From the President

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the latest edition of our eNews. As your Chapter President, I am honoured to have the opportunity to share with you the latest updates on the VIC/TAS Chapter plans, activities and achievements.

The eNews is an important communication tool that allows us to stay connected with our members and supporters. Through it, we can showcase the work we have done, celebrate our successes, and highlight our plans for the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you who have supported the VIC/TAS Educate Plus Chapter throughout the years. Your commitment and dedication to our cause have been instrumental in our progress, and I am confident that together, we will continue to make a difference. 

I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to our newest Members. There have been many colleagues who have joined us since our last Chapter eNews, and details of these new Members can be found in the ‘New Member Meet-Up’ section of this newsletter. Please introduce yourself at the next networking event and share your stories. We enjoy connecting with Members and learning about their organisation.

In this issue, we bring you the latest happenings in the VIC/TAS Chapter, including the following:

• VIC/TAS Summit details, including links to the Full Program, Awards Nomination Form and Registration information
• Upcoming Event information
• Photos from our recent Networking Drinks
• A Q&A session with one of our amazing Members
• A request for feedback from our Tasmanian Members
• and more …  

Tracey Grobbelaar
VIC/TAS Chapter President | Educate Plus
Director of Development & Community Relations | Sienna College

Meet the VIC/TAS Chapter Committee

The VIC/TAS Chapter Committee is an amazing group of volunteers, working tirelessly behind the scenes to create amazing PD opportunities for our Members and Non-Members (all while also holding busy jobs at their Institutions!) 

We are incredibly grateful to those on the Committee, and proudly introduce them to you: 

Position Holders

• [President: Tracey Grobbelaar, Director of Development & Community Relations, Siena College]
• Vice President: Maria Mercuri, Associate Director Advancement, Methodist Ladies’ College
• Treasurer: Marion Cape, Director of Advancement, Strathcona Girls Grammar
• Secretary: Roz Holloway, Head of Foundation, St Leonard’s College

Committee Members

• Laura Bird: Marketing & Communications Specialist, The Hutchins School
• Rob Blandford: Associate Director, Alumni Relations, The University of Tasmania
• Kristen Gleeson, Director of Community & Development, St Joseph’s College Geelong
• Di Lacey, Alumni & Community Relations Manager, Tintern Grammar
• Laura Maasburg, Communications Manager, Woodleigh School
• Catherine McVean, Alumnae Relations Manager, Lauriston Girls’ School

Please feel free to connect with our Chapter Committee and introduce yourself at any of our upcoming events.

To view the VIC/TAS Chapter Committee on our Chapter page, CLICK HERE

SUMMIT – The Premier Event of the Year!

This year we are excited to present the VIC/TAS Summit. With the theme of ‘NEXUS‘ and the tagline ‘Stronger Together’, the 2023 VIC/TAS Chapter Summit will be a fantastic opportunity for two days of professional development, networking and inspiration.  

Event Details

Date: Thursday 13 – Friday 14 July, 2023
Time(s): 8.30am-8.00pm (Thursday)
Time(s): 8.30am-2.30pm (Friday)
Place: Siena College, 815 Riversdale Rd, Camberwell VIC
Plus: Networking Drinks (Thursday); Awards Lunch (Friday)

The Summit Committee is led by Marion Cape, Director of Advancement at Strathcona Girls Grammar, and a core group of Advancement professionals. 

To view the Summit Committee, CLICK HERE

VIC/TAS Summit Program

A wonderful program has been created including all streams that support and propel forward the success of our schools, including Admissions, Alumni, Community Relations, Events, Fundraising, Marketing & Communications and Leadership. 

Join your colleagues and hear from Keynote speakers and presenters such as Simon Kuestenmacher, a rising star globally in the field of demography, data management and insight, Megan Davis, Storyteller for Innovation and Jo Stanley, creator of Broad Radio, television and media personality and author. There are also many opportunities to learn from engaging and insightful presentations from our colleagues and experts in their areas of advancement. Our Summit Partners will be exhibiting and supporting the conference through the social program and sponsorship. We will have opportunities to view their products and services.

To view the Summit Program, CLICK HERE

VIC/TAS Summit Awards

We are excited to announce that Nominations for the VIC/TAS Summit Awards are now open.

