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 and Brian Crouse attended the funeral of Gerry Smeltzer on Sept 17th. Gerry was a long time supporter of NSAC and will be missed by all.
• Jim made a presentation to Faculty Council on the Development and Alumni Relations office. It seemed to be well received. We have had requests for several of the graphics used in the PowerPoint presentation.
• The draft policy on Charitable Donations was circulated to Admin Council for comment.
• All the material for the annual appeal was completed and sent for mail out.
• Jim attended the Truro portion of the NS Federation of Agriculture public consultation on the future of agriculture in Nova Scotia. The turnout was small and those farmers there were not very positive about the current situation of the outlook for the future. This is what was reported in the press. Positive comments that were made were not reported.
• The Signature Strategy committee met to plan the October retreat for department and college managers. It will be right after Autumn assembly at Inn-on-the-Lake.
• The program for AASTW 2002 is coming together. The development office refined the registration database.
• The audit for the Foundation was completed and distributed to the Board members for approval. There were not findings and the balance has increased despite low interest returns from investments.
• Jim and Laurie Sandeson attended a Life Science Association Development Forum in Halifax on Sept 23rd. This group plans to have monthly information meetings during the winter highlighting life science development activities and resources in the province. We offered to host a meeting in Truro in the spring. Faculty may also be involved as partners in presentations at other universities.
• Jo-Anne participated in a meeting of the Homecoming Committee. As a result she sent a follow up letter to all alumni who attended NSAC from 1946 – 1952 (The Debert Interlude) encouraging their return to the Homecoming and accommodation suggestions. A total of 239 letters were sent out.
• Jo-Anne attended a workshop “Grammar for Busy Professionals” in Halifax.
• Jo-Anne and Stephanie attended the United Way Kick Off luncheon as NSAC Campaign Coordinators for 2002 and coordinated NSAC Kick Off which was held September 30th.
• Jo-Anne did another mail out to the Class of ’52 re Alumni Weekend
• Plans for the Hall of Fame event are well in hand. Jo-Anne has sent out invitations to guests of the 2002 Inductees, past inductees, government representatives and members of the Hall. The Inductee photos have been delivered to Carsand Mosher for processing and citations have been taken for layout . The 2002 pamphlet is now ready for distribution at the HOF event.
• Jo-Anne is receiving registrations for AASTW daily. She met with Beth MacLean to determine how the cash and credit card payments for this event will be handled.
• The NSAC participated in an alumni survey project entitled “ Entrepreneurship Development in Atlantic Canada". Jo-Anne worked with Shelley Hessian, Project manager to coordinate this effort on behalf of NSAC.
• Jo-Anne prepared financial statements for the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame and turned them over to Philip Green to conduct yearly audit for the Hall.
• CBC Country Wide was on campus Thursday, September 26th, 2002 filming a variety of segments for their show including David Burton and Climate Change issues, Valtcho Jeliazkov and aromatic crops and our very own woodsmen team.
• There were a variety of public relation issues during the month of September. Stephanie worked with NSAC Physical Plant to coordinate information to the media and campus on the Boil water order and worked with Dr. Coffin to communicate to parents and faculty on the Nova Institute issues.
• Stephanie worked with Randy MacKay (ATV) to schedule television advertising. Our second campaign will run from September 23 - October 27th during such programs as Oprah Winfrey, Law & Order and the Evening News.
• Stephanie initiated a meeting with Susan Haines from Eastlink to develop an advertising program to coordinate with our television campaign. Ads will air in conjunction with the recruitment schedule and will precede the High school liaison officers arrival in various areas. A script was finalized and approved and the project is ongoing beginning the week of October 7th, 2002.
• Stephanie placed print advertisements were booked and placed in the Toronto Sun, Farm Focus, CORDA, Helpful Pages phone book, Canadian Aquaculture Directory to name a few.
• Stephanie worked with Trivium Design to complete the new Masters brochure. Approximately 2500 copies will be printed and should be ready in early October.
• The Public Relations office is gearing up for the year and has purchased various promotional items including new NSAC lapel pins, writing pens and notepads.
• Stephanie worked with John Christianson on a campaign to produce NSAC research articles in the Daily News on a regular basis.
• Stephanie met with Ali Madani to coordinate PR efforts for the upcoming Engineering Open House in October.
• Stephanie is in the process of updating and reprinting the NSAC Campus map to reflect recent changes. Also working with the NSAC Bookstore to develop new College postcards.