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Website launched for co-op fee transparency and updates
A message from Co-operative and Experiential Education.
Students want clarity on how their co-op fee is spent.
In July 2017, a project team was officially established to take a deeper look at the co-op fee (we're calling it a co-op fee "deep dive"). One of the project goals is to increase transparency around how the co-op fee funds are spent. This week, the project team launched a digital space for students to engage with for project clarity and updates.
“Increased student engagement and transparency has been one of my top priorities over the past year,” says Peggy Jarvie, associate provost, co-operative and experiential education. “This digital space provides status updates from the deep dive project team, showing what steps have been taken so far, and where we plan to go in future phases. It also answers some of the common questions we receive from students about their co-op fee, with an opportunity to provide their feedback online.”
The project is a joint effort between the Co-operative Education department and the Federation of Students. The digital space will be updated regularly, and students are encouraged to send any questions to the project team.
Making room for girls in computer science
About one in five computer science undergraduates at Waterloo are women. Imagine if we could interest girls at a younger age? Jo Atlee, the Director of Women in Computer Science, is working to do just that with the launch of Technovation Waterloo.
Sunday kicked off the first monthly workshop to help girls ages 10-18 get started on the Technovation Challenge: a 12-week program where girls in teams of up to five learn to:
- Identify a problem in their community
- Create a mobile app to address the problem
- Pitch their ideas to others
- Translate their project into a business
This is all done in an environment that is purposely female-dominated. Girls meet other girls who are interested in technology and entrepreneurship and, equally important, they are mentored and instructed by female undergraduate and graduate students from Waterloo along with women from the local tech industry, all of whom serve as powerful role models.
There is still time to get involved. If you know of a girl 10-18 who’d be interested, it’s not too late to sign up. Or if you’d like to volunteer with the program and be a mentor, you can register and help build the confidence of a group of girls and encourage them to consider a future in computer science.
Register today or find out more information about the program and workshops.
Technovation Waterloo is sponsored by Google, Women in Computer Science and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science.
School of Pharmacy celebrates 10th anniversary
This article originally appeared on the School of Pharmacy's website.
On January 7, 2008, the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy ran its first class. The School had 90 students, six faculty members, and only a handful of staff.
A decade later, Waterloo Pharmacy has over 60 faculty and staff, 476 pharmacy students, 120 PharmD bridging students, 38 graduate students, and 766 alumni. The intersection of King and Victoria in downtown Kitchener is now referred to as the Innovation District, home not only to the University of Waterloo’s Health Sciences Campus, but also to Google, Communitech, UW’s Velocity Garage, and more tech and education organizations.
On January 8 2018, faculty, staff, and students gathered at the School of Pharmacy to acknowledge the growth and success of the last ten years. The launch kicked off the School’s 10th anniversary and is the first of many events planned for 2018. Speakers from the University and the School shared remarks on the past, present, and future of Waterloo Pharmacy.
“When I look at what we see here now, I’m amazed at how things have developed,” said George Dixon, Vice-President Academic and Provost for UW. Dixon was the Dean of Science when planning began for the Health Sciences Campus; he and the subsequent Dean of Science Terry McMahon were integral in the development of the project. Dixon recounted the challenging process of opening the first new pharmacy school in Canada in 20 years.
“This was not the innovation district at that time. This was waste industrial land,” he said. The University was approached by Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr about the prospect of moving some component of the university to downtown Kitchener. Zehr indicated that the city could provide both land and financial resources to support the project.
“I think the only reason that we were able to do this as a university was because we had a reputation within the province for innovative action and for getting things done,” said Dixon.
Bob Lemieux, UW’s current Dean of Science, also reflected on the innovative spirit of Canada’s only co-operative education pharmacy school. Lemieux was followed by professor Shawn Wettig and Director of Admissions, Professional Relations, and Undergraduate Affairs Ken Potvin who have both worked at the School since it opened.
“At the beginning, we had just 90 pioneering pharmacy students who bravely took a chance on us,” says David Edwards, Hallman Director of the School. “We’ve come a long way since then and we’ve built a reputation for innovation in pharmacy education and research.”
“We’ve chosen a theme of ‘bold start, bright future’ to represent our anniversary. It reflects the unique approach we took to pharmacy education when we began and the great things that await us as we continue to be a leader in pharmacy education and medication-related research.”
For more 10th anniversary news and events, visit Pharmacy's 10th anniversary website.
Call for Teaching and Learning Conference proposals; other notes
Proposals for the 10th annual University of Waterloo Teaching and Learning Conference are due January 24. The Centre for Teaching Excellence is inviting campus community members to submit a proposal for a presentation, panel discussion, workshop, or poster presentation for the 10th annual University of Waterloo Teaching and Learning Conference: Motivating Our Students and Ourselves. "Share your practices and research related to motivating deep learning in students and motivating ourselves as instructors," says a note from the CTE. For more information about the conference and to submit a proposal, please visit the Teaching and Learning Conference website. The conference will be held on Thursday, April 26.
"Globally, 1 in 3 women face a form of violence, and on campuses, students will most likely experience violence from other students," says a note from the Equity Office. "The best solutions to on-campus violence come from students themselves!"
To address this problem, the second annual HeForShe Ideathon will take place on January 23 in STC 2002. Check out the event page for more information. Space is limited, so register today.
The Registrar's Office has sent a notification to students reminding them that they can select their spring 2018 courses anytime during the course selection period, which runs from January 23 to January 30.
Students are encouraged to prepare in advance, contact their academic advisor if they have questions, and, beginning January 23, select their spring 2018 courses using Quest’s course selection process. Students may discover that their core or required courses have been pre-selected for them, depending on their major. The spring course schedule will be viewable in Quest by March 22.
More than 100 local Grade 7 girls will attend the inaugural Waterloo Girls in STEAM event held at the Institute for Quantum Computing tomorrow. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art/design, and mathematics. The event brings together 69 women working in STEAM and girls who show interest in the fields for an afternoon of mentorship and career exploration. The event is organized by Mayor Dave Jaworsky and his spouse Jan Jaworsky, both graduates of the Faculty of Mathematics.
The pilot initiative aims to create ambassadors in each school who can inspire other girls in the upcoming year to choose academic-level math and science for high school studies. Statistics show that fewer girls pursue studies and eventually careers in math and engineering than boys.
The event runs from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Institute for Quantum Computing.