Friday, April 1, 2016

The University of Waterloo is better known “down under” after a recipient of the Staff International Experience Fund (SIEF) helped promote the university and develop new connections for Waterloo employees.

Susan Grant, assistant director in Organizational & Human Development, had the opportunity to promote The Principles of Inclusivity, HeforShe program, as well as the thirteen factors of psychological health and safety in the workplace, a national standard adopted by Waterloo.

“There’s an energy that’s created when you speak to others with similar goals and challenges,” says Susan.

She’s one of three Waterloo staff members who received funding to travel overseas through the SIEF, a Waterloo International program that provides university staff with travel experience to an international partner institution. Applications are now being accepted for the 2016-17 Staff International Experience Fund until May 16.

The experience is meant to enhance the staff member’s own role professionally as well as deepen Waterloo’s international relationships and grow the university’s internationalization portfolio.

For Susan, the relationships with key stakeholders and other contacts have continued to grow even after returning to Waterloo. She’s been able to help develop networking between colleagues at Waterloo and new contacts in Australia opening new opportunities for Australian colleagues to visit Waterloo on similar types of exchanges.

Susan’s visit to the University of Melbourne, University of Tasmania, and Macquarie University provided her with new perspectives on tackling problems and broadened her understanding and appreciation of cultural differences. This opportunity to work outside of her comfort zone in a unique environment has given her better understanding of her field.

“You get to grow professional international connections,” Susan explains. “After face-to-face meetings relationships can be built and then the communication is more open and better understood.”

If you are interested in applying or learning more, keep the following key dates in mind:

• Thursday, April 7 – Register for the SIEF workshop at the staff conference to learn more about the program and application process
• Thursday, April 14 – Attend the brown bag lunch information session
• May 16 – Applications are due
• June 1 – Finalists chosen for interviews will be notified
• June 2-14 – Finalist interviews
• June 16 – Recipients of 2016-17 SIEF will be notified

The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) is presenting four workshops to help faculty through key transitions in their academic career.

There are three workshops for tenure-track faculty that are designed to provide critical information to successfully navigate through the tenure process, including gaining clarity on expectations and on university policy. These workshops also address where and how to get questions answered throughout the process.

• Faculty Recently Hired to their First Probationary Term Workshop, Tuesday, April 5, 12:00 p.m., DC 1304.
• Faculty Applying for Probationary Contract Renewal Workshop, Wednesday, April 6, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., DC 1304.
• Faculty Applying for Tenure Workshop, Wednesday, April 6, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., DC 1304.

Tenured faculty who are considering applying for promotion in 2016/17 or in the near future are encouraged to attend the Faculty Applying for Promotion to Full Professor Workshop. This workshop will walk you through the promotion process step by step and will provide explanations of formal policy as well as practical tips to help you succeed. Clarifying what is expected from peers and from the university in the promotion process will also be addressed.

• Faculty Applying for Promotion to Full Professor Workshop, Tuesday, April 5, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., DC 1304.

For more information, please contact Katie Damphouse, academic freedom and tenure and policy officer, by sending an e-mail to mcdampho@uwaterloo.ca or by phoning extension 32352.

CMHR launches Operational Stress Injury service

The Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at the University of Waterloo is welcoming the University community to the official launch of the Operational Stress Injury (OSI) service on Monday, April 4.

The OSI is offered in partnership with St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Parkwood Institute. Waterloo’s CMHR recently began providing specialized mental health services for veterans, members of the Canadian Forces, and eligible members of the RCMP who have experienced service-related psychological injury, and this new initiative will enhance research and training opportunities for Waterloo students and Clinical Psychology residents, while strengthening the CMHR’s dedicating to providing accessible, empirically-supported psychological services to valued members of the community.

The launch reception takes place on Monday, April 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Federation’s Hall’s Westmount Room. Please register online.

Notes on a rather foolish day

The following was submitted by Jacqueline Martinz:

"During his 25 years at the University of Waterloo, Dave McDougall has worked to awesome-ize programming for undergraduate students. That’s a word he coined, and one of the many “Dave-isms” the staff he manages in his current role as Director of Campus Life for the Federation of Students have come to know. “Dave has a vocabulary of his own,” says Janessa Good, special events coordinator for Feds. “He’s always looking for ways to better-ize and Feds-ize what we’re planning, and he always does.”

Over 20 years ago, it was in Janessa’s role that Dave started his journey with Feds. After finding success as the special events coordinator, Dave moved on to new roles within the University, becoming an academic advisor for the Faculty of Arts, and then heading to Alumni Affairs. While he enjoyed the new experiences, Dave missed the direct involvement with students that Feds provided, and returned to the organization as Director of Marketing and Communications.

As the marketing and communications department evolved, so did Dave’s place within Feds. He moved to the Campus Life department to continue to work directly with students on special events. He went from Clubs Director in 2005 to Clubs and Services Director in 2007. Now, as Director of Campus Life, Dave oversees the staff that manage student clubs, services, and large-scale events like Welcome Week.

“I’ve always found him to be fun-loving but able to get things done,” said Jake Riesenkonig, the Feds clubs manager. “Dave is great to work with, and it’s interesting hearing his new words and jokes.”

As Dave celebrates this milestone, Feds looks forward to continuing to have him contribute to the student experience."

The latest entry in the Cryptography, Security and Privacy (CrySP) speaker series on privacy will feature Seda  Gürses, Postdoctoral Research Associate at CITP, Princeton University and an FWO fellow at COSIC, University of Leuven in Belgium. The talk is entitled “PET Sematary: Privacy's return from the dead and the rise of Privacy Engineering” and will take place today at 2:30 p.m. in DC 1304.

“The number of privacy debacles of the last years in social networks, web tracking, NSA/GCHQ surveillance, and mass scale breaches have been adding up,” says the talk’s abstract. “The popularity of the Apple vs. FBI case is yet another indicator that people around the world do care about their privacy, and the ambition to design and maintain systems that respond to relevant privacy issues can no longer be dismissed as "anti-progressivism" However, assuming it is meant to be more than marketing, getting privacy right is challenging."

Gürses will first give an overview of the nascent field of privacy engineering and then present preliminary results from an ongoing empirical study on the impact of the shift from shrink wrap software to services and apps on software engineering practice.