Development and External Relations Update

The Development and External Relations office UPDATE is a monthly summary of activities in the section and is published for your general information. If you have questions, please contact Jim Goit or call at (902) 893-7950

• Jim attended the annual Fruit Growers tour on August 6th. The event was well attended with about 120 participants. It rained hard for part of the day and that dampened enthusiasm a bit. The orchards look excellent. Several people said how pleased they were with the new chair the NSAC was going to have to help with their research.
• Jim and JoAnne met with Brian Crouse and Sandra Murphy to set up a system to handle the annual contributions to Scholarship and Awards that will be cycled through the Foundation for the first time. The letters to donors were sent out from the Awards office and money retuned to the Development office where receipts are written and money deposited. A reporting structure between the two offices was decided upon.
• The Signature Planning Committee met and determined the next steps in the process. The plan is to develop a high level strategic plan for the department that defines our place in the Provincial Growth Strategy. The new NSAC plan will be part of the discussion.
• The APF planning committee met during the month and further developed a plan to deal with negotiations with AAFC. A report will be prepared for Executive management before the end of the month.
• Jim spent a morning helping Dick Huggard at the Provincial Exhibition. This was a good opportunity to talk to members of the antique farm equipment committee who work closely with the NSAC on several projects including the Agricola collection. I’d like to see a project that had shared facilities on campus as part of an agricultural interpretive centre.
• The luncheon with the Friends of the Gardens (and the fans of the friends) went very well. They group seemed most appreciative of our taking time to thank them. The friends are building into a considerable resource for the campus. We might consider doing something like the luncheon on a regular basis.
• All materials for the Annual Appeal have been designed and are ready to produce. Although this is not the first appeal that has gone out from the College, it is the first part of a comprehensive donor building strategy for the Development office. We are planning to mail the appeal in the middle of September in time for planning at alumni weekend. This is the first time the NSAC will use a self-addressed, postage paid return envelope. Out target for the appeal is $8000.
• Jo-Anne met with Dave Livingstone and Dr. Coffin to discuss the 2002 United Way Campaign. Our goal for this year is $6000. Jo-Anne and Stephanie are co-cordinators for the campaign again this year.
• Jo-Anne met with Barry Diamond and Beth MacLean regarding registration for the upcoming AASTW, handling of cash, cheques etc. It is hoped that Financial Services will be able to assist in this area with direct deposit and credit card payments. This has yet to be determined.
  Preparations continue for the Hall of Fame ceremony in October. Jo-Anne is securing photographs and preparing letters, invitations and pamphlets for the event. All citations have been written.
• Jo-Anne worked on the Class of ‘52 list. This combined with returns from the Agricola News has resulted in 17 lost sheep being found this month.
• Scores of donations were received toward the Library Fund. Jo-Anne has been writing receipts and forwarding them on to Sherree Miller where thank you letters are issued.
• Jo-Anne has reconciled the Financial Statements for the Hall of Fame and has all related audit information prepared to give to Phillip Green who will be conducting the audit for the Hall this year.
• Jo-Anne has prepared all necessary information and forwarded to Myles Johnson for the year end of the Foundation.
  Steven Freygood from CBC Radio was on campus on Thursday August 8th meeting with Ralph Martin from the OACC and various other researchers. Stephanie has been working with Mr. Freygood on articles of interest for CBC. He is a freelance reporter for the station and covers both Information Morning and Maritime Noon.
• Ocean Entertainment was on campus filming various segments for the show “Red Hot and Ready” a barbeque and grilling show geared to men on August 22, 2002. They air 65 episodes during the year which airs on MenTV, Global and the Farm Network. They filmed three segments including: Leslie MacLaren on Animal Mating Habits, Paul MacIsaac and Aquaculture and Bruce Rathgeber on Poultry.
• Also on August 22, Stephanie coordinated the media event for Farm Credit Cooperation Canada who announced the Business Planning Award to the public. The group also participated in an extensive campus tour the remainder of the afternoon.
• Advertisements were booked and/or placed in Rural Delivery, Halifax Daily News. (Education supplement with article and photo) and Telegraph Journal in their education and training supplement. Ontario Education Directory and the Colchester Region Economic development brochure.
• Stephanie worked with Brian Crouse and Jenna Tingley to update and revise NSAC’s Recruitment literature. It arrived on campus for distribution on August 26.
• Stephanie prepared and delivered a successful campus tour as part of the orientation program for sessional lecturers on the NSAC campus.
  Stephanie was part of the organizing committee for the summer staff BBQ. A good time was had by all at Jenkins Hall on August 30.
• The August Post was completed and distributed electronically to friends of the College.
• Stephanie is currently working with MacLean’s magazine to update the NSAC submission in the Guide to Canadian Colleges and Universities. This year we hope to profile a different area of the campus with new information and photographs.
• Eight members of McCains Ltd., were on campus taking a custom course through CDE and developed/taught by Lauranne Sanderson Aug. 6-9 th. During their lunch break on two occasions they were given brief tours of the campus.
• Stephanie arranged a media visit for the Slovak Ambassador to Canada on Monday, August 19th, 2002.
• Truro Daily News ran profiles and photos of Christine Neuteboom, who won the Avantis Cropscience Award of Excellence for the outstanding student poster presentation at the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America held from 30-1st Aug. 2002 and Drucie Janes who received the Ulysses P. Hendrik Award for her work in Blueberries.
• The Halifax International Airport Authority is developing an interactive business kiosk and plasma display as a part of it's terminal expansion program. The kiosk will feature a series of 60-70 second economic development videos plus a 3-minute looping video featuring the Greater Halifax Region. The video crew was on campus filming on August 27th. They were looking for imagery that is representative of Bio Sciences, cutting edge Agricultural Science and Aquaculture.
• Donations for the month of August were very high accounting for both increases to the library fund and named Scholarships. A summary follows