Member Recognition Award Past Winners

Deidre (or Dee as she is known to most) is a keen and long-term supporter of CAUBO who participates actively in research. She has presented at many webinars and conferences, with a particular focus on sharing her extensive knowledge of responsible investing. In 2017, Dee received the CAUBO Leadership in Learning award for her many contributions to CAUBO’s educational offerings. She was also part of the team awarded a 2016 Q&P award for the project “Show Me the Money! (Turning AP into a Profit Centre)” and later presented a successful webinar based on that initiative. She served as co-chair of the 2013 CAUBO annual conference and was a presenter and key member of the steering committee that created the highly successful workshop “Building a Toolkit for Effective, Ethical and Responsible Responses to Divestment Campaigns”.

Dee never misses a chance to promote leadership opportunities and mentor students and staff. She is particularly passionate about supporting women in leadership, often hosting panel discussions and groups to support her women colleagues. In 2020, she initiated a Leadership series at McMaster that included conversations with leaders from various organizations to address pressing topics like reducing burnout, workplace mental health, optimizing teams, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and current political issues.

She is widely recognized as an exceptional leader, and colleagues say she “leads with strength, empathy and understanding” and “has a never-ending willingness to lend her time, skills, and knowledge” to others.

Gayle’s service to CAUBO is both extensive and wide-ranging. During her tenure on the CAUBO Board of Directors from 2011 to 2019, she held several Board positions including Secretary-Treasurer, Vice-President, and President, as well as chairing the Nominating Committee during her year as Past President. In addition, she has presented at several CAUBO conferences and workshops and participated actively in task forces, working groups, thought leader advisory groups and committees.

Her leadership and service to higher education extends beyond her roles at UVic and within CAUBO. She currently holds Director roles at BCI, Oceans Canada and BCNet, where she serves as Chair. Gayle has also made significant contributions to CANARIE in support of the advancement of Canada’s knowledge and innovation infrastructure. Most recently she served on the Cybersecurity Advisory Council.

Gayle’s colleagues in higher education administration have not only benefited from her extensive contributions but also from her collegial nature, willingness to share and provide support, and her positive outgoing personality. She believes in finding the fun in her work, as was obvious to all present during the opening session of the 2014 CAUBO Annual Conference when, as conference chair, Gayle emerged dressed as Queen Elizabeth II and greeted the attendees in character.

Peers know Gayle as a role model for leadership. One colleague called her “a person of great principle, strength and optimism. Her compass is firmly set on what is best for students, the university, and the country. She treats everyone with great respect, and approaches both opportunities and challenges with an extraordinary energy, optimism and resilience.”

Nancy has long been a leader in university administration whose considerable service has left an indelible mark on our sector and fostered a stronger CAUBO community.

She is described by colleagues as a consummate professional who possesses vast and in-depth knowledge of all facets of higher education administration. Nancy’s thoughtful and respectful engagement and demeanour, even when addressing the most challenging issues, help to bring about clarity or resolution, while her generosity in sharing her wisdom and time with peers and colleagues and acting as an informal mentor for those new to the sector was frequently mentioned in the letters of support for her nomination.

A passionate advocate for the sector, Nancy has a long and deep history of service to CAUBO and Faculty Bargaining Services, including serving as CAUBO President and chairing two standing committees. She was one of the first representatives on the FBS management committee and was instrumental in developing this service.

She is also known for being a strong advocate and voice for smaller post-secondary institutions at national and regional committee meetings. In recent years, her focus has been on the advancement of regional higher education committees, including the Council of Western Finance Logistics and Operations Personnel (COWFLOP) and Alberta’s Senior Business Officers (SBO) group. Within these bodies, she has reaffirmed their purpose and improved inclusivity and collaboration among members.

From a personal perspective, Nancy’s commitment to service in the field of accountancy, inspiring growth and change in others, and advancing higher education is supported by her appointment as a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA). She is also a past recipient of CAUBO’s Outstanding Contribution Award.

During her 26-year career in university finance, Joanne has earned a reputation as an exceptional leader and colleague who generously shares her considerable knowledge and expertise and makes strong contributions to advancing best practices in higher education administration.

Colleagues say Joanne has an infectious enthusiasm that encourages others to reach higher and do better; that she is action-oriented, leads with integrity, strives for excellence, and demonstrates collaboration and collegiality, all while modeling resiliency and a positive attitude in everything she undertakes. In the nine letters of support for Joanne’s nomination, the words respect, trust, and mentorship came up over and over again.

As a long-time active member of the Council of Ontario Finance Officers (COFO), Joanne led the development of the first Budget Survey of Ontario universities and supported their many advocacy endeavours. She was honoured for her contributions with COFO’s Distinguished Leadership Award in 2011.

A prolific supporter of and contributor to CAUBO, Joanne consistently presents at the annual conference and encourages colleagues to do so as well. For the last three years, Joanne has supported three of her students to attend the conference and present their research, working with them to prepare for their presentations and offering them the opportunity to gain valuable experience and knowledge. In the words of one of her former research assistants whose educational and career path was profoundly changed by her mentorship: “Higher education needs more leaders like Joanne.”

Dave is the only person to serve as CAUBO President for two consecutive terms. Despite the significant time commitment and workload, Dave did not hesitate, serving CAUBO with grace and dedication. His leadership and hard work were instrumental in the creation and implementation of CAUBO’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan and accompanying operational plan.

After his tenure as President, Dave took on further volunteer opportunities with CAUBO, chairing both the Nominating and Q&P Awards Selection Committee. He is also a past member of the Facilities Management and Risk Management Committees.

Moreover, Dave has served on the boards of CURIE, APPA, and the Saskatchewan Opportunities Initiative, among others. In his day-to-day role as VP (Administration) at the University of Regina, he has overseen incredible growth that has more than doubled the size of the campus and added award-winning buildings for student, staff, and faculty use.

A past President and longtime Board member, Gary has a longstanding history of engagement with CAUBO, in particular its Faculty Bargaining Services (FBS) unit, serving as a member of its Management Committee from its inception until two years ago. During his time on the Management Committee, Gary was instrumental in helping to guide the evolution of FBS from its initial role in supporting university bargaining with faculty associations to its current role as advisor to institutions both in negotiating collective agreements with all academic staff and in enhancing constructive and effective academic staff labour relations generally.

Gary has also served on the Q&P Selection and Nominating Committees, and is a frequent and sought-after presenter at both FBS and CAUBO conferences and workshops.

During his 20-year tenure at York, Gary has been instrumental in helping to modernize the University’s infrastructure. He developed and implemented a 10-year planning model and budget framework for York’s ancillary operations; he was responsible for the University's successful bid to build the new Archives of Ontario building on campus, and was also engaged with students, faculty and staff in developing campus safety initiatives.

Michael J. Histed, Director, Office of Risk Management, University of Ottawa

Michael exemplifies leadership both in his work at the University of Ottawa and in the provincial, national and international risk management arenas. He ensures that the work accomplished by his team is shared throughout the risk management and health and safety communities, and frequently spearheads high-impact initiatives in order to establish precedent and/or common ground with inter‐university organizations and regulators.

As co‐founder and past Chair of the CAUBO Environmental Health and Safety Committee (now the Risk Management Committee) Michael helped broker a deal with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to provide financial guarantees instead of cash payments for radioactive decommissioning projects on Canadian campuses, and worked with CAURA to interpret impacts and mitigate risks of the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act and Regulations.

Under Michael’s leadership, the University of Ottawa embarked on a project focused on developing a hazardous materials and equipment inventory system – HECHMET (Higher Education Consortium for Hazardous Materials and Equipment Tracking). This successful partnership between the University of Ottawa, Queen’s, Concordia and the Royal Military College won first prize at the 2013 CAUBO Quality and Productivity Awards.

