Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Announcing the UWaterloo Three Minute Thesis (3MT) 2020 champions

When over 200 students registered to compete in the faculty-based 3MT heats between February 3 and March 13, not one of them anticipated that a global pandemic would render the in-person University-wide competition impossible. But the show must go on. With the faculty-based 3MT champions named, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs hosted the first ever virtual 3MT competition.

Over 1,500 votes were cast for the People's Choice award, as the esteemed panel of judges deliberated over who should be the 2020 Waterloo champions. The results are in:

2020 First place ($1,000)

Jasdeep Multani, MArch Candidate, School of Architecture 

Watch the presentation: Designing Classrooms of the Future: Incorporating Sensory Cognizant Design Strategies

Jasdeep will represent University of Waterloo at the Ontario Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Provincial Competition to be hosted by University of Windsor.

2020 Second place ($500)

Yara Mohiar, MSc Candidate, School of Optometry and Vision Science

Watch the presentation: The Pressures of Space Exploration

2020 Third place ($250)

Robert Bennett, MASc Candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Watch the presentation: Simulating the Technology of Tomorrow

2020 People's Choice winner ($250)

Sarena Daljeet, MA Candidate, Psychology

Watch the presentation: How Do You Feel About That?

Congratulations to all of University of Waterloo's 2020 Three Minute Thesis competitors.

New corporate wireless plan for Rogers subscribers

A message from Information Systems & Technology.

Beginning August 1, IST’s Telephone Services team will migrate Rogers Corporate cell phones and wireless devices to a new Rogers Corporate wireless plan. Telephone Services will start with subscribers that have a hardware subsidy of $30 or less on their mobile device plan (i.e. $30 or less owing for the device itself). They will then work with each department to migrate devices that have a balance owing.  

About the new plan

The new plan provides 6 GBs of non-pooled data and unlimited local calling for $19.05/month (compared to the old plan that provides 3 GBs of pooled data and unlimited local calling for $49.40/month). 

• All Corporate subscribers will begin each month with the “standard” plan, 6 GBs of non-pooled data and unlimited local calling for $19.05/month
• Should a subscriber exceed the allotted 6 GBs of non-pooled data, they will be automatically moved to an “unlimited” plan, for the remainder of that month, that provides unlimited data and unlimited local calling for $49.75/month
• Subscribers moved to the unlimited plan would be returned to the standard plan at the start of following month

Our analysis shows that only about 10% of the University’s 1,100 Rogers phones exceed 6 GB/month, and the new plan is expected to save over $350,000 annually, campus wide. With the change to a non-pooled data plan, users should become familiar with, or continue monitoring, their data usage. 

For more information on the new Rogers plan and to learn more about monitoring your data usage, please visit IST’s Plans & Prices service page. 

 Questions about this change can be directed to Telephone Services at telephoneadmin@uwaterloo.ca  or 519-888-4567 ext. 36000.

W Store introduces new line of IST-approved headsets

A message from Print + Retail Solutions.

W Store has been working closely with the University’s Information Systems & Technology (IST) department to source a selection of IST-approved headsets for UWaterloo staff and faculty as they continue to work remotely.

These headsets are marked with an IST-approved seal and can be purchased from W Store’s Work From Home feature shop, alongside other essential work from home items, such as: routers, webcams, keyboards, notebooks and more.

UWaterloo staff and faculty are reminded that W Store now accepts payment via department charge on their online webstore, wstore.ca.

To shop IST-approved headsets and other work from home essentials, visit https://bit.ly/WStoreHeadsets.

Q and A with the experts: virtual Parliament; is it good for our democracy?

The University of Waterloo has a number of experts available for comment on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government by Zoom meeting? Is that what we’re doing, and is it good for our democracy?

Political science professor Emmett Macfarlane helps us understand what’s happening in Ottawa right now and whether or not virtual Parliament is here to stay.

What does the current parliament look like? 

Regular sessions of Parliament were suspended until September in favour of allowing a special COVID-19 committee to hold hearings through June. This committee means the government has still faced questions from opposition members, but because it is not a proper sitting of Parliament a whole host of normal processes and powers are lost, including the introduction of private member's bills or the use of opposition days, allowing the other parties to occasionally set the agenda. In short, the government has opposed using virtual tools to allow Parliament to fully function.

Do you think virtual sittings are here to stay?

No.  While some remote participation will likely continue for the life of the pandemic, once things return to normal, I fully expect Parliament will return to its in-person sittings. This is appropriate. The full give-and-take of an in-person Parliament can't be fully replicated by virtual tools. The virtual enhancements could help to facilitate Parliament's full functioning on an emergency basis, and even in this context the government has resisted implementing the full range of tools, such as remote voting by members.

What does the move toward virtual mean for our democracy? Is it good, bad, neutral?

In one respect, it would have been beneficial if Parliament had fully embraced virtual tools during the pandemic. The government, to a degree, escapes full accountability by refusing to permit a regular sitting of Parliament with members empowered with their full range of privileges, including the capacity to introduce private member's bills and to vote remotely. Despite a report of the House Committee on Procedure, the government effectively suspended Parliament during the summer months. On the other hand, virtual options are not an appropriate measure in the long-term. They should be reserved for times when Parliament cannot safely meet in full in person, or perhaps to facilitate member participation in special circumstances (such as parental leaves, etc.).

Bringing Health Services closer to you and your family; other notes

"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change the delivery and landscape of University Student Services, Campus Wellness in collaboration with Housing Services wants to provide students improved overall access to care," says a note from Campus Wellness. "That's why we're opening two satellite health clinics on July 9, 2020, located in two different campus Housing locations: Columbia Lake Townhouses (CLV) and Wellesley Court South (UWP). These satellite clinics provide flexibility to students and allow them to utilize alternate locations separately from the Health Services building location as needed. All University of Waterloo registered students can enjoy more convenient access to medical services every Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., closer to home." 

Remember that there are no walk-ins – if you're looking to book an appointment, Health Services is currently providing urgent primary care medical appointments between Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. To book an appointment please call 519-888-4096. 

Here's what's coming up online at the Centre for Career Action: 

• Tuesday, July 14: Information session for graduating students, 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
• See CCA’s offering of virtual programming online. Students can register on WaterlooWorks.

Centre for Career Action virtual drop-in advising hours for July: 

• Online résumé, cover letter and interview support, Career consults, and Work search drop-ins running 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. PhD students and postdoctoral fellow drop-ins are running on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.Students can book virtual drop-ins on WaterlooWorks.