Senator Jill Wyatt shares her thoughts on what she hopes this year will bring for the UCalgary Senate.
The credibility and influence of the University of Calgary Senate stem largely from its diverse membership. Members include an impressively capable and passionate group of volunteers with substantial knowledge, skills and experiences from the business, government, non-profit and academic sectors.
In this guest blog entry, I asked Senator Jill Wyatt to report on the past accomplishments of her Committee and to reflect on her hopes for the future of Senate. Jill chairs the Senator Development Committee and is its driving force.
One of the roles of the Senator Development Committee is to recruit and train these amazing people for their role to enhance the profile of the University of Calgary. The Committee oversaw, for instance, a successful recruitment campaign this past spring. It was a complex and detailed process.
Outside of Senate, Jill is Vice President for the United Way of Calgary and Area, and is a recognized community leader with a flair for developing people and their potential. Here are Jill’s thoughts:
It is a pleasure to be a guest blogger as part of our Chancellor’s communication about his experiences as the leader of the Senate at the University of Calgary. I am in my last year of my appointment to Senate and beginning my second year as Chair of the Senator Development Committee. My two terms on Senate represent my longest volunteer assignment, and they have offered great opportunities for learning, reflection, engagement and FUN!!
September brings the excitement of start-up in so many workplaces, but schools are perhaps the places where the energy is highest.That, too, is the case for our work at Senate. This week we welcomed nine new elected Senators into our team, three new student representatives and eleven new Faculty/staff /administrative representatives. As we hosted our first of five formal Senate meetings for the year, it made me very proud to see such a vibrant, diverse group of people come together to be passionate ambassadors for the University of Calgary.That, in fact, is the simplest way of describing our function as Senators: to be passionate ambassadors of the University of Calgary.We have a great team.
Chancellor Thirsk invited me to reflect on the accomplishments of the Senator Development Committee in this past year. Our major function has two sides: one is to recruit, orient and engage new Senators; the other is to provide learning opportunities for all of our Senators so that they are knowledgeable and can be highly effective ambassadors for the University of Calgary. I have been so very impressed by the sophistication in our group and everyone’s willingness to step up and take leadership. We used a strategy of identifying ” key leads” for all of the significant pieces of work in our work plan this past year. That really gave more individuals the chance to take something on, work in collaboration, and feel a sense of accomplishment.Figuring out how to engage 62 Senators effectively and build momentum and team is a tricky business.
A second accomplishment was done by one of these smaller work groups and resulted in a guide called “Attributes of Active and Engaged Senators.” Having this concise statement of what we are looking for in new Senators really helped in our recruitment this year. And, finally, I am very proud, as well, of how the members of Senator Development Committee took on increased responsibility in evaluating Senate meetings and putting mentors in place for new Senators.
My hopes for Senate this year are two-fold:
We are positioned well to create a clearer understanding of how all Senators can be effective and active. We have openings for new Senators to
fill in all of our committees. We have improved on our approach for setting up mentoring relationships for new Senators. We have an
improved and comprehensive approach to how Chairs and Vice Chairs are selected for our various committees. Finally, we are undertaking a Strategic Plan “refresh”and a governance review, both of which have the potential of setting new direction and parameters for Senate.
Secondly, I hope that we can figure out the best possible ways that Senate can support and add value to the celebration of the University’s 50 years of service to community. The University has a very good plan in place. We need to be intentional and focussed on how we can, in fact, contribute to its execution. That should be great FUN!!
As with most committees or volunteer assignments, the best part of being on Senate is the relationships that you build with new people and the sense of being part of something significant. Being on Senate has been that for me: collaboration with great people in support of a University that is maturing into its important place in the community, soon to celebrate 50 years of service to Calgary!
Jill Wyatt
