The second cohort of McMaster's award-winning Certificate in Advanced Leadership & Management (CALM) program presented their final projects last week. According to Vice-President Administration Roger Couldrey, the project component of CALM is a process that brings together leaders from all different backgrounds within the University to tackle a business problem.

Participants work with leaders from across McMaster, including members of the senior management team, as well as leaders in industry. For most, this is their first opportunity to do so and to have such an influence on a strategic project for the University.

Participants were divided into three project teams and given real University challenges to choose from. The project ideas were identified by Couldrey and Provost Ilene Busch-Vishniac, who described the process as “sowing flower seeds for the teams to tend and then watching to see what will bloom. This year we got a garden, and we would love to see all three ideas implemented,” she said.

One team focused on reducing energy usage on campus. They narrowed their scope to study the energy that is consumed by 53 campus pop machines. The energy these machines consume could power 13 households. The CALM project team joined forces with IBM, Enistic and Pepsi to conduct a pilot project in which they monitored three machines on campus using IBMs smart chip technology. This is an initiative that no university in Canada has attempted. In fact, McMaster is the first university in the world to implement this groundbreaking energy reduction technology. They anticipate savings of $19,400 over a two-year period, and already have people excited to get involved, including Busch-Vishniac, who thinks their research and results may be publishable.

A second team developed and piloted a mentorship training program, recruiting mentors and mentees from various areas across McMaster. This project was developed to address a potential loss of institutional knowledge with future retirements and to support existing training programs. After receiving positive feedback from the pilot group, as well as support from President Patrick Deane and Busch-Vishniac, the team developed a framework and budget proposal for full implementation. During the project presentation, the team presented this idea with an interactive 'speed mentoring' demonstration, showing guests a glimpse of the rewards that come from both mentoring and being mentored.

The third project team addressed the need for improved information sharing for department administrators related to processes and systems. The project looked for ways to reduce the amount of time department administrators spent looking for information and to reduce the number of calls to the Business Management Services (BMS) office by 30-50 per cent. The team tackled this challenge in multiple ways. First they utilized IntelliResponse, an interactive website Q&A platform, and proposed to apply it to BMS. The current challenge of finding information along with the user-friendly IntelliResponse solution were both demonstrated during their presentation, receiving enthusiastic responses from attendees. The team, in collaboration with the Office of Public Relations, developed a standard “Ask McMaster” logo to be used for all IntelliResponse interfaces so that the icon will be easily recognizable and accessible for all McMaster employees and students. They plan to introduce an Ask McMaster landing page directly from the McMaster homepage. They also developed and piloted an Administrative Lunch and Learn session to share information about new initiatives or processes and network. The feedback gathered from the pilot was positive and the format is cost-effective and can be easily implemented.

Laura Harrington, a laboratory manager from the Department of Chemistry, like many other CALM participants, did not know a single member of her team on day one of the program and ended up creating “invaluable connections” that will carry forward.

“This program is designed to set managers up for success, providing tools and experience that are transferable into your career. This is such an amazing place to work because McMaster invests in its employees, and I am really grateful to be a part of that. I know the other participants feel the same,” she said.

CALM is a biennial program delivered by the Centre for Continuing Education.
This nationally-recognized program has earned awards from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO), the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE) and the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) for its pilot delivery in 2008-2009.

This year's participants included: Wendy Brunner, Stephanie Cherwinski, Dina DErmo, Michelle Donovan, Rand MacIvor, Lou Mitton, Lisa Morine, Anne Childs, Sheilah Laffan, Yvonne Maidment, Karen McGlynn, John McGowan, Ine Wauben, Pat Fraser, Diane Gauthier, Laura Harrington, Paulette Malcolm and Donna McCarty.