November 27, 2018 - 5:15am
By Aly Winks
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Vancouver Island University’s employee enewsletter. I am Aly Winks, Internal Communications Officer and curator of the enewsletter’s content.
Why an enewsletter?
For some time, VIU’s Communications and HR teams have been having conversations about how to support the communications needs of one of our most important groups – our internal community. We heard two things loud and clear during the People Plan process:
- many of you don’t feel informed enough
- you’re overwhelmed by the number of emails you receive
Now, I do note the irony of sending you this enewsletter through email, but at the moment, it is the primary means of communication relied upon by most employees at VIU. We also heard through the People Plan consultation that some thoughtful, interesting and helpful information packaged together and sent out reliably is something employees want. We are hoping this one enewsletter will replace some of the many individual emails you currently receive. We also hope that you find some items of interest that either surprise you, make you feel more connected to other people in the VIU community, or help you in the day-to-day responsibilities of your job.
And – if you would like to provide us feedback on what you think, then let us know as this is an enewsletter for and about VIU and all of its employees.
What about the Digest?
We heard through the People Plan consultation process that the VIU Digest is not meeting your needs. With the launch of this new employee enewsletter, we will be turning the Digest into an events-only listing, which will come to your inbox once a week.
We have a robust events page on our website and I encourage you to check it regularly, as well as following @VIUniversity on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and @viunews on Twitter and Facebook to learn about VIU events. We will also link to the events page through every issue of the new employee enewsletter.
What will I find here?
Going forward, you will find articles, videos and photos providing updates on important initiatives at VIU, such as Project AURORA and the results of the cyber safety awareness training. You will find messages from senior leaders, like the one above from Dan VanderSluis, Associate Vice-President of Human Resources. You will have the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of your colleagues across the institution. You will learn about services available through the Human Resources Department and areas like the Health and Safety Office, and the MarComm team. There is also a section letting you know who is joining VIU.
All enewsletter issues will be archived online - we will share the location in the edition once we have something to archive. You will be able to find anything you have read for reference and search all content.
Who can contribute?
We will do our best to bring you relevant and interesting information. However, this enewsletter is for VIU employees and is only as good as the stories we know about, so PLEASE share your ideas with us at alyson.winks@viu.ca. We are always looking for contributors – if you have an idea, please let us know.
Contest! What’s in a name?
The first thing we need your input on in your enewsletter is what it should be called. Send your suggestions to me and be entered into a draw to win lunch for you and three others at the Discovery Room. We are looking for names you feel reflect our employee community at VIU. Think catchy and short – who we are, where we are, what we do and why we do it. Please send all submissions to alyson.winks@viu.ca by December 12, 2018. The winning name will be announced in the next issue.
Rules are:
1) One entry per person – you can send us many suggestions as you like but please include them all in one email.
2) The prize is open to anyone who submits an idea so it may not go to the person whose name idea is chosen.
3) Keep it clean!
4) All submissions must be made to alyson.winks@viu.ca by December 12, 2018.
Tags: In the Community
