Employees Celebrate Success and Look to the Future at Town Hall
Posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
They came to hear about Algonquin College’s 2015-16 Budget and Business Plan – but they were treated to far more.
Wednesday’s Budget and Business Plan Town Hall for employees covered a wide variety of topics – everything from the College’s present to the College’s future, from great successes to points of concern, and from the President’s recent listening tour to next steps.
President Jensen opened up the Town Hall with a message of reassurement for the over 450 employees present and watching via live stream, after Tuesday’s announcement of terrorism-related charges against three Ottawa area men.
“We just want to make sure that our students feel very safe and secure here, and our staff feel very safe and secure. I’ve talked to you a lot about our values here at Algonquin of caring, learning, integrity, and respect. I see that everywhere in our institution and I see it in our students. And I know by engaging our students in those values that we have a very important role to play in making sure our students feel that they’re engaged.”
She further encouraged employees to check their emails for a more fulsome response.
Cheryl also took the opportunity to provide an update on her Listening Tour. She identified four key takeaways:
- Employees truly enjoy working at Algonquin College
- People appreciated being asked how we can improve
- A few big issues require immediate attention
- Several big issues need more study and discussion
To respond to some of the big issues, Cheryl announced the formation of three task forces. These task forces, headed by members of President’s Council, will issue preliminary reports back to the College on March 15 and full reports on June 15. The issues to be tackled include:
- Retention and Enrolment, with Vice Presidents Claude Brulé and Laura Stanbra taking the lead;
- Automation and Process Improvement, with Vice Presidents Duane McNair and Doug Wotherspoon leading the project; and
- Part-time Pay, which Director of Labour Relations Diane McCutcheon and President Jensen will examine.
Cheryl further indicated that a re-organization of her senior executive team was in progress, with the upcoming creation of a new Vice President, Digital Technologies and Innovation position; the movement of Communications under the Vice President, International and Strategic Priorities; and with Recruitment and Marketing now falling under the Vice President, Student Services to provide a consistent flowthrough as applicants become students and students become alumni.
For more details on Chery’s Listening Tour, stay tuned for the final report next week and watch for her next President’s Newsletter.
Doug Wotherspoon, Vice President, International, Communications, and Strategic Priorities then took us through the Business Plan, and Duane McNair, Vice President, Finance and Administration covered the 2015-16 Budget. Download the Budget and Business Plan here.
Of course, that wasn’t enough excitement for one day. Following a few questions from the audience, the audience was joined by Carol Anne Meehan, anchor for CTV Ottawa News at 6 and Honorary graduate of Algonquin College.
“I’m here to tell you about what’s on the show tonight, just to save you the trouble of tuning in,” joked Carol Anne, before delivering the great news that Algonquin College had been named a Top Employer in the National Capital Region for 2015.
“Congratulations to you and your President on such a wonderful award,” Carol Anne added.
This very prestigious designation is given out by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers organization who, in turn, manage regional competitions and recognize employers in specific parts of the country who are leaders in their industries in offering exceptional places to work. The selection process for the National Capital Region Top 25 Employers is done by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers using the same eight criteria as the national competition:
- Physical Workplace;
- Work Atmosphere & Social;
- Health, Financial & Family Benefits;
- Vacation & Time Off;
- Employee Communications;
- Performance Management;
- Training & Skills Development; and
- Community Involvement.
As Carol Anne finished her comments, and passed Cheryl the award, a banner was unveiled identifying the College as a Top Employer and allowing all who attended the chance to sign. Each audience member also left with a post-it pad bearing the National Capital Region Top 25 employer logo.
Rewatch the entire event here.
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