Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Tis the season to talk about storm closings

We've had snow, we've had some extreme cold, we've had ice, and we've had rain, and so we should have an opportunity to review the University's Weather Closing Guidelines before the worst of the winter weather sets in. So here goes:

According to the guidelines, which were last reviewed and updated in December 2016, the University and the affiliated and federated institutions of Waterloo will close "because of severe weather when normal operation would pose a significant danger to students and employees, or would prevent large numbers of them from coming to campus or returning safely to their homes."

The decision to close or remain open in severe weather is usually made by the Vice-President, Academic & Provost in consultation with the Director of Police Services, the Associate Vice-President, Communications, and the Director of Custodial & Grounds Services. The Provost and the team of advisors meet to consider the conditions whenever severe weather is in the forecast and the team also seeks a wealth of information in order to inform the difficult decision of whether it is safe to open campus.

The advisory team will look at:

• multiple sources of weather information and radar, as well as actual outside conditions;
• the condition of campus, including pathways, roadways, and buildings - and how long it will take to make movement on campus safe; 
• the status of local and regional roads, with input from the local city governments;
• whether local and regional public transportation is running including GRT, GO and Greyhound; and
• the conditions at satellite campuses.

The guidelines define the condition of "closed" to mean that "classes are not held; meetings and other scheduled events are cancelled; scheduled examinations are cancelled, to be rescheduled; deadlines for assignments and other submissions are postponed until the same hour on the next business day on which UW is not "closed"; staff, other than those providing "essential services," are not expected to be at work, but are paid for a normal day."

For the most part it is safe to assume that the University's default status is "open" unless messaging has been posted to the contrary.

Notice of the University's status will be posted on days where severe weather is forecast, normally at 6:00 a.m. to allow faculty, staff and students time to decide their course of action that day. As the guidelines indicate, "those who judge that it may be unsafe to come to campus should discuss alternate work and study arrangements with their instructor or supervisor."

In the event of severe weather that warrants a closure, all members of the University community should consult the University’s homepage and Twitter feed, check the WatSAFE app, tune in to a local radio station, check local media websites or call the University’s Infoline (1-866-470-0910) to learn whether or not the University has closed. The University also maintains a dedicated weather statement page with Environment Canada weather notices for the region and safety tips that will be updated in the event of severe weather.

Provost gives update on GSPA organizational changes

A memo was recently issued to Executive Council members about organizational changes in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. George Dixon, Vice-President Academic & Provost writes:

"In May 2017, Jeff Casello’s title of Associate Provost, Graduate Studies changed to Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. This change complemented the name change of the unit, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, and reflected the academic nature of the portfolio."

"Academic leadership in GSPA has jointly been provided by the Associate Vice President and a second position, Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. Effective immediately, the Associate Dean title in GSPA will be changed to Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs to complement Jeff’s title change in May." 

"The Assistant Vice-President portfolio has grown within GSPA and the institution," the provost's memo continues. "With my encouragement, and the support of the President, GSPA will be adding a second Assistant VP role, effective January 1, 2018."

Currently, the sole Associate Dean, GSPA role is held by Raymond Legge – a Professor of Chemical Engineering. Ray has held this role for the last four years; highlights of accomplishments during his tenure include Graduate Supervision Workshops, serving as a member on several working groups to deliver on successful international recruitment, providing ongoing academic direction on international agreements, scholarships, awards, bursaries, petitions and grievances and student admission evaluation. Ray’s tenure as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs will continue until June 30, 2018.

Effective January 1, the second Assistant VP role will be held by Daniela O’Neill – a Professor of Development Psychology. For eight years, Daniela was the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in her home Department. While holding this position, she spearheaded many new initiatives including a student mentor program and orientation sessions for incoming graduate students, a revitalization of the Graduate Association of Students in Psychology, a new funding model for graduate students in Psychology, and new departmental Tri-Agency scholarship ranking procedures. In addition, she developed a unique, 1-year MASc Developmental and Communication Science program. 