Pierre Piché, Controller and Director of Financial Services, University of Toronto

Pierre has demonstrated a deep and longstanding commitment to the field of university finance and is widely considered an expert in all university financial reporting issues. His leadership is well-known to colleagues who have benefited from his early analysis and evaluation of any new financial instruments or regulations, which he quickly and willingly shares with colleagues and peers across the Canadian university finance sector.

Pierre also provided ten years of leadership on the Council of Finance Officers – Universities of Ontario (COFO-UO) financial reporting committee and was a major contributor to their Provincial Financial Report. A member of CAUBO’s Finance Committee for ten years, he helped to organize the committee’s first webinar on financial instruments and was instrumental in making improvements to the Financial Information of Universities and Colleges report. Pierre is a past recipient of the prestigious COFO-UO Leadership Award and CAUBO’s Outstanding Contribution Award.

Dr. Pat Hibbitts, Vice President Finance and Administration, Simon Fraser University

Pat serves as a Board member of the Simon Fraser University Community Trust, the Great Northern Way Trust, and the Tsawwassen First Nation Economic Development Corporation, and is a past member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD). She was honoured with a Peak Award for Excellence in the Public Sector by Vancouver Women in Finance in 2011, and is a member of the International Centre of Higher Education Management at the University of Bath and the Centre for Educational Leadership and Policy at Simon Fraser University.

Notwithstanding all of these obligations, Pat has always been deeply and visibly committed to higher education in Canada and to CAUBO. She is committed to mentoring new administrators and does it with kindness, respect, and her trademark wit.

Pat served as President of CAUBO in 2009-2010, on the CAUBO Board of Directors for eight years, and on several national committees. She has presented at CAUBO conferences six times in the past and will present twice at CAUBO 2013. She is a knowledgeable and passionate presenter who approaches every topic with her unique sense of humour.

In 2012, she was honoured with a CAUBO Outstanding Contribution Award as part of the team that developed CAUBO's first online course on university culture and governance.

For over 20 years, Gwen has provided outstanding leadership, commitment and contributions to her institution, her profession, CAUBO and the Western Universities Supply Management Association (WUSMA).

Her contributions and accomplishments include serving on the CAUBO National Procurement Committee from 1999 to 2007 (as Chair from 2000 to 2007) and spearheading several key procurement initiatives. She has also served on other CAUBO committees and task forces, including the CFI Review committee.

Gwen has also contributed several years of service to the WUSMA executive, including leadership roles as Association Chair and Conference Chair. Gwen continues to provide a strong contribution to WUSMA in a mentor role.

She has participated in several Conference organizing committees in a lead or senior role, including the CAUBO, Western Universities, and Purchasing Management Association of Canada conferences. Gwen’s sustained and heartfelt commitment to volunteerism is exemplary, and deeply appreciated by all those who are privileged to work with her.

As a member of the Council of Senior Administrative Officers (CSAO), a committee of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), James has made substantial contributions to both pension issues and environmental, health and safety initiatives in Ontario over the past 10 years. As Chair of CSAO, James lead a sub-committee tasked with ensuring that university concerns regarding pension solvency legislation were brought forward to the Expert Commission on Pensions in Ontario. As the issue progressed, James also headed a COU Working Group that examined the sustainability of university plans and advocated for solvency funding exemption. As a result of countless hours of consultation and work, the group produced the first comprehensive review of the state of the university pension plans which was presented to the Ministry of Finance and lead to pension solvency relief for Ontario universities. James’ contributions and leadership is viewed as invaluable to his Ontario colleagues.

Through CSAO, James also took a leadership role in liaising with the Council of Environmental Health and Safety Officers (CEHSO) to advance numerous initiatives including leading discussions with the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, working with the Education and Safety Association of Ontario and leading discussions with the Ministry of Labour. He also made significant contributions by providing sector-related expertise to the newly created CAUBO EH&S Committee, and CAUBO’s Workshop on Building Sustainable Pension and Post-Retirement Benefits.

James joined the Executive of CAUBO’s Board of Directors in 2010 and was President of the Association in 2011-2012.

Patrick’s accomplishments at York University include establishing the university’s inaugural data governance function, data literacy program, and data quality framework, as well as improving data availability through the institutional data hub.

“Patrick is a great leader because he empowers his team members to excel; he really shows openness to new ideas; he’s very innovative; he also nurtures growth, not only to the team members that report to him but across our entire department; and he shows humility and has a great sense of humour,”

—Margaret Kierylo, Assistant Vice-President, Institutional Planning, and Chief Data Officer, York University

Ron helped to lead U of T’s COVID-19 response at a facilities and operations level, including setting and meeting the highest possible standards for air quality in campus buildings.

“Very routinely he asks, well, how can this be made into a learning moment? Or how can we tap into the Academy to better inform operations? How can we include the physical plan into the research and teaching mission of the University?”

—Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships, University of Toronto

Matt has led a comprehensive review of Queen’s custodial staffing structure and cleaning protocols; introduced housing quality audits and student reporting systems; and achieved Green Building certification for operations.

“Matt's a great leader because he's very trusted. He is able to communicate purpose and direction to his team. He really works to create positive, proactive, collaborative relationships with all of his colleagues.”

—Leah Wales, Executive Director, Housing & Ancillary Services, Queen’s University

Sandra’s ability to create and support meaningful change is clearly demonstrated in many recent and ongoing initiatives. Among them, she successfully implemented an online procurement system at Carleton, creating a one-stop shop for internal and external suppliers, and developed an internal procurement advisory group to support accessible procurement at the university and comply with AODA legislation.

As a core member of Carleton’s COVID-19 Return to Campus working group, Sandra managed purchasing and distribution of PPE and critical supplies and equipment, and was instrumental in launching the CUScreen application that allowed people coming to campus to provide verification of vaccination status.

Sandra took on the issue of poor recycling rates at Carleton’s food court, something that had defied previous improvement attempts. She consulted with stakeholders, examined the root causes, and brought together many disparate interested groups to find and implement creative and effective solutions that have seen recycling rates go from 12% to 90%, won national and international awards, and been copied across North America.

As Chair of the Ontario University Professional Procurement Management Association (OUPPMA) for the past three years, Sandra has promoted and facilitated cooperative procurement and professional development for its members.

Colleagues say Sandra has “an unmatched ability to anticipate future needs” and “a strong understanding of the strengths of those around her, and seeks input before making decisions while balancing the need to be decisive.”

In the last two years, ÉTS has undergone exceptional growth, hiring more than 40 new professors. This rapid growth required a solid change management strategy. Valérie’s effective, open and participatory leadership has rallied stakeholders to modify hiring processes for professors and lecturers to ensure compliance with the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). She reached an agreement with the two main teachers' unions that requires anyone sitting on a hiring committee to undergo at least three hours of training on unconscious bias in hiring, and departments to appoint a mentor for each new faculty member so their career development is supported from day one.

She also introduced a clause with the faculty union to ensure that disciplinary measures related to sexual violence no longer receive amnesty. ÉTS is the first university in Quebec to do this, and serves as a model for others to adopt best practices in this area.

Currently, Valérie is leading an overhaul of ÉTS’s evaluation criteria for tenure. This project is nearing completion and will be implemented in early 2023.

Thanks to the significant contributions of Valérie and her team, ÉTS was awarded the Thérèse-Casgrain Equality Award – Allied component in 2019, which recognizes individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves through actions that support girls and women in achieving their career aspirations.

Over the past two years, Carla has led the hybrid work arrangements strategy, plan, and rollout for all staff and faculty across the university, from initial idea to implemented reality. An adaptable consensus builder, Carla has created and built collaborative, trusting partnerships with her thoughtful, open approach.

In championing hybrid work arrangements, Carla acted as liaison between unions and associations, soliciting their feedback and managing expectations. She brought together an advisory team that incorporated a large cross-section of staff and faculty to gain grassroots buy-in for the initiative and make it part of SFU’s standard offerings. Thanks to her strategic leadership, this new service delivery model was self-funded by supporters across the university.

