Friday, November 24, 2017

We are one of Waterloo's top employers

The University of Waterloo has been named one of the Waterloo Area's Top Employers as part an annual ranking of businesses and organizations in the region who lead in attracting and retaining employees. The annual survey is run by Mediacorp Canada.

This year’s list of Waterloo Area’s Top Employers, released this morning, showcases the organizations that lead their industries in creating forward-thinking workplaces and progressive HR policies.

The University of Waterloo was cited for its ongoing employee development and training programs, its pension plan, retirement planning assistance and health benefits, and its vacation allowance.

Now in its 11^th year, Waterloo Area’s Top Employers is a special designation that recognizes employers in Kitchener-Waterloo and the Guelph area that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Employers were evaluated by the editors at Canada’s Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the national competition: physical workplace; work atmosphere and social; health, financial and family benefits; vacation and time off; employee communications; performance management; training and skills development; and community involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. The annual competition is open to any employer with its head office in the Kitchener-Waterloo or Guelph area; employers of any size may apply, whether private or public sector.

The Waterloo Region Record will be publishing a special feature on this year's winners on Saturday in its print and online editions.

St. Jerome's prof named Killam Visiting Scholar

St. Jerome’s University History professor Whitney Lackenbauer has been selected as the 2017-18 Killam Visiting Scholar at the University of Calgary. The primary purpose of the program is to support advanced education and research at five Canadian Universities, including the University of Calgary.

The Killam Visiting Scholar Program annually selects a distinguished scholar to come to the University of Calgary and make “a significant contribution to academic life”, while participating in research and teaching programs of the host department, as well as engaging in their own research.

In Lackenbauer’s case, this means pursuing his active research program on historical and contemporary Arctic affairs, guest lecturing in various courses in history, political science, and anthropology, as well as giving public lectures, organizing and participating in workshops, and organizing an international conference on Canada-Russia Arctic relations, which will be held in winter 2018. Lackenbauer is on sabbatical from St. Jerome’s University for the 2017-18 academic year, while in this role. 

“This release from my regular teaching and service obligations is facilitating an exciting range of research activities,” Lackenbauer explains, who already has nine books and sixteen articles, and book chapters either published in 2017 or slated for publication by the end of this year. 

“Professor Lackenbauer is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading experts on Arctic history and politics,” says Canada Research Chair Petra Dolata, his host at the University of Calgary. “Although relatively young (43 years old), he has received a long list of honours, awards, and grants for his scholarship. His exceptional work reflects a deep commitment to academic, policy, political, and community-level engagement, and his leadership in shaping scholarly and policy debates through award-winning interdisciplinary research makes him a most worthy candidate for this appointment.” 

Through his research program asking “What Kind of Security for the Arctic?” Professor Lackenbauer will collaborate with University of Calgary colleagues to establish new frameworks for investigating and understanding the changing security landscape in the Arctic.

Making recreation accessible

Students in REC 356 had a big surprise for a local charity earlier this month. The Recreation and Community Development class presented Kate’s Kause, an Elmira based non-profit focused on inclusive community projects, with a cheque for $4,000. The money was raised by leveraging micro-funds; a project that professor Katie Misener says helps students understand how a small initial investment can be multiplied to have a powerful social and economic impact.

“I've found that students make stronger links between theory and practice when they are part of a transformation — both in themselves and within the community.” Kate’s Kause is named after a Grade 3 student living with Angelman Syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder characterized by a severe global developmental delay. The charitable organization works to ensure that playgrounds and community recreation spaces are accessible for all children, regardless of their abilities. “This project enabled students to advocate for inclusive recreation and play as fundamental concepts to childhood well-being and simultaneously take part in a practical process of change through their leveraging projects,” said Misener. The money will be used towards an accessible change room facility at the new splash-pad in Elmira.

16 Days of Activism begin this weekend

Tomorrow marks the first of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a global campaign initiated by UN Women to remind all citizens that they can take actions in their everyday lives to stop gender-based violence.

Here on campus #16daysUW launches the third annual campaign organized and presented by a growing group of faculty, staff and students from across campus. The 2017 #16daysUW campaign invites the University community to participate in numerous actions and events. Some of these are ongoing over the 16 Days, and others are scheduled on specific dates and times.

Each year, 16 Days begins on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and concludes on December 10, International Human Rights Day. In Canada, 16 Days includes the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6. 

More than 16 actions and events are planned on campus, including:

• Safe on Campus? Several locations around campus will host this map project. When you visit a map location, you are invited to indicate with red, yellow and green dots which campus spaces fell unsafe, possibly unsafe, and safe.

• Man Up: Exploring Healthy Masculinity. HeForShe presents a series of Man Up workshops open to all male identifying students from all faculties. This workshop is hosted by the Faculty of Environment. Register for the December 1 workshop.

• Bridge: Honouring the Lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre offers all University community members the chance to mark and tie a red cloth to the bridge between EV 3 and St Paul's University College, as a gesture to name and remember the 4,000+ missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The campaign starts today at 10:00 a.m. at the bridge and continues over the 16 Days.

• 16 Days of videos: rape culture teach-a-thon. Check the 16 Days website for the video series.

The 16 Days of Activism website has a full schedule of events and actions on campus over the course of the campaign.