Dear members of the McGill community,
It is with mixed emotions that I share that Louis Arseneault, Vice-Principal (Communications and External Relations) has decided to take his retirement. After six and a half years at McGill, and a successful career spanning three decades, he has chosen to conclude his tenure at the University at the end of September.
Since joining McGill in early 2017, Vice-Principal Arseneault and the Communications and External Relations (CER) team have contributed to enhancing and strengthening all aspects of our University’s mission.
The impact of his leadership has been wide-ranging and was especially felt during the pandemic. Vice-Principal Arseneault and his team played an essential role in the University’s emergency response and return-to-campus planning, ensuring that the community was kept abreast of evolving health and safety regulations, and their many impacts on our operations. With Enrolment Services and Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, he and his team supported the transition of in-person recruitment activities to an engaging online format. These efforts were instrumental in helping McGill meet its student recruitment and yield targets despite unprecedented uncertainties.
Vice-Principal Arseneault has contributed greatly to the University’s strategic priorities and milestones. Under his guidance, and in collaboration with the Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance), his team successfully advanced the New Vic Project through regulatory processes and consultations, and contributed to securing a landmark $620 million in provincial funding. With University Advancement, Vice-Principal Arseneault launched the “Made by McGill” platform – a bold reimagining of the McGill brand across media – to support and amplify McGill’s Third Century fundraising campaign and Bicentennial celebrations. In the context of McGill’s Bicentennial, he mobilized the strengths of the CER team to offer our community numerous, meaningful ways to celebrate our people and to define our vision for the future.
Throughout his mandate, Vice-Principal Arseneault also worked to implement a more integrated, cohesive, and collaborative communications model across McGill’s Faculties and administrative units. He initiated the Strategic Communications Council on Sustainability to bolster McGill’s profile in this key area, as well as the Comité de promotion du français à McGill to enhance the presence of French on our campuses through initiatives such as the Francofête. He also created McGill’s inaugural marketing team and oversaw the University-wide initiative to make McGill’s websites more accessible to all.
Although I have had the pleasure of working with Vice-Principal Arseneault for only a brief period, his leadership has made a lasting impact at McGill. I am appreciative of his expertise shared over the first few months of my tenure, and I wish him much enjoyment and satisfaction as he embarks on this next chapter of life.
Sincerely,
Deep Saini
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
McGill University