the-sier-scoop-2019

The
SIER Scoop
How can the Office of Strategic Initiatives and
External Relations (SIER) support the work that
you do? Now's your chance to find out!
Read more for the inside scoop on SIER, and
services we offer to support the College community.

About the Office of
Table of CONTENTS
About the Office of Strategic Initiatives and External
Relations (SIER) 1
Meet the SIER Team 2-3
Strategic Initiatives and External Relations 4-5
Solv. 6-7
STRATEGIC
INITIATIVES
AND EXTERNAL
RELATIONS (SIER)
Solv. Sector Sessions 8-9
Government Relations 10
Grants and Funds 11
Strategic Initiatives: Project Ideation 12
Collaborate with SIER 13
The Office of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations (SIER)
is a catalyst for developing and strengthening relationships with
key industry, academic, government and community stakeholders
in order to grow opportunities for collaboration and identify
new major initiatives that possess the potential of having a
transformational impact on the institution.
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Meet the SIER TEAM
CAROLYN RITCHIE
Senior Manager
MANJEET KANG
Manager of
Grants and External Relations
SAMANTHA CORWAY
Project Manager
JESSICA VELLA
Project and
Events Coordinator
CHARLENE D’COSTA
Communications and External
Relations Officer
VIKRAMJIT SINGH
Research Analyst
ANDREW PETROU
Director (SIER)
Executive Director
Downsview Aerospace
Innovation and Research (DAIR)
ALEC DARE
Research Analyst
*On contract with SIER while
Vikramjit Singh is on paternity leave
JENNIFER GAWOR
Department Assistant
MEZART DAULET
Grants Coordinator
RACHEL POLSINELLI
Industry Liaison
MELANIE VETZAL
Project Lead
SAMIA KHANDAKAR
Manager of Government
Relations
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Strategic Initiatives and
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
Examples of current strategic initiatives include:
The Downsview Aerospace Innovation
and Research (DAIR) Hub
The activities undertaken by the SIER team are broken down into the two categories identified in the
department name: Strategic Initiatives and External Relations.
Strategic Initiatives are projects that have a College-wide scope and have resulting impacts
and measurable benefits to stakeholders across the institution. SIER directly undertakes and
supports strategic initiatives through internal project ideation, strategy development and project
management processes.
External Relations is a critical element to ensure the success of the strategic initiatives
undertaken by SIER and the broader College community. SIER has introduced several processes
and platforms that focus on engaging industry, government, community and academic stakeholders.
SIER's portfolios of activity include:
Strategic
Initiatives
Grants
and Funds
Solv.
Solv. Sector
Sessions
Government
Relations
The Environmental and Related Technologies
Hub (EaRTH) District
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SOLV.
Solv. is Centennial College’s catalyst for growing and
strengthening partnerships with industry. This free service
seamlessly connects companies to a variety of businessenhancing
opportunities and services across the College
with the goal of building mutually-beneficial partnerships
that advance industry relationships and enhance the
student experience.
Solv. is committed to making connections that count.
Rather than a one-time collaboration, Solv. aims to
proactively identify new opportunities for engagement
as a company’s needs change and evolve.
• y How will I find industry support for
my project idea?
• y How will I find industry members to
join my Program Advisory Committee?
• y How should I promote student
placement and hiring opportunities
to industry?
• y How will I promote my upcoming
event to industry?
550+
industry partners engaged
with Centennial College
19+
sectors engaged
673+
referrals to schools and departments
within Centennial College
CONTACT
solv.centennialcollege.ca
solv@centennialcollege.ca
416-289-5022
CentennialSolv
Utilize Solv. as your gateway
to connecting with industry!
Solv. works collaboratively with
areas across the College to
increase engagement and facilitate
mutually-beneficial and long-lasting
partnerships with industry.
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SX3 Highlights
SOLV. SECTOR
SESSIONS (SX3)
Launched in 2018 as a tool to enhance engagement with industry, Solv. Sector Sessions (SX3) are
designed to be interactive and action-oriented events that bring together leading industry experts
and Centennial College’s diverse community of staff, students and faculty to discuss cross-sectoral
topics that will impact the future landscape of multiple industries.
The goal of SX3 is to align with industry trends, inform the
College’s strategic direction, develop project ideas and identify
partnership opportunities with industry.
The first-ever SX3 event titled “Feeding the Future” was held at Centennial College on December
4th, 2018. The event explored food sustainability throughout the food system with a focus on
accessibility and innovation solutions.
