Friday, September 29, 2017

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• A Tribe Called Red headlines Reunion 2017
• 60 Minutes to Save the World as the STEAM rises
• United Way campaign champions come together
• Peggy Jarvie to retire in the new year

A Tribe Called Red headlines Reunion 2017

The University of Waterloo hosts alumni and members of the campus and broader communities this weekend for Reunion 2017. The two-day event takes place September 29 and 30.

As part of Waterloo’s 60^th anniversary celebration, A Tribe Called Red will host an all-ages concert on September 29. The Indigenous producer and DJ crew are making an impact on the global electronic scene with their unique blend of hip-hop, electronic music, and traditional pow wow drums and vocals. They advocate for inclusivity, empathy and acceptance amongst all races and genders in the name of social justice.

Other highlights of Reunion 2017 taking place at various locations on campus include:

Friday, September 29

• From 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Faculty of Science will present  an additional 10 Alumni of Honour Awards, adding to the 50 granted for its 50^th anniversary, in the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology (EIT) Room 1015 and Foyer.

Saturday, September 30

• From 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the AHS Fun Run will take place at the AHS Expansion Building. Run or walk around Ring Road to celebrate healthy and active living.

• 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - Renison University College celebrates the 23^rdannual One Sky Festival (formerly East Asian Festival) and will feature art, music, food, and performances from the Chinese, Islamic, Japanese and Korean cultures.

• From 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. the Waterloo Warriors football team will face down the Guelph Gryphons at Warrior Field. Gates open at 12:00 p.m.
• Faculty open houses will also take place across campus on Saturday, including open houses at the federated and affiliated institutions of Waterloo.

A listing of all events appears on the Reunion website. 

60 Minutes to Save the World as the STEAM rises

by Tyler Black.

You have 60 minutes to save the world. Now get to work!

This was the narrative of a workshop held yesterday for the 2017 Canadian Student Leadership Conference. The CSLC, a national conference held annually for high school students, is occurring in Waterloo this year, with an explicit emphasis on innovation.

The Department of English Language and Literature, and the English Advisory Council designed the workshop to demonstrate the importance of Arts-based knowledge in STEM fields: turning STEM into STEAM.

Mandy Lam, the chair of the EAC, put forth that, “this workshop is an example of how English is evolving to be multi-functional and interdisciplinary—which is reflective of most workplaces today.”

Hosted at the Games Institute, the workshop entitled: “60 Minutes to Save the World,” encouraged students to use knowledge and tools from both Arts and STEM disciplines to create innovative solutions to crisis situations, ranging from political unrest to environmental disaster.

The students worked together to design creative solutions to the posed scenario in each of the three workshop stations. In every case, they reached their best possible outcome and shared their results through short presentations at the end of the workshop.

One of the stations took innovation to heart and allowed the student teams to design and build an augmented reality experience. The result, along with the creations from the other stations, contributed to an Impact Wall (as pictured) representing the breadth of knowledge and the broad range of ideas the students used to problem solve.

Ashley Mehlenbacher, an Assistant Professor in the department of English Language and Literature, worked with a team of undergraduate and graduate students to develop and organize the workshop. Mehlenbacher’s Early Researcher Award from the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Science made the workshop possible.

More details on the development of the event can be found on the English Department Blog, and more coverage of the event will be available on the Arts Faculty and Games Institute pages.

United Way campaign champions come together

A message from the UWaterloo United Way Campaign.

The University of Waterloo’s United Way campaign recently brought together over 100 volunteers and leadership donors to show their early support for the 2017 United Way campaign. The groups heard from key campaign champions, including President and Vice-Chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur, Dean of Arts Doug Peers and United Way CEO Joan Fisk. As campus gets set for the campaign launch on Tuesday, October 3, we asked these groups why they choose to support the United Way.

"I support United Way because…"

• Waterloo Region has so much potential!
• I want to build a better community beyond Ring Road
• My community is everything
• I believe in changing lives
• I believe in paying it forward

Both events saw attendees networking, learning about the 2017 UWaterloo campaign and the importance of working together to better our community. The excellent turnout demonstrates that our campus understands the importance of giving back to the region and is committed to improving and strengthening our community.

We want to thank everyone who attended the Volunteer Lunch and the Leadership L(a)unch for their ongoing support. Don’t forget to mark Tuesday, October 3 in your calendar for the campaign launch and help us turn the campus red by dressing up or decorating your office space.

Peggy Jarvie to retire in the new year

"Effective March 1, 2018 Peggy Jarvie will retire as Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education," wrote Vice-President, Academic & Provost George Dixon in a memo circulated to CEE staff and Executive Council this week. "Over the next few months, I will be working with Peggy to prepare a transition plan. A search committee will be established to appoint a new Associate Provost in due time."

Jarvie joined the University of Waterloo in 2005 following extensive experience in financial services both in Canada and the US. 

"She has led the team in Co-op and the Centre for Career Action through its many notable achievements, including maintaining high co-op employment rates as co-op enrolment grew 70 percent during changing and challenging economic conditions," Dixon writes. "During her tenure, new career support programs were introduced, and student, alumni and staff engagement with career services increased. With her leadership team, she designed and implemented new roles and an organization structure that enabled greater focus on various stakeholder groups including students, employers, and faculty. She has encouraged the increasing profile of the Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education (WatCACE), as it has become a world research leader in co-operative and work-integrated education."

Jarvie has contributed to national and international associations and to numerous university councils and committees during her time at Waterloo. Most recently she led the experiential education strategic theme, which resulted in the creation of the EDGE certificate in experiential education, recently launched to support undergraduates not in co-op programs as they prepare for their careers and lives after graduation. The strategic theme also led to the creation of an expanded portfolio of co-operative and experiential education that includes the Waterloo Professional Development (WatPD) program, EDGE, and support to other work-integrated education programs at Waterloo, which she has led since February this year.

"I am so proud of the team’s accomplishments, and of their commitment to Waterloo students and their career success as students and after graduation," says Jarvie. "The co-op model at Waterloo has proven to be a gold standard of experiential education, and I’m excited to see how it continues to evolve, and how we implement new forms of experiential education, like the EDGE certificate, building on our strong legacy. It’s a privilege to work at this university, especially in an area in which it’s a clear leader, and a true pleasure to work with the staff, students and faculty here."

Jarvie's last day on campus will be on January 31, 2018.

"At this time, I would like to thank Peggy for her many contributions to the University of Waterloo," Dixon writes. "Please join me in wishing Peggy a retirement full of new activities and exciting opportunities."