The Daily Bulletin is published by Internal and Leadership Communications, part of University Communications
Contact us at bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Submission guidelines
Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Join the conversation and attend the President's Town Hall Meeting this morning in Federation Hall. The event begins at 10:30 a.m.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from the President as he speaks about the and shares his vision for the year ahead, and engage in a dialogue with the President and members of the University's senior leadership.
Submit your questions by email to townhall@uwaterloo.ca, on social media with the hashtag #uwth, on the livestream chat or live at the event.
A luncheon will follow from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
If you can't make it in person, watch the event live online.
The University community is invited to celebrate Professor Donna Strickland as she prepares to travel to Stockholm to formally receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2018.
The send-off celebration will take place on Thursday, November 29 in the Science Teaching Complex's Main Commons from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with remarks beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Dean of Science Robert Lemieux will speak and introduce President Feridun Hamdullahpur, who will then introduce Professor Strickland. Following Professor Strickland's remarks, the chair of Physics and Astronomy, Brian McNamara, will wrap things up.
There will be a special guest book for people to add their best wishes.
Light refreshments will be served.
In addition, mark your calendars for 10:30 a.m. on December 10 to join the on‑campus viewing party of the ceremony marking Professor Strickland’s outstanding achievement.
A message from the Student Information Systems (SIS) Steering Committee
In our last project update (May 2018), we noted that the focus of the multi-departmental team supporting Quest would shift from updating and enhancing the system, to completing client-facing work that would result in tangible benefits for students, faculty and staff across campus.
Over the past four months, the Quest support team has completed several improvements in support of this goal. A summary of this work, including the benefits to our campus community, are outlined below. We are proud of these accomplishments and are pleased to offer clients a more robust and reliable service that improves workflow processes and transactions, and provides students greater self-service functionality.
Initiative: Apply to graduate (graduate students)
Improvement: Provide the ability for grad students to apply to graduate within Quest.
Benefit: Self-serve, online option rather than a paper document.
Status: Complete
Initiative: Net Estimates (required change)
Improvement: Meeting governmental requirements to provide students with an estimate of financial aid with their offers.
Benefit: Provides better information to applicants about the funding they will receive allowing them to make a more informed decision.
Status: Complete
Initiative: CIBC International Payments
Improvement: Improve processes for receiving international payments into Quest.
Benefit: Funds are received and processed more quickly; eliminates manual data entry errors. During the fall term, over $8 million was received.
Status: Complete
Initiative: OSAP e-confirmation of enrolment (phase 1)
Improvement: Improve disbursement processes and receipt of OSAP payments.
Benefit: Significantly improves accuracy and reduces the time it takes to disburse OSAP payments to students.
Status: Complete
Initiative: Self-service Proof of Enrolment letters
Improvement: Improve accessibility to Proof of Enrolment forms.
Benefit: Self-service, online option for downloading form at no cost (in most instances) to students. There have been ~31,500 letters run since mid-July and ~1,000 fewer students waiting in line to complete this request at the start of term.
Status: Complete
Initiative: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) enhancements
Improvement: Copy IELTS from OnBase to Quest to enable them to be used in evaluating applicants.
Benefit: Eliminate manual data entry of IELTS results saving approximately 500 hours of coding and eliminating manual data entry errors.
Status: In functional testing phase
Initiative: Workday interfaces
Improvement: Replaces transfer of information between myHRinfo and Quest.
Benefit: Allows us to continue to process interactions between the two systems.
Status: Final testing of two remaining interfaces
Initiative: Critical patch updates
Improvement: Application and complete system testing of security updates to the underlying PeopleSoft technology.
Benefit: Supports strong security to protect student information.
Status: Primary testing complete; migration to production planned for end of Nov 2018
If you have requests or ideas you would like to share, we are happy to hear them and encourage you to speak to a member of the SIS Steering Committee:
'Tis the season: The Stuff the Warrior Van Toy Drive launches on Saturday, November 24 outside the CIF Arena for the Women's Hockey vs. Queen's Gaels game at 2:30 p.m.
A collaboration with Community Relations and Events, UW Police, the Waterloo Regional Police, UW Parking Services and the Knights of Columbus, the toy drive donates toys to children of all ages ranging from infant to 16 years old. This year the Toy Drive runs from Saturday, November 24 until Friday, December 21.
Other stops for the Warrior Van include the President's Holiday Luncheon at 12:00 p.m. outside Federation Hall.
Drop off toys at the Columbia Ice Field Equipment Desk Monday to Sunday (9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.), the Physical Activity Complex Main Office Monday to Friday (9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) and UW Police Services - Monday to Friday (9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
A delegation from the University of Waterloo was on hand in Vancouver this Monday to pick up the Canada's Top 100 Employers award at the Top Employers Summit at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.
The University of Waterloo has been named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for three years in a row. Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual ranking of businesses and organizations across the country who lead in attracting and retaining employees. The results are published in a special insert in the Globe & Mail and online.
Happy Life Day! The Star Wars Holiday Special turns 40
The Book Store Holiday Sale, Monday, November 19 to Wednesday, November 21, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., SCH Concourse.
