Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Zero Waste Week returns to campus next week

From October 15 to 19, check out the events happening around campus as part of Zero Waste Week. The Sustainability Office and Plant Operations have organized several activities to raise the visibility of waste management and encourage proper sorting of waste and recycling on campus: 

1. Take the Zero Waste Challenge: Can you fit all your garbage for the next week into a single 500mL mason jar? Stop by the Sustainability Office (EV1-301), or visit one of our booths across campus to pick up your jar and take the challenge! Jars are first-come, first-served.
2. Visit the Sort-A-Thon: Stop by one of our booths across campus from October 15 to 19 to see how many common items you can sort correctly in 30 seconds or less. You can also pick up your mason jar!
3. Take the online quiz: Think you have waste sorting smarts? Only 20% of respondents can get an 80% grade or higher on this quiz of common sorting mistakes on campus and at home.
4. Attend the open lecture: On October 15, learn about some big picture issues and take away some simple strategies to reduce your material footprint from Mat Thijssen, Sustainability Manager.
5. Visit Waste Mountain: How much waste do we actually produce on campus? Visit the Davis Centre Quad to see how much waste is generated during one week!

All of the challenges have prizes available for participating. For more information, visit the Zero Waste Week webpage and help us promote on social media using the hashtags #ZeroWasteUW and #WasteWeekUW if you can.

Employee career development programming for Fall 2018

by Sue Fraser.

Every year, the Centre for Career Action (CCA) provides thousands of students and alumni with career development support through various workshops, one-on-one advising sessions, drop-in consultations and other support resources. If you work in a student-facing role, you may have even directed a student to some of CCA’s many services. What you might not know is that CCA offers a rich program of support and career development resources for staff, faculty, CUPE members who have permanent position or are in temporary contract of one year or longer.

These workshops and events are designed for those who are more established in their careers and their personal lives, and may be looking for support to further develop career skills for advancement and an opportunity to explore meaningful career tracks.

Here’s a spotlight on some of the programming this fall:

Employee Career Advising Pop-ups

This fall, I’ll be trying out something new and coming to you! Throughout the term, I’ll be holding a number of “pop-up” career advising events for faculty, staff, and CUPE members.

These pop-ups are great for employees who don’t have time to make an appointment, or aren’t quite sure if career advising is right for them. Stop by to ask me questions about the employee career advising service and to explore how the CCA can work with you on your career development and growth.

I’ll be popping-up in:

Be sure to follow CCA’s and the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA)’s Twitter accounts for just-in-time reminders on the days of these pop-ups.

Talking Careers with Your Kids – November 14, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Before I came into this role, I was a counsellor for Campus Wellness. Many students came to me with worries about their program and what they wanted to do with their degree. This workshop is designed to begin those conversations with your kids, whether they’re in JK or Kindergarten, elementary school or teenagers.

Gain helpful tips for having meaningful career conversations with your children and inspire them to explore who they are and what they can become.

More Employee Career Workshops:

• Assessing Your Skills – October 1, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.;
• Interviews: Preparing for Questions – October 17, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.;
• Discover Your Career Values – October 30, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.;
• Pursuing an Undergraduate Degree at Waterloo – November 21, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.; and
• Pursuing a Graduate Degree at Waterloo – November 27, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Review the CCA’s event calendar for even more employee career workshops and events.

The Employee Career Advising services are free and are available to all full-time and part-time staff, faculty, CUPE members and contract staff who have a contract of at least one year.  One-on-one sessions are always confidential.

Tomorrow's Research Talks explores innovative approaches to healthcare

Did you know that human error in hospitals is the third leading cause of death in the United States? And that Lab-on-a-Chip technology is transforming disease diagnosis? Or that DNA ministrings are surpassing traditional gene cell therapies?

These topics along with advancements in diagnosis and treatment that are revolutionizing healthcare will be discussed at tomorrow’s Research Talks. Please register to attend this panel presentation featuring:

• Catherine Burns (Systems Design Engineering): Untapped potential: The human factor in health
• Juewen Liu (Chemistry): DNA-based molecular recognition from environmental monitoring to biomedical diagnosis
• Carolyn Ren (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering): Micro-fluidic-based Lab-on-a-Chip platform technology for life science research and drug testing
• Roderick Slavcev (School of Pharmacy): Transforming genetic medicine

Light refreshments will be provided but feel free to bring your lunch. Research Talks is a regular series hosted by the Office of Research and supported by the Research Support Fund to provide Waterloo staff, faculty, and students with an opportunity to learn about world-class research at Waterloo.

Keeping Well at Work Day and other notes

The second annual Keeping Well at Work Day is taking place today. Sponsored by the Staff Excellence Fund and jointly organized by the University of Waterloo Staff Association and the University’s Healthy Workplace Committee, Keeping Well at Work Day is a full day of wellness programs and activities for employees across campus.

Keynote speakers include CTV's Dr. Marla Shapiro and Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod of Body Break fame. Drop-in Health and Wellness booths will be set up between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the Science Teaching Complex's Lower Hall, and afternoon workshops and classes are also scheduled.

This week the University of Waterloo will welcome high school guidance counsellors to campus for the annual Guidance Counsellor Breakfast, organized by Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment. Speakers include Registrar Cathy Newell Kelly; André Jardin, Associate Registrar of Admissions; and keynote speaker Diana Parry, Vice-President of Human Rights, Equality and Inclusion.

The event takes place this morning at Federation Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Attendees will receive admissions updates, information about our equality and inclusion initiatives, and a tour of campus. "Our belief is that the more knowledgeable counsellors are, the more they’ll be able to help their students make the best post-secondary choice," says a note from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment.

The Balsillie School of International Affairs, in partnership with Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, is hosting the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for a conversation with Dr. Anna Esselment, chair of political science at the University of Waterloo, about citizenship in the face of populism: reflecting on the meaning of being Canadian and finding strength in diversity. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Alison Mountz, director of the International Migration Research Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University. A short question and answer period with the audience will follow.

The event takes place on Thursday, October 11 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the CIGI Auditorium in Uptown Waterloo. Please arrive by 7:15 p.m. Register online.

The Department of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the department of Italian Studies, is organizing a course trip to Italy in February 2019. To participate, Winter 2019 students will have to register in either FINE 293/393 – Fine Arts Abroad, or ITALST 394 – Italian Studies in Italy. Course co-ordinators are Professor Joan Coutu and Professor Gabriel Niccoli. There are still spaces available - contact Joan Coutu for information.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include Axon, Karat, Invictus RG Pte Ltd, eSentire, Redfin, Splunk, Cisco Meraki, Cisco Systems, Snowflake Computing, Aviva Canada, Tableau Software, Scotiabank, Statistics Canada, Stripe, Rangle.io, and PwC China. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.