Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Connecting Imagination with Impact - Waterloo launches new Strategic Plan

The University of Waterloo’s bold new 2020-25 Strategic Plan — Connecting imagination with impact —  has been approved by the University’s Senate and Board of Governors.

The plan outlines how Waterloo will make an impact by developing talent for a complex future, advancing research for global impact and strengthening diverse and sustainable communities. Our work in these three core areas, which will have an impact locally and globally, will be distinct from other universities because we know that Waterloo’s unique culture operates best at the crossroads of talent, knowledge and community.

We heard during our extensive consultations with thousands of people within our university communities and beyond our campus borders, that our ambition to be an architect of Canada’s social, economic, environmental and technological future must be balanced with our commitment to ensuring everyone feels supported and valued.

The University is now moving into the implementation and accountability phase of the plan. Talk with your teams about how to engage with the plan. Read the entire plan here and you can learn more by attending the November 12^th President's Town Hall.

Sandra Banks appointed to second term as Vice-President, University Relations

Sandra Banks, vice-president, university relations has been reappointed to a second five-year term that runs until March 31, 2025.

President Hamdullahpur reappointed Banks based on the unanimous recommendation of a committee that gathered input from various stakeholders.

Since 2015, Banks has led the University’s broad range of marketing, communications, government relations and community relations initiatives as the head of University Relations. In this role, Banks is committed to building strong internal and external relationships and a positive public profile that supports the University’s ambition laid out in the next five—year strategic plan.

To that end, the priorities of University Relations under Banks’s leadership are:

• To elevate the profile and reputation of the University;
• To work collaboratively across campus to expand advocacy and funding for the University;
• To increase and leverage the impact of communications, both internal and external

“The post-secondary sector is a dynamic and competitive environment and we must work faster and harder to tell the University of Waterloo story here at home around the world,” Banks says. “This is an incredibly inspiring place to work and to share the “edge of the future” innovations coming from our students and faculty.”

“The University Relations team has successfully elevated Waterloo’s profile and reputation through Sandra’s leadership. University Relations continues to build strong collaborative bridges across campus that have strengthened the institutional pride that I know has made our University stronger,” wrote President Feridun Hamdullahpur in a memo announcing Banks’s reappointment that was sent to Executive Council this week. “Impactful external marketing and communications efforts have also been a hallmark of Sandra’s time leading University Relations along with advocacy work at all levels of government and in the community, elevating Waterloo’s profile at the leading edge of research, teaching and community development.”

Co-op provides update on employment rate

A message from Co-operative and Experiential Education.

 The formula used in calculating the co-op employment rate has been modified to improve transparency, ensuring that all students actively participating in co-op recruitment are captured in the rate. The change will result in an average drop of 1.3 percentage points vs. the legacy employment rate when re-stating historical rates from 2015 to 2018, but still represents a record-high employment rate for the co-op program at the University of Waterloo.

Changes to the employment rate include:

• An expanded definition of unemployed students participating in recruitment.
• The legacy rate only counted students searching for employment through the co-op interview process as participating, while the updated rate also counts students searching for employment outside the co-op interview process, and students awaiting a decision on employment secured external to the co-op interview process. 
• Students not actively participating in co-op recruitment are now excluded from the rate.

The employment rate will be updated across all channels where it has traditionally been reported, including the co-op and hire websites, in University marketing materials, and in Strategic Plan reporting. Any historical employment rates that have been reported will be re-stated using the updated rate, to ensure a consistent comparison over time.

This change began back in spring 2017, when a Co-operative Education Council (CEC) metrics working group was established to assess the co-op student employment rate. The working group was comprised of three of the associate deans, co-operative education, the VP Education for the Federation of Students, and members of co-operative and experiential education. The fall 2019 work term is the first using the updated employment rate, and will be the rate that is published moving forward.

Further details can be found on both the co-op and hire websites.

WatITis announces date, speakers at next conference

The WatITis Committee has announced that the 17^th annual Waterloo Information Technology and Information Systems (WatITis) conference will take place on December 4, 2019 in the Science Teaching Complex (STC).

Registration is open from Wednesday October 30 until Friday November 15, 2019.

"We are also excited to announce this year we will have two Keynote speakers," says a note from the WatITis committee. "In the morning, Research Professor and Director of Women in Computer Science Maura R. Grossman, J.D., Ph.D.from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo will be speaking and Founding Director of the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business Howard Armitage will be speaking in the afternoon."

For more information on the conference and to register, please visit: https://uwaterloo.ca/watitis. Join the WatITis mailing list so you don’t miss out on conference updates.

Follow WatITis on Twitter @WatITisConf.

Registration is free, however there is a $50 charge if you register for the conference but do not show up. Conference room schedules and times are subject to change.

Stanley Knowles Lecture today and other notes

Tonight, JP Gladu, president & CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) and Chancellor, St. Paul’s University College will speak about “Economic Reconciliation- For all Canadians” at the 2019 Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Service Lecture. Gladu will be speaking to current opportunities and challenges in terms of building a modern economy in concert with Canada’s Indigenous entrepreneurs. The lecture will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre with a reception to follow.

This is a free public lecture, but registration is required.

It's often said that music can move you. In this case, literally: Travel to Bali, Indonesia to experience the rich music and culture life through workshops, concerts, ceremonies, festivals, site visits, and local cuisine with the Music & Culture Travel Course offered through the Department of Music. This trip may be taken for enjoyment or course credit winter or spring term as Music 355. The approximate travel dates for the next travel course are June 3 to 22. There is an upcoming information session about the course set for November 15 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in CGR 1300 for those interested in participating.

Professor Scott Campbell (l) and Professor Cameron Shelley (r) of the University of Waterloo’s interdisciplinary teaching centre, the Centre for Society, Technology and Values, with 64 pairs of socks collected for Toasty Toes. Photo by admin assistant Wendy Stocker.

This is a reminder that the Office of the President and Central Stores have partnered to collect socks on the main University campus as part of the community ToastyToes sock donation campaign. Socks can be dropped off at the Office of the President (Needles Hall 3073) or put in an envelope labelled “Toasty Toes” and added to your daily mail. Men’s socks are preferred, but women’s and children’s socks are also happily accepted. The School of Pharmacy and Velocity Garage are also taking sock donations at their locations in Kitchener. Collection for ToastyToes runs from October 10 to November 10.