Friday, July 8, 2016

Engineering 101 kicks off welcome events for new students

If you’re on campus tomorrow, you’ll see hundreds of incoming first-year students and their families on campus for Engineering 101. This July, each of our six faculties will host a 101 event for first-year students joining the Waterloo community in the fall:

• Saturday July 9 – Engineering 101
• Wednesday, July 13 – Science 101
• Thursday, July 21 – Math 101
• Saturday, July 23 – Arts 101, AHS 101 and Environment 101

Each day-long event is faculty-specific, allowing students to meet their first-year advisors and learn how their Faculty works before starting classes in September. They also have opportunities to:

• Sit in on a lecture from their faculty,
• Hear advice from upper-year students,
• Learn about paying their fees and applying for OSAP, and
• Get introduced to Quest, Portal and our other online systems.

Parents and family members will attend sessions where they will learn how to best support their student as they transition from high school to university life.

Please join us in welcoming our new students and their families to campus!

Faculty 101 is a partner program that brings together student services on campus; the Faculties of Arts, Applied Health Science, Engineering, Environment, Math and Science; and the Student Success Office.

Clare Bermingham named Writing Centre director

Clare Bermingham has been appointed as the Director of the Writing Centre, effective June 1.

“Many of you know Clare in her former role over the last two years as the manager of the Writing Centre,” wrote Associate Vice-President, Academic Mario Coniglio in a memo circulated recently. “Prior to being manager, Clare taught several English courses at Waterloo. Before coming to Waterloo, Clare also spent a decade managing student-related services at two other post-secondary institutions.” 

Significant changes have occurred in the Writing Centre in the last two years as it started the difficult process of shedding its long-standing role in managing the English Language Proficiency Exam and evolved to participate as a key player in addressing the communications-related aspirations of our institutional strategic plan.

“With its practice informed by current research, the Writing Centre under Clare’s leadership in the last two years forged new ways of supporting undergraduate and graduate student writers both inside and outside the classroom, including individual student support, drop-ins, discipline-specific workshops, dissertation boot camps, and writing groups,” writes Coniglio. “Clare increased the visibility of the Writing Centre, collected data to enable critical assessment and improvement of its programs, and created new partnerships with faculty, other student and academic support units on campus, and with Writing Centres at other institutions.”

“The Writing Centre, under Clare’s leadership, is well prepared to support our students’ writing and communication at all levels and in all disciplines,” Coniglio concludes. “Please join me in welcoming Clare to her new role.” 

Rhodes Scholarship competition open

The Fall 2016 Rhodes Scholarship competition is now open.

The Rhodes Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship supporting exceptional students at the University of Oxford in England. Established in the will of British mining magnate and businessman Cecil Rhodes in 1902, the Rhodes is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international scholarship program in the world, which aims to nurture public-spirited world leaders. Each year, 95 Rhodes scholars are selected from many countries worldwide. Two scholarships are allocated to the province of Ontario.

The University of Waterloo’s deadline, by which interested applicants must submit their application to Heidi Mussar in the Graduate Studies Office, is Monday, September 12 at 9:00 a.m.

To be eligible, you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, and between the ages of 19 and 25 by October 1, 2017. You must have received an undergraduate degree prior to taking up the Rhodes Scholarship and you must have extensive accomplishments that contribute to making you a well-rounded individual.

The official Rhodes website provides detailed instructions regarding the competition process.

Applications through the University of Waterloo must receive institutional endorsement before you can submit your application to Rhodes. The required materials that have to be emailed to Heidi Mussar in the Graduate Studies Office include the following:

• A recent CV containing a factual list of principal activities and honours you received while in university (including scholarships, awards, committee positions held, athletic record, extracurricular participation);
• A maximum 1,000 word written statement of your general interests and activities; also include details regarding the proposed program of study you would undertake while at Oxford and your intentions regarding your future career; and
• 6 letters of reference – referees must email their assessments directly to Heidi Mussar by the September 12 deadline at 9:00 a.m. At least four of the referees should be people under whom you have studied at the University of Waterloo. Two referees should be people who know you well and can speak to your character and your broader non-academic interests.

The Graduate Studies Office now has a dedicated website that contains details on the application process.

Waterloo shows its Pride in Toronto

by Jacqueline Martinz and Shannon Bradley.This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity stories that feature Waterloo in the community.

Every year, the City of Toronto hosts an annual Pride Festival. A highlight of the celebration is the colourful Pride Parade, where groups from across Canada march through the bustling streets of downtown Toronto to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.

This year, the theme for the festival was ‘You Can Sit With Us,’ based on a well-known line from the popular film Mean Girls, with the goal of promoting inclusivity and acceptance. The Pride Parade took place at 2 p.m. on July 3, and new this year, the beginning of July also marked the start of Canada’s first ever Pride Month. 

In the middle of the action on July 3 was a contingent from the University of Waterloo. A group of nearly 100 attendees including students and staff members walked the parade route, laughing, cheering, and waving the pride flag.

The trip was organized by The Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity, which is a Federation of Students’ service, and the oldest, continuous running centre of its kind in Canada. The Glow Centre has been attending Pride for decades.

 “It’s an event that brings everyone together to support equal rights, and it gives people the opportunity to really open up and be themselves,” said Glow Centre Coordinator Judy Liu. “Everyone should experience Pride at least once.” 

The Feds Vice President Internal, Deanna Priori, was excited to be a part of the event and shared Liu’s sentiments.

“The most memorable part was walking through the streets and having people in the audience shout the Water Water Water chant. I don’t know if they were Waterloo alumni, current students, or just people who were familiar with the cheer,” she said. “It’s important that the University of Waterloo show support and representation at Pride because it acknowledges that LGBTQ+ issues matter. We should not only be working to combat them, but also celebrate the diversity of our students.”

Missed attending Pride this year? Keep checking Feds.ca for details about next year’s event.

Canada Day video recap and other notes

The Canada Day Celebration video is now available for viewing.

The UW Staff Association (UWSA) is organizing its 12^th annual Shopping Trip to Erie, Pennsylvania from November 11 to 13, 2016.

Spots on the trip are beginning to fill up. If you are a staff member interested in joining the UWSA for a great weekend in Erie, which offers bargains (and no sales tax on clothing), check out the UWSA site for more details about how to register.

For any questions, contact your hosts Sue Fraser at fraser@uwaterloo.ca and Peggy Day at pday@uwaterloo.ca.

The Registrar's Office is reminding undergraduates that the Fall 2016 course selection period ends Monday, July 11 at 11:59 p.m.