During the pandemic, Carla has also taken on the role of HR representative on SFU’s COVID-19 management team, implemented a new HR service model, and built up the Strategic Business Partner model and team to serve the university community more effectively.

Colleagues say Carla’s contributions and impact towards the improvement of the HR profession are nothing less than awe-inspiring. They call her an amazing coach and a driven leader who considers the voices of all contributors, works to ensure equity and inclusion in her work, trusts and backs up her team, and shares her experiences generously.

Colleagues say Raman consistently demonstrates outstanding leadership capabilities, both within and beyond the scope of her responsibilities. She retained her position as Executive Director of Administration and Operations at the Rady Faculty of Health even after accepting the position of Associate Vice-President Administration, a first for the University of Manitoba.

Raman also leads the university’s Operations COVID Recovery Committee. With a very small team, she established rapid test clinics, procured appropriate personal protective equipment for the entire Bannatyne campus, and created and implemented operations plans for campus-controlled entry.

Raman’s collaborative leadership style and hands-on approach have been instrumental in bringing attention to the university’s deferred maintenance needs. After just a few months in the Associate Vice-President role, she informed senior leaders that the university needed to double its investment in deferred maintenance. Her solution-oriented approach included options and ideas for discussion.

Another of her strengths is planning and execution of capital projects. She oversaw the planning and opening of the University Health Clinic on the Bannatyne campus in October 2020, and is currently involved with the construction of a new building to house a much-needed day care.

Raman’s uncanny ability to simplify an issue to get to the crux of the matter and her seemingly effortless effectiveness in achieving results were lauded by her colleagues, one of whom called her the most capable administrator they have had the pleasure of working with.

Throughout his time at Dalhousie, Jerry has instilled the values of responsibility and mutual accountability for health and safety across the university community. This culminated in the university’s effective response to COVID-19. Jerry not only led these efforts at Dalhousie but became an informal local leader for university safety during the pandemic. He oversaw the development of the COVID-19 Return to Campus Guidance document that was adopted for use across Nova Scotia and offered clear expectations for how to manage COVID risks in the university setting.

The pandemic served to highlight Jerry’s already proficient leadership abilities. In 2018, he was named the first co-chair of a revamped provincial council providing advice to the Minister of the Department of Labour and Advanced Education on occupational health and safety. Jerry built trust among the participants and challenged them to ensure everyone was heard and that consensus was reached.

Colleagues say that Jerry’s key leadership skill is “to be unfailingly supportive to everyone, all the time,” that he “can persuade others to willingly choose to do something that they would otherwise not do at all,” and that he illustrates that “one does not have to be at the top of an organization’s hierarchy to successfully guide it.”

In her 13 years at Carleton, Cindy’s vision for organizational excellence has resulted in the creation of the Office of Quality Initiatives, a team of professionals with a unique mandate in the Canadian higher-education sector, to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement. Cindy and the OQI Team developed an in-house leadership development program that brings faculty and staff together to work on unique problems facing the university. These have become best practices not just at Carleton but across the Canadian post-secondary education sector. As a result, Excellence Canada awarded Carleton the Gold Level certification for Excellence, Innovation, and Wellness, and the Platinum Level certification for Healthy Workplace.

Cindy has been the driving force behind many firsts at Carleton, including the Carleton Leader program, Service Excellence standards, Ideas@Carleton, healthy workplace and mental health at work initiatives.

A genuine leader who cares about people and is quick to recognize individual contributions, Cindy coaches people to be the best they can be and to develop the skills needed to overcome challenges at work. Outside of Carleton, Cindy is involved with the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation (NCCI) and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa.

Cindy is a strategic, high-level thinker who has driven a culture shift at Carleton by combining her caring approach, humility, and innovative thinking to create a work environment that promotes employee engagement and collaboration.

Rob has driven a number of major change initiatives at the University of Alberta, including completely restructuring the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) department around interdisciplinary teams and developing and implementing a health and safety management system. The new EHS structure has dramatically increased productivity, introduced valuable process standardization, significantly increased employee health and safety training and competency, and contributed to a fundamental change in the university’s health and safety culture.

Rob also oversaw enhancements to the university’s Integrated Emergency Master Plan and integration with operational continuity plans. These structures have enabled the university to successfully respond to and recover from a number of incidents.

Beyond his work at the university, Rob has been instrumental in developing relationships with federal and provincial agencies and third-party organizations to promote health and safety best practices. He has worked with the Public Health Agency of Canada to help develop legislation and regulations that reflect the unique environment of a research-intensive university. He also helped secure funding through Alberta’s Ministry of Justice creative sentencing program to build a province-wide online hazard assessment tool that benefited the postsecondary sector and other educational institutions.

In recognition of Rob’s leadership and commitment to health and safety, the U of A’s EHS department has on three occasions received the North American Occupational Safety and Health Week award for the promotion of health safety practices within an organization.

Andrew has achieved a number of firsts during his career at UVic: He developed the University’s first risk management policy and program, and oversaw the development of its first business continuity program. In addition, he developed a robust cash-management and investment program, a new endowment management system, and an applied portfolio management program. He is now leading a project to ensure plans are in place for recovery of top institutional activities after an emergent event, a task that requires him to work with
and influence leaders across campus.

A strong contributor to the CAUBO community, Andrew volunteers on the Finance Thought Leader Advisory Group and was active on the former Treasury and Investment Committee. He has taken the lead on the issue of responsible investment, providing advice, sharing his institution’s industry-leading knowledge with his peers, and designing a survey to improve CAUBO’S understanding of responsible investing integration among Canadian universities.

Andrew’s strength in leadership comes from his ability to work with people at all levels across campus. He demonstrates initiative and an eagerness to learn and contribute in all areas. Known by colleagues as a go-to person who can be relied on to bring expertise, commitment and pragmatism to any situation, Andrew is highly respected for his integrity, strength of character, knowledge, and sensitivity.

Chad is always looking for new and better ways to do things. He has demonstrated an ability to lead well beyond the scope of his responsibilities, earning respect and admiration at all levels of the institution. He inaugurated the role of Director of Integrated Finance Services in 2015 and built a strong team and positive relationships to support that function.

He then stepped into the challenging role of Director, Resource Planning last year and has delivered impeccable results, leading the team that prepares the University’s budget, co-chairing the working group that developed a new budget model, and guiding the planning for its implementation. Although the budget-model project has significantly increased Chad’s workload, he continues to provide a high level of service and leadership.

Chad served on CAUBO’s Internal Audit Committee, taking on the role of Chair in 2015 and helping to plan that year’s annual conference. He continues to participate in the Finance Thought Leader Advisory Group.

Colleagues describe Chad as intelligent, creative, and thoughtful, with a willingness to tackle difficult questions and a strong capacity to embrace change. They note that he balances his own area of expertise with a solid understanding of the overall academic mission of the University and a visible enthusiasm for learning. He generously provides advice and mentorship to colleagues, who regularly seek out his opinions and assistance.

Deborah’s collaborative nature and belief that good information drives good decisions has been instrumental in enhancing the availability of decision- making data for senior leaders at the University of Alberta through the development of Acorn, an institutional
data warehouse.

Deborah relentlessly championed this initiative, working with campus partners to understand their requirements and assembling an expert team to maintain the warehouse. Acorn provides data analytics and business intelligence to the entire institution and has made gathering data on student enrolment and financial significantly easier. Her efforts have led to campus-wide acceptance of the service as the true source of information, a major feat in itself and a testament to her skills.

Deborah has contributed to the improvement of institutional research at post-secondary institutions across Canada, speaking regularly at conferences and contributing knowledge and expertise as a member of CAUBO’s Operational Benchmarking Working Group.

Staff and colleagues call Deborah a “ready and collaborative partner” and a “modern leader” with strong ethics who values diversity and inclusion. Building on her proven capabilities and accomplishments, she is currently transitioning into a role of increased responsibility as the Associate Vice-President, Disclosure, Assurance and Institutional Research.

