Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Workday Update: Waterloo's new HR system is coming

A message from Kenton Needham, Executive Director, Human Resources.

Replacing myHRinfo, Workday will provide University of Waterloo staff and faculty with a user-friendly Human Resources (HR) system that minimizes paper process and gives employees easy access to their pay, benefits and personal HR information. Workday is going live campus-wide in January 2019.

What’s changing?

Employees will be able to update their personal information, add multiple bank accounts, submit vacation requests (staff only), and much more. With Workday, you'll have more visibility into requests as they travel along the approval path. 

Managers will be able to review and approve staff vacation requests, hire casual employees, and delegate tasks in Workday. Workday will reduce the amount of paper forms and standardize processes across campus.

To see more improvements, check out the What's changing? page on the Workday website.

Workday Information Sessions & Training

Training is planned to begin in November and training resources will be soon be available on the Workday website. The Workday Project Team is offering information sessions every Wednesday in October. These sessions will focus on the employee self-service functionality available within Workday.

If you’d like to attend a Workday Wednesday, please register for one of the following sessions:

• October 3, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; 
• October 10, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.;
• October 17, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.;                                         
• October 24, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; and
• October 31, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, see what Waterloo employees are saying about Workday in the video below.

Go fix the hard stuff, alumnus tells Hack the North audience

by Carol Truemner. This article originally appeared on Waterloo Stories.

Students who competed in last weekend’s Hack the North received a piece of sage advice from University of Waterloo alumnus Chamath Palihapitiya: go fix the hard stuff.  

“If you have a parent who is suffering from cancer and you can commit your life to doing something [about the disease], not only will you honour that person in the best way possible, you will probably impact thousands of lives positively,” said Palihapitiya, CEO and founder of Social Capital, a firm that specializes in technology startups, providing seed funding, venture capital and private equity. 

The electrical engineering graduate, who was an original member of Facebook’s senior management team, was the keynote speaker at the fifth annual event that challenges students from over 20 countries to collaborate on technology ideas and solutions.  Hack the North, the largest hackathon held in Canada, is organized by Techyon, a student-run non-profit organization, in partnership with Waterloo Engineering.  

Palihapitiya told the over 1,000 Hack the North participants that making mistakes is an important part of being successful.  

“Go prove to yourselves that you can start something and finish it and not be afraid of being judged or failure,” he added.  “It matters that you take away that thread: I started, I created a plan, I broke it down into small bits, I finished it, I’m proud of it and I don’t care how people judge it.” 

Following Palihapitiya’s inspirational address, Hack the North participants hunkered down to design apps that do everything from decreasing food waste to matching up strangers who think alike. 

At the end of the event on Sunday, industry experts awarded prizes for top designs to 12 teams including In Vein, comprised of three second-year Waterloo software engineering students. Ayush Kapur, Edwin Zhang and Ibrahim Irfan developed a palm-vein personal identification system they feel is more accurate and secure than other types of scanning such as fingerprint and voice recognition. 

It was the second Hack the North win in two years for Kapur and Zhang who won last year for their interactive, personal assistant robot. 

After staying awake for over 36 hours, Kapur doesn’t know if he’ll participate again next year. 

“I think we’ll retire for now,” said Kapur, adding with a laugh. “But maybe that’s just because I’m a little bit sleep deprived.”

Trainspotting: ION on campus today

An ION train will be parked at the University of Waterloo station today from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. as part of the Campus Life Fair.

This is an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to board and tour the vehicle, ask questions, and receive information on service and safety. Visit ION Safety to learn more about safety signs and signals.

The Campus Life Fair is hosted by the Federation of Students and takes place in the Student Life Centre and is an opportunity for students to connect with campus partners and learn about the various opportunities available to get some experience in areas that interest them.

15th annual Pow Wow takes place this weekend

The 15^th annual St. Paul's Pow Wow will be taking place on Saturday, September 22 in Waterloo Park.

Every year in the fall, the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre hosts a  Pow Wow, a coming together of the first peoples to celebrate and honour their traditional teachings.

The event celebrates drumming, dancing and other elements of Indigenous culture, and the event organizers are inviting members of the community to join them.

Craft and food vendors are on site, and we often have different stations where visitors can go to learn about different aspects of Indigenous culture.

The event will be held at Waterloo Park near the bandshell. The grand entry at noon and the closing ceremony at 5:00 p.m.

Supporters prepare for United Way launch; other notes

President Feridun Hamdullahpur speaks with United Way campaign co-chair Kim Gingerich and campaign coordinator Landon Jennings at the United Way Kickoff lunch event.

United Way champions from across campus gathered for lunch, networking and to learn about the campaign's 2018 events and goals. This year, campaign supporters, from volunteers and Friend+ level donors to senior campus leaders came together at one event.

Attendees heard from President Feridun Hamdullahpur, Joan Fisk, CEO of United Way Waterloo Region Communities and Landon Jennings, Campaign Coordinator for the University’s United Way campaign. They explained why Waterloo's investment in the community is important to the University and highlighted the key areas of impact that supporters' investments are targeted towards.

Event attendees also participated in a networking session to share ideas about generating campaign support within their department, learning where donations are being spent within the community, and tips for planning and executing events. They also shared why they support the United Way and how they plan on helping the University meet its 2018 campaign goal.

Watch the skies: To break up the intense 36-hour hacking marathon at Hack the North, there were workshops, snack and team building breaks as well as a special visit from a CH-146 Griffon helicopter. Members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command demonstrated their landing techniques as they fast-roped from a hovering helicopter in a University parking lot on Saturday morning.

Today is UWaterloo Jacket Day at the Waterloo Store in South Campus Hall from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for students of all faculties to show their Waterloo pride, while saving $60 off the regular price of a custom leather jacket. Mens and ladies sizing available as well as faux leather options. For more information check out the Waterloo Store's website.