Thursday, September 24, 2020

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• Construction projects continue across campus
• Orange Shirt Day
• Lessons learned on remote teaching
• Mid-week reflections on International Week
• Thursday's notes

Construction projects continue across campus

Left to right: Construction on V1 tunnel, Village 1 work, replacing the PAC floor

The Design and Construction Services group within Plant Operations facilitates more than 600 projects annually across the University of Waterloo’s four campuses. The team has continued to support campus clients through renovations and capital projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even during the peak of the shelter-in-place protocol, Design and Construction Services staff continued to work from home to support the contractors who were working on essential projects.

Notable projects include:

A new boiler in PAS: A series of projects modernized existing mechanical systems in the psychology research wings. This work was one of our most pressing projects during the Spring and Summer of 2020 ensuring uninterrupted support to the research area including steam and hot water during the summer months.

The Biology Marine Lab in B1: Renovations to the existing Marine Lab in Biology 1 will bring the facility up to current Canadian Council on Animal Care standards and will address water quality issues. The facility will have a holding capacity of close to 200m³ and is intended to be fully functional in September 2020.

Hagey Hall emergency generators: The existing emergency power generators in PAS and HH were removed and upgraded to two new 500kW generators. These new generators will now be supplying emergency power to 10 buildings in the southern section of campus, from the Dana Porter Library to the Minota Hagey Residence.

Third High-voltage feed and substation upgrades: The HV feed and substation upgrades projects have been moved into the construction design stage. Historically, the campus was small enough to run on either one of two primary electrical power feeds. The “north loop” and the “south loop,” as they are colloquially known, are no longer fully redundant due to the extensive growth of campus over recent years. A third electrical power feed will be added to better manage risk through increased power grid diversity and to enable the planning of north and south loop maintenance and renewal projects.

Hands-free hardware and plumbing upgrades: Design and Construction Services technologists provided support to Campus Housing by redesigning products and systems to facilities hands-free hardware and plumbing upgrades that allowed students to return to residence buildings more confidently in the fall term.

Physical Activities Complex gymnasium floor: The sprung wood floor in the PAC was original to the building, dating back to 1968. It had been well-loved, well-worn, and could no longer be refreshed merely by sanding and varnishing. Replacing the PAC floor was initially very complicated, since the facility serves as the location for many key campus events in addition to sports activities. However, with convocation, exams, and the FIRST Robotics events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the floor replacement was able to be completed under a less-restricted timeline than originally anticipated.

Village 1 Sanitary and Tunnel Rehabilitation: In addition to the pedestrian tunnels that provide comfortable travel between buildings during extreme weather, there is a service tunnel network dedicated to central plant utilities. This V1 project will replace some of the original V1 storm and sanitary sewers, as well as repair and rehabilitate the concrete tunnel serving V1 from the University’s central plant. It will also revitalize the landscaping in the north half of V1 and re-arrange the parking lot to emphasize the pedestrian experience at the entrance to V1.

Biology Marine Lab in B1

Orange Shirt Day

A message from Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion.

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day, a day that recognizes the harm Canada’s Residential School System inflicted on Indigenous children and their families, and the ongoing trauma that remains today. It is a day to remember and honour the life of every child.

The Indigenous Initiatives Office has gathered resources to support #OrangeShirtDay and has partnered with W Store for #OrangeShirtDayReads. This virtual collection features titles by First Nation, Métis and Inuit authors and centers survivors’ stories and voices. Included in these titles is Phyllis’s OrangeShirt, written by Phyllis Webstad). Phyllis Webstad, whose experience at the Mission school in the 1970s inspired OrangeShirt Day, is Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band).

To mark, Orange Shirt Day, all campus community members are welcome to join the Indigenous Initiatives Office on September 30 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. to learn more about the Mohawk Institute Residential School through a virtual tour. Participants will also hear from survivors of the Mohawk Institute, which operated for 140 years. The Woodland Cultural Centre is hosting and facilitating this event. Space is limited and registration is required. Learn more and register.

