci’08) - Director, Reunions
Lea Trotman (Artsci’17) - Director, Special Projects
Lisa Hood (Artsci’04) - Executive VP, Volunteer Recruitment and Recognition
Megan Divecha (Artsci’22) - Director, Marketing & Communications
Peter Reimer (Artsci’14) - Director, Global Branch Network
Tuba Chishti (Artsci’15) - Director, Alumni Volunteer Summit
Zaid Kasim (Sc’22) - Director, Young Alumni
Alumni Assembly
The Alumni Assembly is the voting body for the association and is vested with constitutional amending power for the association. The Assembly is a diverse cross-section of alumni volunteers who come together to share ideas and provide input on major issues and priorities of the university and the Association.
The Assembly has the following responsibilities:
- To ratify all members of the Board, except for the Head of the Department of Alumni Relations (who is a director ex officio), on the advice of the Leadership Development Committee
- To endorse the annual report from the President of the Queen’s University Alumni Association
- To provide input on major issues and essential priorities of the university and the Association
- To contribute to a culture of philanthropy and participate in the collective goal of 100 per cent giving
- To attend the Annual General Meeting of the QUAA
Delivering our year-end results
By Karen Bertrand, VP (Advancement)
The beginning of a new year is a time of optimism and renewal, as well as a time to reflect on the previous year. In that theme of reflection, I had an opportunity to report the fundraising results of the 2021-22 fiscal year to the Board of Trustees (Board) – through the External Relations and Development (ERD) committee of the Board – on behalf of the university this past weekend.
Our Advancement Dashboard (unaudited) and a fiscal year-end supplement to the Dashboard were presented to ERD and the Board on May 12 and 13, respectively. A second supplement, including confidential information, was also presented in a closed session of the Board May 13. Our accountability to the Board is focused on philanthropy as per Board Terms of Reference – which is consistent with our own focus on philanthropy. Ultimately, we all support university fundraising objectives through our day-to-day work, so I encourage everyone to review these three reports for a comprehensive description of the preliminary results for 2021-22.
I am also happy to extend appreciation to university advancement staff on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Queen’s University. Thank you for all you did to make our 2021-22 results a reality.
The Dashboard and two supplements are available on the i:drive (File path [please log in to the Queen's VPN to view]: \\wfs.queensu.ca\adv\Workgroups\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\Board Reports\2022-05-13 - Board and ERD Reports - Fiscal Year-end Supplement to Advancement Dashboard - report and dashboard.pdf).
Deadline extended
The Employee Experiences Survey has been extended until Friday, May 20.
The Employee Experiences Survey represents a key strategic goal of the new university strategy to address organizational culture. It is designed to gather employee insights into various aspects of our organizational culture so that future services and programs can be designed to address employee needs. Strong participation is needed to ensure that all employees are represented, and that the university can be truly responsive to its community.
With high participation rates, the Employee Experiences Survey will provide the university with better insight into all corners of our workplace and will allow us to develop programming that is more responsive to employees’ needs.
Additionally, because results will be available at a faculty and department level, we will see what matters most to employees within the Office of Advancement. Thank you to everyone that has already completed the survey.
For individuals who have not yet had a chance to complete the survey, you should have received emails from “Employee Experiences Survey at Queen’s University.” Unfinished surveys can be completed at any time, and if anyone has questions or needs accommodations, please email or visit the Employee Experiences Survey website.
Survey respondents are grouped within the faculty or department that their position is funded by. Survey responses from all faculty-based advancement staff, except Executive Directors, will therefore be included in responses from the faculties they work within. Survey responses from Executive Directors and university-wide advancement teams will be reflected in the results for the Office of Advancement.
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.
Melissa East Aspila in the position of Executive Director, Gift Planning. Learn more about Melissa and what the one meal is that she would eat for the rest of her life.