Monday, February 29, 2016

Employment equity re-survey is now online

A message from Human Resources.

Employment Equity is a program legislated by the federal Employment Equity Act and the Federal Contractors Program to remove barriers to employment for Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, visible minorities and women. Like many equity initiatives, employment equity is ongoing and the University of Waterloo works to identify and eliminate employment barriers that may exist in procedures and policies. An employment equity program attempts to achieve a workforce that reflects the diversity of the available labour force.

All employees – faculty, staff and students – are being asked to complete a new Employment Equity survey which will provide updated information. When completed, the Employment Equity Survey results will give us a better picture of our workforce and enable an analysis of our employment equity gaps. Information is confidential and only aggregate information is included in the annual Employment Equity report provided to the Federal Government and posted on the University's website. The information is used by various offices at the University in determining programs and initiatives for the upcoming year.

In order to maintain compliance with the Government of Canada’s Federal Contractors Program, the University of Waterloo is re-surveying all existing employees to collect workforce information. The goal of this program is to achieve workplace equality for designated groups in the Canadian labour market, including: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. Information on the Federal Contractors Program (FCP) may be found on the Government of Canada's website.

All full-time regular Faculty, Staff and CUPE members will be requested to complete the survey by logging into myHRinfo and their logins will be directed to the questionnaire until it is either completed or acknowledged. All other employees can complete the survey by logging into myHRinfo and navigating to Self Service > Employment Equity Survey > Submit Survey.

Employees who perform administrative tasks in myHRinfo are advised to acknowledge the survey as soon as possible. Employees who have completed the paper-based survey since January 1, 2016 will not be redirected to the survey.

This survey is confidential and voluntary, however the Federal Contractors Program requires all employees to either complete the survey or to indicate they are choosing to opt out of answering the questions. When you complete the Employment Equity Survey, you are counted in the workforce analysis. Specific information on individuals will not be released, or become part of an employee’s or student’s Human Resources file.

The survey has four questions, takes approximately two minutes, and employees will be provided up to 30 minutes during work hours to complete it. A paper copy of the survey will be provided to all employees without access to myHRinfo during their workday. Please contact Human Resources if you require a paper copy.

Every Monday for the month of March, the Daily Bulletin will be posting reminders, including a visual representation of the number of employees who have completed the survey.

Campus Wellness launches student health survey

A message from Campus Wellness.

Starting on Tuesday, March 1, the University of Waterloo will be participating in the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey. The NCHA survey is intended to gather information about our students’ health habits, behaviours and perceptions.

Survey topics range from sexual behaviour and contraception to physical and mental health; safety and violence; and alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Campus Wellness (Health Services and Counselling Services) will use the data to determine student healthcare needs, develop relevant health programming and resources, and design wellness strategies at UWaterloo.

A random sample of 15,000 UWaterloo students (including both undergraduate and graduate students) will receive an email inviting them to participate in the health assessment. The confidential online survey will be open for three weeks.

Approximately 50 Canadian post-secondary institutions will be participating in the National College Health Assessment. Results of the Waterloo health assessment will be announced in spring 2016, while Ontario and Canadian reference group data will be available later this year.

Please direct questions about the NCHA student survey to Walter Mittelstaedt, Director, Campus Wellness, or Sandra Gibson, Manager, Health Education.

Ontario's new budget reworks tuition grant system

Student financial assistance has undergone something of a transformation with the tabling of the Ontario 2016 Budget, "Jobs for Today and Tomorrow" last Thursday.

The government has rolled funding from the Ontario Tuition Grant, the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant, the Ontario Access Grant, and other grants offered by OSAP into a single upfront, non-repayable Ontario Student Grant (OSG), beginning in the 2017-2018 school year.

Additionally, the current tuition and education tax credits, including textbook credits, will be discontinued and the funding rolled into the new OSG. The government anticipates that the savings from these tax credit cancellations will total about $145 million in the first year.

This streamlined "net tuition billing", where grants are applied to the tuition bill prior to any payment, will begin in 2018-2019, giving Ontario's universities time to work out the details with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The aim is to reduce complexity and increase accessibility.

The government claims that under this new model students from families with incomes up to $50,000 a year will receive grants that exceed the current average cost of tuition for arts and science degrees. More than half of students from families whose income is less than $83,000 a year will receive grants greater than the cost of tuition.

While this is more of a redistribution of existing funding rather than a new investment in student aid, the total universal grant amount will grow to $1.8 billion, including $500 million promised by the federal government, which is reforming some of its own education-related grants and tax credits.

Other budget highlights include:

• Mature and married students will receive lower spousal and parental contributions, and grant eligibility regardless of the time gap between high school and post-secondary studies.
• Weekly assistance maximum levels are increasing for individuals and married and sole-support parents.
• A signal that the government will move to a new capital improvement strategy for Ontario universities.
• The development of sector-specific exec compensation frameworks within the broader public sector, with a special mention of colleges and universities.
• A new crowdfunding exemption for startup companies.

Read President Feridun Hamdullahpur's comments on the Ontario 2016 budget on his blog.

Nimble notes on a Leap Day

A note of congratulations to Jackie Serviss on being named the President-elect for the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA).

"There were no candidates for President-elect position at the annual Board of Directors election last fall so that another election was held in February when two candidates stepped forward to run," says an announcement from the UWSA. "Serviss was introduced as President-elect at a UWSA Special General Meeting, held February 25, 2016."

Serviss works in the Office of Research working with professors and companies to match interests for the purpose of collaborative research and commercialization projects in the fields of aerospace, defense, manufacturing, construction, and electronic and electrical equipment. This includes identifying appropriate government funding and facilitating agreements, contracts, and project proposals for funding applications.

Serviss will serve as President-Elect for a term running from February 25, 2016 to October 31, 2016.

Chef Richard Cramm will be celebrating International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8 with a special menu featuring recipes from renowned female chefs who have inspired his culinary career, according to an announcement from the University Club. 

"Come to the Club and sample signature dishes from some of the world’s most celebrated chefs including the pre-eminent Julia Child, double Michelin Star holder April Bloomfield, pioneer of the Organic Food Movement Alice Waters, Food Network mainstay Carla Hall, ‘2006’s Best New Chef” according to Food & Wine magazine Mary Dumont, and Canada’s own Jennifer McLagan, who is best known for her use of under-appreciated or challenging ingredients."

Information Systems & Technology (IST) is upgrading Drupal, the underlying system for WCMS sites, to version 7.43, a security release. Most non-production servers have already been updated, and production servers will be upgraded on Tuesday, March 1 between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Sites will continue to be available throughout the upgrade process, and work on sites may proceed as usual. After the upgrade is complete, users can continue to work on their sites as usual. Please report any issues immediately to rt-ist-wcms@rt.uwaterloo.ca or the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca, at extension 44357.​