PRESIDENT S DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS NOMINATION PACKAGE. National Student Recruitment, Enrolment Services. Jim Dunsdon, AVP Student Affairs

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1 PRESIDENT S DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS NOMINATION PACKAGE Nominee Information: Name of Nominee(s) Department or Unit: Nominee(s) Work Number: 3756 Nominees(s) Nominees Supervisor and/ Director Name: Nominees VP Name: Leah Stone National Student Recruitment, Enrolment Services stoneld@uvic.ca Jim Dunsdon, AVP Student Affairs Reeta Tremblay, VP Academic and Provost NOMINEE(S) SIGNATURE: Indicating agreement to be nominated and have name published with the list of nominees. For group nominations please use group consent form located on the website. Nominator Information: Nominator Name(s): Melanie Tromp Hoover Department or Unit: Office of the Vice-President Research Nominator(s) Work Number: 3849 Nominator(s) melaniet@uvic.ca PURPOSE: To celebrate outstanding contributions of university employees to the betterment of the university and its community. These awards do not replace Long Service Awards. This is an exemplary award. ELIGIBILITY: All employees are eligible for the awards with particular attention being given to contribution of staff. WHO CAN NOMINATE: Any UVic employee or recognized student organization can nominate an individual or team for these awards. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Monday, November 7, 2011 Return package and all supporting documentation electronically to: Clare Malcolmson claremal@uvic.ca in Human Resources 1 Page

2 Award Information: There are 2 categories of awards: Individual and Team. An employee may be nominated for both an Individual Award and a Team Award. (Individual) - Distinguished Service Awards The three individual awards are for outstanding contributions to the learning and working environment that are reflective of the University s commitment to its goals for people, quality, community and resources as set out in the Strategic Plan at This includes but is not limited to: excellence in service, support for students and staff, improving the work and learning environment, efforts to improve sustainability, and helping make the university community better for everyone. The 3 individual awards are: (1) Award for Excellence in Service OR Award for Excellence in Leadership (2 awards) To recognize excellence in service and/or support for students, faculty and staff; or, To recognize excellence in leadership either formal or informal, involving people, programs, projects, teams, and/or events. (2) First Five Years - Outstanding Contribution Award (1 award) To recognize outstanding contributions of faculty and staff in their first five years of employment at UVic. Contributions can be in the areas of service and support, sustainability, leadership and/or community. (Team) - Team Award for Innovation (1 award) The team award recognizes a team or group for innovations that improve an education, administrative or other organizational process through creative approaches, as set out in the strategic plan at It may recognize an initiative, project, program or technique that has been implemented. Teams may be permanent or ad hoc, and functional or cross-functional. 2 Page

3 How to Complete the Nomination Package Nominators are responsible for submitting the following information before the deadline: TEMPLATE: A fully completed nomination form and typed response to the award criteria questions. Templates are required for each specific award category. Click on the below award category to connect you to the corresponding template: o Award for Excellence in Service o Award for Excellence in Leadership o First Five Years Outstanding Contribution o Team Award for Innovation The template will expand as you type and should be no more than 3 pages (aprox. 500 words per page) or less in 12 pt font. IMPORTANT: All 3 questions must be answered individually, and NOT in a combined essay style. Be as detailed as possible with your responses. Submitted nomination packages not using the template will not be accepted. SUPPORTING MATERIAL: Please include no more than 7 additional pages of supporting material. Supporting material can include letters of support which verifies the individual s accomplishments and impact they have made. Letters can be from colleagues, students, clients, co-op employees, bosses, etc. Letters are to be no more than 500 words per letter. IMPORTANT: Information and quotes provided in this form or supporting documents could be included in speeches, publications and other communications materials. Please also note when nominating a team, you must complete the attached form which includes: name, contact information and signature of consent. 3 Page

