Tuesday, October 25, 2016


Office 365 now available for all undergraduate students

Information Systems & Technology (IST) is pleased to announce that beginning today, October 25, Office 365 is available to all undergraduate students. They now have the option to activate their Office 365 account. All upper year undergraduate students are receiving an email with detailed instructions. New students, arriving fall 2016, received Office 365 accounts in summer 2016.

Office 365 provides students a cloud based Outlook email account with a greater feature set and increased storage over their current mailservices account. An Office 365 account provides the following to current students of the University of Waterloo:

  • 5TB of OneDrive cloud-based storage;
  • Access to Office 365 online suite of tools;
  • Download and install Microsoft Office 365 on up to 5 personal computers/devices.

After activating their Office 365 account, students will have 30 days to migrate their mailservices email to their Office 365 account before their mailservices email is removed.

On November 3, from 11:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m., IST is hosting a pop-up booth in the Student Life Centre (SLC) and will be joined by Microsoft to answer Office 365 questions.

More information about Office 365 for students is available on the IST website.  

For distance ed prize winner, there's more freedom with online education

Tanya Montebello."Whatever I learn, I try to find a way to fit it into my own life experiences. In this way, I can more easily relate to and recall what I have learned,” said Tanya Montebello, winner of the 2016 J.D. Leslie Prize, when asked about her secret to achieving such high marks.

In comparing her online experiences to a traditional classroom, Montebello said "I prefer studying online because it allows for more freedom to manage other aspects of my personal life... and cuts down on expenses.”

The J. D. Leslie Prize is awarded to the graduating student who has achieved a first-class standing and who has earned 50 percent or more of the credits for his or her undergraduate degree through online and distance courses. 

The $1,000 prize is named for the late Dr. James D. Leslie who began the University of Waterloo's Correspondence Program in 1968 (now the Centre for Extended Learning). It is awarded annually at the Fall convocation ceremony. 

Waterloo Pharmacy hosts first ever Pharmacy Wellness Week

Origami, therapy dogs, de-stressing workshops, and yoga outside: Wellness Week at the School of Pharmacy ran from Oct 17 to 20 and saw students and staff engaging in all sorts of fun and relaxing activities.

School of Pharmacy staff worked in close consultation with RxPRN, a peer-to-peer pharmacy student counselling group, and together staff and students designed the program for Wellness Week. The event was scheduled after Fall Break and during midterm season so that students would continue to have opportunities to de-stress when transitioning back to class.

Two people work on a puzzle.Programming included activities like completing a puzzle, building with Play-doh, folding origami and colouring. These activities have been shown to promote relaxation and were available to students and staff throughout the week. The 1000 piece puzzle was completed by Thursday.

For three days of Wellness Week, additional events ran. Monday, social worker and counsellor with University of Waterloo Counselling Services, Dave McKay, lead a progressive muscle relaxation workshop. Progressive muscle relaxation is an effective strategy for managing anxiety and can also reduce physical problems like stomach-aches and poor sleep.

Gus the Therapy Dog.On Tuesday, St John’s Ambulance brought three therapy dogs to the School’s lobby. The dogs, trained to provide companionship and comfort to the sick and lonely, were a big hit among pharmacy students.

The Wednesday event featured Joshua Webster, certified yoga instructor, leading participants through an introductory hatha flow yoga session. Hatha yoga has been linked to mindfulness practice and the focus on the session was both increasing flexibility and reducing stress.

Thursday, RxPRN offered Inspirational chocolate. They provided a chocolate and hand-wrote inspirational quotes for each student, faculty and staff at the School of Pharmacy.

Staff and students alike took every chance to relax and enjoy the Wellness Week activities. The student feedback has been so positive that the School plans to host similar de-stressing activities around final exam season.

Fall Game Jam is fast approaching

Games Institute GI Jam logo.

by Alex Fleck

This term the Games Institute, UW Game Development Club, and IGDC are hosting our once-a-term Game Jam (October 28, 29, and 30). You can check out more details and register if you'd like to participate. 

The Waterloo Game Jam is a thrice-annual, multi-day event hosted by The Games Institute (GI). Participants team up and create games. Each event is open to the public and is designed to appeal to a wide variety of playful people.

Whether you have an idea for a game design in the works, or if game design has never crossed your mind, there is room for everyone! All levels of expertise and preparation are welcome.

Every Game Jam weekend follows our "Learn, Make, Play" theme:

  • LEARN: you can hear talks from GI and community experts about the tools and techniques involved in the design and creation of games.
  • MAKE: you can build your own games from scratch along with helpful advice and guidance from our GI mentors. You can create your own game mechanic, gameful art, game characters and narrative, or try your hand at coding for your very own game prototype.
  • PLAY: you can explore new kinds of games, try out some of the brand new games that were made at the DIY event itself, and give/receive feedback with local game experts.

Remember that no expertise is required, and on the first night (October 28) we will try and match you up with like-minded creators (if you don't already have a group).

Come on out and join us to create and have a play-full event!

Tomorrow is Mental Health Wellness Day

President Feridun Hamdullahpur sporting an orange Mental Health Wellness shirt.

