Today@Dal

Last Wednesday the Dalhousie Professional and Managerial Group (DPMG) hosted its annual conference, with professional development and networking opportunities throughout the day.

Also during the conference, the DPMG Awards for 2015 were presented. The award recognizes employees who belong to the Dalhousie Professional Management Group (DPMG) for their exemplary contributions to the university. Nominations were judged for outstanding performance or achievement as demonstrated through a particular project or strategic initiative recently completed or currently underway, and/or a consistent record of significant accomplishments over the years. All DPMG members are eligible to receive the award and can be nominated by any faculty or staff member.

This year’s recipients were:

Jacob (Jake) MacIsaac

Jake MacIsaac is the community safety officer with Security Services. The position was created four years ago with the goal of providing an education and referral service on issues related to campus safety. Since then, Jake has developed this position into one which has a wide-ranging influence in Student Services, Residence Life, Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention, and the Dalhousie Restorative Justice Initiative.

He has been at the front of a number of initiatives over the past several years, including being security lead for the Dalhousie Restorative Justice Initiative, where he has worked to transform the university into a community that has the capacity to collectively and compassionately understand and repair harm. This initiative has been in place for the past three years, and was an important part of the response to the university’s response to the Dentistry Facebook group. Jake has been described as compassionate, fair, principled and a leader. One of his nominees notes that, “the impact that Jake has had on the University community cannot be overstated.”

In receiving the award, Jake thanked his teammates and colleagues and said his role is about “building relationships, building capacity.” “It's not by accident,” he said, and it’s not because of me [that Security becoming more noticeable on campus]. It's because this job, and its mandate, is to build relationships."

Heather Doyle

Heather has been the director of Student Services with the Faculty of Agriculture at the Agricultural Campus since August 2013, and has led the department through a time of intense change. During her short time there, she has transformed students’ perceptions of Student Support Services by advocating for the integration of student services into the student’s academic experience. As one of her nominees states: “simply put, Ms. Doyle puts students first”.

Heather was the first person in Canada to become a Certified Appreciative Advisor, and has now become an internationally recognized leader in the field. She shares the appreciative advising tools with her staff and students, which has resulted in improved retention and engagement. She has been described as having an exceptional work ethic, a positive mindset, and being a gifted relationship builder. These qualities, along with many others, have allowed her to play a critical role in bridging the gap between the Truro and Halifax campuses, improving collaboration between sites all while focusing on fulfilling the strategic priorities of the university.

"I was an east coaster who moved to Ontario for a number of years and wanted to come home,” said Heather, speaking to her journey back to Nova Scotia. She thanked the staff and students she works with: “If it wasn’t for them, Dal wouldn’t be the experience it has been.”

Janice Godin

Janice has been the director of Human Resources in the Faculty of Medicine for the past number of months, and she previously spent six years she spent as the manager of employee development with Human Resources. In both these roles at Dalhousie, Janice has been described as throwing, “her heart, soul, and significant talents into any initiative where she believes she can help to advance learning, discovery and the value of Dalhousie."

Janice has led a number of initiatives during her time with Dalhousie, including the development of a leadership competency framework and the academic leadership development program; the design and implementation of new online performance management and leave management tools; and the introduction of Skillsoft onto campus. She was even involved with championing the DPMG award to ensure that her colleagues could be recognized for their significant achievements.

She has managed to achieve ambitious goals with limited resources, and has accomplished this while maintaining a high level of integrity and compassion. According to one of her nominators, “she is a rare example of a simply superb colleague who takes her roles and responsibilities very seriously, whilst maintaining a fabulously calm and reassuring manner.”

Janice thanked her coworkers in HR, in Medicine and across the university, all the “wonderful colleagues with whom I've had the chance to work with in recent years. What an honour and a privilege."