4 Official Template to be used for Nominator s responses to The First Five Years - Outstanding Contribution Nominee s Name: LEAH STONE Q1 What has this individual done or accomplished that demonstrates outstanding contributions in their first five years of employment at UVic? Contributions can be: in the areas of service and support, leadership and/or community, that represents an outstanding contribution or improvement to the learning and working environment, or improving quality of life on campus and/or in the community by ensuring that sustainability is an integral part of campus culture, Thereby helping make the university community better for everyone. For the past three years I have had the immense pleasure of working alongside Leah s incredible vision and proactive leadership style, first as a recruiter and just two years later as a collaborative, effective and supportive manager within Enrolment Services. Her resilience in navigating change, aptitude for designing and applying innovative programming and her unflappable commitment to a service focus (especially in building relationships across campus, between UVic and other Canadian post-secondary institutions and between UVic and secondary school audiences across Canada) have provided a unique and inspiring example to the Student Affairs leadership group and her own team during an intense period of change. Her contributions have also been far-reaching in nature, speaking directly to institutional goals and helping make campus a little better for the hundreds of staff and thousands of prospective and new students that her ideas, outreach and service attitude touch. Specific accomplishments that contribute to UVic s learning/working environment include: - In her role as Recruitment Liaison for the BC Lower Mainland from , Leah increased UVic enrolment from this territory each year through personalized and servicefocused outreach with students, parents and high school counselors - She spearheaded the conception and implementation of tailored events intended to convert applicants into registered students (DiscoveringU, Registration 101, Counsellor events); resulting in a roughly 2% growth in new students from this region each year since As manager of National Recruitment, she instigated better collaboration between Enrolment Services and various areas on campus (including Undergraduate Admissions, Academic Advising units, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Student Awards and Financial Aid and Housing Services) on unit policies, procedures and initiatives to ensure unified service and led a productive collaboration with Athletics and Recreation to improve targeted recruitment initiatives and collaborate on inclusive communications best practices - Over the past three years, she led the development and facilitation of a comprehensive manual and four weeks of intensive training (including sessions with both faculty and Student Affairs units) to provide professional development and clear expectations for employees, data succession best practices and a seamless, service-focused voice to external audiences. Results include improved staff retention, recognition and engagement, vibrant team morale and a data-driven, strategic planning structure that includes all members of the team - Working closely with the Faculty of Fine Arts, she helped cultivate a strategic recruitment 4 Page

5 culture in staff across the faculty, resulting in the development of a new annual on-campus recruitment event with the Department of Theatre and several inventive ideas to improve both student application numbers and the quality of these applications to targeted departments - Leah represents a unified UVic voice and high level of community service as both an executive member and planner with PSIBC (Post-Secondary Institutions of BC) and the BC coordinator for the CUE (Canadian University Events) committee - She was selected as a participant in the Minerva Foundation s Women Leading the Way pilot program, a community-based leadership development project taking BC leaders through a part-time and hands-on advanced development training program - On top of the regular duties of her job, Leah completed the Advanced Management certificate through the Gustavson School of Business with her Student Affairs peers in , resulting in a leadership role developing cross-departmental support systems, a common voice and a strategic vision across units in Enrolment Services (further unifying and stabilizing the working and learning environment for her team and the department at large) Q2 How have these accomplishments and contributions benefited the university community or advanced the goals of the university as outlined in the UVic Strategic Plan? The aforementioned accomplishments have advanced a number of the goals as outlined in the UVic Strategic Plan, particularly as they relate to attracting a diverse group of outstanding students to campus through a communicative, supportive and strategic process. As a new yet proficient manager, Leah has also provided a work environment that is safe, supportive and inclusive, retaining staff by recognizing that people are any institution s primary strength. OBJECTIVE 2: to actively recruit and retain outstanding students from diverse regions/backgrounds and remove all barriers to admission and retention other than academic and creative potential - Despite an expansion of UVic s available seats coupled with a sizable decrease in the population of year olds in BC, Leah increased the number of students coming to UVic from the Lower Mainland (including international onshore students) each year since she began in 2008 through focused programming, research and personalized service - Annual growth was expected to slow as student recruitment across the world became more competitive, yet Leah s leadership and front-line work helped Enrolment Services meet its ambitious internal enrolment target in 2010 for the first time ever - By developing a comprehensive training program and a customer-service focused model, Leah has led her team in the mission to remove barriers to admission through warm, easyto-understand communications that translate complicated admissions requirements for a variety of internal and external audiences - She has been a strong advocate in promoting this level of service across campus and has either instigated or participated in a number of projects related to removing other barriers to student success (financial, residential, etc.) in the Division of Student Affairs + academic units - Through the constant development of detailed territory reports, Leah has helped cultivate a much better understanding of who outstanding potential UVic students are; where they live, what they want to study, what their parents care about, who influences these decisions, what barriers they face, etc., and through the communicative and collaborative efforts mentioned above has brought this unique and invaluable information forward to other involved units OBJECTIVE 2, strategy 2a: plan and build a nationally and internationally recognized student recruitment and retention program - Through Leah s on campus successes and her work on national committees, UVic s recruitment activities have become a national model 5 Page

