Friday, October 5, 2018

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• Student-athletes recognized at President's Academic Honour Roll
• Executive actions at HeForShe and beyond
• TEDxUW takes the stage on October 13
• Give thanks for a long weekend - here's what's open and closed
• Student Mental Health Forum and other notes

Student-athletes recognized at President's Academic Honour Roll

This article was originally published on the Athletics and Recreation website.

On Tuesday, October 2, the Office of the President recognized the 2017-18 Warrior student-athletes who are on the academic honour roll. This award is given to student-athletes who have maintained an average of 80 percent and higher while competing for an interuniversity sport. The University of Waterloo annually enjoys one of the highest percentages of Academic All-Canadian student-athletes in the country.

This year, 230 student-athletes were honoured (up from 214 last year) for their accomplishment which makes up 38 percent of the student-athlete population at UWaterloo.

This was the highest number of student-athletes in the history of the department to have been named Academic All-Canadians. Consistently, UWaterloo student-athletes have demonstrated excellence both in the classroom and on the playing field and it is something to be very proud of. 

"Academic success is very much a priority of our department and it is very exciting and rewarding to see so many of our student-athletes achieving this high level of success in the classroom," said director of athletics and recreation Roly Webster.

"The remarkable accomplishments by these individuals has contributed to a collective achievement that recognizes the largest number of student-athletes in our history of Academic All-Canadians. This incredible accomplishment by our student-athletes shows the dedication that they put into both balancing their academics and athletics at the highest standard, here at the University of Waterloo. Every one of them should be extremely proud of their accomplishments and contributions they continue to make on our campus."

The proud student-athletes received their awards in front of their fellow teammates, influential professors, coaches, and distinguished individuals at the University of Waterloo.

Read the full List of 2017-18 Academic Honour Roll Student-Athletes.

Executive actions at HeForShe and beyond

It’s Thursday, October 4. Do you know what your president is up to?

A busy Fall term continues for President Hamdullahpur. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the President’s recent activities on and off campus and a look ahead at what's on his calendar.

The President has attended ten Strategic Plan consultation sessions over the past two weeks. These sessions covered topics that included the seven issue paper topics, entrepreneurship and began the Faculty specific sessions starting with the Faculty of Arts on October 2. The sessions have brought together a diverse group of community members sharing their thoughts and vision for what they want the University to look like in 2025.

The Balsillie School of International Affairs held its 10^th Anniversary celebration on September 14. The President joined in the celebrations to congratulate the crowd of past and present members of the Balsillie School community on all of their tremendous accomplishments.

The following week, the President attended and chaired Senate on September 17, helped kick off this year’s United Way campaign at the Leadership and Volunteer lunch event on September 18, hosted new faculty members and their families for a welcome social at the University Club on September 21, and on the same day introduced the University of Waterloo’s 11^th chancellor, Dominic Barton who spoke at the first President’s Lecture of the academic year.

President Hamdullahpur continued a busy September as he travelled to the United Nations Women HeForShe Summit in New York City on September 26. The annual HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 champions parity report was released for which the President is a champion. The President met with fellow HeForShe champions in the post-secondary education sector, business leaders and heads of state at the Summit to share success stories and lessons on how we can achieve gender equity.

The following day the President travelled to Washington, D.C. for the Association of Research Libraries Fall Forum to be part of a panel discussion on “Why We Need to be Innovative” with fellow university leaders from Georgia Tech, Georgetown University and Vanderbilt University. It was a wide-ranging discussion with hundreds of librarians from top institutions across North America in attendance.

On October 2, the President, like so many in the University of Waterloo community, across Canada and around the world awoke to the news that Dr. Donna Strickland was named a winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. The President sat down with Donna to congratulate her before joining the new Nobel Prize winner for a global press conference with media, faculty colleagues, staff and a large number of students. It was a momentous day for Professor Strickland, the University of Waterloo, the scientific community and all of Canada.

And, on October 3, President Hamdullahpur congratulated and thanked those who have distinguished themselves in teaching at the Teaching Excellence Celebration.

What’s next?

