Deja Vu

The last few weeks have been kind of interesting. Flashbacks, memories and deja vu instances are surrounding me.

Last night, I remembered making hot air balloons at my cousins house made out of dry cleaner bags, drinking straws and birthday candles. I’m going to have to try that again sometime.

Also, we have had a new person start at Tyndale. I’m glad that Barry is now at Tyndale. Barry was the Director of Admissions when I did my undergraduate degree. He was the Dean of Students when I was an RA. And now we carpool. Lots of memories have been flooding back. Yes, it has been quite a while since I did my undergrad degree.

We have discussed former professors, classmates and how it relates to our work here at Tyndale.

Its been fun. What has also been pleasant is that most of these memories are good ones. Those are the best memories.

NACCAP Admissions Officer of the Year

For this post, I think I’d like to begin at the start of the story …

When I was young, I never dreamed I’d be involved in education as a career. I am.

When I was in college, I never really thought about how much an impact a Christian liberal arts education would impact me and how long it would play a role in my life. It continues to impact me.

When I started working at a college, I thought it was temporary, but I really enjoyed working as a Registrar because I got to deal with computers, standards and statistics. Some of my favourite things.

When I decided that higher education was a career path for me, I didn’t realize it would take me in a different direction where I was involved in Information Technology. I got to lead the IT Team at Tyndale for 6 years.

When I was approached to help out the Admissions Office, I had planned for it to be a temporary situation. It has been 4 years so far …

When I attended the NACCAP (North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals) Conference in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, I never anticipated that I would be awarded the “Admissions Officer of the Year.” Yep, really.

Today my boss took me and my entire team out for lunch to celebrate. I thought that I would take this time to fill you in a bit on the thoughts that have gone through my head as I reflect back on how we have gotten here.

For the last 4 years in the Admissions Office, I have kind of looked upon my role as being “out of place.” The IT guy working with the Admissions people. Recently, someone said that getting the award for “Admissions Officer of the Year” probably means that I AM one of those admissions people. That’s kind of weird.

I have been very humbled by this whole experience. As the Executive Director was reading the description of the person to get the award (before I knew it was me), I was thinking to myself that I wish I worked for that person. I also started thinking about how I needed to do a lot better in many of the areas being described. I take it is a challenge to do better as an encourager, coach and leader. I think I still have a long way to go.

I know that the only way that I was even in consideration for the award is due to a couple of huge factors. First, God has brought me to an institution where He clearly has big goals. I’m glad that I get to be a part of it. He has also provided the absolute best staff in the world for me. They do all the hard work. They are motivated, enthusiastic, professional and positive. Siobhan, James, Stephen, Nikki, Nathan, Pam, Rhonda, Hillary, Jason, Warren, Rochelle, Nicole, Tina Marie, Ryan and Rob are all tremendous to work with. I have also been pleased to work alongside Beth, Andrea, Carole, Steve, Eric, Christie, Nancy, Peter, Angie, Carolyn, Tricia and I am looking forward to working with Kate. Fantastic people. All of them. The best Admissions Staff in the country, probably the continent. Thanks everyone, for making this an enjoyable experience and helping this former IT guy really fit in. Perhaps all the sushi lunches helped.

I also think about Winston. He has been an excellent mentor, leader,  and coach. He knows how to challenge. He never settles for second best and has seemingly unending energy. Winston has been an inspiration and I still think back to the day he took me to IKEA to ask if I wanted to work in the Admissions Office. That question took me by surprise. I am grateful for his confidence in my abilities and for his continued support.

This has been a tremendous experience and based on the reflection that I have done recently, I wonder where it is going into the future.

The Free Methodist Church in Canada has a write-up about the award.

Tyndale Admissions Office is hiring!

If you or someone you know would like to work in a great environment with lots of potential – do I have an opportunity!

The Admissions Office is looking to hire a Coordinator for Database and Correspondence. This person will be responsible for helping us maintain our Admissions Database and ensure that all of our communications to our prospective students is accurate and sent out in a timely manner.

We are looking for someone who is very comfortable working with computers and database experience is an asset. We are also looking for someone who has a keen analytic sense  and heart for great service. Let us know if you are interested!

The full job posting is available on the Tyndale Website.

