Thursday, March 29, 2018

President provides update on Strategic Plan

A message from President Feridun Hamdullahpur.

Work is well underway on Waterloo’s next Strategic Plan, our Bridge to 2020. Currently, we have an important opportunity for members of the University community to stand for election as part of the Strategic Plan Advisory Committee. By the end of May, the first stages of our evidence gathering processes will come to a close, and we will launch our consultation process (June to November 2018).

This is YOUR Strategic Plan.

A Leading Opportunity

We are developing a Strategic Plan Advisory Committee (SPAC) to provide vital guidance and leadership to the strategic planning process. For the next 17 months, this committee will advise on each stage of the consultation, priority setting and development process, leading up to the approval of the plan in October 2019. The SPAC will be comprised of our six deans, University vice-presidents, the University secretary, a representative from the staff and faculty associations, Graduate Students’ Association and Federation of Students (FEDS), an alumni representative and four elected positions. The elected positions will include: regular faculty as defined by Policy 76, regular full-time staff as defined by Policy 54, full- or part-time graduate students, and full-time students. Read more about this opportunity here, and if you can, please consider becoming involved. The period to submit your interest in volunteering for the committee closes April 6^th. Elections for these positions will be held April 11 – 20.

Update on Our Evidence Gathering Process

Over 100 faculty, staff and student representatives are working to prepare seven issue papers as part of the evidence for the Strategic Plan to develop a common foundation of evidence to discuss these topics, and to create thought provoking questions to engage and generate discussion among the University community. The seven issue papers focus on: undergraduate learning; graduate studies; student environment; research; internationalization; empowering people, and leveraging resources.

These papers will be completed in late May, setting the stage for our consultation process.

Consultation Kick Off

Planning is underway to kick off the consultation events in early June. The kick off will serve as a springboard for engaging our community in broader consultation events and activities throughout the fall term.

Look for information in the Daily Bulletin announcing this event.

What’s Next?

We will be launching a new website, the Bridge to 2020, to help keep you informed about the strategic planning process, especially activities to engage you, our community, and gain your input. Please look for this in early May!

Finally, I appreciate all the efforts of the current strategic plan theme leads who are informing the next plan, the issue paper groups and individual community members who are engaging in and communicating about the planning of the University of Waterloo’s future.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or Daniela Seskar-Hencic, director, strategic planning and evaluation, who is facilitating the development of the next Strategic Plan.

New Policy 58 deals with Accessibility

A message from the Secretariat's Policy Renewal Project.

All organizations in Ontario employing at least one employee are required to comply with a series of requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) standards and regulations.  In order to achieve compliance with the requirements, every organization is required to develop, implement and maintain policies governing how the organization will achieve accessibility. Some of the key requirements include addressing the following topics:

• A statement of the University’s commitment to meet the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities in a timely manner;
• Information regarding the use of assistive devices by people with disabilities to access the University’s goods or services;
• Information regarding the use of service animals and support persons by people with disabilities on University property;
• The steps that will be taken in the event of a temporary disruption to services that people with disabilities use to access the goods or services of the University;
• Information regarding supports available for employees with disabilities, including the provision of job accommodations related to a disability; and
• A process to receive and respond to feedback on how goods and services are being provided to people with disabilities.

After consultations with and endorsements from the Accessibility Committee, Executive Council, Faculty Relations Committee, Graduate Student Relations Committee, Staff Relations Committee and Undergraduate Student Relations Committee, on December 21, 2017, President Feridun Hamdullahpur approved the new Policy 58 – Accessibility.

Policy 58 applies to all University employees, students, visitors, volunteers, applicants, clients and to those who provide goods, services and/or facilities on behalf of the University and sets out the University’s commitment to fostering an environment that treats persons with Disabilities (as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code) with respect, with the principles of dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity in mind. 

Any questions regarding the new Policy 58 can be addressed to Joyce Barlow, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities (AODA) Specialist (joyce.barlow@uwaterloo.ca, ext. 30520).

For more information on the Policy Renewal Project, please visit the Secretariat's website.

Tracking app is the bee's knees

This article was originally posted on the Cheriton School of Computer Science website.

Dinah Shi, John Salaveria and Luisa San Martin won first prize at the 2018 Software Engineering Capstone Design Symposium for their bumble bee tracking app. 

