Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Water Institute Director makes waves at UN forum

This article originally appeared on the Water Institute's news site.

Executive Director of the Water Institute Roy Brouwer, professor in Waterloo’s Department of Economics, was invited to be a part of a panel discussion during the 2018 session of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York City on July 13.

The HLPF is the central UN platform overseeing the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since those were adopted by the Heads of State and Governments of all UN Member States in September 2015. This year’s theme was “transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies.”

The two-week-long session featured thematic reviews and panel discussions from July 9-13, aimed at sharing best practices, providing proposals for innovative tools to trigger further progress and exchanging concerns and challenges related to key aspects of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

During the day, the Forum held two reviews on the implementation of SDG 15 and SDG 17 — strengthening the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Brouwer participated in the review by discussing his research about the use of payments for watershed services as a way to achieving SDG 15 and how such a policy instrument can change human behaviour and land use.

“Payments for watershed services involve downstream water users compensating upstream landowners as a way to encourage sustainable upstream land and forest management. Creating such a market-based system requires a willingness among downstream water users to pay, as well as a willingness of upstream landowners to accept payment,” said Brouwer, adding that there is little data about the impact of current payment‑for‑ecosystem services schemes.

During the discussion, more than 50 speakers took the floor to set out the various ways their Governments and organizations are striving to protect and improve biodiversity.

Risky business: FARM program gets accreditation

This article originally appeared on the Faculty of Mathematics news site.

The Faculty of Mathematics is pleased to announce that the Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) has just granted the University of Waterloo’s Financial Analysis and Risk Management (FARM) Program (Risk Management Specialization) University Risk Accreditation Program status.

With this accreditation status, the FARM Program (Risk Management Specialization) joins an impressive list of risk management programs taught at leading universities in North America, Europe and throughout the world. In Canada, only the Université Laval has been previously accredited, though the FARM program is the first accredited Bachelor’s degree program in North America.

“We are pleased to offer the first bachelor’s degree program in North America to gain the official PRM accreditation,” said Stephen M. Watt, the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. “This is a significant opportunity for our students, recognizing that their academic accomplishments at Waterloo gives a head start to a PRM qualification.”

The PRMIA Risk Accreditation Program offers FARM students both long-term and immediate advantages. First, the accredited degree programs have a high degree of commonality with the Professional Risk Manager (PRM™) Designation. This also assures students that the program is appropriately rigorous, taught by high quality faculty, and recognized by potential employers.

Secondly, upon completion of their Bachelor of Mathematics degree, FARM program students are eligible for exemptions for PRM Exams I and II. All students must pass Exams III and IV in the PRM program, and meet all other PRM Designation requirements (experience and membership).

“This welcome news further reinforces the FARM program’s reputation as a leading degree program in financial analysis and risk management among best universities in North America and beyond,” added Ilham Akhundov, Director of Mathematics, Accounting and Business Programs.

The FARM program provides students with the opportunity to earn a degree combining courses in math, statistics, and computer science with corporate finance, asset pricing, economics, and other business-related courses. FARM students gain a thorough grounding in financial analysis or risk management – ideal for preparation for the Professional Risk Management (PRM) Designation or the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

In the past few months, FARM program went through a rigorous application process to join achieve PRMIA Risk Accreditation Program status. This is the second recognition for the FARM program. In August 2016, the FARM Program (Financial Management Specialization) was recognized by the CFA Institute University Recognition Program.  

Congratulations to faculty and staff, but above all to current and prospective students of the Faculty of Mathematics, for this impressive achievement.

UW Police want your backpacks for charity; other notes

The University of Waterloo Police Service (UWPS), in support of Regional Family & Children Services, are collecting new backpacks and other school supplies as our potential future students prepare to attend local schools.

Any donations will be greatly appreciated and can be dropped off at the UWPS office in the Commissary Building at any time. Donations of new backpacks and lunch bags can be made until August 14. FACS is also collecting $25 gift cards so that families can do some back to school shopping for shoes, clothing and other school supplies.

This is just a reminder that Human Resources will be hosting a Pop-up HR session in East Campus on Wednesday, August 1. Drop by the HR booth in the in the outdoor quad between EC1 and EC5 tomorrow anytime between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. HR representatives will be available to answer any HR-related questions, including questions about pay, benefits, pension, leaves, career development, manager support and more.