Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Changes in Secretariat, Office of General Counsel
Effective January 9, 2017, the Secretariat & Office of General Counsel will be divided into two distinct offices, according to a memo from President Feridun Hamdullahpur circulated to campus yesterday.
“This will better support the successful navigation by our campus community within our complex policy and governance environment,” Hamdullahpur writes. “The Secretariat will remain in Needles Hall 3060. The Office of General Counsel will move to Needles Hall 3007 as soon as renovations to that suite are completed. Both Offices will report to the President.”
Logan Atkinson will be taking responsibility for the Office of General Counsel as the University’s General Counsel. “In this capacity, Dr. Atkinson will be responsible for the management of the full range of legal issues affecting the University.”
“In his time as University Secretary, Dr. Atkinson has led a number of important initiatives,” Hamdullahpur writes. “Since his arrival at the university in 2012, the Secretariat and related offices have developed an excellent integrated risk management program. In this regard, we now have a thorough and important emergency response plan, a much improved and comprehensive statutory and regulatory compliance regime, and a properly efficacious internal audit program. These plans are fully integrated through the university's overarching risk management framework, the basics of which are set forth in Policy 11 and related documents.”
In addition, Atkinson established the university's first Equity Office and hired the University’s first Director of Equity. “This initiative continues to show great benefit to the University, and will assist in moving us forward toward the accomplishment of many of the ambitions captured in our institutional strategic plan,” the president writes.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Logan and his colleagues in both the Secretariat and the Office of General Counsel for their commitment and dedication to the well-being of the University over the past several years,” writes Hamdullahpur. “In the interim, Karen Jack will report to me and act as Associate University Secretary. She will ensure continuity and oversight on policy and governance priorities until a new University Secretary is named.”
The Office of the President will initiate a search process for a new University Secretary in January 2017.
Hug’s Tree of Life named one of 2016's top articles
This article was originally posted on the Faculty of Science's news site.
Biology professor Laura Hug’s A New View of the Tree of Life is ranked one of the most-discussed journal articles of 2016, according to Altmetric’s top 100 articles of 2016 list.
Published in Nature Microbiology in April 2016, Hug, working with Dr. Jillian Banfield at UC Berkeley and collaborators, revised Charles Darwin’s “tree of life,” discovering 1,000 new microorganisms that may provide keys to cleaning up environmental contamination in water and on land.
The paper was in the top 5 percent of all research outputs scored by the U.K.-based company that tracks and analyzes the online activity around scholarly research outputs. It placed 79th among the 2.7 million research outputs Altmetric tracked this year and received mentions from a host of online platforms.
Hug’s research suggests that humans are but a small, rather insignificant part of the ever-growing tree of life. She will continue to focus not just on characterizing new organisms in the environment, but understanding the function of new genetic material.
"Contaminated sites are extreme environments with microbial communities that have adapted to these harsh conditions and whose members are often able to degrade the contaminants,” says Hug, a Water Institute member from the Faculty of Science. “This new tree highlights how much microbial diversity is still uncharacterised, including organisms with activities we can use for remediation.
Read more: New tree of life may hold clues to cleaning up pollution, published by the Faculty of Science.
Campus prepares to celebrate 60 years of innovation
As we prepare for a yearlong celebration of our first 60 years, all members of the University community—alumni, faculty, students, staff, and supporters—are being invited to share their memories of the past and their visions for the future.
You may have already noticed the displays of 60th Anniversary merchandise at the Waterloo Store in South Campus Hall, and words about the 2017 celebration have been published in the Daily Bulletin and Waterloo Magazine. The plan is to hit the ground running in January as campus celebrates this milestone anniversary.
The official kick-off to the diamond jubilee celebration will be the Beyond 60: University of Waterloo 60th Anniversary Lecture on Monday, January 9, 2017 featuring keynote speakers Edward Snowden, Kate Darling of MIT, and Waterloo professors Heather Douglas, Dana Kulic, and Michele Mosca.
Tickets for the event in the Humanities Theatre have sold out, but you can still register to attend one of the special viewing events taking place across our campuses, including:
- The Student Life Centre
- The Stratford Campus
- The School of Architecture
- The School of Pharmacy
- The Hong Kong Foundation
If you’re looking to have your memory jogged about Waterloo’s history, check out the 60 Years of Innovation feature story in the Fall 2017 issue of Waterloo magazine for a year-by-year, brick-by-brick history of the campus. Feel free to browse the University of Waterloo Archives 60th Anniversary Image Bank of more than 2,000 historical Waterloo photos. And don’t forget to peruse the classic unofficially official campus chronicle “Water Under The Bridge” written by Simon the Troll (as told to Chris Redmond), which gives a snapshot overview of the University from before 1956 to 1993. Keep an eye out for regular weekly anniversary content to appear on social media with the hashtag #Uwaterloo60 and in issues of the Daily Bulletin next year.