Rae Ann’s leadership has helped to make the University of Calgary a safer and happier place to work and study. Her successes include spearheading and implementing a new mental health support strategy, developing an enterprise risk management program, leading the creation of a campus emergency notification app, and overseeing efforts to expand and revise international travel policies and procedures to ensure the safety of students and faculty.

Rae Ann co-chaired the University’s wildly successful United Way campaign, chairs or participates in several university committees, and worked with the University’s emergency operations group to support those displaced by the 2013 Calgary flood and the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. She also volunteers with CURIE and with the CAUBO risk management conference coordination team.

Rae Ann has earned a reputation as a collaborative and committed leader of integrity who acts as a mentor and brings colleagues together from across the university to achieve common goals.

David has transformed the Enterprise Applications team, building a focus on clients, strategy and purpose, motivating his staff, and building relationships that benefit the entire institution.

A respected and influential leader, David has led numerous successful projects including software upgrades, planning and implementing new admissions, awards, budget planning systems, and migrating processes to cloud-based networks and storage.

He led the development of the U of A’s information technology (IT) governance structure and five-year IT strategic plan, including framing an initiative in data architecture, management, and integration which will improve agility university-wide.

One of David’s strengths is his ability to see past the technological aspects of a project, system, or change to explain the
business implications while avoiding negative impacts on students, faculty, and staff. This has made him a valued team member at the University of Alberta, where he leads and directs IT-related projects and oversees the day-to-day operations of administrative systems.

Candace has been working in sustainability at SFU since she was an undergraduate. In the past decade, she has helped create the university’s Sustainability Office, where she became its first Associate Director, led the development of the ground-breaking Zero Waste Initiative (which won a 2016 CAUBO Q&P Award), co-wrote SFU’s sustainability policy, and now leads a team of six as Sustainability Directors.

Candace and her team helped establish the President’s Awards for Leadership in Sustainability, an ethical procurement policy, and SFU’s fair trade campus program.

Candace fosters a healthy workplace, building wellness goals into employee performance metrics and celebrating team achievements. Her leadership has helped SFU adopt sustainability as a core principle, and she actively assists other institutions in implementing sustainability objectives and programs. Her staff call her “an inclusive leader who leads through collaboration.”

Ian is a staunch supporter of professional development, acting as a mentor to new managers in his department and encouraging his team to earn the project management professional (PMP) designation, which in turn has helped boost productivity and professionalism.

He is currently modeling his commitment to professional development by working towards a master’s degree in facilities management.

An advocate for workplace safety, Ian helped develop a contractor safety policy and a smartphone app for documenting work site safety. He serves on Dalhousie’s facilities management’s health and safety committee and won the University’s award in this area.

Ian was an early advocate and adopter of the Best Value Business Approach, which has helped the facilities management team successfully manage project risks and made Dalhousie a leader in this area. Ian generously shares his knowledge and leadership with other institutions.

Heather is a respected leader who has made significant contributions both within Queen’s University and among her colleagues provincially and nationally. Under her leadership, the Financial Services department has been transformed into a service organization where professional advice is sought and best practices are implemented to enhance financial stewardship of university resources.

A strong strategic thinker, Heather revamped the financial statement preparation process at Queen’s and led the implementation of new financial and expense reporting tools, as well as the development of an online certificate program for finance administrators which has had great take‐up and feedback. Her leadership has had a positive impact on morale; her staff describe her as caring, compassionate, inspiring, committed, insightful, and approachable.

Heather has contributed considerably to most of CAUBO’s finance-related initiatives in recent years, including serving as both member and Chair of the Finance Committee, participating in the indirect cost of research working group, and the FIUC review task force. She was also instrumental to recent advocacy work related to treatment of internal charges by the Tri-Agencies.

Pamela is a consummate professional whose leadership has been critical in several strategic areas. She formulated and negotiated changes to improve the sustainability and viability of the University’s pension plan; led a task force to develop a new functional unit multi-campus organizational structure; and developed and institutionalized employee success factors to collectively engage staff, drive continuous improvement, and evaluate performance. In partnership with Student Affairs, she established Laurier’s first diversity and equity office; and she coordinated a planning task force that oversaw development of a new budget model and prioritization process for all administrative and academic programs of the University.

Her strong commitment to the betterment of the institution while remaining focused on university management and staff as individuals defines her successful approach to HR leadership at Laurier.

She is always ready to share her HR expertise with colleagues from across the sector, both as a member of CAUBO’s HR Committee and HR Thought Leader Advisory Group and as a frequent conference presenter.

Elizabeth Krische, Director of Procurement Services, Western University Canada

Elizabeth’s extraordinary vision and passion have been instrumental in helping Western far surpass the targets for collaborative procurement spending set by the Ontario government. She also developed a viable business case to implement a user-friendly, cloud-based eProcurement solution at Western that launched on time and on budget and whose savings targets are on track.

While Elizabeth's commitment to Western University and exemplary procurement processes is unwavering, she is also mindful of the larger University community, seeking to collaborate and improve process provincially and nationally.

Elizabeth created a proposal that created a Centre of Knowledge for the Best Value Business Model in Ontario, and then took the initiative to expand it to include all universities in Canada using the model. This project won second prize in the Themed Category of the 2015 CAUBO Quality and Productivity Awards.

As a leader, Elizabeth understands the importance of focusing not only on business processes and systems, but also on the people side of managing change. She is a mentor to many, sharing her knowledge and encouraging others to develop personally and professionally.

Johanne Houle, Director, Staff and Organizational Development, McGill University

Johanne’s leadership has had a major impact on staff development and motivation, which has led to the adoption of best practices throughout McGill in areas such as change management, organizational effectiveness, performance management and employee engagement.

She has designed and implemented programs promoting best practices and addressing specific challenges at critical junctures, including an Organizational Effectiveness workshop series, knowledge transfer tools and tips for departing employees, and workshops for prospective retirees, and consistently goes beyond her role to reach out to partners in other functional areas of Human Resources and across campus.

She also actively supports the McGill M-Forum, an association for McGill managers and professionals, as a guest speaker and community facilitator on themes related to career development, motivation and performance, and learning organizations.

Johanne is a bridge-builder and innovator who devotes considerable time and expertise to building partnerships with other institutions and to fostering the development of her profession.

Chris Bishop, Director, Campus Services, Saint Paul University

Chris’ leadership has provided immense support to the efforts being made by Saint Paul University to reposition itself. He has inspired a professional approach at the Department of Campus Services by developing all aspects of service, from space planning to customer service, while respecting each person’s expertise.

Always on the lookout for business opportunities, Chris has worked hard to ensure self-financing for various aspects of his department, including parking, conference services, and the renting of offices and meeting rooms. He has helped to modernize Campus Services with the introduction of new systems and tools that have allowed for improved housekeeping maintenance services without increased costs.

Chris knows his dossiers inside and out, has a phenomenal memory that he uses to come to everyone’s rescue, and is always attentive to others’ needs. He isn’t afraid of getting his handsdirty, which is greatly appreciated by his staff.

Anne Weeden, Assistant Dean, Operations, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Anne is committed to building a culture of excellence. She established the innovative Workflow Solutions Group in 2011, which brings together administrators from across Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine to advance administrative best practices.

Skilled at facilitating major change management, Anne led the renewal of the Faculty's Communications Office, including its first-ever strategic communications plan, and has led reorganization projects to ensure the Faculty grows and adapts in line with strategic priorities.

She is a founding member of CAUBO’s Academic Managers committee, and has presented at the 2007 and 2013 annual conferences. She is also involved in the Deans' Assistant Group of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), organizing its spring meeting in Halifax this year.

Anne consistently demonstrates outstanding leadership capabilities both within and beyond the scope of her job responsibilities, and remains confident and professional even in challenging situations. We congratulate her on receiving the inaugural Emerging Leader Award.

David has devoted a great deal of his time and expertise to participating in the Facilities Management pre-conference seminar planning team.

