2010 Canada’s Greenest Employers
As previously announced, the Board of Governors ratified Georgian’s new five-year strategic plan on March 25. The next month, the College learned of a national honour that affirms the progress we are making on one of our strategic priorities, to build sustainability through innovation. One important objective under this priority is to “promote environmental sustainability on our campuses and across our curriculum.” As part of the recent Earth Day celebrations across the country, I was delighted to announce that Georgian was named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers in the Globe and Mail (April 22). I was proud to share the milestone with staff during our own Earth Day celebrations. Canada’s Greenest Employers are selected each year by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers. Now in its fourth year, the award recognizes employers who lead the nation in making environmental values a vital part of their organizational culture. Honoured for exceptional earth-friendly initiatives, the winners continue to attract talent and customers because of their environmental leadership. They are chosen from among applicants to the Top 100 Employers, to which Georgian was named for four consecutive years.
Georgian was commended for its strategy of advancing and promoting three environmental priorities: waste reduction and diversion; enhanced environmental literacy; and increased scrutiny of sustainability issues when purchasing goods and services. I hasten to add that Georgian has been recognized nationally elsewhere as a leader in energy conservation initiatives. Nonetheless, while we are proud of this award, we also know there is much more we can do. Our road to sustainability is a series of small steps that collectively make a significant difference. Congratulations to Dianne Corrigan, to members of the Environmental Sustainability Committee, and to the countless staff and students who have adopted our environmental commitment as a personal cause. This was very evident again this year in all of the volunteers who showed up for the clean-up activities at the Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound and Midland campuses. The events also included tree plantings, the launch of battery and small appliance recycling programs, and adopt-an-area initiatives.
Protecting Lake Simcoe
I am also pleased that Georgian is contributing to the health of Lake Simcoe this summer with a project to examine phosphorous levels and septic run-off on three islands in the southern portion of the lake. Our Environmental Engineering staff and students are collaborating on the project with Georgina Island First Nation and the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority. This follows a successful Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund submission to the federal government.
I was recently appointed by the province as Chair of the Lake Simcoe Co-ordinating Committee. This 12-member committee provides a forum to co-ordinate the implementation of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, and to identify and resolve issues related to implementing the plan. My appointment term is three years.
Vision 2015
Our new strategic plan – Vision 2015 – provides us with a roadmap to our future. It is a framework to guide our decisions and actions over the next five years, which we envision as a period of continued growth and change. In keeping with the guiding principles established by the Board, Vision 2015 was developed through extensive consultation, with input from over 1,000 staff, students and external stakeholders. I thank everyone who participated in the process. In doing so, you added your own imprint to Georgian’s strategic direction. That vision translates into our five strategic priorities, along with meaningful and very Georgian-specific mission, vision and values statements (full plan available at http://www.georgianc.on.ca/president/strategic-planning/).
Implementation of the plan is underway. The recent announcement of our new organizational structure will include changes to vice president portfolios to better support our strategic priorities. Consistent with our “green” commitment, the emphasis will be on communicating the plan in digital form as much as possible, although printed copies will be made available to reach a wide audience, and a formal document will be unveiled at Georgian Day. The existing posters highlighting Georgian’s previous vision and mission, currently on display in various locations across our campuses, will be replaced with new updated posters beginning this fall. The impact of any strategic plan comes down to effective implementation steps that will continue to unfold over the next few months. Various project teams will be established to support the implementation of the plan, including our strategy to “champion employee engagement” over the next five years. Stay tuned to learn of ways in which you can get involved. Commitments in the five-year plan will be integrated into all administrators’ Balanced Scorecards to ensure all areas of the College are working toward common goals.
Georgian Day
Vision 2015 will be introduced to the Georgian community on Georgian Day, June 2. I urge staff from all our campuses to take part in this entertaining and informative day. It provides unparalleled opportunities to network and socialize with your Georgian peers from across our seven campuses. The event kicks off in the Georgian College Theatre, Barrie Campus, at 9 a.m. Keynote speaker Nina Spencer will share lessons from her new book Getting Passion out of Your Profession. You will also see entertaining videos produced by each campus – always one of the highlights of Georgian Day. Following a barbecue lunch, you will have a choice of 30 different workshops which follow the theme of our strategic plan: Inspire – Transform – Connect. Please plan to attend.
