Monday, April 20, 2015


Student wins prestigious TD Fellowship award

By Hillary Graham, Office of Advancement.

Jenifer Sibdhannie.Jenifer Sibdhannie, a fourth year Arts & Business student, has been awarded the prestigious TD Fellowship in Advancement by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education.

Valued at $37,500, only two such fellowships are awarded annually in Canada. The prize is generously provided by Meloche Monnex and TD Bank Financial, and offers the chance for people new to the field of advancement to gain practical experience in the industry.

When Jenifer begins her fellowship in May, she’ll focus on development, along with alumni and student engagement within Waterloo’s Office of Advancement.

Her introduction to the field came out of a co-op work term in the Office of Advancement, where she worked closely with the Annual Giving team. She enjoyed her role as a development assistant so much that she came back for her second eight-month co-op work term.  

"I'm honoured to have been chosen as one of this year's TD Fellows. This is such an amazing opportunity and an incredible way for me to start a career in advancement. I am looking forward to joining Waterloo's advancement team and I’m excited to get started on all of the projects we have planned," says Jenifer.

Ken McGillivray, vice-president, advancement, supported Jenifer’s nomination. “With her dedication to the University, the advancement profession and her sincere desire to help others, Jenifer exemplifies the kind of individual the University and the industry aspire to develop.  The award is a fitting way to honor the promising career of a wonderful individual who is staking her claim here at the University of Waterloo and in the field of advancement.”

CDPI announces Seed Fund winners

Propel logo."Thank you to all the teams who submitted an application for this round of Waterloo’s Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative (CDPI) Seed Fund Award," says a note from the CDPI. "We are pleased to announce that five multidisciplinary teams were successful this round."

The Seed Fund initiative offers seed grants of up to $10,000 to bring together new multidisciplinary teams and increase their success in applications for external funding. 

Teams successful in the current round of competition include researchers from 14 different departments or research centres across campus. To check out the diverse range of projects that are represented go to the CDPI-Seed Funding page.

For more information about the CDPI go to the CDPI website.

Senate meets today and other notes

The University's Senate meets today at 3:30 p.m. in NH 3001. Agenda items include:

  • The approval of changes to the faculty regulations on adding and dropping courses;
  • The election and acclamation of members of Senate committees and councils and the Board of Governors;
  • Amendments to a bylaw relating to the naming of additional ex officio members of Senate, including the addition of the associate vice-president, academic as an ex officio member of Senate and the deletion of the vice-president, administration & finance as membership for this position is provided in The University of Waterloo Act; and

  • Voting on regulation changes in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a new academic plan in the School of Planning.

President Hamdullahpur’s report to Senate will include a presentation of a proposed new Policy 11 – University Risk Management and University Risk Management Reporting Guidelines.

Senate will also hear a presentation by Lyndon Jones, director of the Centre for Contact Lens Research.

An artist's render of the new student space.Tomorrow, Faculty of Arts students, staff, faculty, friends and colleagues of the Student Space Project have been invited to join Dean of Arts Douglas Peers at the Student Space groundbreaking ceremony and reception.

The groundbreaking ceremony will commence just after 3:00 p.m. and will be followed by a celebratory reception with refreshments and treats. The rain location for the reception is the Don Craig Atrium in the School of Accounting & Finance wing of Hagey Hall.

Guests of honour include representatives of the Arts Student Union, the Arts Endowment Fund, donors, Plant Operations, Arts Undergraduate Studies, Arts Graduate Studies, and the Dean of Arts Office.

Construction of the Arts Student Space is expected to begin this May, with completion estimated to be in summer 2016.

It's Earth Week this weekCheck out the schedule of on-campus events on the Sustainability website. The date for Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22.

It's also Budget Week as the federal government announces its budget on Tuesday, April 21 and the Ontario government lays out its budget plans on Thursday, April 23.

