And the winner is… YU Link

MRomulusLisanti3Melissa Romulus Lisanti (BA ’08), development and alumni coordinator in Glendon’s Alumni, Advancement & External Relations Office, is the winner of the Name York University’s new Intranet contest. The Glendon grad’s suggested name, YU Link, received the most votes from York U community members.

Melissa Romulus Lisanti

“I chose the name based on my understanding of communications and the core values of the Intranet,” said a delighted Romulus Lisanti. “The Intranet will link York employees. It will offer a way to share information and communications across functions and the University.

“This is not only a win for me, it is a win for Glendon,” she said. “I am very excited and happy to be a part of York University’s history.”

As part of the advancement team at Glendon, Romulus Lisanti plans events, works on Glendon Magazine and engages in fundraising. Her winning entry nets her a prize of an iPad Mini valued at $329, and bragging rights that come with the winning name.

This year’s contest attracted 419 submissions from 247 employees (each staff or faculty member could submit up to two names). Using the Intranet’s core attributes of welcoming, accessible, approachable, useful, helpful, innovative and collaborative, the Better Workplace Advisory Group got to work judging the entries and produced a shortlist of names. The York community then voted, through eVote, for their favourite name and the results were presented to contest organizers Monday morning. The top four submissions listed alphabetically were:

•Entre YU

•Huddle

•ShareyorkEdwardFennerOldGlasses2

•YU Link

Edward Fenner (right), web communications and publications assistant in the Office of the Associate Vice-President International, submitted Entre YU. “Entre YU is a play on the French phrase, ‘entre nous’, and means ‘between us’, which also happens to be the definition of an Intranet. It is also a play on ‘Intra’, which means ‘inside or within’ and comes from the Latin ‘interior’,” wrote Fenner in his submission. “Entre YU works because it is understood in English and French and thus includes Glendon College.”

Suzie Lee2Suzie Lee Hortness (left), Lassonde School of Engineering senior development officer in the Division of Advancement, submitted the name Huddle. An informal name, Huddle has its origin in the late 16th century (in the sense ‘conceal’). It means “crowd together” or “a number of people gathered together to speak”.

cynthia goodfellow2Cynthia Goodfellow (right), administrative assistant in the School of Health Policy & Management in the Faculty of Health, put forward Shareyork. “The employee Intranet is disseminating and sharing information. I also like that ‘share’ sounds kind and egalitarian as opposed to something one sided or top down.”

When it launches later this spring, YU Link will be an exciting new resource for York faculty and staff. YU Link will be a place where University employees can access the tools they need to get their work done with ease and efficiency.

YU Link will be hosted behind Passport York, and it will offer employees a secure place to connect with each other and learn more about their colleagues across the University. They will be able to see at a glance, key information such as their pension and benefits, training history, information on the courses they teach, facilities notices and more. Forums will offer faculty and staff an opportunity to ask and answer questions and comment on University news.