Quality Lives Here
Several months ago, I reported on our Program Quality Assurance Process Audit in which the College received top marks in all six areas – five individual criteria and one overall rating. No Ontario college has scored higher for the simple fact that Georgian received the highest possible marks in all categories. This independently conducted audit is the provincial standard for college post-secondary program quality assurance. The auditors were glowing in their praise of Georgian’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning, and to supporting student success. I was extremely proud to read these quotes from the report: “Georgian College is to be commended on living the quality assurance and continuous improvement processes, as these are clearly imbedded in the culture and reflected in day-to-day activities. College staff are genuinely and consistently engaged in supporting student success. The culture of the College reflects a consistent commitment to quality.”
Thought Leadership
Add it up and Georgian has much to celebrate – not only a visionary strategic plan and environmental awards, but also pace-setting enrolment growth and quality academic audit results that are “best of class.” Our new strategic plan will be unveiled to the broader community over the next several weeks and we will also publicly promote many of our other achievements. As part of the strategy to better connect with our community and industry, Georgian is hosting a series of “Thought Leadership” sessions across all our campus locations that will attract many top business leaders in each community. We started this community engagement one year ago in Barrie. The most recent sessions were held on May 13 in Orillia and May 19 in Midland. Thought Leadership makes a return engagement to Barrie on June 3, and plans are well underway for the remainder of the campuses to welcome their respective business leaders in the early fall. Each session will include an update on Georgian’s achievements, and input from the business leaders on how Georgian can connect locally to enhance economic and social development.
Collaborative BScN Accreditation
I received more good news on the academic front in late April when Dean Cass Thompson informed me that the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) had approved a seven-year accreditation term retroactive to November 2007 for the York-Georgian-Seneca Collaborative BScN Educational Program. The length of the term comes as great news to Georgian, as does an advisory from CASN that no interim report will be required as part of this accreditation renewal. The result of all this is that the next on-site evaluation by the association will not take place until April 2017. Receiving this level of affirmation and support from a provincial accrediting body can never be taken for granted. In actual fact, such accreditation is only granted when institutions have demonstrated a consistently high standard of quality and academic excellence. The CASN announcement is a most fitting and richly deserved tribute to Cass, Liz Erwin, Linda Love and the entire Health and Wellness team. Also, the timing of the evaluation results could not have been better in providing considerable motivation and confidence as we rapidly move forward on the construction of the Centre for Health and Wellness in Barrie.
Health and Wellness Update
I am delighted to report that work on the Centre for Health and Wellness at the Barrie Campus remains on schedule. Prices tendered for the next stage of construction involving the envelope and interior of the facility are actually lower than estimated. This should allow us to complete even more of the project in Phase One than was initially anticipated. Discussions with the Ontario government are ongoing regarding confirmation of Phase Two funding, which is now $10 million. Our goal is to receive a firm commitment for this balance by later this fall.
Preview Sessions
Your commitment to quality was most evident at this year’s hugely successful Preview Sessions held in Owen Sound, Orillia, Midland and Barrie. We estimate that almost 4,000 students and family members visited the various locations – an all-time record for this annual event. Thanks to the clean-up work of staff on Earth Day, the campuses showed extremely well. The large turnout, combined with countless comments from students and parents praising our attention to detail and service, prove once again the success of this popular event, thanks to you.
Board of Governors’ Awards
May is also awards month at Georgian when we celebrate the year’s line-up of Board of Governors’ award recipients. The awards luncheon was held on May 27 to a packed crowd in the Georgian Dining Room. I was extremely impressed by the number and quality of nominations this year across the internal and external categories, presenting an extremely difficult task for the Board’s Awards Selection Committee. The names of all the winners have already been announced in College Capsule¸ but as this is my last newsletter of this academic year, I’d like to take this opportunity to once again recognize and congratulate the following recipients:
Award of Excellence – Terry Speare (Support Staff), Jack Playne (Faculty) and Karen McPhatter (Administration)
Innovation Award - Advertising faculty Coralee Young and Sarah Davis for their leading-edge Tree Fort student initiative
Professional Development Award – Liz Erwin
Team Award – PeopleSoft Team (Human Resources, Information Technology and Deloitte); Banner Update Team (IT, Office of the Registrar and Financial Services)
Distinguished Alumni Award - Karen Brown, Senior Program Facilitator (Ontario Early Years Centre); Mike Kelly – Director of Player Development (Ontario Golf Association); Krysia Piorczynski – Owner (Ryland Cove Ltd.)
Distinguished Partnership Award - Ontario Fire College, PowerStream, Lions Club of Barrie, and Ipsos Canada
Board of Governors’ Award – Tom Ambeau, Sr.