Lessons learned on remote teaching

This is another story in a series from the Centre for Teaching Excellence to facilitate cross-institutional sharing of strategies for remote teaching. This story is a follow-up to the Management Sciences' Collaborative Approach to Remote Teaching article.     

When teaching online, creating an environment where students can actively engage with their instructors, peers, and course content "increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance in online courses” (Bolliger & Martin, 2018). This document consists of some of the many lessons that Waterloo’s Management Sciences (MSCI) department learned during the spring term about fostering engagement in a remote teaching context. 

Student-instructor engagement   

Student-instructor engagement can have a significant impact on student learning and affect learning outcomes (Bolliger & Martin, 2018), enhancing the quality of teaching and student learning experience. Here are some ways to foster mutual engagement in remote teaching that the MSCI team found useful.   

1. Devise strategies and opportunities to foster connection more frequently throughout the term, beyond what you might do in a face-to-face course.  

2. Offer several live Q&A sessions, personalize your emails to students, and communicate your targeted turnaround time for responding.  

3. Create frequent, anonymous feedback opportunities for your students to share perceived challenges and provide management-style constructive feedback – how they think the problem can best be resolved.  

Read the full story on the Centre for Teaching Excellence website.

Mid-week reflections on International Week

A message from Waterloo International.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in International Week 2020 (IW) so far this week. To date, numerous campus partners from across the University of Waterloo have hosted events that highlight the value of multilingualism and intercultural understanding in today’s globalized world and there are many more events planned for the rest of the week. With most of the events taking place virtually this year, it has been possible to attend more events than ever before, from the comfort of your own home.

One of the highlights of International Week so far was the Presidential Chat entitled: Reflecting on 10 years of Bordeaux-Waterloo Partnership. This virtual webinar allowed participants to hear experiences from University of Waterloo president, Feridun Hamdullahpur and University of Bordeaux president, Manuel Tunon de Lara, as they discussed the benefits of internationalization of research and strengthening global cooperation.

Both presidents also expressed their delight in the ongoing partnership, as the institutions continue to explore new joint research projects and collaborations. A link to this event, which was moderated by Christine McWebb, Waterloo International’s Assistant Vice-president, International Operations will subsequently be shared with the public.

International Week continues through to Sunday with several activities, including a virtual fun run hosted by Alumni Relations, a live chat presented by the Student Success Office, a Pow Wow hosted by the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, and a variety of other events and activities, aimed at encouraging global engagement on common interests. 

Let’s continue to celebrate International Week 2020, as we advance the internationalization goals of the University of Waterloo. We encourage you to view the events planned for the rest of the week. Do remember to share how you’re participating on social media using #IW2020.

Thursday's notes

The Committee on Student Mental Health will be hosting the University of Waterloo's inaugural Virtual Conference on Student Mental Health Research on November 5^th, 2020, as part of Thrive Week. The goal of this event is to bring together members of the Waterloo community to share knowledge, connect researchers, and promote mental wellness. We will be accepting submissions for presentations from UWaterloo students, faculty, and staff until 11:59pm EDT on October 9th, 2020. Visit our web page to submit your abstract today! 

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact our team at cosmh@uwaterloo.ca.  

Starting immediately, and following public health regulations and guidelines, a new space has been announced for Friday prayers in Federation Hall. The space is accessible, and will host three prayer times each Friday until October 30. The space, along with relevant public health recommendations will be reviewed at that time.

Guidelines:

• Everyone attending must have their own prayer mat, be wearing a mask, and remain 6 feet apart
• These sessions are open only to Waterloo campus community members
• Students, faculty and staff can access the space through the main entrance facing Ring Road, which has an automated door and ramp

Available Times:

Fridays 12:30pm; 1:30pm; and 2:30pm

Deep gratitude and thanks to Drs. Elmasry, Tarek, Eihab, Wasem, and Ayman, who will be leading these sessions. Please note, should public health recommendations change at any time, the prayer space may not be available for in-person prayer.