Monday, June 20, 2016

myHRinfo to go offline for major upgrade Friday

A message from Human Resources.

Human Resources and Information Systems & Technology (IST) are migrating the myHRinfo system infrastructure to a new environment for better disaster recovery support. As part of this project, myHRinfo and the access to all employee records will be unavailable to all users, including Human Resources, from Friday, June 24 at 4:00 p.m. until Tuesday, June 28 at 8:00 a.m. for a scheduled transition. 

Employees receiving pay on June 24 (all regular ongoing and casual employees) will have access to their pay stub on myHRinfo starting Thursday June 23 until Friday June 24 at 4:00 p.m. Regular access will be available on Tuesday June 28 at 8:00 a.m. after the scheduled project transition.

For staff hiring managers, please note the following key dates for job postings as a result of the transition window and the upcoming Canada Day holiday:

For all roles posted internally on Wednesday, June 22 the application deadline will be extended to Monday, July 4 at 11:59 p.m.  For all roles posted internally on Wednesday, June 29 the application deadline will be extended to Friday, July 8 at 11:59 p.m.

Please note that the myPENSIONinfo service will not be impacted as part of this transition. If you have any questions or concerns regarding myHRinfo availability, or impact to Human Resources services, please contact hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca.

Get out, hide, fight: what to do when there's an active shooter on campus

A new training video has become part of the University of Waterloo's emergency planning activities, depicting what to do when there is an active shooter on campus.

"An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearm(s) and there is no apparent pattern or method to how they choose their victims," says an explanatory note on the University's Emergency Planning website. "Active shooter situations evolve quickly and there is no way to anticipate their course...Active shooter or situations involving violence can be over within 10 to 15 minutes. For this reason it is important that you are prepared to act quickly to protect yourself."

So, what can you do to survive this sort of situation? Safety experts recommend three courses of action:

• Get out: Getting out is by far the best option if you believe you can escape safely. This is why it is a good idea to make mental notes of means of escape wherever you may be on campus. If you hear something that could be gunshots, don’t wait: get out.
• Hide: Hide if you don’t know exactly where the shooting is happening or it’s too late to escape safely. Get behind a lockable door if you can. Barricade the door. Improvise with any object you can to prevent someone from entering. Once you are hidden, silence your phone, turn off the lights and stay quiet. If your spot is secure, be prepared to remain there until the police come to you with the all clear.
• Fight: Fighting is your absolute last resort. You would only confront an active shooter if you somehow became trapped in a space with no escape. Active shooters typically don’t respond to reason so you must assume they intend to harm you. Find an object you can use to strike the shooter with; trip them with a chair; be as aggressive as you can; do anything you can to stop them.

The eight and a half minute video depicts a simulated violent attack on a university campus and demonstrates each of the three scenarios—get out, hide, and fight.

The video has be distributed to campus via a mass e-mail, and it will be featured on the Emergency Preparedness website, and will become part of new faculty, staff and student orientation. This new advice replaces the current lockdown procedure that is posted throughout campus, and new information will go up on posters this term.

If you feel upset or distressed after watching the new video, please know that it is okay to be upset. It can be helpful to talk to someone about your response. Most people find it helpful to talk with friends or colleagues. If the subject matter is especially distressing to you, however, there are resources available.

If you are a student, you can contact Counselling Services - the Needles Hall location at extension 32655, and the Health Services location at extension 31976.

Waterloo faculty and staff may access off-campus services directly through the Employee Assistance Program. Please contact Occupational Health at extension 36264. 

For more information on what to do in case of a violent attack or other emergency, go to the Emergency Preparedness website.

Reduce cyberslacking with a flick, a click, or a kick

An innovative wearable technology for standing desks that creates a new way of interacting with your computer could reduce cyberslacking and increase healthy movement.

Researchers at Waterloo’s David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science are hoping to make computing a bit more fun and physically active all while helping computer users kick cyberslacking habits by introducing a foot interaction method for computer users with a standing desk.

Professor Daniel Vogel presented Tap-Kick-Click: Foot Interaction for a Standing Desk at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Designing Interactive Systems 2016 in Brisbane, Australia this week. The idea behind the research project, conducted with Master’s student William Saunders, is that computer users at standing desks can increase their physical activity through indirect, discrete two-foot input using combinations of kicks, foot taps, jumps, and standing postures which are tracked using a depth camera and instrumented shoes. 

“People already use a standing desk to be healthier and more productive. Increasing physical activity by using your feet to enter commands is our main focus, but the anti-cyberslacking pose is something that really pushes the whole idea farther,” said Vogel. “Some people already install software to completely block sites like Facebook when they want to get work done. Our technique lets people use those sites, but since they need to stand in an uncomfortable pose while viewing them, they’re naturally encouraged to keep it brief.”

The researchers demonstrate the Tap-Kick-Click technique with a web browser, document reader and a code debugger, but the system can be paired with almost any desktop applications. An on-screen guide helps the user remember and perform associated foot actions while taking a break from working with their hands.

“There’s plenty of research showing that using feet to type or move a cursor isn’t a very good idea. We demonstrate that with the right style of interaction, feet are a good fit for slower tasks with intermittent input. Things like scrolling a webpage while reading or interactive code debugging,” said Vogel. “We hope our system can make computing more physically active and maybe even a bit more fun.”

HeForShe Distinguished Lecture today; other notes

The HeForShe Distinguished Lecture takes place today from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in MC 2065. The lecture features Celine Latulipe, an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and a Waterloo graduate in Computer Science, who will give a talk on her experiences mounting the FemmeTech course at UNCC, including her motivation, reactions, and the students' experiences from the first offering of the course. The trailblazing course offer students the opportunity to simultaneously learn about computer science and programming while engaging deeply with issues of gender and technology, including issues of cyber-bullying and gender discrimination in the technology workplace. She will also discuss the Participatory Sexism Response Workshops: a project for which the UNCC ACM-W student group recently won the NCWIT Trailblazer award. The project involves workshops that focus on using improv acting techniques to challenge covert sexism and racism.

Celine Latulipe is an Associate Professor of Software and Information Systems at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She teaches and engages in research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Her research involves developing and evaluating novel interaction techniques, creativity support tools and technologies to support the arts. She is also interested in CS Education research. Beyond technology and art, she is also interested in education, politics, gender issues, philosophy, behavioural economics, neuroscience, psychology and sociology.

St. Paul’s University College is holding a farewell reception to thank Graham Brown, their longest-serving principal, for his many contributions to the St. Paul's and University community. Waterloo colleagues, alumni, and friends are welcome to the reception on Monday, June 27 between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall at St. Paul's University College.

Graham was crucial to the forwarding of both St. Paul’s and the University’s missions through new initiatives in social entrepreneurship and innovation, Indigenous education, international development, community life, and more.The reception is a social event with a short formal program beginning at 4:30 p.m. RSVP if you are planning to attend.

The University's Senate will have its first meeting of the summer, and its last until September, today at 3:30 p.m. in NH 3407. Agenda items include:

• Motions to approve members to a number of Senate committees;
• A teaching presentation by Naila Keleta-Mae, assistant professor in the Theatre and Performance program in the Department of Drama and Speech Communication;
• Changes to academic plans in Engineering;
• New academic programs in Renison's East Asian Studies, Actuarial Science, Computer Science, Statistics and Actuarial Science, and Mathematics/Chartered Professional Accountancy; and

• A motion that Senate recommend to the Board of Governors changing the name of the Department of Drama and Speech Communication to the Department of Communication, Performance, and Design.