As the Strategic Plan consultation process continues the President will also be taking part in a number of on-campus and off-campus events and meetings, including Faculty specific sessions with Applied Health Sciences, Environment and Science.

In the coming days President Hamdullahpur will be participating in a special fireside chat event on Tuesday, October 9 with RBC Capital Markets Mosaic Canada (RBCCM) as he and Jonathan Hunter, Global Head, Fixed Income & Currencies at RBCCM discuss how education needs to evolve to meet the demands of a rapidly changing work environment.

On Wednesday, October 10 the President kicks off Keeping Well @Work Day aimed at building and supporting a healthy workplace at the University of Waterloo.

Later that day the President will deliver opening remarks at the STEM Shift Panel that is part of the inaugural BridgingTheGap to Her forum in Kitchener. The event is dedicated to bringing visibility to emerging female founders and young women in business, bridge opportunity gaps and foster inclusive innovation.

TEDxUW takes the stage on October 13

TEDxUW, the annual student-led official Waterloo TEDx experience, is set to take place on Saturday, October 13 at the Humanities Theatre in Hagey Hall.

This year’s theme is MAKING WAVES. 

Speakers include:

• Tina Chan of PASS Kit;
• Ben Thompson of the School of Optometry and Vision Science;
• Harleen Kaur from Velocity startup Ground;
• Meghan Muldoon, AHS alumnus; and
• student Dillon Mendes.

The full list of speakers is available online.

Register to attend the event. Tickets are $60.

Registration and breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m.

Give thanks for a long weekend - here's what's open and closed

The Thanksgiving long weekend is upon us. Monday is a statutory holiday, which means most University services and operations (and buildings) will be closed.

Students will have an even longer break from campus, as the third in a three-year Fall Break pilot takes place next Tuesday and Wednesday. Students will return on Thursday, October 11, which will follow a Tuesday schedule (and yes, Friday will be a Wednesday. Don't ask.).

The Physical Activities Complex and the Columbia Icefield will be open Saturday, October 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and closed Sunday and Monday.

All Retail Services stores and Media.doc locations will be closed on Saturday and holiday Monday.

Most Food Services operations will be closed on holiday Monday, with the exception of Mudies, which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. from October 6 to 8, and the Market at UWP, which is open from October 6 to 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

A number of Food Services operations will extend their closure to cover the Fall Break Study Days on Tuesday, October 10 and Wednesday, October 11. Check the Food Services website for a complete list.

As always, the University police (519-888-4911 or ext. 22222) will be at work, the Student Life Centre (519–888-4434) will be open, and the central plant will monitor campus buildings (for maintenance emergencies call extension 33793). The campus should be back to normal operations by Thursday morning. Enjoy your long weekend (and if you are a student, enjoy your fall break)!The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries will be open normal hours on Saturday and Sunday, and from noon to 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

Student Mental Health Forum and other notes

The Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH) will be delivering a progress report on the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH) recommendations at a Student Mental Health Forum on Wednesday, October 24 at 2:00 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

Attendees at the forum will have the opportunity to hear about actions already taken towards implementation, and the committee’s next steps over the next two years. At an open house style session following the forum, CoSMH representatives will be available to share more about mental health initiatives currently underway across campus.

The University community is invited to come engage with CoSMH representatives and bring their questions and feedback.

The doors open at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24 at the Humanities Theatre, with the discussion getting underway at 2:00 p.m. The open house begins at 3:00 p.m. in the nearby Don Craig Atrium.

Please register to attend the student mental health forum.

Need an energy boost? Get one with UW Fitness, who is offering Waterloo staff 50 percent off fitness classes conveniently located on campus.

Specialized fitness classes include:

• Indoor Group Cycling (an end of day class so you don’t have to go back to the office sweaty)
• Cardio Kickstart 
• Level II Core Training
• Learn Effective Resistance Tubing Workouts
• Learn TRX Suspension Training

Classes start the week of October 22, just in time for Thrive Week. 

Visit the UW Fitness website for more information and to register for a class. 

The Registrar's Office has released the Fall 2018 final examination schedule, which is now available on the Registrar's Office website.