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Queen's University names the Stephen J.R. Smith Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

Deanna Bennett, Executive Director, Office of the Vice-Principal (Advancement) - Nov 06, 2023

Last Thursday was such an extraordinary day! Principal Deane announced a new name for the university’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in honour of a historic $100-million gift by leading Canadian financial services entrepreneur and philanthropist Stephen J. R. Smith, who earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Queen’s in 1972. 

This is a momentous philanthropic gift that will have a lasting impact on our institution and the communities we serve. It is the largest gift made to an engineering faculty in Canada, one of the largest to any university in Canada, and one of the largest ever to Queen’s. The gift will drive Queen’s vision to transform STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) through engineering education and to position its engineering graduates to have a lasting impact on Canada and the world.  

“Queen’s is incredibly grateful for this remarkable gift from such a distinguished alumnus and outstanding Canadian as Stephen Smith,” said Principal Deane. “Stephen’s transformational gift will benefit faculty and students for generations to come. The significance of this investment, and the renaming of the faculty, signal the beginning of a new era – one that builds on a foundation of 130 years of excellence.” 

ALT would like to express our sincere appreciation for all the diligent efforts that have brought us to this moment. The dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment of every individual in our organization who played a pivotal role in reaching this milestone is extraordinary. To celebrate, we are hoping Advancement staff will join us on Tuesday, Dec. 5 starting at 3:30 pm in Summerhill to celebrate this achievement as a team. 

Summary of Faculty name changes in Advancement systems 

Faculty name changes for Engineering and Business took effect across Advancement systems throughout the day and into the evening on Thursday, Nov. 2. 

Here is a summary of the changes you can expect in Advance, Tableau, Online Giving, and other web-based tools such as the Advancement Hub (including the Advancement Glossary, the Data Quality Library, etc.).

Application change schedule

  • Internal systems, including Advance and the Advancement Hub, were updated on Nov. 2.
  • Outward-facing tools and systems such as Online Giving (allocations) and Queen’s websites (central, faculty, advancement) were also updated throughout the day on Nov. 2.

If you notice any references to historical faculty names after Nov. 4, please flag them for the project team by  

Engineering Faculty naming 

Effectively immediately, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is officially the Stephen J. R. Smith Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University. The nomenclature of Smith Engineering at Queen’s University is considered primary and preferred.

  • The approved name to be used across Advancement systems is Smith Engineering.
  • The approved technical system variation used in Advancement systems is SmithEng. This variation will only appear in Advancement back-end systems, applications, and reports.
  • We should no longer use the terms “Queen’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science,” “Queen’s Engineering,” “FEAS,” or simply “Smith” in isolation.  

Business Faculty naming

To account for the Engineering faculty name change, you will no longer see references to “Smith” for the Smith School of Business.

  • The approved short name to be used across Advancement systems is Smith School of Business.
  • The approved technical system variation used in Advancement systems is SmithBus. This variation will only appear in Advancement back-end systems, applications, and reports.

Exceptions

  • The names of student and graduate awards will not change in Advancement-based systems until after the Monday, Nov. 27 meeting of the Senate Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid. Advancement staff should watch for announcements and updates on QUIRC.
  • While we will be updating Advance system code descriptions, the Advance codes themselves will not be changing (i.e., allocation codes, appeal codes, etc.).
  • Historical Contact Reports (CR), Entity Notes, Advance News (accessible on Advance under “Favourite Forms” on the home screen), Comments (form), and data stored in the Comments (fields) will not be updated. The new names should be used on a go-forward basis. 
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