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

• Much of this month has been consumed with activities around the call center for the Second Century Campaign. We hired our manager Robyn Edmonds, who started on the first day of the month and after a team meeting, training with RBR Development, she was off with the students. After ten nights of calling they had completed about 65 per cent of the calls, raised $24,368.32 in gifts and pledges, corrected many, many address and phone numbers and made lots of contact with alumni.
• The call program has resulted in a major increase in the number of changes to the database.  Our information for mailing and contact will be greatly improved.
• In terms of centennial, there was lots of activity,
  • The display at the Colchester Historic Museum opened on Feb 4th,
  • The stamp launch and anniversary party was on Founding Day Feb 14th.
  • We launched the new NSAC Centennial Song. A professional recording of "A Family Portrait" is also being undertaken.
  • We announced the winners of the 100 questions about NSAC Heritage contest.
  • We also launched the first ever, comprehensive e-newsletter to all alumni. It was sent to over 2200 alumni. Response has been excellent and we have received many positive comments. It has also increased the amount of traffic visiting our site and increased the level of information we have on alumni.
  • We have received good press coverage in both the local and provincial papers on Centennial as well.
  • Centennial Banners have been installed around campus. They are part of our centennial awareness campaign. They will be on the light posts at strategic places along College and Pictou Roads.
• Jim met with a repersentative of the Dal Engineering Faculty who are in the planning stages for their centennial in 2007.
• Jim met with Mr. Jean-Louis Daigle, director of the Eastern Soil and Water Conservation Center this week. They are looking for closer cooperation with NSAC. As part of Universite de Moncton they might seek a formal MOU on cooperation.
• Jim attended a session on Brand Nova Scotia with others from the Department and found it very interesting. We believe we can use some of the materials in our own campaigns and image building. The overall campaign is very positive and people will be drawn to the messages. We will extend our reach by being part of it.
• Team members met with a student who is conducting her fourth year project on alumni attitudes toward parts of our program.  We will help her with some of the data in exchange for the the ability to use the information she gathers.
• The Centennial edition of the NSAC Agricola Newsletter has been sent to print and will be reaching alumni over the next few weeks.
• A successful President's List function kicked off the month with guest speaker, the Honourable Ernie Fage. The Academic Functions planning committee is currently developing the program for Convocation 2005.
• A new Veterinary Technology program is under development and a communications plan surrounding its implementation has been developed.
• 367 changes (found alumni/updates) were made to the database this month
• New promotional materials are underway for Research & Grad Studies, Engineering and Conference Services
• A new format for the Academic Calendar has been developed to be closer in line with our evolving brand image