To view the Summit Awards criteria, CLICK HERE

To nominate a Member for the Summit Awards, CLICK HERE

VIC/TAS Summit Pricing

Early Bird Fee (until Sunday 30 April, 2023)   

• Member Registration: $425 (+gst)
• Non-Member Registration: $525 (+gst)

Standard Fee (from Monday 1 May, 2023) 

• Member Registration $550 (+gst)
• Non-Member Registration: $650 (+gst)

Includes:

• Full-day Summit on Thursday 13 July, followed by Networking Drinks (Meet the Exhibitors, Gin/Whiskey Tasting, Drinks from 5pm-8pm)
• Half-day Summit on Friday 14 July, with Awards Presentation Lunch

Newcomer Scholarships

Educate Plus recognises School Advancement is an industry that attracts professionals who may not have worked in the education sector before. Our Nexus Summit,” Stronger Together” is an outstanding PD opportunity that will provide opportunities to network, learn and grow your craft within the education advancement sector. Individuals who are new to the industry, are invited to apply for a Newcomer Scholarship (2 available) that will assist with the cost of registration, travel or accommodation.

To apply for the Newcomer Scholarship, CLICK HERE

Summit Bursary

To ensure equity of access to VIC/TAS Summit, the Summit Committee is offering 8 needs-based bursaries, each in the amount of $250. 

Applications close on 15 May 2023.

Note: You will need to register and pay for your registration to receive the Bursary amount as a bank transfer reimbursement.

To apply for a Summit Bursary, CLICK HERE

Registration

There is no underestimating the value of coming together, learning from each other, making new connections and celebrating those enduring friendships made through attending our Summit and Educate Plus events. Register now to take advantage of the Early Bird rates!

Click Here for More Information and to Register

Thank You to our Summit Partners

Summit Partner and Leadership Stream Partner	Summit Partner and Marketing & Communications Stream Partner

Thank You to our Stream and Newcomer Scholarship Partners

Admissions Stream Partner	Alumni Stream Partner	Fundraising Stream Partner	Newcomer Scholarship Partner

Upcoming Events

We invite you to join us at the following Professional Development opportunities:

WEBINAR – Excellence Series # 3 (Admissions Focus)

• Date: Thursday 6 April 2023
• Time:  12.00–12.30pm AEST 
• Location: Online (via Zoom)
• Cost: Free for Members, $35 for Non-Members (+ gst).
• Presenters: Marion Cape, Director of Advancement, Strathcona Girls Grammar

Thank you to our 2022 Excellence Awards Partner Global Philanthropic for facilitating this session.

Click for More Information and to Register

SAVE THE DATES – Upcoming VIC/TAS Events & Webinars 

• 2 May: Event – Networking Coffee Mornings (3 locations)
• 2 May: Webinar – Leadership
• 4 May: Webinar – Excellence Series #4
• 30 May: Webinar – Admissions
• 1 June: Webinar – Leadership
• 14 June: Event – Networking Coffee Morning – SIG
• 15 June: Webinar – Excellence Series #5

We look forward to welcoming you to these events! More information will be forwarded as the details become available. 

Networking Partner – Enquiry Tracker

The VIC/TAS Chapter continues to enjoy generous sponsorship.  To all our sponsors, I wish to express our heartfelt appreciation for your generous sponsorship of the VIC/TAS Chapter. Your contribution has made a tremendous impact, and we are incredibly grateful for your support.

Special mention to Enquiry Tracker who have graciously sponsored our first event for 2023 -Welcome Drinks.  The event was held on 22 March at Trinity Club.  Enquiry Tracker enabled us to host a fabulous evening for VIC/TAS members to kick start the 2023 year.

We want to acknowledge your commitment to making a difference in the Advancement field and we are honoured to have you as a partner in our efforts.

Introducing the Amazing Kaushini!

Over the past few weeks I have been inspired by the amazing things many of our members are doing across the various pillars. I recently caught up with Alumni and Community Manager, Kaushini Fernando from Carey Grammar. Kaushini is a dynamic and highly motivated marketing and customer engagement expert with seven plus years’ experience in managing end-to-end projects, programs, marketing campaigns and events for alumni and a diverse range of communities within the education sector.  As the Co Chair and Director of Women In Colour, Kaushini is an inspiration to all.  

Spotlight on Kaushini Fernando

When and where did your career in education begin?