“Being recognized by this award is a great honour. I I've been privileged enough to be able to do a lot of education, and participate in a lot of learning through my life and my career, and I try to participate in that as well, and give back; and to be recognized by my peers, by the people that know what we do the best, that means a lot to me.”

For several years, Lucile has volunteered her time and knowledge to help plan and execute the Finance pre-conference seminar.

« J’encourage les gens qui ont des connaissances spécifiques à faire du bénévolat pour l’ACPAU. J’encourage aussi mon personnel à faire du bénévolat ou à aider. Quand on connait quelque chose, pourquoi ne pas le partager? C’est ça que j’essaie de faire avec l’ACPAU, puis d’être reconnue pour ça, c’est vraiment un honneur et c’est très motivant. »

Rae Ann has been a very active member of CAUBO’s Risk Management Conference Coordination Team since 2019, and has been instrumental in securing speakers for the annual risk management functional seminar. She has served as a presenter herself at several CAUBO conferences and functional seminars in the last several years, covering topics such as incident management, the post-pandemic risk landscape, and the increased physical risks to campuses brought about by climate change. She is also active in CAUBO’s recently created Enterprise Risk and Assurance Committee and a long-term contributor to CURIE. A past recipient of the CAUBO Emerging Leader Award, Rae Ann has earned a reputation as a collaborative and committed leader of integrity who acts as a mentor and brings together colleagues from across the university to achieve common goals. Rae Ann’s enthusiasm, positivity, breadth of experience, leadership, and dedication to the sector make her a very worthy recipient of this award.

A respected leader in his field, Brian has raised awareness and engagement of cybersecurity among higher education stakeholders and helped to build bridges between the CAUBO and CUCCIO communities. He has offered three webinars on cybersecurity in the last three years, all of which were well-attended. He also presented at CAUBO’s annual conference in 2019 and represented the CIO community at the 2018 Thought Leader Advisory Group.

Also active with CUCCIO, Brian has relentlessly supported and promoted their cybersecurity benchmarking program, a highly regarded national initiative used to inform institutional and national conversations about cybersecurity among leaders and stakeholders in the sector. He has presented about the program and its results to institutional, provincial, and national audiences both within and outside the higher education sector. This work has advanced the understanding of the challenges and need for action to advance the cybersecurity posture of institutions and the sector. Brian’s work and commitment was recognized with the 2021 CUCCIO Community Award.

Steve is dedicated to lifelong learning and sharing of sector-specific knowledge. He has been a member of CAUBO’s Risk Management Seminar Coordination Team and a presenter at several annual conferences, speaking on issues and trends related to risk in higher education. He has also taken part in functional Thought Leader Advisory Group meetings, helped to develop the risk management benchmark survey, and co-presented a webinar on the topic. He currently sits on CAUBO’s Flexible Work Arrangement Advisory Committee.

In his day-to-day work, Steve leads TRU’s enterprise risk management strategy and oversees the insurance portfolio and the safety and emergency management function. He is a former member of CURIE’s Advisory Board, served on the Board of RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society, and was its vice-president in 2019.

Mark has been active and successful in promoting engagement with CAUBO among administrators working in Ancillary Services, and he continues to play a large part in helping to create and present related professional development activities. Mark recruited members to be part of the Ancillary Services conference coordination team (CCT) and remains actively involved himself, helping to secure speakers for the 2021 Ancillary Services functional seminar. He is a presenter at both the seminar and on a panel at the CAUBO 2021 virtual conference. In summer 2020, Mark coordinated and presented a webinar on ancillaries, HR, and risk issues related to the pandemic. He also acts as a bridge to the larger ancillaries community, regularly bringing NACAS Canada issues to CAUBO’s attention and vice versa.

As a long-standing member of CAUBO’s procurement conference coordination team (CCT) and participant in the procurement thought leader advisory group (TLAG), Renata helps to ensure that professional development events related to her function address timely and innovative issues and trends. She is a frequent presenter at CAUBO’s pre-conference seminars, and coordinated and presented at a webinar on procurement and information security in the fall of 2020. As part of CAUBO’s partnership with the McConnell Foundation, Renata also worked closely with the Foundation to develop social procurement workshops and initiatives.

Renata is well-respected both within CAUBO and in the wider procurement field. An active member of AnchorTO and the Ontario Universities Procurement Managers Association (OUPMA), she is well-connected and knowledgeable, and regularly promotes CAUBO’s value as a resource to other higher education procurement professionals.

Deidre’s dedication to professional development is exemplified by her many contributions to CAUBO’s educational offerings. She served as co-chair of the 2013 CAUBO annual conference “All the Right Moves” hosted by McMaster University, and was instrumental in its success.

She was part of the team awarded a 2016 Q&P award for the project “Show Me the Money! (Turning AP into a Profit Centre)” and later presented a successful webinar based on that initiative. In addition, she was a key member of the steering committee that oversaw the program of the highly successful workshop “Building a Toolkit for Effective, Ethical and Responsible Responses to Divestment Campaigns,” as well as a presenter at this same workshop.

Her contributions as a speaker at the 2016 conference in Quebec City were highly appreciated.

Deborah Collis, Director, Financial and Administrative Services, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Deborah is a long-term CAUBO volunteer, well-known for her support of continuing education for members. Deborah is a past member and chair of the CAUBO Finance Committee. She was a significant contributor to making CAUBO’s Fall 2014 Higher Education Budgeting Basics workshop the great success it was. She played a key role in content customization and delivery, adding real value to the workshop by integrating the Canadian context, sharing herr own experiences, and bringing a national awareness of the topic to the discussion. Her warm personality made her easy to listen to and very accessible to workshop participants.

Roxanne Millan, Director, Academic Support Services, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Roxanne is a long-term CAUBO volunteer, well-known for her support of continuing education for members. Roxanne currently chairs the Academic Managers Committee. She was a significant contributor to making CAUBO’s Fall 2014 Higher Education Budgeting Basics workshop the great success it was. She played a key role in content customization and delivery, adding real value to the workshop by integrating the Canadian context, sharing her own experience, and bringing a national awareness of the topic to the discussion. Her personality made her easy to listen to and very accessible to workshop participants.

Sandra Aversa, Vice-President Planning and Administration, University of Windsor

A former member of CAUBO’s Finance Committee, Sandra was an instrumental contributor to the 2014 annual conference planning process as part of the Finance Committee Conference Coordination Team, acting as coordinator for five sessions and presenting at two of them. Her extensive contributions had a significant and positive impact on the shape and success of the content provided to members at CAUBO 2014. Sandra is a true leader in the realm of professional development and information-sharing among her peers and colleagues.

Dwight Fischer, Assistant Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Dalhousie University

Dwight has made multifaceted contributions to CAUBO’s professional development offerings. In fall 2013, he took on the design and delivery of a two-day higher education project management workshop, which won rave reviews from the nearly 50 attendees hailing from a wide variety of functional areas. He has also contributed his time and expertise as a presenter at past CAUBO conferences. Dwight truly exemplifies the CAUBO values of crossfunctional interaction, dialogue and support.

Margaret Sterns, Director, Audit Services, Dalhousie University

Margaret can be counted upon to take on a project and give 110% effort, as evidenced by her long-standing dedication to her role as the Eastern Representative on the Internal Audit Committee since 2006/07. During this time, she has been largely responsible for the success of the Internal Audit pre-conference seminars, suggesting timely topics and working with speakers to develop relevant educational presentations for the benefit of all attendees. She has always been an enthusiastic member of the team, contributing in a thoughtful and imaginative way, and has acted as a welcoming figure, ensuring that new members are welcomed and introduced to other colleagues. Her commitment to promoting learning among her colleagues is exemplary, and precisely what we sought to honour with this new award.