Following “Feeding the Future,” SX3 in partnership with The Business School at Centennial College
held “Future of Work,” an event that explored emerging trends that are set to transform the future
landscape of our workforce. The event covered several topics including retail, artificial intelligence
(AI), paleofuturism, and diversity and inclusion. For highlights from the “Future of Work,” check
out this video.
FUTURE OF WORK CONFERENCE
Solv. Sector Sessions
Depending on the event topic and audience the SX3 structure can range from conference style to
workshop, round table to hackathon, with the objective of being customizable in order to facilitate
information-sharing and idea creation.
Upcoming SX3 Events
Disruption and Storytelling: The Next 25 Years
of Communication, Media, Arts and Design
(December 2019)
Partner with SX3
Connect with SIER if you have an event topic you
would like to collaborate on, and let’s discuss
how we can turn your idea into a future SX3.
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GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
GRANTS AND FUNDS
SIER is developing a government relations framework with the goals of building and strengthening
relationships with government stakeholders, streamlining Centennial College’s messaging and
brand reputation as a leader in post-secondary education and working with stakeholders across the
College to facilitate information-sharing and to foster joint advocacy opportunities.
Centennial College has built a platform for faculty, staff, students, industry and community partners
to collaborate, incubate and actualize innovative project ideas. These projects have the potential to
acquire various types of funding from all levels of government, private and community foundations
and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.
You Can Access Government Relations Resources Today
SIER has developed a government relations Internal Resource Package containing documents to
support government relations initiatives. The package includes the following documents that are
now available to the College Community:
In order to proactively respond to funding opportunities and support the growth of innovative project
ideas, SIER provides grant matching and application development support.
SIER can support your next project by:
1. Centennial College Priorities and Government Policy Alignment
2. Federal and Provincial Government Priorities
3. Federal Government Portfolio Briefs
4. Provincial Government Portfolio Briefs
Monitoring and
researching relevant
grant opportunities
Facilitating the
ideation process
Developing
logic models
5. Members of Parliament by Centennial College Campus
6. Members of Provincial Parliament by Centennial College Campus
7. Councillors by Centennial College Campus
8. Affiliated Organizations
9. Ministers, Legislative Assembly of Ontario
10. Provincial Parliamentary Assistants
Liasing with Grant
Officers at external
funding agencies
Reviewing
draft applications
Joint Advocacy Initiatives
Connect with SIER if you need support with government outreach, would
like to pursue joint advocacy opportunities, or would like to access
materials from the Internal Resource Package.
Stay tuned for SIER’s Grants and Funds News
To effectively communicate with the College community regarding new
funding opportunities, SIER is launching a Grants Update and a Grants
Directory section on Centennial Central. Please visit SIER’s page
on Centennial Central to stay up-to-date on new funding announcements,
calls for proposals, and other relevant news.
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Strategic Initiatives:
PROJECT IDEATION
Collaborate
WITH SIER
Through SIER’s work in engaging schools and departments across the College, and building
partnerships with external industry, government, community and academic stakeholders,
opportunities to develop or assist in coordinating strategic projects within the College occur. The
projects SIER undertakes or supports have a College-wide scope and have measurable benefits to
multiple stakeholders within the institution.
SIER can support your project ideation and planning process through:
Strategy Development
• y Conduct research and analysis to validate projects and ensure alignment with the College’s
Book of Commitments, schools and departments strategic priorities,
and economic, social and environmental ROI
• y Utilize internal processes and platforms including Solv., Solv. Sector Sessions (SX3),
government relations and grant matching and application development to engage and
build relationships with external stakeholders and organizations to support the development
of projects
Project Management
• y SIER can either lead or support the development, planning and management of strategic
projects through:
• y Conducting targeted research
• y Developing government and
industry outreach strategies
• y Creating tailored strategic
communications
• y Tracking and reviewing available
grant opportunities
We hope you enjoyed reading about the activity at SIER!
Are you interested in working together through one (or more)
of the following areas? Drop by the SIER office for a coffee
and let's discuss how we can collaborate!
• y Solv.
• y Solv. Sector Sessions (SX3)
• y Government Relations
• y Grants and Funds
• y Strategic Initiatives: Project Ideation
Contact Information
Jennifer Gawor
416-289-5000, ext. 2566
jgawor@centennialcollege.ca
Call for Project Ideas
Do you have a project idea you would like support in developing?
Connect with SIER, we’re always looking for new and innovative
project ideas to explore.
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