6 Q3 What attributes and qualities did this person display in the course of these achievements? e.g. resourcefulness commitment to high standards responsiveness and service to students, faculty and/or staff dedication high level of integrity inspiration to students, faculty and staff community service (both on & off campus) Throughout countless hours and a commitment of service to and leadership for above all else the people on and around her team and the community-based clients that National Recruitment team serves, Leah has displayed all of (but not only) the following qualities: COLLABORATION/UNVERSITY COMMUNITY: Leah has developed numerous campus-wide partnerships and initiatives with Student Affairs units and academic faculties (including Indigenous Affairs initiatives, Housing and Food Services collaborations, Vikes Athletics, Faculty initiatives, etc.) in addition to leading ongoing recruitment and service training in several units across campus. COMMITMENT to high standards: Even in the thick of an immense amount of division and unit-level change, Leah has used data to consistently heighten expectations as they relate to quality, support, enrolment targets and customer-service for her team by questioning assumptions and taking a proactive, critical eye to traditional and emerging recruitment initiatives during cycle planning. DEDICATION/INSPIRATION to faculty/staff while NAVIGATING CHANGE: In 2010, Leah led her team through three onerous campus moves during the KIP renovations and has acted in various leadership capacities through staffing changes over the past 14 months (she is currently acting as Manager for National Student Recruitment, Manager of Mature Student Recruitment and Manager of Student Marketing and Communications) without wavering from her high standard of customer service to students, parents, counselors and campus partners. INNOVATION: Working collaboratively, Leah founded a number of creative, conversion-focused recruitment events (DiscoveringU, Registration 101) and introduced innovative solutions for frontline office operations (including training and procedural changes within Enrolment Services, the Office of the Registrar and Academic Advising units). LEADERSHIP in TEAMWORK: Now that all Enrolment Services units reside in one location, Leah has organized professional development for staff including team retreats, training, unified procedure/protocol development, etc., and has provided strong leadership and oversight in developing a strong unit vision. PASSION: Leah is motivated by her ability to provide opportunities for enhancement to the student and community experience of UVic (both on and off campus); through actions outlined above she has strived to and succeeded in shaping Enrolment Services into a model for providing excellent customer service to its clients and audiences. RESPONSIVENESS/SERVICE: Leah consistently goes above and beyond the requisites of her job to alleviate prospective student fears (endless prompt, personalized s), explain technical admissions information in lay language to students/parents/counselors and campus partners, solve on-the-job problems for staff working from satellite locations (she coordinates 60 weeks of travel for five national recruiters) and keep her peers in faculties and across Student Affairs constantly updated and engaged in recruitment activities. 6 Page

