Appointment of Jeff Lennon, Assistant Vice-President, Planning & Budget

From: Scott Mabury, Vice-President, University Operations and Real Estate Partnerships
Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost 
Date: July 7, 2022
Re: Appointment of Jeff Lennon, Assistant Vice-President, Planning & Budget

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Jeff Lennon has been appointed Assistant Vice-President, Planning & Budget, effective July 1, 2022.

As many of you will be aware, the Assistant Vice-President (AVP), Planning & Budget serves as an advisor and consultant to senior management on policy and planning decisions, particularly on questions of strategic mandate agreements with the Province, enrolment, government grant, tuition, ancillary fees, student aid, and academic and shared service budgetary issues. The AVP has primary responsibility for the development and implementation of an institutional data strategy and a data governance framework for the University, with the objective of providing high quality data for decision making purposes at all levels of staff and management. The AVP oversees central Business Intelligence (BI) initiatives and applications, in partnership with Information Technology Services. This collaboration serves as a link to the institutional data library, ensuring comprehensive and integrated strategic oversight of BI initiatives, including strategic planning related to specialized cross-institutional data applications and services, which provide and support planning information for the University.

Last fall, following Trevor Rodgers’ appointment as CFO, Jeff was named Interim AVP, Planning & Budget (P&B). As a member of P&B’s management team, Jeff advised on policy and planning decisions, and was a natural choice to step in to the role temporarily as we sought the new AVP. As Executive Director, Budget Administration & Institutional Planning in the Office of Planning and Budget, Jeff was already familiar with all aspects of the budget process, enrolment and tuition fee planning and administration, and had proven himself a key member of the P&B team.

Jeff has been with the University since 2012; his previous roles include Director, Policy and Analysis, and Senior Manager, Academic Planning & Analysis. Prior to joining the University, Jeff had various roles at the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand and in Switzerland. Jeff is a licensed professional engineer (P.Eng).

Jeff understands the complexity of the University, the opportunities and challenges in the budget model, how to leverage extensive data sets, and how to ensure that leaders across the institution have the resources they need to make data and policy informed decisions. The Search Advisory Committee was unanimous and enthusiastic in its support of Jeff’s candidacy, noting his calm and professional approach, his broad experience, and his ability to lead during a more restrained financial growth environment.
Please join us in congratulating Jeff on his appointment.