Moving from strength to strength
Concordia’s Budget Planning and Business Development is responsible for all auxiliary services on campus, namely Residence Life, Hospitality and Business Services.
The unit had another year of growth in 2023-24, with record-level revenue from its Summer Accommodations, a new agreement with an off-campus housing partner and much more.
The unit also strengthened several internal processes, including streamlining the event management system, a new mission and vision for Hospitality Concordia and improvements to the student housing move-in process as well as to student ID card services.
Residence Life and the value of partnerships
Concordia’s Residence Life team seeks to deliver exceptional service to student residents and works alongside several important collaborators — from Facilities Management to Food Services and beyond. These partnerships were enhanced this year in a few different ways.
For example, the Residence Life team organized staff appreciation events for frontline workers to highlight how these individuals contribute to the day-to-day functioning of residence living spaces and to cultivate a sense of community between them and the students. The team invited food services, tradespeople, Campus Safety and Prevention Services (CSPS) agents and cleaning staff to partake in a special gathering each month to express appreciation for what they do.
Sabrina Lavoie, executive director of Budget Planning and Business Development, credits the efforts of Ashley Allen, then interim director of residence life, for the strength and success of these staff appreciation events.
The move-in process was another area where Residence Life reinforced its internal partnerships. For example, to help streamline the move-in process, they worked with CSPS to issue access cards to students upon arrival. This simplified the move-in process as well as made it more secure. In previous years, residents got generic, temporary access cards while they awaited their permanent ones.
“We received really positive feedback from both students and CSPS about this process and we hope to implement it every year,” Lavoie says.
Finally, Concordia signed a first-of-its kind affiliate agreement with off-campus housing partner Campus1 MTL residences, which expanded housing options for the student body.
Hospitality Concordia: responding to community needs
In 2023-24 Hospitality Concordia event coordinators sought feedback from clients to develop an updated vision and mission. Their outreach process, which included empathy interviews, identified three words that distill the services the unit offers: events, food, stays. This successful rebranding effort was bolstered by a website refresh and will help guide the work of the Hospitality team going forward.
Hospitality Concordia has also facilitated the planning process for multiple event requestors. For example, the team has onboarded both the Dean of Students Office and the Faculty of Arts and Science into their event management system. This has consolidated more event spaces in one place as well as strengthened best practices for space bookings on campus.
“We’re trying to bring all available bookable spaces on campus, regardless of who manages them, into one software, one system,” Lavoie explains, adding that this is an ongoing process with which they made significant headway in 2023-24.
Event and business service highlights
The university hosted several high-profile events in 2023-24, including the ninth annual National Fair Trade Conference on March 16 and 17, 2024. The Events and Food Services teams worked hard to earn a gold-level sustainable event certification from the Office of Sustainability for this event, which was attended by fair-trade leaders and activists from across the country.
Another major success was the return of community events on campus. On April 10 and 11, following the pandemic-related hiatus, more than 300 people attended the Concordia Sugar Shack, raising $2,462 for the Student Emergency Meal Plan program.
The success of this event has paved the way for more community events in the future — hopefully three annually, Lavoie shares.
She also notes that Concordia’s Summer Accommodation initiative continues to grow, with a record $1.4 million in revenue over a three and a half-month period in summer 2023.
Business Services introduced a new student ID system with a new card designs and issued more than 16,000 cards. They also reduced the line-up and wait times by introducing a photo upload process, which allows first-time students to create their cards online for pick up. This novel process makes a difference on the new student experience in their busy first days at the university.
Business Services also opened a one-stop office at the Loyola Landing in the Administration Building (AD-103), offering assistance with ID cards, parking, lockers and DPrint on Loyola Campus.
Finally, new food offerings on the Sir George Williams Campus included Vinh’s Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant that opened in the John Molson (MB) Building and was very positively received. Work also started on commemorative Stingers and Concordia 50th-anniversary-branded seltzer water, scheduled to launch later in 2024. This initiative is a partnership with alumna Marie-Pier Veilleux, BA 02, of Brasserie Harricana in Montreal.
These kinds of diverse offerings demonstrate the team’s commitment to cultivating a positive on-campus experience for Concordia community members. Ensuring students, faculty and staff have access to the services they need is what drives the work of the whole team at Budget Planning and Business Development.
