Thank you to everyone who attended the Nov. 21 Coffee Hour, either in person or online. It was wonderful to see you all. We had more than 190 members of the division, which was a great turnout.

For those who were unable to attend, I want to provide an overview of the information of what was shared at Coffee Hour so I would encourage you to read the summaries provided below.

A special congratulations to two members of our team. Angela Marcotte was named the university’s Associate Vice-President (Financial Services), following a search to replace Time Sullivan, who retired after a 26-year career at Carleton. We also welcomed Andrew Urquhart who joined us at the end of the summer as Executive Director of the Pension Fund Management team after Betsy Springer retired. Andrew oversees the management of the $1.5 billion Retirement Plan investment portfolio and the $400 million Endowment Fund portfolio. He will be instrumental in implementing the university’s recently expanded Responsible Investing Policy.

As well, I am pleased to announce that Kevin Mann rejoined our division on Dec. 1 in his new role as the university Controller, within the Financial Services team. Kevin will lead the Controller’s office, which provides professional expertise to all areas of the university regarding financial oversight and reporting, budget development and forecasting. Welcome back Kevin!

In the “not-so-good” news column, Marc Dabros has decided to retire at the end of April 2023. After almost four years of exceptional leadership through a pandemic and an attempted cybersecurity attack, retirement is once again calling his name. We have begun the search for our next Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the hopes that the new CIO will be able to start before Marc’s departure in order to support a smooth transition.

Finally, with just a few weeks left before the break, I want to wish you and your families a wonderful and relaxing holiday season. Please be reminded that the university will be closed (with the exception of essential services) from Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022 to Tuesday, Jan. 3 inclusive.

Happy holidays! Lorraine.

Carleton has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2023. This is a first for Carleton and a huge honour. You can read the story here. I want to thank Cindy Taylor for spearheading this effort. It’s been a long time coming and Cindy has never lost faith that we would do it! A special thanks also to the working group who put the application together: Maria McClintock (OVPFA), Terrence Odin, Robin Karuna and James Lee (HR), Amanda Dobbie (OQI on CDA with the Provost’s Office), Samantha Munro (formerly of OQI), Jane van den Dries (Provost’s Office), Philip Mansfield (Sustainability Office, FMP), Chris Cline (ITS), Liz Kane and Jena Lynde-Smith (University Communications). Special signature blocks have been designed with the Top 100 Employer logo included. I encourage everyone to add it to your email signatures.

The Campus Master Plan is being drafted after extensive consultations with our campus community – more than 1,000 people participated – including many of you. Thank you for your feedback about your vision for the future and functionality of our campus. Early in 2023, the draft plan will be available for our campus to comment on before it’s finalized – so stay tuned.

The first-ever Digital Strategy is now in the final stages of being endorsed by a number of university committees including the Board of Governors. We expect to formally launch it in early 2023. This has been a major undertaking that has been two years in the making. The perspectives of more than 1,000 faculty, staff and students were heard during the consultations. Marc Dabros (ITS), Nancy Arnold (OQI) and David Hornsby (TLS) have done a tremendous job in leading this project.

This wonderful addition to the Engineering precinct is now finished. It provides the Faculty of Engineering with state-of-the-art space for learning, networking and innovative collaboration. Congratulations to Gary Nower’s team – it’s always a big undertaking to get a new building completed. And now they are focussing on the new student residence – which should be out of the ground in the next three months!

Carleton’s Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) pilot program will be extended for another six months. At Coffee Hour, Cindy Taylor, Associate Vice-President (Human Resources), reiterated that there are three options available for an arrangement:

• flexible hours
• hybrid remote
• full remote

Out of all eligible Carleton staff, 44 per cent currently have some sort of flexible work arrangement. From a Finance and Administration perspective 52 per cent have a flexible work arrangement. Of those with an arrangement, 95 per cent have some sort of remote agreement.

Remote arrangements for the winter term are currently being reviewed. Should you have questions about flexible work arrangements, please contact HR at humanresources@carleton.ca

As part of our ongoing Sustainability program, 20 new EV charging stations have been installed near Parking Lot 7 and Parking Lot 18. We now have 28 charging stations across the campus and that number will continue to grow as the need arises.

We are now in the budget planning process, which involves many of the university’s senior leaders. Carleton’s budget is approved by the Board of Governors on the recommendation of the Board’s Finance Committee. We always start budget planning by looking at enrolment projections. This year’s numbers have dipped and this is partly because there are fewer 18-year-olds and also due to some universities taking in more students than they normally do.

There are some elements to budgeting we can control but there are some that we cannot.

• The amount of funding we receive from the provincial government is one of those we cannot control. Our provincial grant funding has been frozen for several years. In addition, in 2019 the provincial government rolled back tuition by 10 per cent and then froze it. This has cost us millions of dollars.
• The federal government has been delayed in issuing international student visas so our international enrolments are down by 15 per cent.

We always aim for a balanced budget; unfortunately, the tuition roll-back and freeze, and the inability of international students to get into Canada have all contributed to falling revenues while expenses increase.

While there is some good news in that we are returning to in-person recruitment, a major reputation enhancement campaign is underway, and there is ongoing program innovation and renewal, it may take a couple of years to realize the benefits of these initiatives.

As a consequence, we are planning for a 2% cut to base budgets.

This will mean that some marginal activities may need to be stopped or some plans postponed; however these cuts are nothing to worry about from either an institutional or individual perspective

All of our units have budget carry-forwards – that is, money that was unspent in previous years – that can be used to support mission critical activities. My view is that it is better to be transparent about the challenges that are ahead, and the opportunities, than have people concerned about the financial health of the university.

As mentioned at Coffee Hour, we are developing a strategic plan for the Finance and Administration Division. The process will get underway shortly with consultations with key campus stakeholders, and with departments across the division. There will be a number of ways in which you will be invited to participate. 

The consultations will take place in December and the early part of 2023. All the feedback we receive will be analyzed. In the spring, the strategy will be finalized and communicated at all levels of the division, as well as the university.

Submit a Service Excellence Nomination Today!

Carleton University’s Service Excellence Awards are open! Please consider submitting a nomination for an individual, team or innovative change initiative that exemplifies our Service Excellence Standards.  A nomination is a great way to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to Carleton University. Nominate an individual, team, or innovative change initiative today!

The deadline to submit a nomination is Jan. 20, 2023.

To see what your colleagues are up to, check out the Person to Person and Service Anniversary listings.