Robert J. Carter, University of Guelph

While over 300 individuals have presented and/or will present at either CAUBO 2013, 2012 and 2011 as well as at CAUBO workshops, only a handful have presented on more than one occasion. Robert has participated since 2008 in both the co-development of multiple sessions in his capacity as member and Chair of the Facilities Management Committee, and as presenter or co-presenter at sessions no fewer than 5 times since 2011. Robert has served as a member of the Committee since 2008, and assumed the role of Chair in June 2011. CAUBO is thankful for his dedication to higher education and has benefited greatly from his institutional knowledge over the years. He is truly deserving of an award honouring those who promote learning.

Éric has a long history of engagement with CAUBO. He was a Board member for eight years, and spent two years as President from 2017 to 2019. He has also presented at many annual conferences, served as a member of the Q&P Selection Committee, and has been an active participant in the Vice Presidents’ Thought Leader Advisory Group.

In addition to his support of CAUBO, Éric has been actively involved in Interuniversity Services Inc. since its creation. He has been a Board member since 1994 and has also served on and chaired their audit committee. Colleagues there call him one of the greatest supporters of the organization, which facilitates partnership among Atlantic Canadian postsecondary institutions to support their financial stability. They also called out his ready willingness to share his wealth of knowledge, and his positive attitude and praise for colleagues. Éric also sits on the audit committee of Novanet, which serves academic libraries at postsecondary institutions.

In his long tenure at Université Sainte-Anne, where he also completed his undergraduate degree, Éric has overseen many major projects, notably the transfer of the university’s pension plan to the Nova Scotia Public Service Superannuation Plan, the renovation of the chapel and the Gustave-Blanche building, the construction of a new sports field, and the installation of solar panels on campus. He has also worked with the government of Nova Scotia to support provincial accessibility and disability legislation. Éric is retiring this year and we wish him an enjoyable transition to more time for leisure, golf, and rest!

Ian Nason, who retired in 2020, held several positions at Dalhousie University over a 37-year career. A longstanding member of CAUBO, Ian was co-chair of the organizing committee for the 2003 annual conference in Halifax, and contributed to many other conferences as a speaker. He served as a member and Chair of the CAUBO Financial Reporting Committee from 1989 to 1994. In addition, he was a member of the Canadian Universities Reciprocal Insurance Exchange Advisory Board, serving several terms as Board Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer between 1999 and 2020.

As a member of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network Executive Committee and Chair of their Finance and Audit Committee from 2017 to 2020, he helped guide the organization through a successful acquisition, provided them with advice on new financial and operational processes, and contributed to the development of their strategic plan in 2018-19.

At Dalhousie, Ian implemented a balanced budget regime and debt reduction measures to address a $12 million accumulated operating deficit and a $28 million capital deficit — total deficits of over $100 million dollars in today’s terms. Since then, Dalhousie has produced 32 consecutive balanced budgets under Ian’s watch, and he helped put a capital debt policy into place to ensure long-term financial strength.

Ian is known by colleagues for taking a collaborative approach to addressing academic priorities, and for never forgetting the importance of students as the heart of the university’s mission. His leadership style of listening, discussing, and evidence-based decision-making made him a popular leader across the university. His entire team signed a letter of support for his nomination for a CAUBO recognition award.

After more than 20 years of service to Saint Mary’s University, Gabrielle (Gabe) Morrison will retire from her current position as Vice-President Finance and Administration in July 2020. Gabe’s contributions to Saint Mary’s, to the university sector in Nova Scotia and to higher education administration nationally have been considerable.

As a long-serving member of the CAUBO Board of Directors from 2001 to 2009, Gabe played a significant part in steering CAUBO’s growth from an association primarily focused on financial services to an umbrella organization serving the many players in higher education administration. During her eight years on the CAUBO Board, she held every role on the Executive and also served on numerous standing committees.

She also served on the Board of the Canadian Universities Reciprocal Insurance Exchange (CURIE) from 2010 to 2014, where she demonstrated a keen ability to see the bigger picture and was always able to achieve consensus on what constituted the best interests of the organization.

At Saint Mary’s, she has championed large-scale capital projects totalling hundreds of millions of dollars across her career. She was a driving force behind the creation of a province-wide shared IT services project that saved Nova Scotia institutions millions of dollars and won a CAUBO Q&P Award in 2017.

Gabe is known for being direct and transparent, open to new approaches, a supporter of livelong mentoring and learning, and an advocate for volunteerism. One colleague called her “the embodiment of collaboration and collegiality… always willing to help and often takes on a large amount of extra work that benefits us all.”

Kelly has been a vital part of CAUBO’s work in the Human Resources functional area throughout the past decade. A number of key initiatives have been born from her ideas and brought to fruition through her extensive involvement, most notably in the area of benchmarking.

She was a member of the CAUBO HR Committee from 2010 to 2016, serving as its Chair for two years starting in 2014, and remaining an integral and valued member of the HR Thought Leader Advisory Group that succeeded it.

Kelly is an active supporter of the Faculty Bargaining Services Program, and contributes her time and expertise to the Human Resources Association of Universities of Western Canada and The Conference Board of Canada HR Executives West organization.

A proactive community builder, Kelly has presented at many CAUBO conferences in the past 10 years and has also contributed significantly to the organization of the HR pre-conference seminars. She truly embodies the role of connector within CAUBO, striving to connect her peers across the country around HR issues. 

A former longstanding member of CAUBO’s Finance Committee, Sandra was an instrumental contributor to the 2014 and 2015 annual conference planning processes as part of the Finance Conference Coordination Team, acting as coordinator for no less than five sessions and presenting at two of them. She also presented at the 2012 and 2017 CAUBO conferences.

She served as a member of CAUBO’s Response to Funding Reductions Task Force in 2013–2014. Sandra was also an active and involved member of Ontario’s Council of Senior Administrative Officers, serving as Vice-Chair of the Steering (Executive) Committee, and was in line to become Chair before announcing her retirement. She was a member of numerous committees and working groups with the Council of Ontario Universities, including the Committee on Space Standards, and chaired their
Financial Sustainability Committee.

Having worked in finance for the University of Windsor in a variety of roles since 1990, Sandra’s willingness to share her deep and broad knowledge of university financial administration in a variety of venues has provided a valued service to her colleagues across Canada.

Lisa began her volunteer work with CAUBO as a member of the Human Resources Committee and subsequently served on the Board for seven years. She was CAUBO’S first non-business officer Board member and the first to represent the HR portfolio, bringing an important people-first perspective to the Board and excelling at member engagement and communications strategy.

She also served as a member of the training and development task force in 2007-08 that helped increase CAUBO’s educational offerings for its members, and as Board liaison to the HR committee. A frequent CAUBO conference presenter, Lisa’s commitment to sharing her knowledge and giving back to her work community is deeply appreciated by her peers.

Lisa is UBC’s first Vice President Human Resources, and prior to that served as Associate Vice President HR, where she spearheaded the creation and implementation of “Focus on People,” the University’s first HR strategic framework, which includes a staff recognition awards program as well as leadership programs and work-life balance initiatives.

Jim is a Past President of CAUBO and served on the Board of Directors from 2010 to 2016. In 2011, he received CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award, recognizing his extraordinary leadership and contributions through the years. He is a frequent presenter at CAUBO and Faculty Bargaining Services (FBS) workshops and conferences, joined the FBS Management Committee in April 2014, and in 2016 will take up the position of FBS Director.

Jim has also worked extensively with the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), most recently spearheading conversations regarding a jointly-sponsored pension plan for Ontario universities. He also represented COU at the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions and led its first Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act committee. As Chair of CSAO (a committee of COU) he lead a sub-committee tasked with ensuring that university concerns regarding pension solvency legislation were brought forward to the Expert Commission on Pensions in Ontario. He will retire in 2016 after 15 years as VP Finance and Administration at Laurier.

John has spent much of his lengthy career as a specialist in the field of university investments, and has been lauded by his peers as a truly helpful colleague who always makes time to share information and offer advice to other universities in his area of expertise.

