Monday, August 17, 2020

Athletics announces update on reopening plan

This article was originally published on the Athletics and Recreation website.

The Department of Athletics and Recreation has been diligently preparing for its next phase of its reopening plan beginning the week of Monday, August 17 to external rental groups with many new protocols and safety measures in place.

Our first phase began on Monday, July 27 with the reopening of our outdoor spaces around the CIF including, Disc Golf course, Grass Fields, and the Baseball Diamond with a strict focus on social distancing and wearing masks when distance cannot be maintained. Warrior Field remains available for external bookings only at this time.    

The next phase which will begin the week of Monday, August 17, includes the reopening of the following areas within the CIF for external rental groups: Arena, all three Gyms (for specific activity), Fitness Centre and the Field House. The PAC Pool will be the only area within the PAC that will reopen until October. As of the August 24 we will be introducing our advanced reservation process with limited weekday hours as we work towards testing our processes for September. Please note that we will be limiting facility hours initially as we begin this stage of reopening. 

As of September 8 we will introduce longer hours and some programming, including open recreation within CIF. Warrior Field will also be available for open recreation hours where social distancing will be required. We will look at reopening other elements of PAC including squash and the gyms during the fall term once construction projects are completed and limited traffic flows in the building are relieved.

The main priorities during our reopening are to track who is coming in and out of the building, monitoring social distancing and maintaining clean and sanitized spaces.

Advanced reservation (for those who do not have a rental contract) on http://warrior.uwaterloo.ca will be required for all activities within the CIF and to use the PAC Pool. A WatCard with tap functionality will be required to enter the building. If you do not present a WatCard upon entering, you will be asked to leave. With your reservation confirmation email, you will also receive important information on how to enter and exit the building along with other guidelines that you will need to be aware of in the facilities.

Each activity that is reserved will be a 45-minute time slot with 15 minutes to follow for transitions and cleaning. We ask that you please exit the building through the designated doors in a timely fashion once your scheduled activity is complete.  

Read the rest of the article on the Athletics and Recreation website.

University shares results of student learning experience survey

In late June the University of Waterloo surveyed students to hear about their spring learning environment and to help the institution prepare for the Fall Term. Almost 8,400 students responded to the survey. Among the survey's findings:

• 17 per cent of students reported that they were "coping quite well" in the Spring term;
• 60 per cent of students reported that Spring term "had its ups and downs;" and
• 22 per cent of students reported that they were "not coping well."

For students having difficulty coping with the Spring term's new normal, the reasons reported included perceived increase in workload; lack of motivation; perceived decreased quality of education; challenges of studying from home; and difficulties communicating with professors.

When surveyed on their comfort with online learning, 45.7 per cent of respondents reported being still as comfortable or more comfortable with online learning. 3 in 5 respondents (59.9 percent) reported spending "much more" and "bit more" time on current courses compared to on-campus courses. Students reported that the main challenges they faced in Spring term was: lack of motivation, distractions, and a feeling of disconnection from classmates.

Among the things that respondents found was working well during the Spring term were flexible schedules, regular assessments, video-recorded lectures and asynchronous delivery, Faculty websites, the University's COVID-19 website, and online library support. Things that would be considered welcome improvements included increased promotion of supports, streamlining and increasing consistency of information and resources, and acknowledging student concerns.

David DeVidi, associate vice-president, academic, shared the results and action items with associate deans, undergraduate and the Keep Learning Team last week, and the information was also cascaded to instructors. 

The survey results provide insightful data that will help the University make improvements for the Fall Term. DeVidi highlighted some steps the University is rolling out to support instructors with delivery of high-quality education:  

• The University hired hundreds of co-op students during Spring Term to help instructors develop materials for online delivery during the Fall Term. Additional co-ops will be hired in the fall to help with winter courses.
• Several faculties set up “Online teaching task forces” that have been working over the summer to ensure some of the courses that are hardest to teach well remotely (e.g., large first-year lab courses) are delivered as well as they can be. 

Additionally, the “best practices” described in the Keep Learning resources are being updated to help instructors keep students engaged but not overwhelmed, and to help instructors effectively stay connected with students. 

The survey results from the  Spring 2020 Student Survey are available online. 

Road repaving and other daily detours

Plant Operations has announced a number of road resurfacing activities that will cause closures this week.

A portion of the Residence Road at Village One will be closed on Wednesday, August 19 and Friday, August 21 for road paving. The Residence Road will be closed at the entrance of Ring Road to just east of parking lot ‘J’ (the parking lot will still be accessible from Columbia street and Residence Road). Emergency services and Grand River Transit have been informed of the closure.

Additionally, a portion of Ring Road will be closed for paving to take place on Thursday, August 20 and Friday, August 21. Ring Road will be closed at the entrances to the University Club and Village One. Emergency services and Grand River Transit have been informed of the closure.

The second edition of this summer's virtual Waterloo Innovation Summit Speaker Series is set to take place this Wednesday. Reset. Rebuild. Rebound. | The innovation imperative will feature moderator Randall Lane and a panel of speakers including:

• Adrien Côté, Executive Director, Velocity;
• Harleen Kaur, Co-Founder and CEO, Ground News;
• Eric Migicovsky, Founder, Pebble, and Forbes 30 under 30 2014;
• Sandra Banks,  Vice-President, University Relations; and
• Charmaine Dean, Vice-President, Research and International.

"During this pandemic of unimaginable scale and disruption, we also find ourselves in the midst of a second crisis — a global economic recession," says a note on the WIS website. "While government leaders and policymakers make strategic decisions to navigate this downturn, we set our sights on the critical role innovation and entrepreneurship will play in driving the future economy of Canada." 

The event takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The event is free but registration is required.