Friday, February 23, 2018

Board approves new tuition, co-op fees

The Board passed motions to set the tuition fees for domestic students for 2019/2020 and international students for 2018/2019, and voted on a motion to raise the co-op fee, effective Spring 2018 at its meeting on February 6, 2018.

Vice-President, Academic & Provost George Dixon walked the governors through the fee motions, explaining that international fees were being set for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, while on the domestic side fees were being set for the 2019-2020 fiscal year because universities are required to give the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MASED) two year's warning of what their fees are intended to be.

Generally, core programs for undergraduate students will rise by 3 per cent, with professional programs rising up to 4.29 per cent depending on the program.

Domestic graduate students will see increases of 1 per cent in research master's and PhD programs, with specifically identified master's and diplomas rising anywhere from 1 per cent to 5 per cent.

Dixon noted that international tuition rates are reviewed annually to reflect the value of a Waterloo degree overall and in specific program areas, the demand for Waterloo programs nationally and internationally, and the alignment of Waterloo’s tuition rates with comparator institutions. While in previous years one rate was applied across the board, beginning in 2018-2019, international tuition fees would begin to see some variability by program.

For international students, most undergraduate programs will increase by 8.5 per cent in year one with 5 per cent increases in years 2 to 4, with several exceptions, and research master and PhD programs rising 3 per cent and specifically identified master and diploma programs varying in increase from 3 to 15 per cent.

The Board also voted on a motion to increase the co-op fee, effective Spring 2018, by 2.8 percent in undergraduate and graduate co-op programs, which means the fee will rise from $709 a term to $729 a term.

Dixon explained the process for setting the co-op fee. The Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education works with Co-operative and Experiential Education to determine the costs for the year, and then the fee is discussed with students at the Co-operative Education Council and the Undergraduate Student Relations Committee before coming to the provost for a recommendation. Dixon noted that this year’s increase is particularly contentious, given the current comprehensive review of co-op that is taking place and the sizeable student petition opposed to an increase while the review is being carried out.

The co-op fee is assessed to undergraduate and graduate students registered in a co-operative education program.

Math faculty sponsors team at girl's math olympiad

A message from the Faculty of Mathematics.

Two days. Four girls. Six questions.

The Faculty of Mathematics is proud to sponsor Anna Krokhine, Jingzhi Liang, Elnaz Hessami Pilehrood, and Karen Situ as they travel to Florence Italy for the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO). This is the first time that a Canadian team has competed in the EGMO.

Each of the students were chosen based on the results of the 2017 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge written in November. Over two days, for four and half hours each day, the students will individually solve six questions.

“Girls across the country will be encouraged to develop their mathematical abilities and problem-solving skills,” said CMS Mathematical Competitions Chair, Professor Dorette Pronk. “We believe that they will succeed and shine in an international contest of the highest calibre.”

The EGMO takes place from April 9 to 15.

Workday is coming to Waterloo: find out more at a Workday Learn session

Replacing myHRinfo, Workday will provide University of Waterloo staff and faculty with a user-friendly Human Resources system that minimizes paper processes and gives employees easy access to their pay, benefits and other HR information. This new system is currently undergoing design and implementation with the Workday Project Team, made up of staff from Human Resources and Information Systems & Technology. The Project Team is consulting with campus stakeholders in order to make the transition to this system seamless and ensure it is designed to provide a great user experience for employees.

Workday is going live campus-wide in January of 2019. Since this change will affect all employees, the Workday Project Team is offering a sneak peek of what’s to come in four upcoming Workday Learn sessions.

If you’d like to learn more about Workday at Waterloo, please register for one of the following sessions:

March 6^th 9:30am-10:30am

March 6^th 11am-12pm

March 15^th 9:30am-10:30am

March 15^th 11am-12pm

We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, check out the Workday video below.

Announcing the finalists for the 2018 World's Challenge Challenge UWaterloo

Six teams of three diverse students have been selected as finalists for the World’s Challenge Challenge competition at the University of Waterloo. Taking place on Thursday, March 1st, each team will pitch their solution to one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). Several of the finalists this year are aiming to tackle #6 and #7 of the Global Goals: Clean water and sanitation, and affordable and clean energy.

Each team will present their solution in a 5-7 minute pitch to a panel of judges and an audience of their peers. The teams are competing for $1,000 for each member of the winning team to go towards an international travel experience, and the opportunity to compete at the international round of the World’s Challenge Challenge at Western University in June. At the international round, there will be $45,000 in prizes up for grabs. Each member of the 2nd and 3rd place teams will win tech prizes.

The World’s Challenge Challenge UWaterloo finalists:

Catalight - Catalight aims to create an affordable, sustainable approach to water safety and filtration.

Drops for Crops - By creating a specialized irrigation system, Drops for Crops hopes to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural practice in Tanzania.

Keep it Real - Using blockchain technology, Keep it Real aims to develop more effective governance and accountability methods among members of the UN.

TABS - TABS is creating a sustainable, low-cost, low-maintenance, and low-energy use rainwater collection system to help combat drought and lack of potable water in Cambodia.

Agora Water - By providing solar water filtration systems to low-income countries, Agora Water hopes to combat the lack of potable water.

Conductive - Through the creation of a mesh energy network in Bangladesh, Conductive aims to create a means for low-income areas to establish an energy infrastructure and increase access to affordable energy.

Judges for the World’s Challenge Challenge include:

• Tania Framst; VP Operations & Sales, Lucky Iron Fish
• Ida Kaastra-Mutoigo; Director of World Renew Canada
• Jennifer King; Senior Project Manager, MEDA
• Paul Parker; Associate Dean, Strategic Initiatives, University of Waterloo

Everyone is welcome to attend the World’s Challenge Challenge UWaterloo and attendees are encouraged to register in advance.