Wednesday, November 1, 2017

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• Kinesiology student bends over backwards for manufacturing safety
• Health Services hosts community flu clinics this week
• Executive actions at Convocation, Board and beyond
• HR announces changes in temporary staff hiring processes
• Wednesday's notes

Kinesiology student bends over backwards for manufacturing safety

by Alecz Sallows.

Waterloo kinesiology student Mack Gingerich knows that better ergonomics can have a big impact on manufacturing. In his first co-op work term at Canadian automobile parts manufacturer Linamar, Mack conducted ergonomic tests on new production lines being built in the factory. His role was to identify changes that would increase the efficiency, comfort, and safety of workers - changes engineers could incorporate before the line was running in full production.

Melissa Gould, Mack’s co-op supervisor, sees clear value in Mack’s work. “It takes approximately 10-15 minutes for Mack to complete ergonomic testing on a job, compared to a full day or more to complete a PDD in the event of an injured worker and send documentation to WSIB,” she says.

Mack used the Linamar Ergonomic Screening Tool (LEST) to evaluate the new line. His testing involved assessing a few key factors of the job and then using LEST to determine an approximate level of ergonomic risk. When his co-op term was complete, Mack left the engineers a list of his recommendations, which they used to improve the line and proactively ensure the safety of workers.

Linamar consistently hires Waterloo co-op students because of the value their knowledge brings to the workplace. Melissa notes, “These students are learning about cutting-edge research in their classes, which results in some really great new ideas. They help us to ensure that our ergonomics program is current, relevant and effective.”

Health Services hosts community flu clinics this week

With cold and flu season coming up, you might be wondering whether or not to get a flu shot this year. The answer is yes! Health Services is providing a community flu clinic this November to help make it easy and convenient to get your flu vaccine and help stop the spread of influenza.

The community flu clinics are running on the following dates and times:

• Wednesday, November 1, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the SLC multi-purpose room.
• Thursday, November 2, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the SLC multi-purpose room.
• Wednesday, November 3, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the SLC multi-purpose room.

Even healthy, young people should get the vaccine, to avoid missing work or school, but also to avoid spreading influenza to people who might not have as well-developed of an immune system. Region of Waterloo Public Health notes: “Any one could bring the influenza virus home to a baby, older relative, or someone with a medical condition who could develop serious complications from influenza.” People in high-risk categories are strongly encouraged to get the influenza vaccine.

According to Region of Waterloo Public Health: “When there is a good match between the influenza strains in the vaccine and the influenza strains circulating in the community, the vaccine can prevent influenza illness in 50 to 80 percent of healthy children and adults.” It does take about two weeks after a flu vaccination for your immune system to develop protection against the influenza virus, so get yours early.

Getting the flu shot can be an effective way to maintain your health through cold and flu season. By avoiding the flu, you save time and energy for more important things like work, attending class, or visiting family members who might be at a high-risk for flu complications. All University of Waterloo community members (students, staff, and faculty) can get their influenza vaccination at one of our flu clinics. If you can’t make it to one of the flu clinics, you can make an appointment at Health Services, or visit one of the many pharmacies in town that offer flu shots.

Executive actions at Convocation, Board and beyond

It's Wednesday, November 1. Do you know where your president is?

From Convocation to installations to alumni events, here is a non-exhaustive list of President Feridun Hamdullahpur's recent activities on and off campus.

On Thursday, October 19, President Hamdullahpur joined Associate Provost, Students Chris Read, Director of Housing Glen Weppler, University Architect Daniel Parent, Feds Vice-President, Internal Jill Knight, ResLife Don Michelle Folinas, and other guests to officially open the New Residence Building in UW Place. The 539-bed facility is the first new residence built on the Waterloo campus since Mackenzie King Village opened 15 years ago.

On Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21, President Hamdullahpur participated in Fall 2017 Convocation in the Physical Activities Complex, delivering closing remarks at each of the ceremonies. "Take the ideas of our institution," the president told the graduating classes. "The ideals of openness, inclusion, respect for diversity, a passion for knowledge, of collaboration, and keep them with you."

