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Article written by Coco Doré, Senior Advisor, EDII, Carla Ferreira Rodrigues, Director, Human Resources and Olivia Thedorf, Human Resources Advisor

Hello Advancement Colleagues, 
 
As part of the project work we are completing in Human Resources (HR) & Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism (I-EDIAA), one of our approved tasks is to partner with the Human Rights & Equity Office (HREO) to deploy a new I COUNT Census survey in order to obtain an accurate and up-to-date profile of our current staff and how representative we are of the Canadian workforce. This survey is about you helping us ensure that accurate information on the composition of the workforce is collected at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. While completing the survey is voluntary, the participation of every Advancement employee is critical to assess designated group representation in different occupational groups and levels, help set goals, and monitor progress in reaching those goals.

Background on the Survey: 

As an office representing university employees  and as a part of the university’s obligation to the Federal Contractor’s Program (FCP), the HREO is required to send the I COUNT – Queen’s Equity Census to all employees. Letting Queen’s know who you are as an individual helps ensure we are who we want to be as an institution. 
 
Queen’s wants to go beyond simply being compliant with the FCP. The university wants to build an inclusive workplace that represents not only the four federally designated groups (women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, racialized/visible minorities) but also includes representation of other equity-deserving groups such as members of the Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and additional secual orientations and gender identities (2SLGBTQ+) community. Having all employees complete the census plays a crucial role in Queen’s ability to track progress towards inclusive excellence through diversity. Thank you for playing an important role in helping the university reach its goals.
 
All Advancement staff are asked to take just a couple of minutes to complete this confidential survey. If you have completed the census in the past, when you click on the link, your pervious answers will be displayed, and you will have a chance to review/revise them. Please note that census information provided by individuals can be changed at any time. 
 
To complete the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Equity Census, use your Queen’s netid. Only authorized persons in HREO will have access to the census information. All reports will be provided to Advancement in summary form only, so that no individual can be identified. 
  
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey by Oct. 6, 2023. The anonymous results of this survey will be shared with staff in an upcoming ALTogether Now Newsletter.
 
If you have any questions, please contact Olivia, Coco, or Carla.

I-EDIAA and Truth and Reconciliation Commission Task Force report 

Each year we prepare two reports for the provost, one on the highlights of I-EDIAA initiatives and the other specific to Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Task Force Report recommendations. You can find both reports here I:\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\I-EDIAA\2022-2023\Year end reports.
  
Also, check out the guidelines on inclusive language on the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ website under Brand Central - Style Guides Inclusive Language | Brand Central | ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ (queensu.ca).

Nominate an Advancement colleague for a Heney Award

"Nothing is more flattering than being recognized by your peers, and it was indeed heartwarming to be held in high regard by one’s colleagues as I was when I won The Heney in 2015. I felt (and still do) that without the guidance, advice, and mentoring I received from everyone up until that moment, I would not have flourished as I did. Since then, I hope I have passed along the same motivation, guidance, and support to my fellow Advancement staff." -  2015 Heney winner Marnie Girard, Co-ordinator, Donor Relations

 
The John J. Heney Award is presented in honour of John J. Heney, former Director of Development and recipient of the Queen’s Distinguished Service Award.
 
Each year, it is presented to a member of our Advancement team who best exemplifies the characteristics of commitment to the advancement profession, superb performance, who exemplifies Advancement’s mission, vision, and values, and devotion to the organization. Visit the Office of Advancement website to view past award recipients. Any staff member in the Office of Advancement may submit a nomination. 
 
The John J. Heney Award Selection Committee is composed of current Advancement employees who have won the Heney.

Who can be nominated:

• All staff members of the Office of Advancement, including continuing and term employees.
• The award is to recognize one individual and not a unit, group, or team.
• Previous award winners may be nominated and receive the award more than once, at the discretion of The John J. Heney Award Selection Committee.
• If a person in a previous year was not selected, they can be re-nominated.

Award criteria:

Nominations are based on the employee’s previous 12- to 18-month work period and demonstrate concrete examples to support the application criteria.

The nominator must address the rationale for the nomination, based on any of the following criteria: 

• Commitment to the advancement profession, professionalism, and compassion.  
• Superb performance in achieving the strategic objectives of the Office of Advancement that embodies the Advancement mission, vision, and values.
• Devotion to the organization and/or the broader university.
• The nominator must include how the employee has demonstrated initiative above and beyond the regular call of duty in their work.

There is an All nominations must be submitted no later than midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Late applications will not be accepted.
 
Please take some time to nominate today – if you have any questions, please contact Carla Ferreira Rodrigues.

Flynn award

Nominations are now being accepted for The T. Geoffrey Flynn Advancement Champions Award. 
 
This award is presented annually to honour an individual member of the Queen’s community who has made a significant contribution to linking Queen’s University’s advancement activities with research and teaching excellence at Queen’s. Such a contribution might be related to: outstanding effort, organization, and results as an Advancement "champion;" playing a strong leadership role in integrating the role of advancement within a faculty, school, department, unit, or volunteer organization; becoming involved in advancement work in addition to their duties; performing regular duties that assist the advancement function in a superlative way. 
 
All members of the Queen’s community are eligible, including faculty and staff, apart from individuals who are part of the Office of Advancement. will be accepted until Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. For more information, please contact Bianca Bruni.

Summerhill, Old Meds update

After the successful conclusion of our Hybrid Working Environment Pilot in April, we have taken decisive steps to embrace a remote-first work environment and move forward in making Summerhill our permanent home, transitioning away from Old Meds. For a detailed account of the hybrid pilot results, you can review the ALTogether Now Newsletter dated May 1.

Our transition from Old Meds to Summerhill will be thoughtfully executed in stages and with careful planning. As a first step we would like to share some key decisions that have been made concerning dedicated spaces and upcoming developments scheduled for this calendar year.

Dedicated Spaces identified:

• Room 006: Storage for Homecoming, marketing, event supplies, and Donor Relations files
• Room 101: Reception area
• Room 109/110: Alumni lounge
• Rooms 201 & 203: Gift Services
• Room 216: Planned Giving
• Room 224: Service Desk

To help you navigate, a map of Summerhill can be found in the Booking Tool on QUIRC. You can also access it directly here I:\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\Building a Better Workplace\Map of Summerhill.pdf.

To get started, we have Purtells Moving Company coming on Sept. 29 to do the following:

• Room 006: Configure as a storage room and remove cabinets from the hallway
• Room 109/110: Remove the desks at the back of the room in preparation for the Alumni Lounge
• Room 224: Replace one desk with cabinet to be used as a bench for the Service Desk
• Remove any damaged furniture located behind the stairs

Once we have more details on steps to follow, we will let you know. In the meantime, if you have questions, concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Deanna Bennett. Your feedback and input are highly valued as we work towards creating a more efficient and collaborative workspace at Summerhill. 

Announcement for Encompass users

We are upgrading to a new email editor on Sept. 28. Encompass (our broadcast email tool) has made several changes to the existing tool, and we are taking the email platform offline for two business days to implement those updates. We will be sharing more information with Encompass users over the next few days to help them prepare for this transition. This update will require about an hour of mandatory training, and we ask that staff complete this before the update.

The system will be unavailable Sept. 28–29, so please plan your email communications accordingly. 
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Lana Unsworth. 

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. 

Last week, we welcomed two new members to Advancement:

Senior Programmer, ITM, Khalil Khan. and where he was born and raised.

Executive Director, Development, FEAS, Candace Harrington. and what you might find her doing outside of work.

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.