Fall 2019 issue

• MFTMAD (My First Three Months As Dean)
• Welcome to our newest faculty and staff
• Message from Arts Staff Advisory Council

» Sheila Ager, Dean of Arts

Here it is, the 1st of October, and I’m contemplating my accomplishments in the quarter-year that I’ve spent in the Dean’s Office. They are many. I’ve now seen the inside of the President’s Boardroom; I’ve learned that UW has something called “Global Entrepreneurship and Disruptive Innovation” (although you’ll never find it by searching for that term); I have new BFF’s in the most unexpected places; I found out (after only two months) that we have a fridge and a microwave in the Dean’s copy room; I’ve constructed an Ernie costume out of duct tape, a cheap T-shirt, black felt, and fake fur, so that I can join the rest of the Deans in dressing up as a Sesame Street character for October Senate; and I’ve decided that I’m going to take a serious look at the possibility of cloning myself.

What else have I discovered? That students in Arts do the most amazing things.

I’ve learned that our students courageously take on co-op adventures in places as far-flung as Hong Kong, Tanzania, Switzerland, Australia, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, and Dubai; that they care passionately about the future of the planet, as they showed in the Global Climate Strike; and that they can make biodegradable plastic out of seaweed (Virtuous Waste). As for our staff and faculty, I’ve seen that they genuinely care about this place and its people, especially our students. A special shout-out to the Arts Undergraduate Office for all its hard work in recruiting this year’s incoming class of 1563 newcomers, who can be proud that they’ve joined a Faculty of Arts with the highest entry average in Ontario.

Another shout-out to all the staff and faculty who participated in welcoming all those new students, and in continuing to support them as they adjust to university life. And for taking part in next year’s recruitment cycle by attending the Ontario Universities Fair (and being willing to wear orange T-shirts)!

There are some upcoming events this fall that I’d like to encourage you all to join in. Saturday, October 26, is Arts Convocation (10 a.m.): we’ll be conferring honorary degrees on Stephanie and Joe Mancini, the founders of The Working Centre; honouring Distinguished Professors Emeriti Erik Woody and Derek Besner, and Honorary Member of the University Ginny Dybenko; and presenting Alumni Achievement Awards to Dianne Carmichael and Marc Hall.

Then we have Thrive Week (November 4-8), which will feature a series of events and activities focused on building positive mental health for all members of the UW community.

Arts Undergraduate Office

Martin Cooke | Associate Dean, Undergraduate Students | is an associate professor based in Sociology and Legal Studies whose research focuses on population health, social inequality and the life course. He is jointly appointed in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, and cross appointed to the School of Pharmacy.

Michaela Tatu | Administrative Manager | is an Arts alumna who has spent the past decade exploring several areas of the academic admin world, and now manages many aspects of operations in the AUO.

School of Accounting and Finance

Alec Cram | Assistant Professor |was employed at Deloitte in Toronto before advancing his academic career. His research has been published in top journals in the field of information systems with a clear focus on Information Systems development and managing change. He is developing the School’s initiatives in Technology, Analytics and FinTech for business professionals.

Elizabeth Demers | Professor | has published in The Review of Accounting Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, and Contemporary Accounting Research. She is the current editor of the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. She received the Tsinghua-INSTEAD EMBA Program Teaching Award.

Usman Hayat | Financial Research and Teaching Lab Manager

Mina Ly | Course Management Coordinator

Helen Mahy | Program Office Assistant

Taylor Trottier-Scully | Coordinator, Experiential learning Initiatives and the CPMRE Coordinator

Communication Arts

Aynur Kadir | Assistant Professor | focuses on the theories and practices of design and the study of interactive multimedia. She uses participatory design practices to create and curate ethnographic media art with the aim of using technology to produce greater social justice. She teaches hands-on digital arts courses that focus on using digital media technology for project-based learning.

Dean of Arts Office

Hamid Durrani | Global Engagement Seminar Program Coordinator | recently graduated with an MA in Political Science (thesis based) from the University of Waterloo. During his studies, as part of Waterloo’s Co-operative program, Durrani served for one year with the Government of Alberta at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as a Research Associate on a $3.1 billion Energy Diversification Program.

