Queen's Faculty of Education staff who worked on the Queen's Career Gateway Project were announced as one of eight 2022 winners of the Special Recognition Staff awards. The 2022 Special Recognition for Staff Awards recognize staff, nominated by colleagues, who have gone above and beyond their day-to-day activities to have a lasting positive impact.
“These awards recognize our outstanding colleagues who have exceeded expectations by doing remarkable things,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor Deane. “I want to sincerely thank everyone for your significant contributions and commitment to your work at Queen’s.”
Queen’s Career Gateway Program (Team Award)
- Samuel Whyte, Director, Facilities Operations and Maintenance, Facilities
- Lisa Crosbie-Larmon, Director, Human Resources, Facilities
- Karen Burkett, Director, Queen’s School of English, Faculty of Education
- Jessica Della-Latta, Executive Director, Continuing Teacher Education, Professional Studies, and Queen’s School of English, Faculty of Education
- Sherri Ferris, Custodian and CUPE Local 229 President, Facilities
- Oonagh Maley, Manager, Special Projects, Office of the VP (Finance and Administration)
- Supriya Venigalla, Special Projects Officer, Office of the VP (Finance and Administration)
- Justine Macdonald, Instructor, Queen’s School of English, Faculty of Education
- Heidi Penning, Equity Advisor, Human Rights and Equity Office
- Katherine Smith, Recruitment Support Representative, Human Resources
Launched in 2021 and sponsored by the Office of the Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration), the Queen’s Career Gateway Program is designed for equity-deserving individuals, including newcomers to Kingston and refugees, to secure employment at Queen’s while receiving English-language training. Through community partners including ReStart Employment Services and Immigrant Services Kingston, team members learned about potential barriers and explored novel ways for Queen’s to recruit and support diverse talent. For example, meeting in the same classroom for each session helped participants to develop a sense of belonging and increased their engagement with each other, the instructor, and the subject matter. Team members attended regularly and offered their experiences as guest speakers. The seven participants who completed the program obtained positions on the Queen’s Custodial Support Services team, positioning them as viable candidates for future opportunities. This year’s program includes inventive recruitment strategies to embed the program more deeply in the Kingston newcomer community. Participants of the first cohort were eager to serve as mentors, which will only help this worthy initiative to grow.
Find out more about the program.