Tuesday, June 5, 2018

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• Engineering students' playground is kid-approved
• GSPA, IST partner on enrolment management project
• Applications open for gender equity research grants
• Board of Governors meets; other notes

Engineering students' playground is kid-approved

Pupils at Keatsway Public School in Waterloo try out the new playground structure designed by first-year Waterloo Engineering students.

By Brian Caldwell.

A real-world project got a lot more real – and rewarding – when civil engineering students from the University of Waterloo returned to an elementary school for the recent grand opening of a new playground structure.

The engineering students were part of a novel, competitive process to design the $75,000 structure last year after twice meeting with pupils at Keatsway Public School in Waterloo to listen to their ideas and feedback.

Its ultimate success was obvious to Adam Rywak, Rodrigo Santalla and Daniel Qi when excited kids streamed by them to try out the two-part, jungle-themed structure after a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

“It looks like our clients are 100-per-cent satisfied with the product we created for them,” said Rywak, one of about 140 students in a first-year mechanics class who took part in the project.

“It actually feels like we did something meaningful for the local community,” added Qi.

The importance of consulting customers was one of the key lessons that lecturer Rania Al-Hammoud hoped her students would take away from the project.

Worth 15 per cent of final marks in the class, the assignment included a pitch to pupils at an assembly and a vote on the top three designs by the school community at a fun fair a year ago.

“It worked,” Al-Hammoud said of the almost 18-month process. “We did something and we have an outcome which is beneficial for everybody.”

Penny Miller, the principal at Keatsway, was just as pleased with the end result and the consultation with her pupils along the way.

“I think that’s why they’re so invested in it,” she said. “They really feel this is their playground because they helped to make it happen.”

The playground opening was part of an event featuring entertainment, displays, games and food trucks to celebrate the school’s 40^th anniversary.

While swarms of kids showed their approval of the completed structure by climbing, swinging and sliding on it, a few also stopped playing long enough to put it into words.

“Very fun,” said Caitlin Mooring, 8. “I like the height of it and how big it is.”

After word of the Keatsway effort spread, a second playground project – this time involving first-year environmental and geological engineering students – is now nearing completion at Vista Hills Public School in Waterloo.

GSPA, IST partner on enrolment management project

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs and Information Systems Technology have begun work on a new project to support graduate enrolment management at the University of Waterloo.

The specific goals of the initiative are to:

• Define and develop a holistic view of the graduate recruitment, application and admissions process in support of the specific applications requirements.
• Identify needs related to reporting and integrations for other systems and business processes.
• Identify business process improvements.

Broad engagement with campus partners will be required to achieve these goals and the project team will be reaching out in the next 6 to 8 weeks to various campus stakeholders for input. 

A robust graduate application process supports the University of Waterloo’s strategic direction for graduate enrolment management; it will facilitate greater integration and control of the recruitment, application and admissions processes.

A follow-up project will identify potential solutions and include activity for implementing such a system based on the requirements identified.

Regular and ongoing updates will be provided on the Daily Bulletin. Please direct inquiries to Jeff Casello, Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.

Applications open for gender equity research grants

The application deadline for the Gender Equity Research Grants is Friday, June 15.

The grants were established in 2016 as part of the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative. Previous winning proposals include understandings of gender in global food governance, assessing gender equity in co-operative education, and salary trends in Canadian academia.

Individual grants of up to $10,000 will be funded to support research that investigates and addresses gender equity with preference given to projects that advance Waterloo’s three IMPACT 10x10x10 commitments or of demonstrated relevance to the University. 

For more information on eligibility and to review the guidelines, visit the Gender Equity Research Grants website.

Board of Governors meets; other notes

The University's Board of Governors meets today at 1:30 p.m. in NH 3407. Among the agenda items:

• A motion to approve a name change from “Department of Drama and Speech Communication” to “Department of Communication Arts,” effective September 1, 2018;
• A motion to approve the following changes: that the name of the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre be changed to the "Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business" within the Faculty of Engineering, and that it be granted formal status as an academic unit.

Both of these motions passed at the most recent Senate meeting, but require Board approval to become official.

• A motion to increase the compulsory Federation of Students fee, assessed and collected from all full-time on-campus undergraduate students, be increased from $57.76 to $60.64 per term effective September 2018 (fall term). Part-time on-campus undergraduate students are assessed 30 percent of the full-time fee or $18.19 per term;
• Approval of two reports from the Institute of Quantum Computing: one that needs to be submitted to the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and the other that represents IQC's 2018-2019 corporate plan;
• A motion to approve the terms and conditions of the compensation agreement with University staff as previously outlined;
• A motion to approve Fiera Capital as a global equity investment manager for the University’s endowment fund;
• A motion to endorse the report outlining the prospective Pension Investment Committee, including the terms of reference, and direct amendments as are necessary to put the Pension Investment Committee into effect for the October 30 Board meeting; and
• A motion to endorse the recommendations of the report of the Responsible Investing Working Group, and further that the Board of Governors direct that such actions as outlined in the report be prepared and brought forward to the Board of Governors on the timelines described.

There are still spaces available in a few of Organizational & Human Development’s workshops in the coming weeks!

• Personality Dimensions® (OHD601) is a self-assessment tool that has you discover your individual preferences, styles and temperaments, while learning to recognize and appreciate the preferences of others. This “PD” workshop takes place on June 14 from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Building on the Six Fundamental Values of Integrity, Integrity Matters (OHD120) explores what actions and avoidances demonstrate these values in our ‘work, study and play.’ Knowing that integrity is personal, and requires personal choice, learn how it influences your everyday interactions and decision making. OHD120 takes June 28, 8:45 am – 12:15 pm.  

If you are interested in taking these courses, please register through MyHRinfo. Questions about registration can be directed to ohd@uwaterloo.ca.

Human Resources has reported that retiree Janice Foster died on May 7. Foster started at the University in August 1973 and retired in April 2009 as Systems Support Specialist in IST.