President’s message

Hi Everyone

I hope you are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of 2020! What a year. I want to acknowledge all of you in our profession who have performed above and beyond this year and thank you for your continued support of Educate Plus. 

At the AGM last month, we formed your 2021 Queensland Chapter Committee. We farewelled Nicole Wykes who has stepped down after many years of stellar service thank you again Nicole for your outstanding service – you will be missed. We welcomed three new committee members Sasha McCarthy, Claire Henkey and Stefanie Way. After meeting last week for a planning session, we have put together some great networking and professional development opportunities for 2021. 

We have been lucky enough to start face-to-face meetings again and plan to deliver the networking Special Interest Group (SIG’s) events, Professional Development sessions and the International Conference in September. We will also travel to Mackay and Toowoomba to connect with our regional members. 

I invite you to get your diaries out and put these events into your schedule now. We look forward to a fantastic year of networking, learning and collegiality in 2021. 

On behalf of the Queensland Chapter Committee, I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas, and a restful break.

Sue Russell
QLD Chapter President

Meet the new Chapter Committee

A warm welcome to your new 2021 Chapter Committee and a big thank you for volunteering for the positions you have taken for the year. To find out more about your committee please click here and feel free to get in contact with any questions.

Date Claimers for 2021

2021 Chapter event dates have been set, please pop these dates in your diaries and ‘save the date’. More details to come as soon as they are available. If you have any questions you can contact Sheila or Tina in head office.

• 25 February Marketing/Alumni SIG
• 18 March Professional Development afternoon  – all streams
• 22 March Professional Development – Mackay
• 29 April Fundraising/Admissions SIG
• 28 May Professional Development – Toowoomba
• 29 July Admissions/Marketing SIG
• 28 October Fundraising/Alumni SIG
• 24 November Professional Development, AGM and Christmas Lunch

Christmas Break PD

We hope you all enjoy your brief Christmas break and use this time to recharge and recover from what has been a tough year for many of us.

Should you decide to use this time to improve a knowledge or skills gap, get proactive and hop online to see what benefits come with your membership. Access the on-demand webinars, recorded SIGs, upcoming certified practitioner courses, the 2020 edition of Face to Face and the International Conference. Expressions of interest are being taken for our 2021 Certified Practitioner Training courses in Melbourne in May and bookings are open for the International Conference in September in Adelaide 2021.

Quick Access to Educate Plus PD Resources

Take time to look after you!

As we find ourselves still working remotely or adjusting to reintegration its great to talk about some of the wins and losses and some of the permanent changes to the way we work in Advancement.

Two of our International Conference speakers are able to share some of their insights and learning. Lynn McClelland, Exec Dir of Student Life, Services and Communications at the University of Canterbury, has guided her teams through recovery after a natural disaster, the impact of a terrorist attack and now through Covid-19. She has some great advice for leading teams and taking care of yourself along the way.

Shelagh Murray, Dir of Development and Alumni Relations at Otago University, strongly believes that a team’s culture is key to success even during the stress of a major campaign or during a pandemic and the significant loss of international students. Shelagh went into lockdown with a relatively new team and has some great advice on how to keep team culture positive while working in isolation and adjusting to reintegration.

Mandy McFarland is Director of Advancement at St Catherine’s College, University of Western Australia. Residential Colleges, along with Universities have been hugely impacted by the loss of international students following Covid-19 and this has led to huge financial pressures and pressures on staff. Mandy will speak about strategies for coping in a smaller tertiary institution with a smaller team while keeping a positive outlook and focused on long term trajectories.

International Conference bookings open

As we emerge from the impact of COVID, I want to reassure you that our International Conference will be going ahead in Adelaide 6-9 September 2021.

We are however conscious that some of institutions still have travel and budget restrictions in place. With this in mind, the International Conference will be expanding its reach, adding virtual elements to our traditional live event structure.

• The Main Conference will be a face-to-face event to provide a richer, more immersive, and more participatory experience to our members.
  • If you are planning to attend, you can register now
  • Early Bird rates are now applicable – saving $400pp
  • We have put in place a flexible booking system that allows for refunds
  • Bursaries and Travel assistance packages are available
• Pre-conference Workshops & Master Class will be a hybrid event, live streaming to remote attendees who are unable to take part in the face-to-face sessions. More details to come soon.
• Conference Recordings: A selection of the top-ranked sessions will be available for purchase post conference. More details to come soon.

It is our core belief that challenges must be seen as opportunities, and this is our opportunity to bring you the best speaker line-up ever seen at the Adelaide 2021 International Conference.

We are committed to help our members succeed and ‘Reignite’ Advancement in the face of the unprecedented challenges we face today.