Thursday, May 4, 2017

Excellence, Innovation and Wellness survey and focus groups coming

The University of Waterloo has begun the integration of the Excellence Canada's Excellence, Innovation, and Wellness (EIW) Standard across the University as a national quality standard against which to enable organizational excellence, innovation and wellness. The overarching goal of the university-wide initiative is to advance the University’s Strategic Plan and eight strategic themes and, in particular, the Robust Employer-Employee Relationship theme.

Over the next few months, the University will be conducting a preliminary assessment of five key areas: leadership, planning, service to students, people engagement, and process management. This will enable the Excellence Canada Advisory Committee to consider your feedback, address any institution-wide gaps that are identified, and develop supporting initiatives to benefit the University community as a whole.

The University’s Excellence Canada Advisory Committee will be asking employees to complete a survey and participate in focus groups:

• The survey will be launched on May 8 and will be open for two weeks, closing May 21. On May 8, all permanent employees and those individuals with contracts of more than one year will receive an email with a link to the survey. The survey includes 35 questions and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Paper copies will be provided to employees without access to a computer.
• Focus groups will be held during the weeks of June 19 and 26 on the topics of leadership, planning, service to students, people engagement, and process management. Beginning June 5^th, employees can sign up to participate on the University’s Excellence Canada website.

The Excellence Canada Advisory Committee will use employee feedback gathered from the survey and focus groups to understand the University’s strengths and areas of opportunity in relation to the Excellence, Innovation and Wellness (EIW) Standard and to inform how the University moves forward to integrate this standard.

For more information, contact any member of the University’s Excellence Canada Advisory Committee.

In 2014, the University of Waterloo Library piloted the implementation of Excellence Canada’s Excellence, Innovation, and Wellness (EIW) Standard at the Bronze (first) level. Since then, eight units have successfully integrated the EIW Standard at the Bronze or Silver levels.

Staff can apply for 'once in a lifetime' opportunity

Christine Kampen Robinson was inspired by Germany’s exceptional reputation for career integrated education when she visited recently to learn how she could better assist PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.

The trip, which was sponsored by the Staff International Experience Fund (SIEF), gave Christine the opportunity to learn new ideas, initiatives, and best practices from institutions in Germany that she is already putting into practice as a career advisor for graduate students in Co-operative Education & Career Action.

The SIEF allows University of Waterloo staff members to travel and engage in collaborative work with international partners and institutions. Being a recipient allowed Christine to travel with a mission, which was to help change the conversation surrounding career-path options for PhD students at Waterloo.

“The SIEF is an amazing opportunity,” says Christine. “It’s so enriching to have meetings with colleagues and build new relationships with people who are in similar roles in a different part of the world. The trip reinforced my belief that the more we talk to other people, the better we can do our jobs.”

Follow Waterloo International on Twitter and search the #WaterlooSIEF hashtag to see pictures from Christine’s adventure. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, May 15. Christine encourages those who have questions about the SIEF to contact her at ckampenrobinson@uwaterloo.ca.

Waterloo Centre for German Studies hosts film festival 

A message from the Waterloo Centre for German Studies.

If you’re nervous about the television season coming to an end, and the thought of summer reruns terrifies you already, might we suggest a German diversion? Three movies, one each from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, will play at the Princess Cinemas.

In a co-presentation with the Princess Cinemas and the Embassies of Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Switzerland, the Waterloo Centre for German Studies is pleased to offer the German Language Film Festival, which runs over three Wednesdays this month, in Uptown Waterloo at the Original Princess Cinema. (Did I mention German loves long sentences?)

• Wednesday, May 17 - Austria: “Stefan Zweig - A Farewell to Europe” (Vor der Morgenröte)
• Wednesday, May 24 - Switzerland: “Someone like Me” (Eine wen iig, dr. Dällebach Kari)
• Wednesday, May 31 - Germany: "Lou Andreas-Salomé"

All movies will be screened at 7:00 p.m.

Don’t speak German? Have no fear! As with all other foreign language movies at the Princess, these come with English subtitles.

For full details, visit the Waterloo Centre for German Studies website.

Pharmacy lecture on Ramadan and health; other notes

As Ramadan approaches, it's important to understand how adjusting medications during periods of fasting can affect health. Join the School of Pharmacy on Wednesday, May 17 for a public lecture entitled Ramadan and Health to learn more about medication management during this holy time.

The event will cover:

• What is Ramadan and how it can affect your health
• How to adjust medications when you’re fasting
• How healthcare providers can help patients practicing Ramadan stay healthy

Register and learn more at the Ramadan and Health website. Admission is free but registration is required.

Warriors, come out to play: Registration is now open for the 2017 Waterloo Warriors summer camps. Athletics and Recreation is providing a wide array of opportunities for athletes of all ages to participate in camp activities over the summer months.

There are camps for basketball, hockey, football, volleyball, and multi-sport offerings.