Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Jean Becker named Senior Director, Indigenous Initiatives

Jean Becker will join the University of Waterloo on January 13, 2020 in the newly-created Senior Director, Indigenous Initiatives position reporting to the President, and Associate Vice-President, Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion.

President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Diana Parry, associate vice-president, human rights, equity and inclusion announced the hiring in a memo circulated to the campus community today.

In her role, Becker will provide strategic leadership to articulate a University of Waterloo-specific response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, and identify systemic and systematic changes that move beyond the Calls to Action by creating a long-term vision for the University.

Becker, known for her work locally, provincially, and nationally, was most recently Senior Advisor for Indigenous Initiatives at Wilfrid Laurier University. Jean is Inuk and a member of the Nunatsiavut Territory of Labrador, and has a Master’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Guelph.

"The foundations of Jean’s career are rooted in the Waterloo region, where she has been living and working with diverse Indigenous communities for over forty years," says the president and associate vice-president's memo. "During that time she has a long track-record of building reciprocal, respectful, long term, and continuous relationships between post-secondary institutions and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Jean will be a vital partner in continuing our work to respond effectively to the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission."

"We are thrilled to have Jean join us. Her wealth of experience and success working collaboratively and strengthening relationships within a post-secondary environment and beyond is second to none. The Office of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion, and the University more broadly, will benefit from Jean’s leadership to further advance our campus community’s commitments to Indigenous Initiatives. We can think of no one better to take on this inaugural role."

Looking for more? Meet Omni - more than a library catalogue

A message from the Library.

The Library is excited to announce the arrival of Omni, a game-changing academic search tool to support your research and coursework.

Launching December 12, Omni is a collaboration between 14 Ontario university libraries, coming together in one catalogue that allows you to easily access high-quality, scholarly materials from your campus, computer or phone.

Moving to a new consortial library system means other changes, including longer borrowing periods, the elimination of most overdue fines, and the ability to sign in with your WatIAM account.

Learn more about what Omni means for you.

2020 Advisor Conference issues call for presenters

A message from the Student Success Office.

New systems move to support single sign-on

A message from Information Systems and Technology (IST).

Since enabling single sign-on for campus systems and applications in May, new systems have made the move support this great feature, including Quest and Workday (enabled December 11). Single sign-on provides a secure method of accessing multiple web-based systems and applications without being required to log in to each one. Users can enter their credentials once and move seamlessly and securely between supported applications.

Visit the Single Sign-on website to learn more about this service, discover which applications are supporting single sign-on, and explore help resources.