As I write this newsletter, my second dose of COVID-19 vaccine is taking full effect. It’s a great feeling and one that more and more of us share every day. What’s clear, though, is that our lives will never be quite the same, at least when it comes to our work.
By now you will have received the worksheets and background materials to guide you through the steps required to set up our hybrid work arrangements for the pilot project Queen’s Human Resources is conducting with the Office of Advancement. While we won’t know what things look like until everyone has had a chance to complete their formal requests, it’s clear from the several surveys that we have conducted over the past few months that the vast majority of us want to continue working from home at least part of the time going forward. It is also clear that most of us would like to see our colleagues in person from time to time. With that in mind, ALT has been discussing opportunities for us to all be together from time to time even as we continue to work remotely.
More information will be forthcoming shortly as we finalize calendars, but so far it looks like it would make sense for us to get together as an Advancement team – as much as it is possible to get everyone together – four times a year in October, December, March and June. Those times are subject to change as we refine our thinking and receive feedback from you. These occasions would include an all-staff meeting or holiday gathering as well as an opportunity for units and departments to meet in person. Please let us know what you think about these times and whether you have any other ideas about how we might gather in person occasionally.
I look forward to seeing all of you soon!
We won!
Advancement was recently honoured with a 2021 CASE Circle of Excellence Award, winning bronze for The Notebook: A Journey of Giving. As many of you know, this initiative was completed in record time and was so appreciated by our alumni that we have updated it for the Class of 2021. Conceived by Ben Seewald, Ruth Dunley and Lisa Riley last fall, the project was nonetheless accomplished through the hard work of many on our Advancement team as well as our faculty partners. This is a great accomplishment, summed up best in a note we received from an alumni engagement consulting firm: “The competition for any of the CASE awards is VERY stiff. I have served on the CASE awards judging panels, and I can say first-hand that the sheer volume of submissions for any of the categories is almost overwhelming. Any institution that wins an award is definitely the cream of the crop, and there is often a very slim margin between the gold, silver and bronze recipients. So, Queen's rocked it as usual!!!”
Congratulations to the many people who were involved in this initiative, from the signing of bookmarks to the distribution of nearly $15,000 to charity in the name of our alumni, to the planning and execution of the very successful Golden Ticket event in May. A special thanks also to Deborah Melman-Clement for her role in coordinating and writing all our awards submissions.
Our new website
The new, Advancement website will launch soon on WebPublish which is Queen’s centrally supported content management system for creating websites. The new site is elegant and modern, has a new user experience and will be easier to maintain. More information will be added over the summer (optional staff bios, for example). I would like to thank Madelaine Johnson for leading this project. I invite you to take a look around the new site and let us know what you think. Any updates can be sent to Madelaine.
Also in website news, Alex and Madelaine are working with the agency, Massive Media to build a new Queen’s Alumni Review website that complements the recently redesigned magazine. This work is expected to be completed this fall. Stay tuned for more information.
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 or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.
Available Position:
| POSITION | UNIT AND DEPARTMENT | CLOSING DATE | GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Director, Development, Faculty of Health Sciences | Development, Faculty of Health Sciences | July 5, 2021 | 12 |
Did you know?
A lesson in technicolour
The colour motion picture process Technicolor was patented in 1916 by Herbert Kalmus, an MIT graduate who came to Queen's University in 1913 as a physics professor in the then-School of Mining. Though told by colleagues he was wasting his time, Dr. Kalmus continued to work on refining the technology while teaching at Queen’s.
Technicolor was incorporated in 1915 by a company founded by Dr. Kalmus and his business partners, Daniel F. Comstock and W. Burton Wescott. Becky Sharp was the first Hollywood feature entirely shot in three-strip Technicolor using Kalmus’ technology in 1935. Kalmus went on to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.
"A legacy of game-changers". This information was published (2015, April 1) in the Queen's Gazette.