Thursday, January 5, 2017

Celebrating Canada's 150th 

2017 marks the 150^th anniversary of Canada’s confederation, and Waterloo is an integral part of the nation's story. The year represents an opportunity for the University of Waterloo to participate alongside our community in celebrating this milestone as part of our activities throughout the year. This will include special events and community partnerships, as well as opportunities to show our Canadian pride all year long.

Some of the celebrations in store for 2017

As you would expect, Canada Day at the University of Waterloo is already an amazing way that our campus and community showcase our Canadian spirit each summer. Stay tuned for details about our main stage acts and special ways that Canada 150 will be recognized as we welcome 60,000 people from our community to our campus for this extra-special year.

A series of public lectures during the year will focus on Canadian history and social issues, both from our University experts engaging with our local community but also with Canadian thought leaders coming to campus to share their ideas with students, staff and faculty during the year.  Indigenous heritage will be celebrated throughout the year as we join partners including St. Paul’s University College and our Equity Office for events like the Pow Wow.

On a national front, the Institute for Quantum Computing is leading QUANTUM: The Exhibition, the first-ever travelling show on quantum information science and technology. Throughout 2017, visitors to science centres and museums across the country will explore how researchers are merging quantum mechanics and information technology to create the technologies that will revolutionize and redefine the 21^st century–and how many Canadian researchers are leading the way. The exhibit also celebrates Research In Motion and the BlackBerry pager developed by Waterloo alumnus Mike Lazaridis.

Community Relations and Events Senior Director Kelly McManus will also be participating throughout the year as a City of Waterloo Canada 150 champion, offering support and leadership to community-wide celebrations in our community on behalf of the University of Waterloo.

The Waterloo story: Six decades at a glance

Each week in 2017, the Daily Bulletin will be featuring content highlighting the University of Waterloo's 60^th Anniversary. This is an excerpt of an article originally posted on the 60 Years of Innovation website. 

1957 to 1966: Laying the foundation

In 1958, the Waterloo College Associate Faculties, later to become the University of Waterloo, purchased 184 acres in Waterloo, ON. Founded on engineering and co-operative education, the University quickly added mathematics, arts, science and environmental studies programs. By the 1966, the fledgling school had begun to make an international mark as a computer science leader, with the WatFOR compiler, developed by undergraduate students and used by programmers around the world.

Read the rest of the article on the 60 Years of Innovation website.

New guidelines on uploading course materials to external organizations

The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic has created guidelines for students, faculty and staff who are considering entering into relationships with external organizations that offer access to course materials.

The guidelines, developed this year, set out the parameters for consideration in dealing with organizations that make teaching resources from the University of Waterloo available online.

These web services act as online course material repositories and their business models typically involve encouraging users to upload academic materials including lecture notes, tests, exams, solution sets, essays or projects in exchange for credits, commissions, gift cards, etc. allowing users to download the same sorts of materials, for example, by using credits or after paying a fee. In this manner, course materials, including the intellectual property of Waterloo professors, become a sort of currency in a shared educational network, often without permission from the professor.

This has academic integrity and intellectual property implications.

The University provides the following guidelines to consider when deciding whether or not to engage with such an organization:

• The organization’s practices are consistent with the expectations of academic integrity as described in Policy 71 – Student Discipline.
• The organization requires a contractual arrangement with the creator/owner of the intellectual property before commercialization of any course materials.
• The organization has effective processes in place to identify the creator/owner of intellectual property in order to ensure the correct party is entering into a contractual arrangement.
• The organization has effective processes in place to proactively identify copyright violations and take appropriate actions, including the immediate and permanent removal of materials from their repositories.
• The organization does not rely on the creator/owners of the intellectual property to assert their rights before removing materials from their repositories.
• The organization has effective processes in place to work with institutions to identify individuals who have submitted material without the permission of the creator/owner of the intellectual property.

According to the guidelines, the University’s position is that “members of the University of Waterloo will not enter into relationships with organizations whose practices violate its institutional values and policies.”

The University is also encouraging faculty members to add boilerplate text to their course outlines that clearly states that the course contains the intellectual property of its instructor, TA, and/or the University of Waterloo. This can include such items as lecture content (spoken and written), lecture handouts or presentations, question or solution sets from various types of assessments, and work normally protected by copyright, including work authored by the instructor or TA or used by permission from the copyright owner.

For more information, consult the University’s guideline document.

Warrior Recreation app and other notes

Warrior Recreation has created a new mobile app for the University community. Warrior Rec provides scheduling and information about opportunities within the Department of Athletics and Recreation. App users can view current schedules, add their favourite classes to their iOS and Android calendars, receive cancellation and closure notices as well as special promotions and event information, and the ability to provide feedback. The app is currently available for download on Android and iOS.

The start date for the latest round of Weight Watchers at Work sessions is February 7 There will be a meetup on Tuesday, January 31 at 12:00 p.m. in EV2 1001. Interested people can contact Melissa Floyd for more information by sending an email to mmfloyd@uwaterloo.ca.

And by the way, the University Club has posted its new regular menu online.