Get involved by visiting the 60 Years of Innovation website and contributing a memory, a prediction, or a photo. The website has a calendar of upcoming anniversary events across campus and beyond, a photo gallery, interactive timeline, blog posts, and resources for those of you looking for ways to join the celebration.
There’s much to celebrate and much to anticipate in 2017. Let’s make the most of it.
Photograph by Kelly McManus.
Holiday Office Closures
Institutional Analysis & Planning will be closed today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for its annual holiday lunch.
Link of the day
50 years ago: The UW Bookstore Sit-In
When and where
University Club Christmas Lunch Buffet, Monday, November 28 to Friday, December 23, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.
Final Grad Write-In event of the term, Friday, December 23, 9:00 a.m., SCH 228F.
Holiday season closure, Saturday, December 24 to Monday, January 2. Most university buildings and services closed.
Co-operative work term begins, Monday, January 2, 2017.
Lectures begin, Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
Beyond 60 anniversary kick-off lecture, Monday, January 9, 2017, 7:00 p.m., Humanities Theatre.
The Writing Centre presents "Professionalism in your communication: How to talk to your professors", Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 10:30 a.m.
The Writing Centre presents "Say it in your own words: paraphrase & summary," Wednesday, January 11, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
The Writing Centre presents "STEM lab reports: Improve your lab report writing," Thursday, January 12, 2017, 1:00 p.m.
WaterTalks Series featuring Christian Stamm, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, "Unravelling the Impacts of Micropollutants in Stream Ecosystems," Thursday, January 12, 2017, 2:30 p.m., QNC 0101.
The Writing Centre presents "Literature reviews for grads (Part A): Organizing research," Friday, January 13, 2017, 1:00 p.m.
Knowledge Integration Seminar: Summer off? No — summer on! Friday, January 13, 2017, 2:30 p.m., EV3 1408.
Senate meeting, Monday, January 16, 2017, 3:30 p.m., NH 3407.
The Writing Centre presents "clarity in scientific writing," Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 10:30 a.m.
Grammar Studio Series, "Nuts and bolts: Basic grammar and sentence structure," Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 1:00 p.m.
MAREP presents "Paving the Way: Excellent Dementia Care and Support: A three-part learning series," Part 1, Tuesday, January 24, 2017 11:30 a.m., DC 1302.
WICI Talk: Blake LeBaron presents "Self-Generating Economic Forecast Heterogeneity", Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 2:30 p.m., QNC 1501.
Grammar Studio Series, "Putting it together: Advanced grammar and sentence structure," Thursday, January 26, 2017, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Research Talks featuring Professor Joanne Atlee, “Detecting and resolving software errors,” Friday, January 27, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., DC 1302. Please register – seating is limited.
Waterloo Women: Ideas, Makers and Innovators, Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29,
Master of Taxation Open House, Saturday, January 28, 2017, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 220 Yonge St, Unit 115, Toronto.
Grammar Studio Series, "Connecting the dots: Structure and organization," Tuesday, January 31, 2017, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Grammar Studio Series, "Making it shine: Conciseness and revision strategies," Thursday, February 2, 2017, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies featuring Dr. Kenneth Nafziger, “Melting the Boundaries of Our Being: Explorations in Singing Together,” Friday, February 3, 2017, 7:00 p.m., Conrad Grebel Great Hall.
PhD oral defences
Electrical & Computer Engineering. Gangqiang Yang, "Optimized Hardware Implementations of Lightweight Cryptography." Supervisors, Guang Gon, Mark Aagaard. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, DWE 3520C. Oral defence Thursday, January 5, 2017, 9:30 a.m., EIT 3142.
Applied Mathematics. Sepideh Afshar, "Lithium-Ion battery SOC estimation." Supervisors, Kirsten Morris, Amir Khajepour. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday, January 6, 2017, 9:00 a.m., MC 5417.
Statistics and Actuarial Science. Lu Xin, "Generalizations and Applications of the Stochastic Block Model to Basketball Games and Variable Selection Problems." Supervisors, Mu Zhu, Hugh Chipman. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday, January 6, 2017, 9:30 a.m., M3 3001.
Global Governance. Sarita Patel Woolhouse, "Seats of Corporate Convenience and International Investment Law." Supervisor, William Coleman. On deposit in the Arts graduate office, PAS 2428. Oral defence Friday, January 6, 2017, 12:00 p.m., BSIA 1-23.