My first role in education was at the RMIT ‘JobShop’ within the Careers and Employability department. This dedicated area focused on providing students and Alumni face-to-face career support such as resume and cover letter reviews, mock interviews, jobs board and how to get involved in extracurricular activities to build employability skills. I loved helping students build these very important skills and was soon transferred to a different team to focus on building student employability skills through volunteering and building engagement programs.
I love working in education and have now been in various organisations in Higher Education and the School sector including Deakin University and William Angliss Institute, Melbourne Girls Grammar and now at Carey Baptist Grammar.

What interests you most in terms of Alumni?

I enjoy creating engagement programs for young Alumni with the purpose of building their skills to prepare them for life and work. Whether it’s career related, personal or professional development, entrepreneurial or social justice; there is a huge opportunity to provide services and programs that will directly impact Alumni to have success and become well rounded professionals.

What do you find the most rewarding part of your career?

Working in Alumni Relations is incredibly unique as you can share knowledge and tips about your projects to other schools and you are in no way competing as their Alumni will always be different. It is rewarding having a network of talented Alumni professionals at your fingertips who you can email or call to bounce ideas around or discuss pain points with. I enjoy building my professional and personal network and the Alumni sector is a great space to do just that!

Who is your biggest role model in terms of leadership?

A leader I aspire to be like is Robbie Austin (currently Strategy Lead/Project Manager at RMIT). I have known Robbie for about seven years and though he was only my manager for a short time, he has made a huge impact on me and my leadership style. He taught me the importance of having a people-first approach when leading a team; where employee experience and wellbeing is a priority. He had a very tough job leading a large department through the pandemic, where almost all roles were made redundant. His leadership and strength passed through to all the managers and team leaders and we were all able to handle this difficult time with great resilience. I’m very lucky to have him as a mentor and a person I can email or text any time to ask a question when I am stuck and need advice.    

What aspect of Alumni Relations do you love the most?

My favourite part of working in Alumni Relations is showcasing incredible Alumni doing great things in life and work. Not only to inspire future generations and the community at large, but to celebrate individuals who go above and beyond to make an impact. I have come across so many Alumni stories that have brought me to tears, met Alumni who have incredible businesses and have seen the impact of philanthropic work that has been years in the making.

I love the moment I come across stories about Alumni on the news or social media and telling friends and family that they are an Alumnus of the school I work at!

We noticed your amazing work in creating a mentoring program.  Can you tell us about this?

Mentoring is definitely a hot topic within the Alumni space – everyone wants to do it but resourcing can be an issue. I have previous experience working on formal mentoring programs which included an expensive platform and dedicated staff managing partnerships. It’s fantastic to have, but not always realistic with limited budgets, time and staff resourcing.

I wanted to create a mentoring type experience which was fast, free yet impactful for students and Alumni. The program I created invited Alumni from different industries, age groups and stages in their career to come back to school to share their career journey and life experience since they had left. The bite sized format included three Q&A style sessions over a month and it was targeted specifically to Year 11 and 12 students. It was inspiring to hear Alumni stories (the good, the bad and the ugly) and allow students to freely ask relevant questions which related to their current stage including subject selection, exam advice, university preferences, relocating interstate, finding a part-time job and more. This model can be easily replicated with the help of internal staff members including Year 11 and 12 Co-ordinators and school careers staff.

Describe yourself in five words:

• Creative
• Organised
• Passionate
• Bubbly
• Sweet-tooth!

For anyone embarking on a role in Alumni Relations what advice would you give them?

Working in Alumni Relations can sometimes be quite isolating, especially if the ‘Alumni Team’ is one person! Don’t be afraid to connect in with alumni managers/co-ordinators from other schools who are generally happy to catch up and share knowledge. I have made some incredible connections through LinkedIn, Zoom and in person. Educate Plus has great resources and events to connect people together.

Leadership and the Importance of Timing

By Robert Blandford | Associate Director Alumni Relations | University of Tasmania

Article originally published in the Educate Plus Face-2-Face Magazine, November 2022

In that moment of terror when an email lands in your inbox asking you to write an article about leadership, imposter syndrome kicks in; you think, “I am the last person they should be asking. I don’t think I’m a good leader… yet!”

These were the thoughts that flashed through my mind when Mandy McFarland’s email popped into my inbox, asking me to write such an article. Wrongly or rightly, those thoughts are still part of the picture of my leadership journey … but only part.

