Jennifer Grass reflects on her time at TMU

Jennifer Grass, assistant vice-president, University Relations, has been in her role at TMU since 2016, and has been a major change agent. She hit the ground running, joining TMU from the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), where she was the senior director of communications and public affairs, and brought with her a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the university sector.

Grass has been involved in some of the university’s most transformative initiatives, including the launch of the Lincoln Alexander Law School, the renaming of the university, the government relations work for the new medical school and taking a new, more community-centric approach to campus safety and security. 

“I look at the departments under my portfolio and, in every case, they’re operating differently from when I started and the opportunity to do that has been very exciting,” she says. “This university encourages us to ask ‘how can we do things differently and more effectively?’ and I've felt empowered to do some things that I may not have been able to do at other institutions.”

An innovative thinker and problem solver, Grass focused her career on fast-paced environments where she’s been able to effect change. As April 28, 2023, will be her last day with the university, she shared some of the things she’ll miss the most about TMU, as well as some advice for her colleagues. 

What drew you to TMU back in 2016? 

At COU I sat at the tables with the presidents and the vice-presidents of various universities, and I listened to how they saw the world, and how they expressed themselves, and I thought that if there's any university I would want to go to, it would be TMU. 

Then I got a call that August, inviting me to come for a meeting at the president's office. And the rest is history. I was really excited to come because I was inspired by the university’s spirit of finding new ways of doing things, forging new boundaries or new frontiers, being innovative and empowering people to take ownership and move things forward. 

Speaking of which, you’ve done a great deal of that yourself over the last 9 years. 

I’ve had the opportunity to work with really smart people, including our president and  members of the executive group, as well as colleagues across the university. 

Of course, I also have to give a big shout out to my three direct reports who have done a fantastic job and I know that they will continue to serve the university well: Jim Wentzell, Matt Baker and Denise Campbell.

I had a vision of what we needed in the areas that fell under my portfolio – government relations, in marketing, and subsequently determined what we needed in community safety and security. I was able to bring in a couple of key people into roles like Matt Baker in government relations. We were able to take quite a different approach – much more disciplined and strategic than ever before – and that was important to how we moved forward and built relationships with ministers and others on our campus. 

On the marketing side with Jim Wentzell, I have been pleased to support the development of an advertising agency inside the university, which didn't exist before and now we can do everything from creative direction right through to media buying. 

What’re some of the major changes in campus safety and security since it came under your purview in 2020?

I had done government and community relations before and I think because of this, I was asked to take this on in 2020. 

I started to think that we had to take a community-centric approach, and that meant putting  community members and the broader community first. 

Now, we’re training and problem-solving with our community partners, which has been a real step forward in getting the necessary conversations going to address issues collaboratively. And then most recently, we've hired a social worker as our new director of community engagement. 

To me what we've done is all about city building, it's all about how to meet needs. I'm very proud of the journey. In some respects, it has been the toughest file within my portfolio, but I'm so proud of the people and what they do every day.

What’re you most proud of during your time at TMU? 

At the end of the day, it's all about people – the work you do together, the opportunity to share knowledge and support. I'm delighted to see that Jim's leadership in the marketing field has propelled our outcomes to a whole new level. 

Additionally, Matt has done a phenomenal job in government relations. And Denise embraced the community-centric approach to campus safety and security and continues to find ways to evolve it. 

There are lots of other people with whom I've worked and welcomed the chance to encourage and advise.

As you near the end of your career, do you have advice for anyone who might just be setting off on theirs?

The first thing I’ll say is staying relevant is important – and I don’t just mean with regard to technology, though that will always be important too. But I mean asking what are the trends and what’re others doing? What are the opportunities given the times that we're living in? What’s going on politically or economically that could affect things like the budget. You have to keep on top of current issues. 

Another thing is don't be afraid to take risks and try things differently. Sometimes, you’ll have to fight for it. But at the end of the day, it is the way to move things forward. You have to be bold. You've got to find new ways and take risks at times, even without knowing whether it's going to be successful or not. 

And finally, there's an expression in public relations: “If you mess up, fess up.” I believe that you should own your mistakes and learn from them. And I've made mistakes along the way, I'm no different than anyone else. But it’s been important for me to step up and say this was the wrong approach, and this is how I’ll rectify it. And then to continue to try to break new ground. 

What will you miss most about TMU?

It's a university on the move and there are always opportunities to problem solve and contribute. The university has this great spirit of looking forward and advancing initiatives in new ways and I’ve enjoyed being a part of it because I think that it’s a wonderfully stimulating environment to work in. 

Maybe I have a short attention span [laughs] but when you're a journalist, you're getting a story, and then you're onto another story. When you're in consulting, you have several clients and you're solving problems and developing different strategies all at the same time. And here, I’ve had this opportunity to change how we operate but also to contribute to some transformational initiatives. I will always be a champion for TMU.

Michael Forbes will assume the role of AVP, University Relations, effective May 1, 2023.