Jen McCaig | Arts Advancement Coordinator | assists the Arts Advancement team with administration and events. She has 15 years administrative and executive assistant experience, and her previous life included working in live theatre (on land and at sea), and movie/television costuming in Vancouver.

Andy MacKenzie | Operations Manager |

Colin MacLeod | Interim Associate Dean, Research | is a full professor in Psychology whose research examines cognition, attention, learning, and memory. He recently completed a long term as the department’s chair. Ask Prof. MacLeod about the Production Effect.

Phoebe Wong |Senior Alumni Engagement Officer |

Economics

Derek Stacey |Assistant Professor | has research and teaching expertise in macroeconomics. He has studied the effect of changed regulations on housing and real estate markets, and he has extensive teaching experience in macroeconomics and financial economics and fills critical teaching needs in the department at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Fine Arts

Logan MacDonald | Assistant Professor | is an Indigenous artist of Mi’kmaq heritage who maintains a non-commercial installation and research-based artistic and curatorial practice. His work seeks to decolonize visual culture, specifically looking at Indigenous authored imagery in order to reconfigure core knowledge of visual comprehension. He will be nominated as a Tier II CRC in Indigenous Art.

Timothy Walker | Digital Technician

From Danielle Jeanneault, former Administrative Manager, AUO, currently Editor, Undergraduate Calendar and Manager, Communications, Office of the Registrar:

Bill was a mentor and a friend. Bill and I started working together when he became Associate Dean in 2007. The Arts Undergraduate Office was a very different place at that time: we were in Modern Languages, the Mature Student Office still existed and were located separately, Arts and Business Co-op wasn't in our purview, and recruitment was displaced throughout the building. We moved to PAS a year later which brought the AUO together, giving us a better opportunity to help undergraduate students.

Bill was our fearless leader, shepherding us through several staffing reorganizations and championing new ideas, improving rules and requirements for students - all with the goal of trying to make the student experience better. Then there was the creation of new programs (GBDA!) and departures of a few beloved programs, and then plan standardization. Ah, plan standardization - the project that took over two years from conception to approval (but we did it!) and another year to communicate and implement.

It was always pleasant to see Bill in his true happy place: in the throes of set design. When he needed a break from all the other AD-related work (especially Policy 71) he turned to his drawings and 3D models and the happiness was felt all through the AUO corridor.

From Mario Coniglio, former Associate Vice-President, Academic; Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences:

I first met Bill Chesney in 2007, when I was the Associate Dean of Science, Undergraduate Studies. Bill brought positive energy to the group of Faculty Associate Deans – he was a quick learner of his new portfolio and represented Arts’ interests well while recognizing the importance of also being a strong institutional citizen. Bill proved to be a very supportive colleague to myself as well as the other associate deans around the table, whether the issues concerned deciphering arcane policy language, sensitive student disciplinary matters, or simply workload issues in a portfolio that steadily grew with time. When I stepped into my role as Associate Vice-President, Academic in 2013 until I stepped down in June 2019, Bill continued to bring lots of energy to his role, and I valued the advice and wisdom he brought to the work of campus-wide committees.

From Marlee M. Spafford, Associate Dean of Science, Undergraduate Studies; Professor, School of Optometry and Vision Science:

As an associate dean, Bill is a legend. 12 years, in of itself, is impressive – few have survived or thrived in that role so long. But it is not just the quantity; it’s the quality of his contributions that makes him special. All his work is founded on his commitment to core values that support undergraduate student success and institutional integrity. He was a ‘soloist’ in the AD role until recent years when the Faculty of Arts created two AD roles to attend to what he had somehow managed alone for years. Bill looks for the positive and the fair regarding student issues and policies and he always uncovers the funny and the unique. His artful and dramatic presentation of academic situations never disappoints. He makes me laugh regularly and I’m thankful for that. I witnessed the birth of ‘plan standardization’, made possible by Bill.; He rightly credits the collaborative work of many in the Faculty of Arts and the Registrar’s Office but his vision and personable approach made that collaborative work possible. While my role as an AD means I mostly see the AD part of Bill, I know there is much more. His contributions as a set and costume-designer and scenic artist in professional theatres is impressive and inspiring, yet he remains quite understated about his accomplishments. Bill Chesney is a gem and I am grateful to have worked with him and learned from him.