In close collaboration with environmental non-profit Friends of the Earth Canada to support the Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count, the team of software engineering students developed an app to help Canadians track bumble bee populations.

The Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count aims to raise awareness about the importance and conservation of Canada’s species of bumble bees. Bumble bees are crucial pollinators that are particularly effective at pollinating wildflowers, fruits and vegetables, but their populations are unfortunately declining.

Using the app the team developed, citizen scientists can record bumble bee sightings and upload relevant information such as weather, habitat type, location of sighting and so on. The bumble bee sighting data is shared with scientists who analyze the submissions to learn about migration patterns and make informed decisions about preserving bee populations in local area. The mobile app also teaches users how to get involved through interactive educational tips on ways to create a sustainable environment for bees.

The Software Engineering Capstone Design Symposium was held on Wednesday, March 14. Thirty-three teams of software engineering students presented the results from more than a year's worth of work. 

Software Engineering is a program jointly offered by the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

 Dinah Shi, John Salaveria and Luisa San Martin.

A final word as Nutrition Month draws to a close

Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace has been faithfully serving up Nutrition Month "myth vs. facts" each working day in March. Here's a word from Sandra:

"Today is my final Nutrition Month 2018 column. Thank you to those who have taken an interest and also to readers who took the time to email me. I hope you learned an interesting nutrition or food fact or that you may stop to question the source of something you hear or read about in the future. I am disappointed to share that one of the most trustworthy sources of consumer nutrition information, the EatRight Ontario service, will no longer be funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. As of today, EatRight Ontario dietitians won’t be available to respond to your questions by phone or email. The EatRight Ontario website, which I have often cited and provided links to, will remain open for now."

"The landscape of traditional mealtimes is rapidly changing; Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, led a cross-sectional Canadian survey that found meals are becoming a “lonely institution.” Canadians are increasingly foregoing home cooked meals for quicker, ready-to-eat foods or restaurant meals. Almost 40 percent of Canadians eat lunch at their desks and 42 percent said they don’t have time to cook during the week. Canadians, and women especially, are skipping more meals and the majority of us often eat alone, especially at breakfast and lunch. Food provides more than just energy and nutrients. Eating is a rich and meaningful experience that brings family and friends together to share every day conversation and celebrate special events. Food has even more power to enrich our lives when it is shared with others. Until next March, bon appétit!"

What's open and closed this long weekend; other notes

Hey Friday, what's good? Tomorrow is a statutory holiday for the University. Bunnies, Easter or otherwise, will have the run of campus as most services and operations will be closed for the long weekend. To summarize:

• Retail Services outlets will be shuttered.
• Most Food Services locations will be closed for the holiday weekend, with the exception of Mudie's, which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 1 and Monday, April 2, REVelation, which is open on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday, and the Market at UWP, open on Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 1.
• The PAC and CIF will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Note that the CIF Arena will shutter on March 30 and won't reopen until May 6 as maintenance is carried out. 
• The Dana Porter Library will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Good Friday and the Davis Centre Library will be open 24 hours, with the circulation desks at both locations staffed from noon to 6:00 p.m. The Library is also operating under extended hours for the examination period. Check the Library's locations and hours page for more details.

The Turnkey Desk in the Student Life Centre will be open for business all weekend.

As always, even on holidays, the university police (ext. 22222, or 519-888-4911), and the central plant will monitor campus buildings (24-hour service and maintenance line, ext.33793).

Beginning this weekend, the Student Life Centre's dining room will be undergoing extensive renovations and expansion as part of the ongoing PAC/SLC project. On April 1, the main level will be completely hoarded off, with access to the lower and upper levels available through the main stairwell to the lower level, the fire exit stairwells and elevators.

The food court and dining room, including Brubaker's, Subway, Campus Bubble and Wasabi, will be closed for the spring term. All cafeteria seating will be closed.

Plant Operations indicates that access to the building will be possible through the ring road, north at the Turnkey Desk, Brubaker's or the SLC/PAC link to the second floor.

In addition, construction in ongoing on the third floor of Dana Porter Library, which is only accessible by stairwell A and the elevators. The men's washroom is unavailable during construction and there will be noise disruptions - earplugs are available at the circulation desk.