Friday, September 4, 2015

Introducing new students to campus life

Fall Orientation 2015 kicks off this weekend with events that include new undergraduate, graduate and international students, parents and community members.

Programming starts tomorrow with a new three-day program for undergraduate international students in their first year. Orientation for all students takes place between September 6 and 12. Members of senior administration, deans, faculty and orientation leaders will help students move into their new homes on campus on the Sunday and Monday of the Labour Day weekend.

“Orientation activities are a major component of our student transition program, designed to help our newest students to connect to the campus and introduce them to academic, social and community life here,” said Chris Read, associate provost, students at Waterloo. “This is a change for families, too. So we hold parent orientation and a family send-off to help them learn about life at Waterloo and celebrate this milestone in their lives.”

​President Feridun Hamdullahpur will speak at an International Student Orientation event at Federation Hall to welcome new international students and their families to campus at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5.

Family Welcome events begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 6 at all main campus residences, as volunteers engage with new students and their parents during move-in. President Hamdullahpur will speak at the Family Send-Off event at 2:30 p.m. in Federation Hall before parents and other family members of the new students depart campus. Later that evening will be a Warrior Welcome event at 6:00 p.m. in the main gym of the Physical Activities Complex, where new students will experience a welcome ceremony as they begin their Waterloo journey.

Family Welcome, Send-Off and Warrior Welcome events continue on Monday, September 7.

Transfer and exchange students will have an orientation event in Mathematics 3 on Monday, September 7 at 1:00 p.m.

Orientation events include conference-style sessions for graduate students, and in addition to campus-wide events, there will be faculty-specific programming for first-year undergraduate students. For example, this year, the new Dean of Mathematics, Stephen Watt, will induct all first-year math students in his first Pink Tie Ceremony. It is a fun and symbolic welcoming to the Faculty.

Single and Sexy is an edgy and educational production that addresses the situations that students are likely to face when they live on their own for the first time. An open performance takes place today at 10:00 a.m. in the Humanities Theatre, with further performances scheduled during Orientation 2015 next week.

Further information about Orientation schedules is available on the Fall Orientation 2015 website.

What's open and closed Labour Day weekend

So it's come to this. The final calm before the storm. Actually, with Orientation in full swing this weekend, calm isn't exactly the word, but the fact remains that Monday is Labour Day, a statutory holiday, and many University services will not be operating.

The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5:00 p.m., and will be closed Monday. Full operating hours can be found on the Library's new and improved website.

Athletics facilities, including the PAC and CIF, will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and will be closed Monday. Detailed hours are available on the Athletics website.

Retail Services extended hours have begun, with the Book Store, Waterloo Store, and Write Stuff open for business on Saturday, September 6, and the South Campus Hall and SLC WatCard and Campus Tech locations are open Labour Day Monday.

• The Book Store will be open from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 6 and form 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 7.
• The WatCard and Campus Tech locations will be open on Sunday, September 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Monday, September 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• The Waterloo Store will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 6 and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 7.
• Write Stuff in South Campus Hall will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 7.
• Media.Doc Dana Porter will reopen Tuesday, September 8.

Food Services operations are a mixed bag. Locations that are closed until Tuesday, September 8 outright include

• Bon Appetit
• Brubaker's
• the CEIT Café
• Pastry Plus in Needles Hall
• Subway
• Tim Hortons in the Davis Centre
• Tim Hortons DC Express
• Tim Hortons in Modern Languages
• Williams Fresh Café
• the University Club

Locations closed until Monday, September 14 include

• the Eye Opener Café
• Liquid Assets
• ML's Coffee Shop
• the PAS Lounge
• Pastry Plus in BMH

Locations that are open include

• Browser's Café, open Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but closed Monday September 7 along with the library
• Mudie's in Village 1, open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 6, and 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Monday, September
• REVelation in Ron Eydt Village, closed Saturday, September 5 but open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 6 and from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Monday, September 7
• Tim Hortons in South Campus Hall, open Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Tim Hortons in the Student Life Centre, closed Saturday, September 5 but open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 6 and Monday, September 7
• Tim Hortons in UWP, closed Saturday, September 5 but open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 6 and Monday, September 7.

The Federation of Students' Used Book Store is open Sunday, September 6 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Monday, September 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

As always, there are a few essential services that never shut down:

• the UW police, reachable at 519-888-4911 or extension 22222
• the Student Life Centre and its Turnkey Desk, accessible at 519-888-4434 or extension 84434
• Plant Operations' maintenance emergencies hotline at extension 33793.

Friday's notes

If you've set a goal to lose weight, increase strength and muscle tone, improve your endurance, and just feel healthier, and if you're looking for the convenience of exercising on campus in a fun, private well-equipped gym supervised by trained exercise professionals, then look no further.

UW Fitness, located in the Manulife Wellness Centre and Lyle Hallman Institute for Health Promotion, is offering small group personal training sessions for UW staff and faculty (these sessions are not open to students). These twice per week exercise sessions include cardiovascular exercise, resistance/weight training, and flexibility exercises under the certified exercise physiologist in a private and encouraging environment right here on campus. 

To sign up for the 7-week session or for more information, visit the UW Fitness website or send an email to fitness@uwaterloo.ca or call extension 36841.

There are limited spaces available so if you are interested, sign up soon.

The Faculty of Mathematics is hosting a second Crowdmark demonstration and workshop for instructors on Thursday, September 10 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in QNC 1502.

The Faculty of Mathematics has contracted with Crowdmark to provide campus-wide online midterm and examination marking and results distribution beginning in the Fall 2015 term for all course instructors who are interested.

Students will write exam papers with Crowdmark-generated QR codes on each page. These exams are later scanned and uploaded to Crowdmark for marking. The benefits include faster marking (no paper handling/shuffling), no mark transcription errors, faster feedback to students, no class time for hand-back and the ability to mark from anywhere at anytime. All Waterloo instructors are welcome to attend the workshop.

To actively participate in the live Crowdmark grading session, bring a laptop, tablet or smartphone to the workshop and register by sending your Waterloo email address to cmadmin@uwaterloo.ca by Wednesday, September 9. Registration is not required to attend the demonstration.