Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Convocation begins with Applied Health Sciences

The Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Convocation ceremony takes place at 10:00 a.m. today. 452 undergraduates, 61 Master's, and 10 PhD students will cross the stage. Follow along with the livestream.

Bearing the mace will be Professor Emeritus Mark E. Havitz of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. Julie-Anne Desrochers will sing the national anthem.

Toby Jenkins will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa and will address Convocation. Jenkins has contributed her leadership and expertise to initiatives in many domains, including health care, banking, government and real estate development. Over her wide-ranging career, she has made contributions at the regional, provincial, and national levels. Ms. Jenkins received her first degree at the University of Waterloo, graduating with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies, majoring in Urban Planning, with a minor in Economics. She also completed an M.B.A at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

David Uponi will deliver the Valedictory Address.

Professor David Hammond will receive the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision. Hammond, a Professor in the School of Public Health & Health Systems, exemplifies the qualities and criteria of the prestigious University of Waterloo Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision. In just 12 years, Hammond has supervised approximately 30 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Students and colleagues who supported Professor Hammond’s nomination for this award, described Dave’s mentorship as a combination of inspiration, support and collegiality. He is praised for his commitment to students and the advancement of their learning, success and careers. They value his ongoing mentorship long after graduation.

Hammond’s research contributions have been recognized by numerous awards and distinctions; he currently holds an Applied Chair in Public Health through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Many of his more-than-250 journal publications include graduate students and trainees as authors. Students whom Dave has supervised go on to make notable contributions in academia and public health leadership, a legacy to his outstanding mentorship.

Tasha Chun Lien McFarland will be the first student to receive the President’s Award of Excellence.

Mathuiri Sithganesan will receive the Alumni Gold Medal.

Celia Violet Laur will be named University Finalist for the Governor General's Gold Medal.

Faculty of Environment students convocate this afternoon

At 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, 511 undergraduate, 88 Master's and 13 PhD students will cross the stage to receive their Faculty of Environment degrees. Watch the livestream.

Bearing the mace will be Professor Mark Seasons of the School of Planning. Birgit Moscinski will sing "O Canada." 

Ed Jernigan will be presented with the title of Honorary Member of the University. Jernigan joined the young Department of Systems Design Engineering in 1976 from MIT. In his four decades at the University, he was a mentor, friend, and inspiration to students and colleagues alike. An award-winning teacher, his passion is legendary for giving students tools to know the world, and skills to change the world. He exercised this passion in his roles as Chair of Systems Design Engineering, the Director of Shad Waterloo and Waterloo Unlimited enrichment programs, and in the Department of Knowledge Integration, which he founded in 2008.

Professor Elsworth LeDrew will be named Distinguished Professor Emeritus.  LeDrew spent 41 years as a professor at the University of Waterloo. He earned his doctorate from the University of Colorado. As a scholar of Arctic climate change, coral reef responses to climate, and Arctic data stewardship, his most profound contributions have been his research into Arctic sea ice variability and Arctic science data stewardship. He was the founding Editor in Chief of the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, was elected fellow of the IEEE and the Canadian Remote Sensing Society, and was the recipient of the Gold Medal by the Canadian Remote Sensing Society, the highest honour of the Canadian remote sensing community. He has served as Associate Dean and interim Dean of the Faculty of Environment.

Susan M.W. Cartwright will be granted an Honorary Doctorate of Environmental Studies and will address Convocation. Cartwright received a Master’s in Geography from the University of Waterloo in 1981, following which she became a public servant in the Canadian government. She served in diplomatic postings in seven nations, including as Canada’s Ambassador to Hungary, Slovenia and Albania. Subsequently, she held senior roles in the federal government, and, among other things, led the preparation of the Federal Accountability Act and reviewed the Public Service Modernization Act, key initiatives intended to strengthen management, accountability and efficiency. She then became the Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016.

Chantelle Casey Young will deliver the Valedictory Address.

James Schnarr will receive the Governor General's Silver Medal.

Ben Crooks will receive the Alumni Gold Medal.

Two students will be named University Finalist for the Governor General's Gold Medal: Diamir de Scally at the Master's level and Matthew Morison at the Doctoral level.

Convocation, careers and the art of transition

This is an excerpt from the latest post on President Feridun Hamdullahpur's blog.

There is no time at the University of Waterloo like convocation. I have had the honour of joining the celebrations of many thousands of students during my time as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo and it truly never gets old.

A Time of Celebration and Transition

Convocation is a time of celebration, reflection and transition. This week we will be celebrating the accomplishments of our students. We’ll celebrate the completion of their degrees and their triumphs – big and small – that added to their experience of Waterloo.

These experiences set our graduates apart. They have received one of the most rigorous and extensive educations offered around the world, recognized for its excellence across all corners of the globe, and gained a deep sense of resilience out of this challenging experience. Convocation marks a time of transition and all of the excitement that comes along with taking the next step in our lives.

Stay Adaptive

To our students: remember the lessons you learned throughout your academic career. Not just the lessons in the classroom or out on co-op work terms, but the skills you gained budgeting your time, building relationships and taking on additional opportunities with your clubs and business ventures. These skills will be essential as you face a future of fundamental disruption.

The next fifteen years will be defined by a series of disruptive forces that will create unprecedented change and numerous opportunities. For example, do any of us really know today what will happen as we expand the presence of artificial intelligence in our world?

Read the rest of the blog post on the President's blog.

Provincial government looks to limit public sector wage increases

Last week, the Ontario government tabled legislation entitled Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019.

“The main impact of this bill is to limit increases in public sector salary compensation for a three-year period,” wrote Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush in a memo circulated to Executive Council last Thursday. “As part of the broader public sector, employees at the University of Waterloo and other Ontario post-secondary institutions are affected by this legislation.”

The proposed legislation would allow for increases to salary and overall compensation for unionized and non-unionized employees of up to one percent annually. The legislation does not prohibit salary increases in recognition of: the employee’s length of time in employment; an assessment of performance; or, the successful completion of a program or course of professional or technical education, if the increase is authorized under a collective agreement.

It is important to note that these provisions are not retroactive, and existing collective agreements will not be revised based on the legislation.

According to Human Resources, the one-percent increase cap would come into force after the current 2018-2021 collective agreement and salary agreements with its employee groups expire. The University is now just starting the second year of those three-year agreements, and the proposed legislation will form the basis of future compensation discussions starting in 2021.

Additionally, this salary cap does not cover executive compensation, which is already frozen as per the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014.

This legislation is expected to pass in the fall of 2019 when the Legislature resumes after its summer break.

“In the meantime, we will continue to review the proposed legislation to determine its full impact on our faculty and staff,” the provost's memo concludes.