Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Waterloo computer scientists receive Lifetime Achievement Award

This is an excerpt of an article that originally appeared on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Don Cowan and Professor Emeritus Richard C. “Ric” Holt have received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award in Computer Science from CS-Can/Info-Can, the national organization of Canadian computer science departments, schools and faculties.

Conferred annually, these prestigious awards recognize outstanding and sustained achievement in research, teaching and service.

“It’s wonderful to see Don and Ric’s accomplishments recognized by CS-Can/Info-Can,” said Mark Giesbrecht, director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. “Congratulations to these two distinguished pioneers of computer science who have contributed immeasurably to both the field and to the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science through their years of leadership, scholarship, teaching and service.”

The 2017 awards will be presented at the annual CS-Can/Info-Can Awards Dinner, which will be held at York University in Toronto on May 7, 2018.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Don Cowan is a Canadian pioneer in computer science. Shortly after completing his PhD in 1965, Don became head of the Computer Science Division of the Mathematics Department at the University of Waterloo. In 1967, he became Chair of the Department of Applied Analysis and Computer Science, a new academic unit that launched with only four faculty members of professorial rank in computer science.

Within five years, Don expanded the department to 26 research faculty and five lecturers. Although it has been close to half a century since he served as department chair, Don set the tone that has established the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science as Canada’s largest and best-known computer science program.

Professor Emeritus Ric Holt has been a pioneer of computer science since his arrival at the University of Toronto as an assistant professor in 1970 and continuing at the University of Waterloo since 1997. He has made a number of seminal contributions in a variety of computer systems research areas, from work on operating systems and programming languages, compilers and computer science education, to software architecture modelling and software analytics.

Ric has supervised many PhD students who have themselves become leading academics. He has authored and coauthored dozens of highly cited journal and conference publications, many of which are classics in their field. 

Read the full article, including detailed profiles on Cowan and Holt, on the Computer Science website.

How to get ready for fiscal year-end

The April 30, 2018 fiscal year-end is approaching and it is important that all current year transactions are posted and reviewed in a timely manner.  We expect that there will be an increased workload, particularly in finance, related to our first year end in the new Unit4 financial system.  We ask for your assistance in managing that workload and helping meet year end deadlines by communicating with your departments to ensure that tasks in Unit4 are processed by end users as soon as possible after they are received.  You can help to ensure the accuracy of the 2018 Financial Statements that are presented to the Board of Governors by following the procedures and deadlines.

Please remember that throughout the year all transactions should be sent to Finance for processing as soon as possible, but no later than the month following the completion of the transaction.  Cut off dates for each month end can be found on the Finance website.  In addition, financial statements should be reviewed monthly throughout the year for accuracy and completeness, and transactions should be reviewed more frequently in the months of March and April using the available enquiries in the system.

What does this mean to you?

To see a full list of actions required and deadlines for April 2018 transactions, click here.

Test of the campus emergency communication system March 6

A message from Information Systems & Technology

A test of the University’s emergency communication system is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m. Test activation and deactivation messages will be sent using the below channels:

• Tweets to @UWaterloo and @WatSAFEapp
• WatSAFE mobile app
• The ‘UW Emerge’ on-screen pop-up for desktops and laptops
• Skype for Business Instant Messages
• Portal alerts and push notifications

Your feedback on how these channels operated is appreciated (helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357).

In the event of a real emergency during this test, please contact Police Services at 519-888-4911, or ext. 22222.

Be sure to install the WatSAFE app on your device to receive this test message, and more importantly, to stay informed of campus emergency situations. Visit the WatSAFE website for more details.

WatIAM replacement rescheduled and other notes

The replacement of the identity management system known as WatIAM planned for March 9-13 will be rescheduled. The revised date and time for this work will be confirmed by Friday, March 2.

The initial timeline for the identity management system replacement was based on an aggressive risk-mitigation driven timeline. Rescheduling this work will allow the project team to better balance the risk of the old system with delivering quality in the new system. See the previous article here.

The English Language Institute invites any campus departments or student groups who have an international/cultural focus to host a booth at the International Fair on Wednesday, March 7.  Emailryan.connell@uwaterloo.ca to register.

Your T2202A tuition tax receipt for terms in 2017 is now available on Quest.  Go to Student Centre, click on Finances, then on Tax Receipts.  Your charitable donations receipt for endowment fund contributions made in 2017 is also available on Quest, if you did not request refunds for those feed during the year.

Monday marked the start of Fair Dealing Week 2018. Fair Dealing Week is an annual celebration of the rights provided to users of copyright-protected material under the fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act. Learn more and help us celebrate:

• Visit the Fair Dealing Canada website, and consider sending a testimonial about fair dealing to Lise Brin, CARL’s programs officer
• Help us celebrate fair copyright, by participating in our create-your-own meme contest
• Attend the Copyright for Teaching workshop
• Tweet your support for fair dealing:
  • As a creator by supporting the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Fair Copyright campaign using the hashtag #faircopyright
  • By using the hashtag #FairDealingWorks to support the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) campaign
• Chat about the myths and facts of Fair Dealing in the Dana Porter lobby on Wednesday February 28, from 12pm to 2pm.