Link of the day

Remembering the Oklahoma City bombing, 20 years later

When and where

Gender and Equity Scholarship Series featuring Professor Lisbeth Berbary, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, “Subject to Sorority: Post-structural Feminist Ethnographic Research and Creative Analytic Screenplay,” Monday, April 20, 11:30 a.m., LHN 2703.

Senate meeting, Monday, April 20, 3:30 p.m., NH 3001.

Earth Week: Community Cleanup, Tuesday, April 21, 11:30 a.m., EC3 The Kent Room. Details.

Department of Psychology Annual Ziva Kunda Memorial Lecture featuring Professor Michael Ross, “Are Older Adults More Susceptible to Consumer Fraud?” Tuesday, April 21, 3:00 p.m., PAS 2083.

Arts student space groundbreaking ceremony, Tuesday, April 21, 3:00 p.m., Hagey Hall outdoor courtyard.

(En)gendering Precarity: Maria Speth in attendance, Tuesday, April 21, 4:30 p.m., ECH 1220.

WatRISQ seminar, Amir Memartoluie, PhD candidate, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, “On the Rearrangement and Related Algorithms for Computing Worst Value-at-Risk: Computational Improvements and the Adaptive Rearrangement Algorithm,” Tuesday, April 21, 4:00 p.m., DC 1304.

Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22.

Earth Day Lecture: Climate Change: Why It Matters to You, Wednesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m., Kitchener Public Library.

The 'S' Word: A Workshop, Lunch and Discussion for Faculty Members and Graduate Students in Arts, Thursday, April 23, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., EV3 4412. 

Drama and Speech Communication Presents "She Haunts This Place," Friday, April 24, 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., Saturday, April 25, 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., Sunday, April 26, 7:00 p.m., Button Factory, UpTown Waterloo.

A Church in Dialogue: Pope Francis and the summons to ecumenical, inter-faith and cultural conversations, Friday, April 24, 7:30 p.m., Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University.

Examination period ends, Saturday, April 25.

Deadline to become "Fees Arranged", Monday, April 27.

Unofficial grades begin to appear in Quest, Monday, April 27.

Annual Teaching and Learning ConferenceOpportunities and New Directions, Thursday, April 30, Hagey Hall.

Water Institute Research Symposium 2015, Thursday, April 30, 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., DC 1350. 

Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecture featuring Dr. Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Environment and Science, New Delhi, India, “Challenges for Water Security in the Poor’s World”. Thursday, April 30, 4:00 p.m. M3 1006.

Quantum Frontiers Distinguished Lecture featuring Sajeev John, Thursday, April 30, 4:00 p.m., QNC 0101.

Quantum: Music At the Frontiers of Science, Sunday, May 3, 2:00 p.m., The National Arts Centre, Ottawa.

The DaCapo Chamber Choir, conducted by Leonard Enns, Professor Emeritus at Conrad Grebel University College, presents “In the Beginning”, Saturday, May 9 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m., with special guests Jennifer Enns Modolo, mezzo-soprano, and Lorin Shalanko, pianist. 

Waterloo Unlimited Grade 10 Program, Theme of "Change," Sunday, May 10 to Thursday, May 14.

Teaching Excellence Celebration, Tuesday, May 12, 3:00 p.m., University Club.

TransCanada Corporate Employment Information Session, Tuesday, May 12, 5:00 p.m., TransCanada Live-Link Facility, Engineering 5, Room 3102. Refreshments provided.

Department of English Language and Literature presents “Mediated Bodies,” Wednesday, May 13, 4:00 p.m., HH 373. Details.

The Similarities between Maori and Chinese Cultures and Deeper Meaning of Maori Tattoo & Marae, Wednesday, May 13, 6:00 p.m., Renison University College, REN 1303. 

Cultivating Learning Cultures (CTE744), Wednesday, May 20, 9:15 a.m., DC 1302. 

Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing (USEQIP), Monday, May 25 to Friday, June 5.

Standing and official grades available in Quest, Friday, May 22.