The 8th annual Mental Health Wellness Day is tomorrow, and to signify the University of Waterloo’s support for mental health wellness, students, staff and faculty are being encouraged to wear their orange mental health wellness t-shirts.

As part of the “orange wave” we acknowledge the importance of mental health and remind the campus community that Waterloo is a caring community and a safe place to ask for help. Tweet individual or group photo’s using #uwmentalhealth

For more information, visit the Mental Health Wellness Day website.

Link of the day

20 years of Tomb Raider

When and where

Complete the Annual Travel Survey, Monday, October 24 to Friday, November 4.

Board of Governors meeting, Tuesday, October 25, 1:30 p.m., NH 3407.

Artist talk by Abbas Akhavan, Tuesday, October 25, 3:30 p.m., ECH 1219.

2016 Gairdner Lecture featuring Rodolphe Barrangou, North Carolina State University, “CRISPR-CAS Systems: From adaptive immunity to genome editing machines,” Tuesday, October 25, 4:00 p.m., DC 1350.

Waterloo Centre for German Studies’ 2016 Grimm Lecture featuring James Retallack, “Democracy in Disappearing Ink: The Politics of Exclusion in Germany Before Hitler,” Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 p.m., QNC 1502.

Mental Health Wellness Day, Wednesday, October 26.

Research Seminar: Working the body for brain health featuring Dr Laura Middleton, Wednesday, October 26, 11:00 a.m., Pharmacy 1012.

School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability research seminar featuring Helena Shilomboleni, “The African Green Revolution and the Food Sovereignty Movement: Sustainability Challenges for Meeting Food Security in Southern Africa,” Wednesday, October 26, 11:30 a.m., EV1 354.

Noon Hour Concert Series featuring Amy Waller Prince, Wednesday, October 26, 12:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel Chapel.

Chemistry Department Seminar Series featuring Dr. Peter Bernath, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University, Virginia USA and Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, “Monitoring Greenhouse Gases from Orbit”, Wednesday, October 26, 2:30 p.m., C2 361.

Student Success Office presents Study Strategies - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Wednesday, October 26, 4:00 p.m., SCH 108A.

Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre presents Hult Prize @ UWaterloo Kick-off event, Wednesday, October 26, 5:00 p.m., QNC 1506.

Velocity Start presents Do People Want Your Sh*t?, Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

UWSA Annual General MeetingThursday, October 27, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Needles Hall 3001.

Hallman Lecture Series featuring Dr. Laura Punnett, Distinguished University Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell, “Safe patient handling: highlights of current research and US public policy efforts to improve safety,” Thursday, October 27, 2:00 p.m., Sun Life Financial Auditorium, LHI 1621. RSVP to Betina Butler, bbutler@uwaterloo.ca, extension 33513.

Federation of Students Annual General Meeting, Thursday, October 27, 5:00 p.m., Student Life Centre Great Hall.

Waterloo Book Store Author Event featuring Nathan Storing, “Vital Little Plans: Jane Jacobs on Cities, Economics and Ethics,” Thursday, October 27, 6:30 p.m., Cummings Lecture Theatre, School of Architecture. Part of the Arriscraft Lecture Series.

Bridges Lecture: Pattern Finding- popular expression of transcendent ideas, Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 p.m., St. Jerome’s University. Please register online.

Velocity Garage grand opening, Friday, October 28, 10:00 a.m. to noon, 151 Charles Street W., Kitchener.

Knowledge Integration seminar, “CS798 Games for Health: Lessons Learned and Research Outcomes”, featuring Dr. Chrysanne Di Marco, Artificial Intelligence Group, Cheriton School of Computer Science, Friday, October 28, 2:30 p.m., EV3-1408

University Club Hallowe'en Luncheon, Friday, October 28 and Monday, October 31, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Gem and Mineral Show, Friday, October 28, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 29, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Earth Sciences Museum, CEIT.

Civil Engineering and Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology Graduate Poster Symposium, Friday, October 28, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sedra Student Design Centre, E5. RSVP to Jessica Rossi.

Waterloo Game Jam, Friday, October 28 to Sunday, October 30.

Lectures in Catholic Experience;Families, Love, and Justice: The Vision of Pope Francis featuring Julie Hanlon Rubio, Friday, October 28, 7:30 p.m., SJ2 1004.

Science Open House - Hands-on science activities for kids, Saturday, October 29, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., CEIT.

Waterloo Centre for German Studies author event with Christopher Kloeble, “Almost Everything Very Fast,” Tuesday, November 1, 7:00 p.m., Kitchener Public Library’s central branch, Kitchener.

The Faculty of Mathematics and HeForShe present a public lecture by Brianna Wu, “Gamergate and the War Against Women in Tech,” Wednesday, November 2, 3:30 p.m., location TBD.

Men’s Hockey Battle of Waterloo at the Aud, Wednesday, November 2, 7:15 p.m., Kitchener Auditorium.

SJU HeForShe lecture featuring Erin Wunker, “Confessions of a feminist killjoy,” Thursday, November 3, 2:30 p.m., SJ1-3014.