Strengthening connections between our alumni and students  

I have been thinking a lot lately about our relationship with the students on campus. I love working from home (really love it!) but I do miss seeing our students in action. As we start the new fiscal year, I have tasked myself with ensuring that I am intentional in building more relationships with members of our student body. It is essential to our work in Advancement that we understand the students’ experience and the unique challenges that they face. This is especially important as we deal with an entire cohort of students who have been affected by the pandemic. 

I am fortunate that in my portfolio I regularly have interactions with the Queen's Student Alumni Assocation (QSAA) and student government. I am also a parent to kids in university and I am constantly reminded of how different their student experience is from mine. Our alumni also crave a student connection. The most common request in my 1:1 meetings with alumni is to speak to students, mentor students, or engage with students in some way. With this in mind, the student experience will be a key focus of our Alumni Volunteer Summit (AVS) taking place in June. The keynote speaker is Dean of Student Affairs Ann Tierney, and she will provide insight into the hot topics in her area and how our alumni volunteers can help. The volunteers will then hear directly from a student panel who will also join us for an informal lunch and opportunity to chat with our alumni. We will follow this up with an afternoon of programming that includes opportunities for volunteers to connect with each other. 

Please share AVS with your volunteers and encourage them to sign up. 

Congrats, Advancement Team!

Our Advancement team brought home eight CCAE Awards last week, our highest number of awards ever! Give yourselves a huge round of applause, you've earned it!
We won in multiple categories:

• Gold, Best Website: Queen’s Alumni Review site 
• Gold, Best Photograph: Rewilding of the Castle 
• Bronze, Best Publication: Queen’s Alumni Review 
• Gold, Best Development Event: Estate Planning as an Act of Love 
• Silver, Best Advancement Services Initiative: Social Innovation Approach to Dashboard Design 
• Bronze, Best Special Event: Missed and Missing 
• Bronze, Best Donor Relations Initiative: Cause & Effect Podcast 
• Bronze, Best Student/Young Alumni Initiative:  Gaels of the Last Decade

This success is all thanks to your talent, dedication, and creativity. So please take a moment to celebrate this recognition from our industry peers. 

Advancement Leadership Team Q&A

This is a friendly reminder that the next Advancement Leadership Team Q&A session will be at 11 am ET on Thursday, June 1.

For those who are new to Queen’s Advancement, the rules for these open Q&A sessions are as follows: attendance is optional; anyone can ask any member of the ALT any question on any topic; and there will be no pre-set agendas so the Q&A session will last as long as attendees have questions. (The optional Zoom meeting already in your calendar is booked for up to 45 minutes.) Please come prepared with the questions you would like to pose to ALT.

We understand that some people may not be comfortable asking questions in front of a group. If you would prefer to submit your question(s) via an anonymous survey, we are happy to provide that option. Bianca Bruni will manage these anonymous questions. Submitters will not be identified to Bianca through the survey, and she will ask the questions on your behalf at the ALT Q&A. 

Please consider questions you would like the ALT to answer and either come prepared to ask them Thursday, June 1, or submit them via the anonymous survey by 4 pm Tuesday, May 30. Members of the ALT look forward to the discussion, and we will do our best to answer your questions.

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 more information on this posting, please reach out to either Carla Ferreira Rodrigues or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.