Staff Profile

ne of the first people that new

Douglas College staff and facul-
ty meet is new Benefits Clerk Janet
Westwood of the Personnel Depart-
ment. She says it takes all kinds of
people to make a college, and that’s
what she likes about her job. "I like
meeting all the people, the different
personalities," says Westwood,
who came to Douglas College last
November.

Westwood is originally from Lan-

cashire, England. After vacationing
in Canada, she decided that this

New RRSP rates signal change in

 

INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / January 21, 1992

 

 

 

 

 

Janet Westwood, Benefits Clerk
in Personnel

 

country would be a good place to
live, and emigrated to Toronto in

retirement planning

he bad news is that the uncertain

future of Canada’s social
programs and an aging population
mean Canadians will have to assume
more responsibility for funding their
retirement years.

The good news is that to deal with
the problem, Revenue Canada has in-
creased the $3,500 limit for total
employee pension and RRSP con-
tributions you can make in one year.

Murray Leslie of Commerce and
Business Administration says it is very
important that employees take ad-
vantage of this change to help
prepare for retirement and protect tax-
able income. Employees are advised
to consult the Form T1016(E) they
should have received from Revenue
Canada which describes new con-
tribution rates. More increases to
RRSP limits are expected to be
phased in over the next few years.

If you want more information on
financial strategies for retirement,
visit the library and consult the fol-
lowing weekend editions of the 1991

 

Financial Post: Jan. 11-13 (RRSP
deposit rates); Jan. 18-20, Feb. 8-10

Survey results
favour program

he Personnel Department has
Tescaicte initial assessment of
the Employee Recognition Survey dis-
tributed last term.

The surveys were completed by
172 employees (24 percent return
rate), with a majority of those support-
ing the proposal to establish some
kind of employee recognition pro-
gram at Douglas College.

Of the respondents, 65 percent
rated such recognition as "extremely
important in fostering employee/col-
lege relationships."

Asked what focus such a program

a

 

1978. However, the temperate
climate of the West Coast beck-
oned, so she came to Vancouver in
1981, working in the insurance
field.

Most of her spare time is taken
up by her two pre-school children,
but she likes to read and to sew
for pleasure. It was her "adventur-
ous spirit" that led her to Canada,
but she says bunjy jumping is not on
her list of fun leisure activities. "I’m
not a risk-taker," she laughs. A

(rules and strategies); Jan. 18-20, Feb.
15-17 (mutual funds). A

should take (respondents could select
more than one answer), 75 percent
believed it should consider "outstand-
ing contributions" by an individual or
work team while 43 percent replied
"community achievement" should be
a factor.

Asked about the nomination
process for the program, 75 percent
favoured "peers in the same depart-
ment" while 55 percent selected
"customers/students" and 51 percent
included "other employees."

Results are still being tabulated
and reviewed. A