On Tuesday, October 24, President Hamdullahpur spoke at a special event on student mental health that followed the Federation of Students' Annual General Meeting in the Student Life Centre. “This is a subject that is very close to me personally, and that is, I believe, a very important subject for our institution,” Hamdullahpur said. “This is what I am really grateful for, that now we can openly talk about a) mental health and b) about how it’s affecting our students.” Check the Feds' recap of the event for more information. Photo courtesy of the Feds Twitter feed.

On Thursday, October 26, Feridun joined alumni and friends in Toronto for the Where Uwaterloo Meets AI alumni event. President Hamdullahpur welcomed guests and introduced faculty speakers who shared their groundbreaking work in the artificial intelligence space. The President joined in an engaging Q&A discussion with faculty presenters after the presentations. Keep an eye out in the Daily Bulletin for more information about this event.

On Friday, October 27, President Hamdullahpur attended the formal installation of Professor Deborah MacLatchy as Wilfrid Laurier University's President and Vice-Chancellor at the start of WLU's fall convocation in a special ceremony in Lazaridis Hall. Hamdullahpur joined colleagues and representatives from dozens of universities across Canada to mark the occasion, and the installation ceremony included the presentation of an eagle feather and an Indigenous drum song honouring the strength of women. 

The president also attended the installation of Conrad Grebel University College President Marcus Shantz on Sunday, October 29 in the Humanities Theatre.

On Tuesday, October 31, the president delivered his report at the Board of Governors meeting.

So what's next for President Hamdullahpur?

Today, the president is in Ottawa for two days of meetings with the U15 group of research universities. At this meeting, President Hamdullahpur will be giving an update on the Leadership Council for Digital Research Infrastructure (LCDRI), which he chairs.

On Wednesday, November 8, President Hamdullahpur will be in Montreal for Gender Summit 11 North America 2017. The summit, co-hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, will see more than 600 advocates of gender equality from the fields of science, innovation and development converge to discuss innovation and diversity. The president's remarks will highlight the HeForShe campaign as he gives an overview of the University’s progress in achieving its three core HeForShe commitment goals and the initiatives that have been created to reach those goals. This is the first time that the Gender Summit has been held in Canada.

HR announces changes in temporary staff hiring processes

A message from Human Resources.

As of November 1^st, the hiring process for temporary staff has changed. In the spring of 2016, Human Resources received approval to conduct a pilot within the Student Services portfolio to establish a hiring process for temporary staff that aligned with our hiring of regularized staff.

The new process provides several benefits to managers who hire temporary staff (appointments greater than three months); including the elimination of paper-based approvals, assistance with job descriptions and postings through our talent acquisition system (iCIMS), screening questions to assist with shortlisting, and streamlined applicant review and filtering. This process is for staff positions only and does not include post docs, research associates, teaching assistants or co-ops. Any temporary student employment will now be processed using the Temporary Student Appointment form.

During October, HR led three training sessions for hiring managers to review the new process. There will be another training session on November 24^th, please register if you’re interested. Instructions, forms and additional information will be posted on the Hiring page of the HR website. If you have any questions regarding the new process, please contact your HR Partner.

Wednesday's notes

The Faculty of Science was in the Halloween spirit yesterday. Pictured are the biology department's Wonder Women April Wettig, Jeannie Redpath-Erb, Susan Whyte, Lucy Satora, Jennifer Lehman, Margaret Berton, and Lori Preiss.

The University of Waterloo is partnering with Wilfrid Laurier University to host a three-part Canada 150 lecture series in association with the Waterloo Public Library and the City of Waterloo. As members of the community recognize and celebration 150 years of Confederation, this lecture series explores significant periods of Canadian history and their influence on Canada today.  

The second lecture in the series takes place tonight and is entitled Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Post-Secondary Education. The event organizers are inviting you to join them to discuss how universities are responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the two institutions will talk about the challenges and opportunities for Indigenization on Waterloo and WLU's campuses. The event features Waterloo speakers Sorouja Moll, Andy Houston and Lori Campbell from St. Paul’s.

The event takes place at Knox Presbyterian Church in Uptown Waterloo.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include EY and BMO Financial Group. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.