"Ray and Daniela will work alongside Jeff to provide academic leadership and oversight on graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs at the University of Waterloo," the provost's memo concludes. "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jeff for his continued leadership of the GSPA portfolio."

University of Waterloo Canada 150 celebrations wrap up

In celebration of the 150^th anniversary of Confederation, the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, the Waterloo Public Library and the City of Waterloo partnered to host a trilogy of free community lectures this fall on topics of historical significance in Canada.

Topics discussed at the Canada 150 Lecture Series included a look at Vimy Ridge, Canada’s hidden histories and Truth and Reconciliation in Canada’s post-secondary education. The three sold-out lectures were held in various community-accessible locations in Uptown Waterloo in October, November and December and were attended by community leaders, staff, faculty students and the interested public.

In addition to the Canada 150 lectures, our campus community recognized this milestone year in a number of ways throughout 2017. 

The University's Celebration 2017 legacy project was a nod to both our 60^th anniversary and Canada 150. And, of course, who could forget an extra special Canada Day celebration, featuring Canadian rock icon Tom Cochrane and a special Canada 150 multicultural stage. 

The University’s Kelly McManus also served throughout the year as a City of Waterloo Canada 150 Ambassador.

St. Joe's hires "co-op army" to become leader in digital healthcare

When your supervisor tells you to hire 60 co-op students for the fall 2017 term, what goes through your mind?

"When I heard we needed 60 students, I thought it was crazy," laughs Chelsea King, a project analyst at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. King was given the job of recruiting co-op students for a major digital upgrade at St. Joe's.

As a former co-op student herself, BSc ’16, she knew how to recruit the best talent. King posted jobs at 15 post-secondary schools across Canada, screened 300 applicants, conducted 150 interviews and ended up with 58 of the best co-op students in Canada.

Thirty-five students on this co-op dream team were hired from the University of Waterloo.

Affectionately dubbed "a co-op army" by King, the student team was hired to help launch the Dovetale project, a new digital infrastructure for patient care at St. Joe's. This fully integrated, safe and secure information solution will place all of a patient’s information in one location. Patients will only need to tell their full story once, and all caregivers will see that same information. This move will make St. Joe's a fully electronic hospital, one of only eight in Canada with this level of technology today.

With a paper-based system, a single visit to the hospital could result in over 180 pieces of paper, creating a potential for error and inefficiencies. Co-op students were hired for a variety of positions including technical readiness testing, change management, data validation and training hospital staff on the new software.

St. Joe's officially flipped the switch to a digital state on December 2, 2017 at 2:00 a.m. But the work of the co-op students didn't end once the system was live. There were six weeks of 24-hour support provided following the launch, with some shifts staffed by co-op students.

King says the co-op team has been up for the challenge, even with some work happening after 5:00 p.m. "It’s not always ideal, and they don’t get a desk and an office at times, but they've been so flexible throughout all of this," she says.

Tara Coxon, chief information officer at St. Joe's (and another Waterloo Science and Business grad), isn’t surprised that the students are so adaptable. Her message to the students: "We would not be here without you," says Coxon. "You are an integral part of our team. You are key."

A thank you and recognition event was held in October with co-op students, Dovetale members, and University of Waterloo partners reflecting on their experiences this term.

Wednesday's notes

The Safety Office is reporting that the last day for main campus hazardous waste pickup and drop off at the Environmental Safety Facility is Thursday, December 21. For more information call ext. 35755. Check the Safety Office website for its annual safe holiday laboratory shutdown memo.

Information Systems and Technology is reminding campus that all WCMS forms (sites at uwaterloo.ca/forms/*) and WatVote sites are being upgraded to 2.6.0. tonight from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 21.

It is recommended that any “mission critical” forms on forms sites be temporarily disabled prior to the upgrade window to avoid the slight chance that a form could be submitted while your site is being upgraded. All forms can be re-enabled following the upgrade window. If you have a WatVote site, please log out of your site and do not work on your site during this upgrade window.

Anyone with questions or concerns should send a submission to rt-ist-wcms@rt.uwaterloo.ca or contact the IST Service Desk at helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca, ext. 44357.