Louis Tanguay (BComm '75), president and CEO, Bell Canada International, and Marianna Simeone (BA '86), executive director, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada, hosted the first Major Gifts Division canvasser briefing meeting on February 12. Major Gifts are those that fall within the $100,000 and $499,999 range. The meeting, held at the Bell Canada offices, was attended by a dozen enthusiastic volunteers, who received their assignments and solicitation materials.
On February 17, 19 volunteers in the Special Gifts Division (gifts between $25,000 and $99,999) gathered at the Canderel offices for a preliminary orientation session. The Special Gifts Division will begin solicitations in early April. This session, hosted by Jonathan Wener (S BComm '71), Canderelās chair of the board and CEO, was an opportunity for guests to rediscover Concordia and identify prospects. A similar session, hosted by Roy Firth (BComm '75), president and CEO of Page and Elliot, was held on February 26 at the Laurentian Bank; it attracted a dozen canvassers. A third session is scheduled for March 12 at the University Club.
Campaign update sessions
Information and participation are the two areas that will receive particular attention as the Capital Campaign's Faculty and Staff Appeal heads into its second year. Beginning next week, Campaign volunteers and staff members will host a series of open sessions to answer any questions and to highlight the Campaign effort to date.
There are approximately 500 men and women who are either new to the University or recently returned from leave for whom the information sessions will be particularly enlightening. Also included in that number are faculty and staff members whose areas were missed, for a variety of reasons, when the last set of information sessions was held.
Campaign update letters will be sent to individuals who didn't respond to last year's appeal, and those who asked the Campaign Office to contact them at a later date. Dates and times for faculty/staff information sessions: Thursday, March 12, 10 - 11:30 a.m., SGW, GM-403-02 Monday, March 16, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., SGW, DeSeve Cinema Tuesday, March 17, 9:30 - 11 a.m., Loyola Campus, AD -131 Thursday, March 19, 2:30 - 4 p.m., SGW, GM- 407-1

Student information sessions
Last month, the Campaign Office invited the student population to learn more about how the Campaign was progressing and how their contributions were being applied. Information sessions were scheduled for each campus, and while attendance was low, it reflected student satisfaction with the Campaign. One area that has certainly received praise from student leaders is the Campaign's fee-exemption policy for students in financial need. This term, only 100 students applied, of whom 80 were exempted.