Learn About the QUAA

You will often hear me reference my work with the QUAA, hear of QUAA Board meetings, Gala, and AVS. This alumni body is an active, vibrant, passionate, and dedicated group of alumni volunteers from diverse backgrounds.  I enjoy my work with them immensely and would like to take the opportunity to share additional details with you regarding their role, goals, and objectives. If you want to hear alumni voices on certain topics, need a volunteer speaker, alumni representation at an event, or simply an alum to contact a student, please consider reaching out to the QUAA!

Here is a document that outlines each of the portfolios on the QUAA Board, as well as the scope of their outreach. I recently spoke at our all-staff meeting about their dedication to EDII and the creation of their Racial Justice and Equity sub-committee.  They are committed to taking action and demonstrating real change and impact in this area. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the QUAA, and don’t hesitate to reach out to me for more information or to connect with the board.

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."
– Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA) mission statement

Advancing your voice anonymously

The Advancement Leadership Team (ALT) is excited to announce a new tool, Advancing Your Voice, to provide additional ways for you to be heard. In short, this is a virtual suggestion box that will be piloted for the next six months.

We always want to promote a culture of open communication and encourage everyone to bring comments, questions, suggestions, and concerns forward through your manager, your ALT member, Human Resources, the Human Rights and Equity Office, the university Ombudsperson, or your union steward, but we recognize there may be times when you wish to remain anonymous. Learn more about this new tool here.

Key cybersecurity initiatives coming this fall

By: Simon Labbett, Associate Director, Applications and Infrastructure, Office of Advancement

The Cybersecurity Action Plan 2019-21 remains one of the main initiatives for the ITM team, and I wanted to provide a quick update on progress and what to expect in the coming months.

Our MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) rollout is progressing very well, and I wanted to thank all those that have already enrolled.  You have helped us lead the way among VP groups, and we currently sit at 69% enrollment, which has us ahead of the pack by over 12%. To those that have not yet registered, please contact the Service Desk for help to get registered.

In the next few weeks, you will receive an email from Central ITS with information regarding the Endpoint Protection project. Advancement has volunteered to be an early adopter of this solution and will begin the implementation ahead of the broader campus community. This initiative will help secure all devices that connect to Queen’s resources. Initially, it will be used to report centrally regarding the security profile and health of all devices owned by Queen’s or connected to a Queen’s network, which will help inform future decisions on a minimum standard for devices at Queen’s.  Eventually, the software will restrict access from machines that do not meet the minimum set of standards outlined within the software.  This ensures the security of Queen’s digital assets and prevents malicious attempts to access Queen’s infrastructure.  With the increased number of breaches and malware incidents in the last few months, this is a critical project.

To complement the Endpoint Protection project, an Education and Awareness project will launch in October. The purpose of the Queen’s Education and Awareness project is to assess and prioritize the awareness and education needs of Queen’s students, staff, and faculty. The project outlines a framework for providing security-related information and messaging to students, staff, and faculty to support general cybersecurity awareness.  More details on this will be available in early October.

We are working with IT Services to keep you updated.  Please keep an eye out for the communications that will be sent to you from IT Services in the months to come and follow up on an all actions requested of you. 

The University is making significant investments to ensure a secure foundation for Queen’s digital environment that will protect our data and systems, and each initiative plays a critical role in building our comprehensive cybersecurity capabilities. Thank you in advance for your active participation in contributing to the success of these efforts.

If you have any questions regarding any of these initiatives or other security questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Working with underrepresented alumni & donors 

I would encourage everyone to view this webinar. Please take a moment to check out an extremely informative session on this topic. 

Employee spotlight

The Employee Spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new 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!

This week we welcome the arrival of Ruth Dunley to the position of Director, Strategic Communications and Events within the Department of Advancement Communications, Marketing, Events and Donor Relations. Click here to learn more about Ruth, her interest in genealogy, and what she’s most looking forward to in her role!

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 vacancy below with your networks and let’s find some amazing new team members.

Applications (including a cover letter and resume) must be submitted through CareerQ. For additional information on this posting, please reach out to either Katelyn, Carla, or the hiring manager for the position you are interested in.

Available Position:

Fun fact

Memorial Room

This small, ornate room in the John Deutsch University Centre commemorates the 351 Queen's students and alumni who died in the First and Second World Wars. It features two large bronze plaques inscribed with the names of those who died, a stone altar, stained glass windows, and seven oil paintings of men and women from each branch of the Canadian Forces, painted by Toronto artist Marion Long.

A large quotation from Wordsworth runs around the perimeter of the room: "We must be free or die who speak the tongue that Shakespeare spake/The faith and morals hold which Milton held." The quotation and the inscriptions on the altar were chosen by Queen's former Vice-Principal William McNeill.