Friday, February 3, 2017

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• Waterloo among top 50 most international universities
• Taking per diem guideline changes one day at a time
• Staff association to hold special general meeting
• Applications open for Problem Pitch Competition
• Take the Daily Bulletin e-newsletter survey; other notes

Waterloo among top 50 most international universities

The University of Waterloo is among the top 50 universities in the world for strongest global connections, according to a new ranking.

Times Higher Education listed Waterloo 34^th in its ranking of the World’s Most International Universities 2017. The list takes into consideration the proportion of international students and staff, and an institution’s journal publications with at least one international co-author. A fourth factor, international reputation, makes up 25 per cent of a university’s score.

“Internationalization offers the diversity of experience and insight vital to answering the world’s most pressing questions,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur. “Our diversity adds to Waterloo’s strength and will help us reach our goal of improving the world and helping Canada to lead in the world economy.”

The ranking combines the international outlook portion of the THE World University Rankings 2016-17, which considers international students, staff and co-authors of publications, with international reputation, taken from the Academic Reputation Survey.

Waterloo is among five Canadian universities listed in the top 50.  ETH Zurich captured the top spot, followed by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and University of Hong Kong.

Taking per diem guideline changes one day at a time

The University has revised its per diem policy in response to changes in provincial guidelines, according to a memo circulated by Vice-President, Academic & Provost Ian Orchard earlier this week. 

"The Ontario government recently revised the Broader Public Sector Expenses Directive issued under the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010 effective January 1, 2017," says the provost's memo.

"As a result, the University has revised its per diem policy. Original itemized receipts for meal claims are no longer a requirement when funding is provided by the Ontario government or by its agencies or ministries."

These new rules are effective immediate for trips beginning on or after January 1, 2017 and for those trips where a claim has not yet been submitted. 

For University-related business meals, claimants now have the choice of claiming either:

• the actual meal costs supported by original itemized receipts, or
• a per diem meal allowance.

"Per diems are permitted regardless of the funding source unless specifically disallowed by a granting agency," the memo continues. "Maximums for both receipted meals and per diems are outlined in the Guidelines supporting Policy 31 – Travel."

Staff association to hold special general meeting

The University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) is holding a special general meeting on Thursday, February 23 in DC 1302 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. 

Among the agenda items will be the ratification of election results for the president-elect position.

For those members who cannot attend, proxy forms can be submitted to the UWSA office in DC 3603 or via email to the UWSA secretary, Jason Gorrie, at jbgorrie@uwaterloo.ca, no later than 9:00 a.m. on February 22.

Coffee and treats will be available starting at 8:45 a.m. There will also be door prizes.

The full agenda can be found on the UWSA website.

Applications open for Problem Pitch Competition

The Problem Pitch Competition invites teams of up to four students to choose an important industry problem, and thoroughly research it to understand its history, scope, and impact, before pitching the findings to a panel of judges on March 7, to compete for a share of $5,000 in grant funding.

The winning team will demonstrate the best understanding of an important problem, and will win $4,000 to be used to fund R&D for a venture that solves the problem identified. The 2nd place team will win $1,000, and the audience will decide which team wins the 3rd place People’s Choice Award!

Applications are first-come, first-serve, conditional on attendance at an introductory session. Apply now.

The Problem Pitch Competition is a collaboration between Velocity, and the Problem Lab. 

Take the Daily Bulletin e-newsletter survey; other notes

Since September 2016, University Communications has published an e-newsletter version of the Daily Bulletin for faculty, staff, students, and community members.

University Communications is looking for ways to improve its communications activities, and we need your feedback. You are invited to participate in a Daily Bulletin E-Newsletter Survey to help us learn more about your experience with receiving a daily e-newsletter version of the Daily Bulletin.

Whether you are a regular, occasional, or non e-newsletter reader, we’d like to hear your opinions.

Please participate by completing the survey, which should take approximately 5 to 10 minutes.

The survey will be available until Friday, February 17. By completing the survey, you are helping us identify specific aspects of the Daily Bulletin e-newsletter that are meeting your needs as a member of the University community, and those that could use improvement.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and strictly confidential.

Thanks for subscribing (or not unsubscribing) and thanks for your participation!

Students from the Department of Economics, coached by Professor Jean Paul Lam,  will be participating in the Bank of Canada Governor's Challenge this weekend. The national round of the competition takes place on Saturday, February 4 at the Bank's head offices in Ottawa.

Five teams will compete for the title of The Governor’s Challenge national champion. The finalists represent the following universities:

• University of Waterloo
• Wilfrid Laurier University
• University of Toronto (St. George Campus)
• McGill University
• Université de Sherbrooke

Working in teams, students analyze and forecast developments in the economy and present a monetary policy recommendation to keep inflation low and stable, in line with the inflation target of 2 per cent. The judges evaluate teams on the substance of their analysis, the quality of their presentation and evidence of strong teamwork.

The competition is intended to "raise greater awareness of monetary policy and the role of the central bank in the economy, as well as to promote the pursuit of economics as an area of study at Canadian universities and as a career option," says a Bank of Canada spokesperson.

The winners will be announced next week.

40 teams of children from grades four to eight will compete with LEGO® Mindstorms® robots they created for the FIRST® LEGO® League West Ontario Championship at the University of Waterloo tomorrow.

This year’s project explores what is possible if people and animals learn to help each other. The ANIMAL ALLIES®, teams will identify problems that arise when animals and humans interact, create innovative solutions to improve interactions between animals and people, and share their solutions with others.

Specific challenges include shipping a shark, releasing a panda to the wild, training a service dog, harvesting honey from a beehive and milking a cow. 

The event will be held in the Physical Activities Complex, with pits opening at 7:30 a.m., practice rounds at 8:00, and opening ceremonies at 10:10 a.m. Closing ceremonies are at 5:00 p.m.

The 2017 edition of FASS takes place at the Humanities Theatre on Saturday, February 4 at 7:00 p.m. This year, FASS is styled as a "Super Variety Night" that will feature singing, dancing, acting, juggling, drag and other performances by several student clubs.

FASS, which stands for Faculty, Alumni, Staff, and Students, has been a fixture at the University since 1963 and bills itself as "amateur, amateur, amateur theatre."

Admission is free, but donations are accepted.