7 November 7, 2011 Re: Leah Stone s nomination for the President s Distinguished Service Award: The First Five Years - Outstanding Contribution Dear committee members, It is my pleasure to write this letter in support of Leah Stone s nomination for the First Five Years - Outstanding Contribution Award. As the Director of Student Awards and Financial Aid, I have known Leah since she was a UVic student employed on a parttime basis in the Office of the Registrar. I have watched Leah grow and excel in all the roles she has assumed since that time. I have worked more closely with Leah since 2008 when she accepted the position of Recruitment Liaison for the BC Lower Mainland territory. Leah quickly established a reputation as an inspirational representative for UVic as she met with high school counsellors, prospective students and their families. I have had the opportunity to participate in many successful recruitment events that Leah has created such as DiscoveringU and the Counsellors Brunches and have seen the positive impact these events have had on strengthening UVic s reputation in BC. Leah is very student-focused and knows the benefits of building a positive, engaged student experience from the point of first contact. It is however her current role as Manager of National Recruitment, Enrolment Services that has provided Leah the opportunity to shine as she leads her team in meeting internal enrolment targets in support of the UVic Strategic Plan. Recruitment has seen tremendous change in leadership and mandate over the last four years and Leah has played a key role in ensuring that the National Recruitment Team maintained its focus on the task at hand. She is truly resilient and all that encounter her are impressed by her grace under pressure. I know that Leah has put a great deal of her life on hold and dedicated herself to bringing together, training and leading an enthusiastic and knowledgeable recruitment team. Her thoughtful, calm and inspiring leadership style has been exactly what was needed during this time of transition. Leah is clearly committed to the success of her team and to ensuring they have a shared vision of their key role in inspiring prospective students to select UVic as their university of choice. Student Affairs has stated that creating a transformative student experience is one of its strategic aims. In support of that aim Leah has established collaborative relationships with and between many departments on campus with the goal of meeting and exceeding the expectations and needs of our prospective students. In doing so, she has established a campus-wide reputation as a creative and innovative professional and has made an enormous contribution to improving service delivery. Among her many attributes, Leah possesses exceptional communication skills, is always professional and appreciates the value of humor in the workplace. She is an effective leader who has earned the respect of those who work with her and those she has reported to. Leah epitomizes the spirit and enthusiasm of a new professional in Student Affairs and, in her four years with Enrolment Services, has made and continues to make an enormous contribution to UVic. Leah is tremendously deserving of this prestigious award and I fully support her nomination. Lori Nolt, Director Student Awards & Financial Aid lnolt@uvic.ca Page

8 October 31, 2011 To Members of the Selection Committee: I am writing in support of Leah Stone s nomination for the President s Distinguished Service Award in the First Five Years category. I have worked closely with Leah for four years and I believe she is richly deserving of this award. Leah served as the recruitment officer for Fine Arts for several years and she did a superb job. Leah serves as the liaison between the Faculty of Fine Arts and the recruitment office and has done a superb job of engaging the faculty in recruiting initiatives. She has worked very hard to understand the challenges within each unit (from the need for more male students in Theatre, to the need for better portfolios in Visual Arts) and has brought us many exciting and innovative ideas to improve our contacts with potential students (from webinars to recruiting events to calling campaigns). She was proactive and engaged with the Dean s Office and with each of the departments/schools in the Faculty from the day she took on the job. She met with me regularly to be sure she understood the philosophy of the faculty, specific changes to the curriculum, and exciting new opportunities for students. She attended Chair Council meetings at least twice a year to report on her activities and gather recommendations for changes in her approach. She helped the Department of Theatre organize and deliver a highly successful recruitment day event that is now an annual part of our schedule. She is full of enthusiasm and energy, but she is always the consummate professional in all her relationships. Faculty members enjoy working with her, and I know I can rely on her to carry the proper messages about Fine Arts to counsellors and high school students across the Province. While all of these activities might be considered a part of her regular responsibilities, in fact Leah went far beyond her job description in helping the Fine Arts with recruitment. Fine Arts is not a big player in the production of credit hours for the campus and Leah had other Faculties to serve. She could have left us to struggle on our own while she looked to big gains in larger Faculties. Instead, she chose to give us the same superb service and individual attention that she gave to other units on campus. Her hard work helped us to exceed our enrolment targets for several years. Leah is a consummate professional with a real drive to help UVic achieve its goals. She is smart, focused and hard-working, and she is forever looking for better ways to help the units she serves. I always enjoy my interactions with Leah. I come away inspired to try new things, convinced that we can do more to help ourselves and confident that the recruitment system is working well for us. Leah has given great service to the institution and deserves to be recognized for her hard work and dedication. If you would like more information or have any further questions, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Sarah J. Blackstone Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts University of Victoria finedean@uvic.ca Page