Chemistry Seminar: Ligand Binding by the Cocaine-Binding Aptamer featuring Philip Johnson, Professor, Department of Chemistry at York University. Wednesday, November 21,10:00 a.m., C2-361 (Reading Room).
President's Town Hall Meeting, Wednesday, November 21, 10:30 a.m., Federation Hall.
Pursuing an Undergraduate Degree at Waterloo (for employees only), Wednesday, November 21, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., TC2218.
NEW - UWRC Book Club featuring Cutting for Stone by Abraham Vergehese, Wednesday, November 21, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.
Women in Engineering (WiE) Mini Hackathon, Wednesday, November 21, 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Waterloo Campus.
TD Walter Bean Lecture in Environment, “On the State of Freshwater Fish and Fisheries: Finding a Future for the Forgotten,” Wednesday, November 21, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Hagey Hall Humanities Theatre.
Velocity Start: Setup Your Business Like A Boss, “A workshop that will address legal and accounting considerations that will affect your new business,” Wednesday, November 21, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.
How to Win Grants and Influence Reviewers, Thursday, November 22, 8:30 a.m., Engineering 7 second floor event space.
LGBTQ+ Making Spaces workshop, Thursday, November 22, 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., NH 3318.
NEW - IT Seminar: Lessons Learned as Acting CIO, Friday, November 23, 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., MC 2009.
Warrior Basketball vs. Nipissing Think Pink, Residence Challenge, Warrior Tribe Zone, Friday, November 23, 6:00 p.m., PAC main gym.
Balinese Gamelan Ensemble. Balinese Gamelan Music: From the Middle Ages to Today, Friday, November 23, 7:30 p.m., Humanities Theatre, University of Waterloo.
Warrior REC Think Pink 3-ON-3 Indoor Soccer, Saturday, November 24.
NEW - Stuff the Warrior Van toy drive launch event at the Women’s Hockey vs the Queen’s Gaels, Saturday, November 24, 2:30 p.m., CIF Arena.
University Choir: Musik’s Empire, Saturday, November 24, 7:30 p.m., First United Church, 16 William St, Waterloo. $10/$5 Students & Seniors.
Warriors Women's Hockey vs. UOIT Think Pink, Minor League Day, Camp Day, Sunday, November 25, 2:30 p.m., CIF Arena.
Waterloo Store MONSTER Event, Monday, November 26 to Wednesday, November 28, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., SCH Concourse.
Staff Work-Travel Information Session, Monday, November 26, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.. ROOM EC5 1111 (Enterprise Theatre). Please register.
NEW - Invasive Plants in Southern Ontario, Monday, November 26, 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., Math and Computer Building Room 5501.
Boston Pizza Think Pink Fundraiser Night, Monday, November 26, 5:00 p.m.
Velocity Fund Finals, “20 startups compete for $130,000,” Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 11:00am, SLC Great Hall.
Workday Mini Town Hall, Tuesday, November 27, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., HH 159.
Pursuing a Graduate Degree at Waterloo (for employee only), Tuesday, November 27, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., TC2218.
Holiday Luncheon at the University Club, Wednesday, November 28, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.
Tea and Talk with Human Rights Lawyer and Peace Activist Wazhma Frogh, Wednesday, November 28, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., HH 373.
Canadian Theatre Made for Black Women (Waterloo Women's Wednesdays), featuring Naila Keleta-Mae, Wednesday, November 28, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., EV3 4412.
Keeping the human in Artificial Intelligence, featuring Doug Peers, Dean of Arts, Wednesday November 28, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Kitchener Public Library.
Miroslaw Romanowski Lecture Presented by Professor Keith Hipel, Thursday, November 29, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., DC 1304.
orchestra@uwaterloo: Telling the Story, Thursday, November 29, 7:30 p.m., Humanities Theatre. Free Admission.
Warriors Men's Hockey vs. York Think Pink, Staff and Faculty Appreciation Day, Friday, November 30, CIF arena.
NEW - Jazz @UWaterloo Concert, Sunday, December 2, 2:00 p.m., Conrad Grebel University College Great Hall (Room 1111). $10/$5 students & seniors. Reception to follow.
NEW - Instrumental Chamber Ensemble Concert, Sunday, December 2, 7:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel University College, Chapel. Free admission, reception to follow.
NEW - CBB Biomedical Discussion Group seminar, "Interpretable and Collaborative Deep Learning for Low-level Computer Vision" Monday Dec 3, 11:00 a.m., EC4-2101a. Dr. Xin Fan, Professor, Dalian University of Technology, and Dean, International School of DUT-RU Information Science & Engineering.
NEW - Research Talks: Pushing back the frontiers of knowledge with supercomputing, Wednesday, December 5, 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Math and Computer Building, Room 2017.
NEW - Strategies for Success: CIHR grant information session for spring 2019 applications, Wednesday, December 5, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., DC 1304.
NEW - Retirement party for Vera Korody and Vic DiCiccio, Wednesday, December 5, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., University Club.
On this week's list from the human resources department, viewable on the UWaterloo Talent Acquisition System (iCIMS):
Internal secondment opportunities:
The Daily Bulletin is published by Internal and Leadership Communications, part of University Communications
Contact us at bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
Submission guidelines
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.