Wednesday, June 6, 2018

University adds ESG factors to investment decision processes

The University of Waterloo will add environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision processes for endowment, trust and pension funds.

The University’s Board of Governors voted in favour of accepting all recommendations in a report from the Responsible Investment Working Group (RIWG) on June 5, 2018.

The RIWG report includes six recommendations to:

• formally adopt ESG factors as a valid and important lens to be integrated into investment decision-making processes;
• adopt the guiding principles and the guidelines for the application of ESG principles contained in the report;
• make amendments to the Pension SIPP and to the Investment Guidelines for endowment and trust funds, to reflect the adoption of ESG factors in the investment decision-making process;
• prepare for the University to become a signatory in good standing to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment;
• explore and evaluate potential social impact investments with the aim to launch a pilot investment in this space in one year’s time;
• annually review progress on the implementation of these recommendations

“Sustainability is one of my priorities for this institution. The Board’s decision to add an environmental, social and governance lens to  our investment approach complements the University’s commitment to support social and environmental scholarship and research,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor at Waterloo. “The recommendations will allow us to adopt a broader, more balanced approach to investments in the near term and will guide comprehensive and progressive actions for years to come.”

The Board of Governors established the RIWG in June 2016 to recommend whether and how to incorporate ESG factors into decision making for the investment of the University's endowment and pension funds. Since then, the group has spent considerable time reviewing legislation, learning from other institution’s experiences, meeting with a wide variety of stakeholders and considering a range of perspectives.

“Adopting these recommendations is a significant positive step in updating the University’s investment policies and strikes the right balance for moving forward,” said Dennis Huber, vice-president, administration and finance. “I applaud the group’s thoughtful consideration of many divergent views from stakeholders, a broad array of legal, regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities as well as pragmatic operational considerations.”

Waterloo PhD candidate a 3MT national favourite

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) announced yesterday that University of Waterloo’s Gregory Lui is the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition People’s Choice award winner, as well as the second place winner overall in this year’s national 3MT.

Lui is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research involves the synthesis of nanomaterials that can be used in multi-functional, photo electrochemical systems, including photocatalytic wastewater treatment, energy production in photo electrochemical cells, and photo-assisted energy storage.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at the University of Waterloo is the largest in Canada. The competition cultivates University of Waterloo graduate students’ presentation and communication skills, and provides them with invaluable networking opportunities. Winners also have the potential to win thousands of dollars in prizes.

To learn more about Greg’s research, watch his winning video.

An expanded role for pharmacists a campaign issue, say students

Ontario’s provincial election is tomorrow and University of Waterloo pharmacy students have a message for politicians: pharmacists can help reduce wait times in the province’s hospitals and emergency rooms.

First year pharmacy student George Daskalakis and his peers want Ontario’s politicians to consider expanding pharmacist’s scope of practice so that pharmacists can perform additional duties and take some strain off crowded physician offices and hospitals. The students are encouraging members of the public to support the Ontario Pharmacist Association’s campaign Pharmacists Care. 

The campaign provides email letters that members of the public can send to several politicians: their local Member of Provincial Parliament, the Minister of Health and Long Term Care, the Premier of Ontario, and the current candidates in the provincial election. The letters address four areas where pharmacists can play an increased role in patient health: minor ailments, vaccines, point-of-care testing, and medicinal cannabis.

“We’ve encouraged every student at Waterloo Pharmacy and at the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy to send letters themselves and to convince three other people outside of school to do so,” said Daskalakis. “And now we’re aiming beyond that – we want people across Ontario to send letters and help us push for this change.” The students created a video about the campaign to help with these efforts.

Louis Wei and George Daskalakis.

In provinces like Alberta and New Brunswick, pharmacists can prescribe medications for minor ailments like athlete’s foot, poison ivy, urinary tract infections, and more: this is the service Daskalakis and his peers would like to see in Ontario. Pharmacists have a minimum of six to eight years of post-secondary education and are medication therapy experts, well-suited to providing consultations for minor conditions like these.

With over 15,000 views on Facebook, the student’s video message is gaining a lot of attention in the pharmacy community. It has been shared and supported by the Ontario Pharmacists Association, the Canadian Pharmacists Association, and Pharmacy Practice Plus, a widely read pharmacy publication. The video has even been incorporated into the Pharmacists Care website itself.

“Elections don’t come very often,” says Daskalakis. “We need to get the message out to the public and our politicians. It’s important to share this video on Facebook so that Ontarians are aware that pharmacists can do more for their health care.”

Former Warrior qualifies for 2018 U.S. Open

This is a version of an article that originally appeared on the Athletics and Recreation website.

Not often does one individual get to experience both stepping on an NHL surface and teeing it up at the U.S. Open but for Garrett Rank it comes as no surprise he will do both. NHL Referee and former student-athlete of the Warriors golf and hockey teams Rank showed he's got ice in his veins, qualifying for the 2018 U.S. Open.

Rank shot two-under at the 36-hole sectional qualifier yesterday at Ansley Golf Club's Settindown Creek Course near Roswell, Ga. to tie for first and earn one of three spots available at the event.

The Georgia tournament was one of 12 regional qualifiers on Monday. Another current Warrior was also competing in a sectional qualifier on Monday as Tyson Turchanski made his way around the course at the Brookside Golf and Country Club in Ohio.

"Garrett has an inspiring story, and continues to be a proud ambassador for the Warriors," said director of athletics and recreation, Roly Webster. "We congratulate Garrett on this latest accomplishment and we will be cheering him on as he competes on golf's biggest stage."

Read the rest of the article on the Athletics and Recreation website.

Camp Day and other notes

Food Services’ five Tim Hortons locations are participating in Camp Day this year with 100 percent of the proceeds from all coffee purchases to help kids from low income homes go to camp.

Over 20 notable campus leaders are participating in Camp Day this year by greeting guests, pouring coffee and encouraging donations to the cause, including:

• Director of Police Services Alan Binns will be happy to serve customers at the Davis Centre location at 10:00 a.m.; 
• UW Food Services Executive Chef, Gord Cooledge, who will be tying on a different apron for the cause at the South Campus Hall location at 11:30 a.m.;
• Associate Provost, Students Chris Read will be handing over sandwiches to staff and students at our Student Life Centre location over a busy lunch at 12:30 p.m. and will be joined by Vice-President Advancement Joanne Shoveller at 1:00 p.m.
• Waterloo Warriors coaches Craig Nickle and Justin Gunter will join the team in the Davis Centre with Dean of Mathematics Stephen Watt.

"We have a great line up of campus leaders participating and would appreciate any extra help you could give to make this day a success!" says a note from Food Services.

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs is inviting members of the University to register to join them for GRADtalks: Drinking Water on Thursday, June 7. GRADtalks is a speaker series where doctoral students explore one research theme from interdisciplinary perspectives. The event begins with a wine and cheese from 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., and the lecture takes place from 4:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., including a question and answer session.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include Lyft, Facebook , Cisco Meraki, League, Embark Trucks Inc and Morgan Stanley. Visit the Employer Information Calendar for more details.