He was a long-term contributor to CAUBO’s Treasury and Investment Committee, as both member and Chair, and has been a staunch supporter of the University Investment Survey and related issues, helping it to remain the leading data instrument in the higher education investment sector. John truly embodies the spirit of the Distinguished Service Award and we are pleased to present it to him this year. He retired in 2015 after 26 years of service to McGill, most recently serving as Executive Director of Investments.

Laura is a long-time committed supporter of CAUBO’s work in the field of university finance. She served for over ten years as a member of the Finance Committee including a year as its Chair. Laura contributed significantly to CAUBO’s Financial Information of Universities and Colleges report during her tenure on the committee, participating on the task force to review it and establishing the Western Regional Financial Reporting Committee. Laura has also offered her time and expertise as a presenter at CAUBO’s annual conferences, and in 2009 received CAUBO’s Outstanding Contribution Award.

After 19 years in the position of Associate Vice- President (Financial Services) at the University of Saskatchewan, Laura has announced her retirement from the AVP position, with plans to transition to a project support role. We wish her all the best as she moves on to new adventures.

Marion Van Impe, Director, Student Accounts & Treasury, University of Saskatchewan

Marionis recognized as a treasury expert in her community and has served as President of the Saskatoon Chapter of the Treasury Management Association of Canada. She has been an active participant at annual CAUBO conferences and was a member of the organizing committee and Chair of the Social Committee for the CAUBO 2004 annual conference hosted by her university. Marion has served on CAUBO’s Treasury and Investment Committee, making instrumental contributions to the development and publication of a debt guide for universities, publication of the annual investment survey, and hosting the annual CAUBO treasury pre-conference seminar.

Marionhas been a key contributor to two Quality and Productivity Award-winning projects at the University of Saskatchewan: the scenario analysis project, which won national second prize in 2010, and the credit card acceptance for tuition payments, which received the Western regional award in 2012.

Both of the 2013 recipients of this award will retire from university administration this year. Michael and Marion, we wish you both the very best upon your retirement and thank you for your service and dedication to higher education in Canada.

Michael Trattner, Treasurer and Director of Investments, University of Calgary

Michael exemplifies the qualities of an outstanding leader, one who possesses personal integrity and a thoughtful communication style. He is exceedingly generous with his time assisting others in their understanding of their endowments, financial reports, interpretation of the Post-Secondary Learning Act and investment industry concepts and knowledge.

He served on the CAUBO Treasury and Investment Committee for ten years, sharing the insight, knowledge and experience he gained while serving on the University of Calgary and S.T.A.R.S. Air Ambulance Investment Committees, and was instrumental in the major redesign of the annual CAUBO Investment Survey that took place in 2006-07 and created the format that is still in use today. More recently, Michael volunteered as chair of the newly-developed Socially Responsible Investment Advisory Committee with the University of Calgary.

Lawrence has been an active member of CAUBO since 1974. He is a past member of the CAUBO Board of Directors (2001-2007) and also served as chair of the Editorial Board from 2003-2007 and as a member of the FBS Management Committee from 2005-2012.

Beyond his service to CAUBO, he has provided his service and time to other higher education organizations such as CURIE, where he acted as Atlantic universities representative; Interuniversity Services Inc., where he was a Board member and Board Chair; the Association of Atlantic Universities/Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission as a member of committees and task forces; the Association of Institutional Research; and the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission, where he also served as Chair.

Lawrence also found time to give back to his chosen field of expertise, as a long-term member of the New Brunswick Institute of Chartered Accountants, serving on Institute committees. He has also been active in community organizations including the board of the Fredericton YMCA, the Greater Fredericton Economic Development Commission and Enterprise Fredericton. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Fredericton Playhouse.

Michael has been an active member of CAUBO for over a decade. He joined the Taxes Committee in 1999 and has served as its Chair for the past 3 years. As part of his work on the committee, Michael has been instrumental in the development of the Knotia Income Tax Guide and the GST Guide. These guides represent an invaluable source of information to our members. They have also served as the basis of the very successful CAUBO Tax Webinar Series. These six webinars have attracted over 370 participants from across the country. Michael has acted as an organizer, presenter and contributor to all six sessions. Michael has also contributed his expertise as an author and contributor to columns and articles in the University Manager magazine and as a presenter at the CAUBO annual conference.

Pierre is widely recognized as an outstanding leader who is dedicated to the advancement of higher education administration. He received CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award in 2014, as well as the Outstanding Contribution Award in 2008 for his active participation on the CAUBO Financial Reporting Committee.

His impact on and dedication to the sector was also recognized by the Council of Ontario Finance Officers (COFO) with its Distinguished Leadership Award on two occasions: as a co-recipient in 2005 and individually in 2017. As well, he recently received the University of Toronto’s 2022 President’s Excellence Award in the category of Influential Excellence.

He has facilitated several CAUBO committees, including the Financial Reporting Committee and the Strategic Task Force on the Financial Information of Universities and Colleges. He led the initial work on the COFO and CAUBO financial reporting system that is still used today. Pierre also advised and led a review for COFO and COU on five financial metrics that were adopted by MCU as part of the strategic mandate agreement process.

Pierre often prefers to work behind the scenes to support colleagues without wanting or needing recognition. He is actively sought out as a trusted advisor who is continually willing to share knowledge and information and provide assistance to others. He will retire this summer after more than 30 years in higher education administration, and we wish him a wonderful next phase of his life.

Nancy has been a staunch supporter of CAUBO for over two decades, serving as CAUBO President in 2005-2006 and as a Board member from 1999-2007. She is also a member of the current National Employee Benefits Advisory Committee and previously chaired or served on the investment and audit committees.

She has been a valued ambassador for CAUBO, ensuring that other vice-presidents finance and administration knew about the many benefits CAUBO offers and encouraging their active participation. Nancy regularly identified new areas where CAUBO could provide value and was instrumental in getting initiatives like FBS and the National Employee Benefits program underway.

During her lengthy tenure as VP Finance and Administration at the University of Lethbridge, Nancy was generous with her time, providing mentorship and guidance to peers and maintaining connections between institutions through groups like the Council of Western Financial Logistics and Operational Personnel (COWFLOP), of which she was an informal leader.

Nancy has chaired the Senior Business Officers of Alberta group for the past several years, facilitating equal voice and time for each member. She introduced and developed a work plan for the group that has enhanced opportunities for shared internal audit resources across Alberta post-secondary institutions. In addition, Nancy has also served two terms as Chair of CURIE.

Colleagues call Nancy a “generous, knowledgeable professional” who offers “thoughtful and respectful engagement and demeanour even while addressing the most challenging issues.” Upon the occasion of her retirement this year, we congratulate Nancy and hope she will enjoy her newfound free time.

Dave holds the distinction of being the first CAUBO President to serve two consecutive one-year terms, despite the significant time commitment and workload associated with the role. His leadership and hard work were instrumental in the creation and implementation of CAUBO’s 2015–2020 strategic and operational plans.

Following his tenure as President, Dave chaired the nominating and Q&P awards selection committees and participated in both the VP and Facilities Management Thought Leader Advisory Groups.

Dave has served on the boards of CURIE, APPA, and the Saskatchewan Opportunities Initiative, among many others. In his role as Vice-President Administration at the University of Regina, which he has held since 2006, he initiated and chaired the university’s first Campus Plan, leading to significant growth that has more than doubled the size of the campus and saw the construction of several award-winning buildings.

For his many contributions to CAUBO and the sector as a whole, Dave was awarded CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator award in 2017. Now, with this honorary membership, Dave receives complimentary registration for all future CAUBO conferences. We hope to see him in person next year in Toronto – and he should have plenty of time, since he is retiring this year. We wish him a very happy and well-earned retirement!

Michael was chair of the former CAUBO Environmental Health and Safety Committee and inaugural chair of the expanded-mandate Risk Management Committee, and has actively participated in thought leader advisory groups. He has presented at CAUBO annual conferences, pre-conference seminars, and webinars, and has been involved with URMIA, a US association focused on risk management, helping to build bridges between them and CAUBO.

