Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Giving students a competitive EDGE

by Andreea Perescu

A new initiative to support student employability is coming to campus. EDGE is an optional experiential education certificate program for traditional (non co-op) students. The program is designed to offer students professional development, career readiness and planning for future success in the workforce.

“The University of Waterloo has a long history of exceptional experiential education for students in co-operative education,” said Jessica Lang, manager of EDGE in WatPD. “Because EDGE is a certificate program for students on the traditional track, it brings some equilibrium to the student experience under the career readiness umbrella.”

To earn the EDGE certificate, students must complete four foundational requirements: a skills identification and articulation workshop, a career development course, three work or community experiences completed alongside academic credit courses, and a capstone module or workshop focused on post-graduation planning.

This fall term, Lang and the EDGE team collaborated with CECA, AHS, ENVS and UWaterloo Housing to pilot the skills identification and articulation workshop. The workshop aims to help students identify the practical and transferable skills that are gained from the inside of the classroom. From there, the workshop gives students the tools to best communicate their skills to prospective employers.

“This workshop helps to demystify this idea of a skills gap and suggests that the gap is really a communication gap. Students do have the necessary skills that employers are looking for, but they simply have difficulty communicating them to others,” explained Lang. “Although the ability to effectively articulate one’s talents is a life skill that takes continual practice, it has been encouraging to see students become more confident in their abilities after a short one-to-two-hour workshop!”

Lang is looking forward to launching EDGE. “We’re in a place where we can now start to operationalize the academic certificate program. A key focus for me is to connect across campus to ensure that EDGE communication is strong and that faculty and staff have a working knowledge of the program as we approach the launch in the fall of 2017,” said Lang.

To learn more about EDGE, please visit the program’s official website.  Wondering what career development workshops are offered to co-operative education track students and traditional track students? Visit the CCA website for a list of options and dates.

Senate OKs gender-neutral degree options

Graduating students now have an option to call bachelor's and master's degrees by a gender-neutral name.

The University's Senate passed a motion allowing students the option to replace the term "bachelor" with "baccalaureate" and "master" with "magisteriate" on their diplomas when they graduate.

Registrar Ray Darling brought the motion forward and explained that this option would be available upon request prior to Convocation.

The proposal for a graduate and undergraduate option for gender-neutral degrees began at the Graduate Operations Committee, and later the Undergraduate Operations Committee. Both the Senate Graduate and Research Council and the Senate Undergraduate Council passed the proposal in the fall prior to it being sent to Senate in November.

"This proposal is in keeping with the University’s commitment to HeForShe and the advancement of gender equity," says the background document for the motion. "It is also coming forward in parallel to forthcoming changes at the Ontario Universities Application Centre and in Quest which will allow applicants and students to choose the option “another gender identity” in addition to “male” or “female”. Upon request, the university will be able to print an alternate diploma for students or alumni with the gender-neutral degree listed."

While the gender-neutral degree will be printed on a graduating student's diploma, the official database and transcript will continue to refer to the traditional degree. A note will be made in Quest that a gender-neutral diploma has been requested. Additionally, if the diploma is a replacement, normal diploma replacement fees related to printing costs will apply, but no fee will be charged with respect to changing the designation on the diploma.

Offering a gender-neutral diploma is the practice at a number of other Canadian institutions.

Past misdeeds haunt relationships when they feel recent, study finds

If a partner’s past transgression feels like it happened yesterday, even if it didn’t, you are more likely to remember it during new, unrelated arguments, according to a new study.

A researcher at the University of Waterloo’s Department of Psychology co-authored the work with a colleague at Wilfrid Laurier University. The researchers found that even if no one mentions the transgressions during arguments, just thinking about them could be enough to have a detrimental effect on the relationship.

“When memories feel closer to the present, those memories are construed as more relevant to the present and more representative of the relationship,” said Kassandra Cortes, a doctoral candidate at Waterloo and co-author of the study with Professor Anne Wilson at Laurier. “If one bad memory feels recent, a person will also be more likely to remember other past slights, and attach more importance to them.”

Bringing up past grudges during a new conflict can make arguing fairly challenging. Researchers call this kitchen sinking, since partners throw everything but the kitchen sink into the argument. But not mentioning those memories is not the solution either. The research indicates that just thinking of past transgressions during conflicts was an equally strong, and in some cases stronger, predictor of poor relationship outcomes than bringing them up. A person may feel confused and frustrated if they do not understand why their partner has become so upset over something so seemingly minor.

Cortes and Wilson found that those who reported thinking about past transgressions during a recent conflict said they reacted to the current conflict more destructively, reported having more frequent and intense conflicts with their partners and felt worse about their relationships in general.

The research found that people with high attachment anxiety — those who worry their partners don’t love and care for them —are especially likely to think of past transgressions in new, unrelated contexts. To them, past misdeeds tend to feel closer to the present than for those who are more secure in their relationships.

“It may be useful for people to resolve an issue with their partner when it occurs, rather than pretending to forgive their partner or just letting it go when they are clearly upset. This way, the issue may be less likely to resurface in the future.”

The study appears in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Exploring ways in which people can prevent bad memories from resurfacing is a topic for future research for the team.

The Warrior Van goes on a toy drive

"Help make the holidays magical for kids who are less privileged," says a statement from the Department of Athletics and Recreation. "Stuff the Waterloo Warriors van with toys of all kinds from today until December 21."

The “Stuff the Warrior Van” toy drive donates toys to children of all ages ranging from infants to 16 years old. 

Toys are being collected at the following locations:

• Columbia Ice Field Equipment Desk, Monday - Sunday (9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
• Physical Activities Complex Main Office, Monday - Friday (9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Additionally, the van will be at the President’s Holiday Luncheon at Fed Hall on Friday, December 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., so be sure to bring toys to stuff the van.  

The toy drive is being done in collaboration with UW Police, Waterloo Regional Police and the Knights of Columbus.

"Thanks for all your support!"