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Administrative and Technical Staff Work Together to Define Excellence at Faculty Day

 
   
  Faculty Day

By Shilpa Gantotti

On February 16, 2010, more than 140 administrative and technical staff within the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering gathered at 89 Chestnut to participate in Faculty Day 2010: Defining Administrative Excellence.

"We had record-setting attendance for Faculty Day this year," said Catherine Gagne, Chief Administrative Officer and organizer of Faculty Day. "The theme of Administrative Excellence was chosen to align with a major planning initiative currently underway in the Faculty. With every Department and Unit within the Faculty putting together their academic plans for the next five years, the Dean and I felt it was important that administrative and technical staff had a voice in this planning process. The Faculty will incorporate the outcomes of Faculty Day into the Faculty’s academic plans, which should be finalized by Spring."

The day-long event started with Dean Cristina Amon setting the stage and articulating the importance of administrative and technical staff contributions to the Academic Planning process. Throughout the day, participants met for small group discussions and exercises led by group facilitator and consultant Scott Ferguson. Through the guided exercises and discussions, attendees reflected on the importance of their individual roles, how their roles impacted the greater success of the Faculty, and outlined practical strategies for administrative and technical staff to help the Faculty achieve its overarching goals.

Some recurring themes throughout the day included: the meaning of excellence, providing quality experiences for a variety of stakeholders, promoting collaboration among colleagues, using and allocating resources effectively, creating a positive work environment, and going above and beyond.

"I was surprised and pleased to find that most of us shared common viewpoints on what administrative excellence means and came up with significant themes and concepts to define it," said Renzo Basset, Director of Technical Services for the Department of Civil Engineering and attendee at Faculty Day. "This will have a long-term impact on the effective functioning of the Faculty, and as such, will also help to define part of the Faculty's academic plan."

Other staff, such as Kelly Hayward, Program Manager in the Emerging Communications Technology Institute, welcomed the opportunity to participate and contribute to the Faculty’s academic planning through Faculty Day. "Planning from an administrative perspective is an activity that I often don't spend enough time on, so focusing on it for an entire day was a good reminder of its importance," said Kelly.

Lesley Mak, Student Success Specialist in the First Year Office, felt that Faculty Day reflected a collaborative effort—allowing staff to share their experiences with people they would not normally interact with. "While we all had a similar vision of administrative excellence, we were able to contribute different creative approaches to achieving it. I look forward to seeing what proposals and action plans come from this discussion," Lesley said.

The Faculty is already exploring some of the suggestions and ideas that came from Faculty Day to promote administrative excellence. "We would like to create an online forum where staff can post information about their areas of expertise along with their best practices," says Catherine Gagne. "Such a forum would allow us to network and congregate virtually, which is something we don’t often have the opportunity to do face-to-face. There are many technical and administrative staff making great contributions around the Faculty, and now we’ll have a way to share this excellence with our peers."

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The Engineering Newsletter is a twice-monthly summary of key headlines, events and opportunities for faculty and staff in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. If you have questions or comments, please contact us: dean.engineering@ecf.utoronto.ca.

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