9 University of Victoria President s Distinguished Service Award committee Victoria, BC Dear Committee members: As one of Leah Stone s former supervisors, I am incredibly honoured to be asked to provide support toward her nomination for a President s Distinguished Service Award. When Leah first joined the Enrolment Services team in 2008, she was given the Herculean task of recruitment in BC s Lower Mainland. As one of UVic s bread and butter markets, Leah s performance as a recruiter had a direct impact on the strategic objectives outlined in Vision for the Future. Of particular note was her commitment to providing quality service to prospective students, their parents and high school counselors. I received a number of s of praise from her constituent groups always highlighting Leah s positive attitude, professionalism and thorough preparation. I particularly recall one parent s comments about the high quality of service her daughter received in support of her child s application. Over the next two years, Leah steadily took on additional roles. First, her manager left on maternity leave. Leah stepped in to lead her colleagues in recruitment, while maintaining her own recruitment responsibilities. Most recently, she is fulfilling many of the Director of Enrolment Services functions due to a resignation at a critical time in the recruitment cycle. During these two periods of intense and rapid change, Leah has maintained a positive attitude, recognizing that these are excellent professional growth opportunities. Her team is as strong as it has ever been, with new staff members aligning with overall UVic values all because Leah keeps her staff s well-being ever present in operational planning. During my last few months at UVic, I often heard from a number of colleagues that they felt more connected with recruitment. Leah met regularly with faculty and staff across campus, knowing that the UVic experience was greater than the sum of the individual parts. As a leader of recruitment, she has to ensure her staff can share ALL the individual pieces of UVic with an extraordinarily large audience. Each piece (from a particular academic program to a unique student service) must be organized and adjusted to align with the prospective students needs. With several years of new student growth, Leah and her staff are contributing to the rich and diverse community of UVic, generating a compounding effect on the investment in the campus experience. Leah Stone is an incredible asset to the University of Victoria she is well deserving of this recognition. Sincerely, Matt Stiegemeyer, Ed.D. Communications Advisor, Student Services matthew.stiegemeyer@concordia.ca , ext Concordia University 9 Page

10 November 4, 2011 To whom it may concern: I am writing to support the nomination of Leah Stone for a President s Service Award for outstanding contribution in the first five years. As the new Director of Residence Services, I met Leah when she initiated regular meetings with my department soon after I arrived on campus. I was impressed from our first meeting first, by her foresight and initiative in setting up these meetings in order to mutually share information, and second, by her professionalism, enthusiasm and positive attitude. I did not realize, until I met with Leah, how valuable a positive and collaborative relationship between our departments would be. In our meetings we have been able to share information and resolve issues fruitfully, but her contributions have also helped shape our policy and process improvements. The information we receive, from the recruiters who are on the front lines, has helped us think about what we do in a new way. Leah s attitude has always been supportive and constructive. She has also helped me, as a new employee, to learn about some of the processes and people at UVic that help me to do my job more effectively. In addition, she has worked with various members of the Residence Services team to involve our staff in outreach events on the lower mainland. These opportunities have been well received by prospective students and have reinforced how our work in Residence Services fits in with the overall recruitment goals of the university. Leah s leadership style is collaborative, warm and effective she has helped build a UVic team that crosses departmental boundaries. Leah is the kind of leader who creates a culture of trust, consistency, and collaboration in our institution. Her positive leadership sets an example to other departments in regards to commitment, creativity and service. I am pleased to have been asked to contribute to her nomination for this award. Sincerely, Kathryn MacLeod Director, Residence Services 10 Page