Heading to NACCAP ’11

I am spending my last evening in Calgary, AB. Stephen and I have had a pretty good time doing some sight-seeing. We had time to see Banff, Lake Louise and today played with the dinosaurs and hoodoos in Drumheller, AB.

We also talked for a long time with Robert from Rocky Mountain College. As he gave us a tour around their campus and introduced us to various people, it was fun for me to find people that we knew in common. We talked about former professors and librarians.

This Admissions business is interesting when  you view things from the relationship angle. Generally, we get along really well. We look to each other for professional development. After you have done it for a few years you also build up a significant number of contacts at schools all around North America.

That’s why I am so looking forward to NACCAP ’11. At this conference, I hope to learn a little, see old friends and make some new ones. I’m glad that not only do we share our work in common, we also share the passion for Christian Higher Education. This is going to be fun.

Oh, did I mention the Conference will be held at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego? No? Okay, maybe getting to see a new city is adding to my anticipation just a little. See you in San Diego!

Notes from Calgary, Alberta

As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Calgary, Alberta. I have spent the better part of the last 3 days in the same hotel and rarely getting out. It has been nearly 20 years since I was last in Calgary. I really hope that I get some time to go out and experience the city in the next few days.

I came to Calgary to participate in a discussion with several of my colleagues from Christian Colleges, Universities and Seminaries here in Canada. As recruitment and marketing personnel we wanted to explore whether greater collaboration among each other would be beneficial in our efforts to raise the profile of Christian Post Secondary Education in Canada. We decided unanimously that working together is much wiser than working as individual institutions. We are all very excited about working together and have begun to develop plans on what that will look like.

It has been very encouraging to meet with people who are dedicated to Christian Higher Education and that we all have worked so well together. We are sometimes competitors. We are sometimes partners. At this meeting, we were all part of a bigger picture and that is to promote Christian Higher Education to Canadian students.

We have a lot to offer as Christian Schools. Macleans recently posted the results of a national survey of university students in Canada. Consistently, the Christian Institutions (like Tyndale University College & Seminary) ranked in the top 5 for student satisfaction. We have a great education to offer and our students respect that.

Make sure you CHECk us out!

The Admissions Team

It is very rare that ALL of the Admissions Team at Tyndale is together in one place. We had one of these rare occurrences this month during our annual planning meetings. Our planning sessions were filled with great enthusiasm and excitement for our future. I am thrilled that as a team we all work very well together and really enjoy each other’s company when we get together.

I have said this before and I’ll say it again, I think I have one of the most dedicated, professional and knowledgeable admissions staff around.

Here is a picture of the entire group (sorry for the width, we have a big team):

Positive Attitude

I once worked for a company that heavily stressed the impotance of having a positive mental attitude. While I didn’t like it at the time, I have come to realize that attitude makes a significant difference.

The attitude in our Admissions Office is generally pretty good. Sometimes, however, we get caught in a complaining session. This has struck me more often lately as not being a good thing. Complaining by itself doesn’t really solve anything. So, we must be better at either fixing the problem or being patient while it is being workd on.

I was watching a show where two guys were on a significnat adventure. However, a huge portion of the trip was spent complaining/whining about one thing or another. In my mind, I was disappointed because they were having the adventure of a lifetime, yet they were complaining about it. Once you stop the complaingni and just enjoy where you are it is amazing how much more you accomplish.

I am going to work hard on having a positive “Can Do” attitude. I’m counting on you to hol  me accountable.  A smilie is appropriate there, ti think.

Blogging Time Again

I have recently picked up following a few more blogs written by some friends of mine. It is starting me on the path to wanting to regularly post again. Notice that it was starting the “urge” and that doesn’t necessarily translate into action. However, it seems that the timing is right.

It is great to have a full team on board. The Admissions Team is complete. For now, at least. This summer will be another one of hiring as I have to hire someone as a maternity leave replacement and I will be losing one of our Undergraduate Admissions Counselors as she pursues graduate work. But for now, things are good.

That means I will take some of the time to blog. At least I have the urge.

My New Office

Summer Hiatus

It seems that my pattern is to take a bit of a hiatus on blogging during the Summer. So this is my welcome back to the blogging world. I thought I could come up with something profound, but at this point it may just be appropriate to say, “I’m back” and share a video with you.

This video was taken during a Tyndale University College & Seminary staff event where we built ice cream creations to share with each other. Will decided he would finish off the excess whipped cream. Enjoy!