Striking the right balance

Balance was an underlying theme of 2017-2018 for Concordia’s Budget Planning and Control department.

Executive Director Sabrina Lavoie and her teams pushed their business development efforts further while being guided by the university’s strategic directions. They also opened Concordia doors even wider to the world while ensuring a privileged space for university members.

Open and sustainable

The October 2017 inauguration of the new conference centre, located in the Molson Building (MB), ushered in a very productive year for Hospitality Concordia. The unit oversaw thousands of events on campus, from student gatherings to international conferences.

“The MB conference centre was a big deal for Hospitality. People love the space for its cool, urban feel. They were able to hold all kinds of conferences and get-togethers with an amazing view of downtown as a backdrop. They also loved being able to meet right inside the university. But as we open ourselves more to the city, we made sure to find the right balance between internal and external events.”

Budget Planning and Control completed a strategic review of its services, one result of which were sustainability goals for Concordia Food Services, part of the Hospitality unit. 2017-2018 is when many of those plans became reality.

“In the area of food contracting, we made significant progress in our efforts to source locally. That is an important step forward, complementing our Fair Trade objectives.”

Lavoie expect that the move towards sustainable events and food offerings will continue to advance through the work of the Food Advisory Working Group, of which she is chair. It brings together all university members with a stake in food.

Summertime fun(ds)

Though Student Services is in charge of the day-to-day operations of Concordia residences, Budget Planning and Control takes care the business aspects of Student Housing. Lavoie is very pleased with efforts to rent rooms to external parties during the summer when regular students are away.

“Summer housing has been very successful. We were at full capacity during many periods when  rooms would have otherwise have been empty. As a result, we collected additional funds that we are re-investing into better student services.”

Money earned from summer housing goes back into the operating budget of residences, repaying the cost of renovations to buildings like the Grey Nuns and continuing to upgrade and maintain facilities.

The university is also becoming a destination for summer camps. Aside from hosting children, varsity teams are discovering Concordia as a location with excellent sports facilities, lodging and food, offered as a package.

“We even have the Shuttle Bus that makes it easy for visitors to go between the downtown and Loyola campuses. We’ve become a one-stop shop for hosting training events.”

Books and beyond

Because the business of selling books has changed so much, Lavoie’s team continues to find ways to adapt. In 2017-2018, Concordia Stores expanded their offerings of branded merchandise.

It launched the Capsule Collection as a higher end version of Concordia clothing and accessories. Items are manufactured by vendors with a commitment to ethical production.

“We saw an opportunity to offer clothing that students could wear to more formal events like conferences. The new line could even be suitable for a job interview, when a candidate wants to show their Concordia pride. And if they still want the classic hoodie, you can still find that at the store too.”

The bookstore also pushed further its digital offerings, responding to its next-generation clientele. Those include ebooks, digital course packs and on-line purchasing.

“We continue to push digital materials to the next level, while updating the fun stuff in store. That includes more branded JMSB and Engineering products and the Capsule Collection. As a result, we are keeping pace with other retailers, staying relevant in an area undergoing major transformation.”