11 November 4, 2011 It is my pleasure to support Leah Stone s nomination for the First Five Years Outstanding Contribution Award. I have had the opportunity to work with Leah directly over the past two and a half years, first in her role as a recruitment-admissions liaison, then as manager for national student recruitment and finally as interim manager for the student marketing and communications team. Over the course of our working relationship, I have found her to be an insightful and dedicated manager, a skilled communicator and a natural leader. Leah brings an enthusiasm, grace and commitment to excellence to everything she does. In her role as a recruiter, Leah has demonstrated a knack for developing and nurturing relationships. This is reflected both in the increased enrolment numbers from her territories and the enhanced level of service and communication she provided to students and the community. During this time, Leah was able to develop a range of new partnerships and innovative initiatives with internal and external stakeholders most notably with high school counsellors in the lower mainland and with Vikes Athletics and the Faculty of Fine Arts. As manager for national student recruitment, Leah has brought a personal and professional development focus that has empowered her staff and fostered a level of collaboration and team-building that had been missing from the department. She has been instrumental in directing the larger recruitment strategy within the Enrolment Services unit and shaping how we communicate with our audiences not to mention facilitating several campus moves over the past year during the KIP renovations. Furthermore, she has demonstrated strong leadership within the larger university community through her ability to bring sometimes difficult and differently aligned stakeholders together and on to the same page. This is a rare talent. As a result of recent organizational change, Leah has also stepped in to act as interim manager for the student marketing and communications department. While the day-to-day operations are sometimes outside her domain of knowledge, she has approached the role with an openness and strong support focus, providing much-needed human resources assistance and working diligently to incorporate best practices from her time with national student recruitment. Her efforts in this regard have begun to realize a greater level of collaboration, cohesion and consistency between the departments within Enrolment Services. Leah s professionalism and dedication to the university make her an effective manager and facilitator, but ultimately it is her vision, her passion for staff development and her ability to combine the two in a way that inspires excellence and produces results that makes her an outstanding leader and a privilege to work with. Devin Arnold Communications Officer Student Marketing and Communications darnold@uvic.ca Page

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13 Vikes Athletics and Recreation Student Affairs PO Box 3015 STN CSC Victoria BC V8W 3P1 Canada Tel (250) Website President s Distinguished Service Awards c/o Clare Malcolmson Learning and Development Coordinator University of Victoria Human Resources November 5, 2011 Re: President s Distinguished Service Awards Nomination for Leah Stone (First Five Years Outstanding Contribution Award) It is my pleasure to write this letter in support of Leah Stone s nomination for the President s Distinguished Service Awards, First Five Years category. Vikes Athletics has worked very closely with Leah since she was assigned to provide recruiting support to Vikes Athletics a number of years ago. Recruiting top student-- athletes is a significant priority for our department, head coaches and staff. Leah understood this focus, and has worked very closely with us to develop a collaborative recruiting process and support network. Leah s professionalism and focus on service is outstanding, and has led to significant improvements in how Athletics and Recruiting work together to attract and retain prospective student-- athletes. In the increasingly competitive world of post-- secondary recruiting, particularly for top student-- athletes, this focus on collaboration and maximizing resources is crucial to our success. Through her leadership, Leah and her staff have become an important part of our team. Her efforts to improve the level of communication and collaboration between our programs will continue to provide benefits to UVic for years to come. It continues to be a pleasure to work with Leah, and to watch her develop as a leader with the division of Student Affairs and across campus. As her role and responsibilities have developed and changed, Leah has continued to demonstrate her passion for UVic and her commitment to excellence. Sincerely, James Keogh, Manager of Athletics 13 Page