Tuesday, November 3, 2015

President's Town Hall Meeting today

The President's Town Hall Meeting will take place today at 10:30 a.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

At the meeting, entitled “Defining Innovation,” President Feridun Hamdullahpur will reflect on the University’s accomplishments this past year and will talk about the year ahead.

The centrepiece of the event is the question and answer period with the President.

Members of the University community can share their thoughts and ideas about where Waterloo is heading in a number of ways:

• Questions can be sent in via e-mail to townhall@uwaterloo.ca;
• Questions can be submitted via a question submission form on the President’s Town Hall website; 
• Questions can be sent in via Twitter both before and during the President's Town Hall Meeting by tweeting to @UWaterlooLIVE or by using the hashtag #uwth; and
•  members of the audience can ask questions from the floor during the Town Hall.

The event will conclude with a complimentary light lunch, served in the atrium of the School of Accounting and Finance at 12:00 p.m. 

There's still time to register to save your seat at the town hall and the luncheon event.

New centre advances aging research and care

Pictured (left to right): Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor, University of Waterloo, John Tibbits, president, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Ron Schlegel, His Excellency the Governor General of Canada David Johnston, Richard Potwahka, resident of University Gates, the Viceregal Consort of Canada Mrs. Sharon Johnston, Hon. Deborah Matthews, Chris Anne Preston, General Manager of Village at University Gates, Dr. Mike Sharratt, president, Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging. 

An innovative new facility opened last Friday that will enhance quality of life and care for seniors through collaboration between health-care professionals, researchers, students and educators.

The Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Aging is on the north campus of the University of Waterloo and is home to the Village at University Gates, a 192-bed long-term care home operated by Schlegel Villages, and a new 30,000-square-foot research facility for the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA).

“For the first time in our history, there are more Canadians aged 65 and over than there are under 15 years of age,” said His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, who attended the official opening. “This is our reality, and the quality of care we’re able to provide for aging Canadians will determine not only their well-being, but also what kind of people and what kind of country we are.”

The population of seniors in Ontario is expected to double over the next two decades, and the health-care system is bracing for the need to provide living environments that can meet more complex care needs while enhancing quality of life.

"We have developed a village concept around which a main street and town square exist and function to build community living with neighbourhoods and friendly neighbours,” said Ron Schlegel, founder and chairman of Schlegel Villages and the RIA. “It is a social model of active living with life purpose, rather than the traditional institutional model of medical care."

The centre’s design will allow Schlegel Villages’ residents and team members, and community members to work alongside the RIA team, and Waterloo and Conestoga College faculty, researchers and students.

“The physical design of the Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Aging will improve quality of life for older adults,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur. “This opening marks the realization of the vision of the Schlegel family and the University of Waterloo to build important infrastructure that is unique in the world and that inspires innovation in research, education and practice.”

Conestoga College will deliver its personal support worker and practical nursing programs on-site within the long-term care environment. Featuring both classroom and clinical teaching in addition to technology-enhanced learning, the integrated programs improve graduate preparedness for working with seniors and develop workforce capacity to meet the changing needs of our community.

“This new centre will be instrumental in the development of innovative training models to prepare future generations of health-care professionals and enhance the quality of life and care for older adults across our community and beyond,” said John Tibbits, president of Conestoga College. “We look forward to working with our partners to address the urgent need for a highly skilled workforce that can address the care needs of our aging population.”

The three-storey facility also houses state-of-the-art research labs on the upper level, and includes office space for six Schlegel Research Chairs.  The main floor features classroom and community space, a pharmacy and a medical clinic, which the Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team will run.

The next phase of the centre, which will include about 200 independent-living apartments, has a target completion of 2020.

University releases sustainability report

On Friday, the University of Waterloo released its 2014 Sustainability Report. Developed by the President’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability, the report traces how Waterloo is embedding sustainability into our academics, operations, and campus engagement. 

“As you review this report, and consider how you can contribute to our sustainability work in your own way, remember that these efforts are essential to Waterloo’s success over the long term,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur in his introduction. 

Highlights from the report include:

• Over 500 courses focus on or are related to environmental sustainability;
• 239 faculty conduct research on sustainability or a sustainability-related topic;
• A 10 per cent reduction in waste to landfill from 2013 to 2014;
• A 7.5 per cent reduction in emissions per square meter from 2010-2014;
• A 22 per cent reduction in water use per square meter from 2010-2014; and
• 66 per cent of coffee and tea served by Food Services is Fairtrade certified.

"Of course, the report is just a start," writes Mat Thijssen, the University's sustainability co-ordinator. "There is more work to be done in these and many areas of campus, and each member of Waterloo community has a role to play." 

If you are interested in learning more about the report or have questions, all are invited to drop by an Open House on Thursday, November 5, from 10:00 a.m. to noon in EV1-221. The Sustainability Co-ordinator will be available to answer questions and talk about campus sustainability.

But for me, it was Tuesday

Join Waterloo's own Professor Andrew Hunt from the Department of History for the launch of his newest mystery novel, A Killing in Zion, the sequel to his Tony Hillerman Prize-winning novel City of Saints. Hunt will read from his book, discuss the process of writing a murder mystery novel, and sign copies of the book after his reading.

The event will take place in the University of Waterloo Bookstore at South Campus Hall on Thursday, November 5 at 4:30 p.m.

A Killing in Zion is Andrew Hunt’s second mystery novel featuring detective Art Oveson as the main character and set in Salt Lake City. Newly appointed head of the city’s Anti-Polygamy Squad, Art Oveson is tailing a leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Saints, until one day he discovers that the polygamist leader and his bodyguard were murdered. As he investigates further, he reveals there may be more crimes the polygamists are guilty of aside from illegal marriages.

Professor Hunt decided to pursue his dream of becoming a novelist in 2011 and submitted his manuscript for City of Saints to the Tony Hillerman Prize competition. Hunt has also worked on several nonfiction history books as well as having written a novella called Dahlia Boyz. Hunt plans to continue to write novels that combine history and mystery.

Do you wear 1 Day Acuvue Moist contact lenses? The Centre for Contact Lens Research is seeking participants for a contact lens study and you may qualify to participate! Get up to $70 for your time (2.5 hours over 1 day). E-mail cclrstudies@uwaterloo.ca or call 519-888-4567 ext 37187 for more information.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering was in the Hallowe'en spirit on Friday.

Finally, not to split hairs or anything, but the time has come for another Movember. Are you participating in the event, either as an individual or as a team? Let me know and I'll post a link to your fundraising page.