Georgian’s academic awards will be presented at future convocations. The honourees include:
Honourary Bachelor Degrees - Laura Formusa (President and CEO Hydro One); Brian Bentz (President and CEO PowerStream); Jon Montgomery (Olympic Gold Medallist, 2010 Vancouver Winter Games)
Professor Emerita – Trish Byers
Board of Governors’ Medal - Ian D’Mello, Marine Technology, Navigation
Board of Governor’s Degree Studies Medal – April Scott, BA, Honours (Laurentian@Georgian)
I could write pages on the background of each of these award winners, but just listing them speaks volumes about the quality of students, staff and community partners on whom Georgian relies to inspire, transform and connect, literally on a daily basis.
Operation Hero
A former Board of Governor member and Honourary Colonel of Base Borden has combined two of his passions to support a heroic cause. Jamie Massie is sponsoring Operation Hero, which involves individuals and organizations making a minimum $1,000 donation to help military families access academic programs at Georgian College. Each donor will receive a framed Canadian flag, folded by military personnel. A flag for each $1,000 donated will line the road to the June 5 Air Show at Base Borden. It is hoped that $200,000 will be raised, which, when matched by the government, will create an endowment of some $400,000. The intent for such an endowment will be used to issue scholarships and bursaries to military family members. Congratulations to Jamie for further supporting the military and Georgian in this meaningful way!
Collingwood Campus Groundbreaking
Completing an incredible month of May, Georgian celebrated a historic event in Collingwood on May 28 with the groundbreaking ceremony for our long-awaited permanent campus. It has taken 22 years of tenacity and determination to reach this point, but the diligence paid off when the College received $4 million from the federal government’s Community Adjustment Fund earlier in April. With the support of the Town of Collingwood and the generosity of local developer John di Pocce of Eden Oak Developments, we are able to parlay the federal investment into a 20,000-square-foot campus with combined building and land valued at approximately $9.6 million.
I could not be happier that Lynn Hynd, Collingwood Campus Manager, the local staff, and the Collingwood area will finally have a post-secondary campus to call home. The Campus will also serve Wasaga Beach, Clearview Township including Stayner, Town of Blue Mountains and Meaford. I will share more details about the new Campus in future newsletters as we approach the official opening in September 2011.
Tim Hortons
I know everyone at the Barrie Campus will be pleased to hear that efforts are underway this summer to make one small but much-needed improvement. We are working with Chartwells to find solutions to alleviate the long line-ups at Tim Hortons. I am optimistic that we will have measures in place in time for the busy start of the semester in September. The focus will be on making people aware of how we can all contribute to reducing the line-ups. We want to encourage staff to take their breaks at times that will not interfere with the limited time students have to get coffee between classes. Our Tim’s operates very efficiently with an average 22-second transaction time. This is better than the 30-second corporate Tim’s average. We are hoping all staff can help us manage the line-ups by going for coffee at quieter times. We hope to share more information about this in the fall.
Georgian can take you places!
As regular readers are aware, I often like to use this newsletter to highlight alumni achievements that come to my attention. Recently, I was reading an article in the Globe and Mail describing how Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa in Cambridge has been named to the venerable S. Pellegrino list of the World’s 100 Best Restaurants for 2010. Those who work in the hospitality industry know that this selection is akin to winning an Olympic gold medal for hospitality operations. The annual list, compiled by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, is based on input from more than 800 chefs, food critics, restaurateurs and what organizers call “well-travelled gourmands” from 27 regions around the world. Langdon Hall was one of two Canadian establishments chosen for 2010, and this is the first time in seven years that Canadian eateries have been recognized. Much to my delight, I learned that the executive chef at Langdon Hall, Jonathan Gushue, is a Georgian graduate. He studied in Hotel and Resort Operations in 1993 and then Culinary Management in 1994. Jonathan was delighted to receive congratulations from the Alumni Office and he is currently featured on the Alumni website.
Finally, as this is my last newsletter until August, I want to wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable summer. The schedule for our annual President’s Breakfasts at the end of the summer is posted below. I look forward to seeing you there!
President’s Breakfast Schedule
Barrie Campus
- Thursday, Aug. 19, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 31, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
- Thursday, Sept. 2, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Location: The Last Class. RSVP to ext. 5148.
Midland Campus
- Wednesday, Sept. 1, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Location: cafeteria. RSVP to ext. 3703.
Orillia Campus
- Thursday, Aug. 26, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Location: cafeteria. RSVP to ext. 3080.
Owen Sound Campus
- Tuesday, Aug. 24, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.
Location: Georgian Dining Room. RSVP to ext. 2040.
