Wednesday, January 4, 2017

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• Register to attend Waterloo’s refined brand training
• Open roads: one co-op student’s experience working abroad
• Warriors got stuffed this season for charity

Register to attend Waterloo’s refined brand training

University Relations is excited to announce that registration is now open for the 'Understanding our brand' and 'Working with our brand guidelines' training sessions. These sessions are being offered as part of the Brand Refinement Project implementation.

In these sessions, you’ll gain an understanding of Waterloo’s refined brand platform, guidelines and tools and how they can help you create effective communications.

You’ll also learn about:

• The difference between our brand story and brand promise and how to use them
• How to create communications that effectively reach and engage your key audiences
• How to define the personality and tone of your communications
• How to use the storytelling toolkit to create engaging content
• How to to apply the University colour bar and logo in your communications.

Training modules

Training is free, and is open to staff, faculty and students. 

Understanding our brand

An in-depth presentation demonstrating:

• What a brand platform is and how it can be used; and
• An overview of Waterloo’s brand platform and how it informs our work, messaging and guidelines.

You’ll also learn how to use our brand platform as a tool to ensure your communications articulate who we are, what we do, what we value, and what differentiates us from other universities.

Working with our brand guidelines

Part presentation and part workshop, this module introduces and explains the visual expression of our brand, including presentation of a case study. It also provides an opportunity for participants to work through an existing or sample project to apply the brand guidelines.

See all training sessions

Customized presentations

The brand team’s goal is to enable campus to understand and reflect our refined brand in the work we do every day. Contact us to arrange a custom presentation for you and your team.

More information

Learn more about the University of Waterloo’s brand.

Open roads: one co-op student’s experience working abroad

by Andreea Perescu

Having completed over half of her co-operative education abroad in Jordan, Turkey and Singapore, Nataly Arar recognizes the value of an international co-op experience. “I find it important to challenge my way of life,” explained Arar, who is in her fourth year of urban planning at Waterloo. “I find it critical to understand different methods of sustainability and, in many ways, survival. To be able to work together we must understand each other.”

Formerly from the United Arab Emirates, Arar immigrated to Canada when she was a teenager. During her first co-op term, she worked as a translator for the United Nations at a refugee camp in Jordan. “My understanding of the realities of the world have been shifted,” she said, reflecting on her experience at the refugee camp. “I have lived a privileged life so far in the United Arab Emirates and in Canada, where healthcare, water, and living a decent life is attainable.”

Arar’s holistic outlook of urban planning comes from the hands-on approach that Waterloo offers its co-op students. During the first half of her eight-month co-op work term at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Arar was a research assistant and a designer. “I applied ‘design thinking’ techniques to research to understand the healthcare system in Singapore,” she explained. “I also worked on a joint project between NUS and the Singaporean government to try and understand human behavior towards active transportation. Our day-to-day tasks involved finding different ways to attract more cyclists to Singapore.”  

Because of her international co-op career at Waterloo, Arar has developed a unique set of skills. She has filled the role of teacher, researcher, and urban planner and spent the fall 2016 term working as a communications co-ordinator at University Relations. Arar encourages her fellow co-op students to step outside of their comfort zones when they are job searching.

“Don’t build barriers so soon into your career—be ready to explore all the options,” she said. “Take the risk and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Even if you choose to be halfway across the world, just remember to keep moving forward.”  

Warriors got stuffed this season for charity

The Waterloo Warriors are happy to report that their “Stuff the Warrior Van” toy drive brought in a total of 231 toys to donate to less fortunate children in Waterloo region during the 2016 holiday season.

Collaborating with University of Waterloo Police Services and the Waterloo Regional Police Service to collect donations, all toys were dispersed by the Knights of Columbus just in time for Christmas Day. Thank you to all students, faculty and staff who brought in toys or volunteered their time to help give back to our community in this time of need.

 “We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the UWaterloo community for their time, support, and generous donations in making the ‘Stuff the Warrior Van’ toy drive a success with 231 toys being delivered to needy children within Waterloo region," says KP Anand, special projects manager, Athletics and Recreation.