For those of you who don’t know me already, before moving to Tasmania, I spent 13 years working at UWA in Perth. Half of that time was spent in the Faculty of Engineering in various administrative roles, and the rest in a vibrant and fun Alumni Relations team, with my manager Jenn Parsons giving me the bug for this work. Once the bug had bitten me, it bit hard.  Once you’ve tasted the excitement of seeing people get a kick out of their involvement with their alma mater, it’s hard to go back!

Fast forward to 2021: I found myself leading Alumni Relations at a university over 3,000km away and with a very different climate. How was it?  Hard. Hard to make the adjustment. Hard to settle into a new place after being in Perth for so long. Hard to lead a team when I’d only been a team member before.

When I arrived at UTAS, I wanted to change everything immediately and somehow expected everyone to come along on the journey with me. I made an arrogant and silly error – I forgot how long it had taken me to learn all the stuff I was preaching. I was guilty of expecting others to come along on my journey without taking the time to teach, tell, show, explain and allow people to digest.

Fifteen months later, I have settled into a groove.  I haven’t “given up” or decided it’s all too hard, but I have learned that everyone needs to deal with change at their own speed.  You can’t drag people into the river to swim. You need to show them gently; be kind, be patient, and if necessary, jump into the water with them.

Now I have relaxed and settled into my role, I have fallen in love with my team. Each of these individuals are amazing humans and have unique and extraordinary qualities to bring to their roles.  I love working with them and, above all, I love seeing the work they can produce when they’re given the time, space, and trust to get on with what they do best.

I know that I still have a role to play in helping to push boundaries and help people see the potential they can fulfill – but I don’t need to do it through brute force.  I can do it through gentle encouragement and quiet leadership. And, laughter… don’t forget laughter.

So, what are my tips for leadership so far?

• Reflect on how long it took you to learn your skillset.
• Be realistic about the time it takes to bring others to the party.
• Get to know your team deeply by taking time to understand what they’re best at.
• Acknowledge what is working well and plan slowly and carefully what needs to change.
• If you want to make change, make sure you get buy-in; Don’t proceed until you have it.
• Have fun with your team and enjoy their unique qualities.
• Be prepared to jump into the water yourself.
• And be kind, every day.

By Robert Blandford | Associate Director Alumni Relations | University of Tasmania

Article originally published in the Educate Plus Face-2-Face Magazine, November 2022

Feedback Needed

Are you part of our valued Tasmanian contingent of the VIC/TAS Chapter?

If so, the VIC/TAS Chapter Committee would love your thoughts and feedback on the Professional Development opportunities you would like to receive this year in Tasmania.

Please spend three minutes responding to the questions below so that we can tailor sessions for you that are meaningful and have content that you need.

Thank you in advance for your input!

To complete the Tasmanian Professional Development Survey, CLICK HERE

New Member Welcome

We extend a very warm welcome to our latest Members, who have recently joined us since the last Chapter eNews. We are thrilled to have you as part of our VIC/TAS Chapter community!

For those that join from March-May 2023, the next ‘New Member Meetup’ is on 7 June, 2023. Closer to the date, we will send you a link to participate in this online session, which is open to all new Members across all Chapters. 

These sessions are a wonderful, informal way catch up with other new Members, and to hear more about the benefits of being a Member and what is available to you on our website. 

Welcome!

Thank You to our Partners

We’d like to extend a huge ‘Thank You’ to our valuable partners, who support the Chapter in our activities and enable us to provide wonderful opportunities to our Members and Non-Members. We ask that you please consider supporting them, so that in turn, they can continue to support us. 

Thank You to our Educate Plus Strategic Partners

Strategic Partner – ToucanTech	Strategic Partner – Potentiality

Thank You to our Summit Partners

Summit Partner and Leadership Stream Partner	Summit Partner and Marketing & Communications Stream Partner

Thank You to our Stream and Newcomer Scholarship Partners

Admissions Stream Partner	Alumni Stream Partner	Fundraising Stream Partner	Newcomer Scholarship Partner

Keep Connected

Connect on the Educate Plus Socials!

Stay connected with your fellow Advancement professionals to keep abreast of best practice, discover new approaches and technologies, and gain valuable industry insights.

To keep you to up to date with what’s happening in the Advancement sector, please connect with Educate Plus on LinkedIn and Facebook. In addition, we invite you to follow the VIC/TAS Chapter Facebook page for even more localised connecting and informational updates.