Michael is a strong advocate for information-sharing in the university risk management and health and safety communities, and has led several high-impact initiatives to establish precedent or common ground with inter-university organizations and regulators. Under his leadership, the University of Ottawa helped to develop the Higher Education Consortium for Hazardous Materials and Equipment Tracking (HECHMET), in partnership with Queen’s University, Concordia University, and Royal Military College, a project that earned first prize at the 2013 CAUBO Quality and Productivity Awards.

In 2015, CAUBO honoured Michael with the Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator award for his work on behalf of our Association and the sector. By adding Honorary membership to his distinctions, he now has the right to attend any future CAUBO conference free of charge, so with any luck we can congratulate him in person next year in Toronto. Michael recently retired, and we wish him nothing but the best for the next phase of his life!

Trudy’s support of and involvement with CAUBO goes back more than two decades, beginning with her work as member and chair of several committees, including Taxes, Financial Reporting, and Treasury & Investment.

She served as a Board member for five years and was CAUBO President in 1999. Following her term, she chaired the Nominating Committee and served on it until 2005. She has also been a frequent presenter at both CAUBO and the Council
of Ontario Finance Officers’ annual conferences. For her extraordinary efforts and contributions, Trudy was the 2008 recipient of CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award.

Trudy also found time to chair the Council of Ontario Finance Officers (COFO) from 2013-2015 and won their Distinguished Leadership Award in 2008. She was an instrumental member of COFO’s Financial Sustainability Metrics working group, which helped develop and refine metrics for universities’ Strategic Mandate Agreements with government.

Knowing as she does the hard work that volunteers do on behalf of our association, Trudy was an early proponent of CAUBO’s volunteer recognition program, which continues to acknowledge and thank volunteers through letters, gifts, and an awards ceremony each year.

A past CAUBO President and Board member, Gary has also chaired the Q&P Selection and Nominating Committees and presented at multiple FBS and CAUBO conferences and workshops. He was a founding member of the FBS Management Committee, helping to guide the evolution of FBS from supporting university bargaining with faculty associations to advising institutions in negotiating collective agreements and
enhancing labour relations.

He was also a member of numerous committees and working groups with the Council of Ontario Universities, including a senior-level institutional issues group dealing with labour relations, and served as the Council of Senior Administrative Officers’ Liaison with the Ontario University Council of Chief Information Officers. He worked with Infrastructure Ontario on behalf of universities to manage how they become involved in capital projects.

Gary served as Vice-President, Finance and Administration at York University for 15 years until his recent retirement. Prior to this, he served as the university’s Director of Budgets for five years. During that time, Gary was instrumental in helping to modernize York’s infrastructure, developing and implementing an ancillary operations 10-year planning model and budget framework, and spearheading a successful bid to build the new Archives of Ontario building on campus.

More recently, in 2016, Gary received CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award for his outstanding contributions to higher education administration.

Duncan’s dedication to CAUBO throughout the last two decades is clear. He is a past President, served on the Board for eight years, and was a member of the Administrative and Support Services (now Q&P Selection) Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the Deferred Maintenance Task Force. He has also presented at several CAUBO annual conferences.

Duncan’s efforts to raise awareness about deferred maintenance were instrumental in highlighting this issue for university executives and government officials. His leadership has been credited for major provincial funding over the last 15 years. He helped implement the Facilities Condition Index survey in Ontario, and was a key contributor to the 2000 CAUBO report A Point of No Return.

In 2006, Duncan was honoured with CAUBO’s prestigious Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award, recognizing his extraordinary leadership and contributions to CAUBO and higher education administration. We congratulate Duncan on his retirement last year and hope that, as an honorary member with a lifetime free pass to CAUBO’s annual conference, he will continue to join us in future years.

Lucie has been a generous and consistent contributor to the University sector at both the regional and national level, serving as a member or chair of many CAUBO Committees including Treasury, Financial Reporting, Administrative Services, the Editorial Board, and the Q&P Awards Selection Committee, as well as on the Board of Directors. As chair of the Treasury Committee, she was instrumental in heightening the professional level of expertise across the country in investment management and supervised the creation of the Debt Management Guide.

In 2005 Lucie was honored with CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award, recognizing her extraordinary leadership and contributions to CAUBO. She is also a past recipient of the Ontario Finance Group’s Distinguished Leadership Award.

Lucie has presented at many CAUBO annual conferences and has been an instructor for a number of years for the University Management Course in budget management offered by CHERD.

Honorary membership is bestowed sparingly and only to those individuals who are deemed to have made an extraordinary contribution to CAUBO and the management of higher education. Honorary Members receive free lifetime registration at CAUBO annual conferences, so although Lucie will retire in 2015, we hope to see her there in the future.

Darrell Cochrane, who retired from Dalhousie University in March 2013, served on the CAUBO Taxes Committee for ten years, six of them as Chair, and went on to be a member of the Finance Committee for five years. As Chair of the Taxes Committee, Darrell successfully shepherded the transition of the CAUBO tax guide from an out-of-date hard copy version to the online environment. The guide and a series of associated webinars based on the guide have helped to promote best tax practices among Canadian universities.

In 2010 Darrell was honored with CAUBO’s Ken Clements Distinguished Administrator Award, recognizing his extraordinary leadership and contributions to the association. Upon the occasion of his retirement we are pleased to award him Honorary Membership in CAUBO.

Nancy has always been recognized as a leader in education management and administration in Canada and in particular as a role model within her own institution, on regional and national committees and within CAUBO. Nancy’s career spans over 35 years of service to the university community including work at AUCC and on three different campuses since then. She has successively been Associate Editor of University Affairs, Executive Assistant to the Vice-President Administration at the University of Manitoba, Vice-President Administration and Finance at Trent University, and has been Vice-President Finance and Administration at the University of Guelph since 1995. Nancy was a member of the CAUBO Board of Directors from 1996 to 2000 and acted as President of the Association in 1998/1999. She also served as a member of the Editorial Board of the University Manager magazine. In addition, Nancy served as a member of the Board of the Canadian University Reciprocal Insurance Exchange (CURIE). In 2004, Nancy was awarded CAUBO’s most prestigious award, the Ken Clements Award, for her devotion to the higher education community.

Most recently, Nancy has contributed her time to CAUBO as a member of the steering committee that developed the program for the March 2011 workshop on the growing internationalization of higher education.

For 1998, the Board of Directors of CAUBO unanimously approved the recommendation from the Executive Committee to present the Ken Clements Award to Tom Vine, Purchasing Manager and Tax Analyst at the University of Western Ontario and eminent advisor to the university community on commodity taxes, in recognition of his contribution to the work on the Goods and Services Tax, including the negotiations for the MASH sector rebate and the preparation of the CAUBO/Ernst & Young GST Question and Answer Guide.

The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax had the potential for very negative impact on universities, given their level of non-salary expenditures and the complexity of their operation as suppliers of both educational and commercial services. Although there was an agreement with the federal government that a rebate would offset the added cost over the previous federal sales tax, the consensus was that the universities would be net losers. Tom Vine had chaired CAUBO's Commodity Taxes Committee since 1983 when he accepted responsibility for the GST task force representing CAUBO and AUCC charged with negotiating the level of rebate. Tom played a crucial role in obtaining the final 67% rebate, considerably higher than the initial proposal, for eventual savings of at least $20 million a year for Canadian universities.

Tom Vine led a series of CAUBO seminars and workships on the GST after its implementation and jointly edited the 1991 CAUBO/Ernst & Young GST Question and Answer Guide. Tom continues to be regularly called upon for assistance as a member of the Taxes Committee.

Once again, it is a great honour for the Board of Directors to be able to recognize simultaneously with this award, in Ken Clements and Tom Vine, two outstanding contributors to the well being of Canada's institutions of higher learning.

Presented by the Board of Directors of CAUBO
Fredericton, New Brunswick
June 1998