Thursday, December 3, 2020

Academic advising online: new ways to support Waterloo students

A message from the Student Success Office.

In March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, academic advisors had to get creative quickly to continue to support Waterloo students from home. They demonstrated commitment and agility, finding new ways to provide their students with vital, timely, personalized advice and support through new methods of advising virtually. Student feedback in a spring 2020 student survey confirmed that the support they were receiving from their academic advisors was one aspect of virtual learning that was working well. Here are just a few examples of successful student support initiatives implemented by academic advisors and their faculty and departmental teams.

The David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science (CS) created a series of frequently asked questions (FAQ) videos on topics like How CS advisors can help and When should I drop a course? CS students had quick, easy access to key information that would help them navigate their first term.

The Science Undergraduate Office (SUO) pivoted from the drop-in advising they usually offered to daily virtual drop-in advising hours through Microsoft Teams. This allowed students to meet virtually with a specific advisor or submit general questions through the chat function during drop-in times. Since March, more than 1,250 students have met with SUO advisors online!

Like an online yearbook, the Computing and Financial Management program created a digital ‘look book’ for their incoming class. New undergraduate students had the opportunity to submit a photo and a few lines of text about themselves. The class was able to connect and get to know one another virtually through this creative initiative.   

During the spring term drop/add period, Sociology and Legal Studies used Microsoft Teams and MentiMeter to hold an interactive virtual town hall. Students were able to submit questions in advance or enter them into the chat during the session. What a great way to connect with a large group of students.

Looking to share your great virtual advising approaches or to learn how others across campus are supporting students right now? Connect with the Advising Community of Practice or Cross Campus Advising Specialist, Kate Andrey.

Remembering Igor Ivkovic

The Faculty of Engineering has reported that Professor Igor Ivkovic passed away on Friday, November 27. 

"Igor was a Lecturer and the Associate Chair Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Systems Design Engineering," says the memorial article on the System Designs Engineering website. "He completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Computer Science and PhD degree in Software Systems Engineering, all at Waterloo. He was always a passionate supporter of the University."

"Greatly admired by students and colleagues for his enthusiasm and passion for teaching, and his commitment to the university. Igor proudly and happily participated in many aspects of the success of Waterloo including regularly participating in recruitment events as he worked directly to encourage the next generation of Waterloo Engineers, and in his content development for Engineering Design Dayz with our current undergraduate students. His contributions and dedication to our Faculty are unparalleled."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Igor’s wife Shabnam who graciously shared Igor with us."

Services for Professor Igor Ivkovic will be held December 9 and streaming details will be posted soon on the Engineering website.

Students use 5G technology to develop the future of sports fan engagement

This article was originally published on the Concept website.

As the cold weather hit the region, University of Waterloo students designed some hot new ways for Canadians to enjoy NHL Hockey. The Sportsnet Hockey Hack Powered by Rogers 5G was a collaborative weeklong event that introduced high profile partners to the ingenuity of UWaterloo students to help shape the future of sports tech innovation.

Waterloo’s Concept, Stratford School of Design and Business and GEDI partnered with Rogers, the NHL and Intel to offer students the first opportunity of enhancing hockey fan engagement through 5G technologies. Students used real datasets of NHL puck and player tracking from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs to power their ideas and offer new solutions that Sportsnet could incorporate into their viewing experiences.  

The NHL, and many other sports leagues, were put on hold as COVID spread throughout the world which further highlighted the need for new methods of fan engagement. As leagues begin to recommence without fans in the stands or with limited attendance, the search for ways to further engage audiences beyond in person experiences has never been more important. The advances of 5G technology and its low-latency capabilities have created new opportunities for fan interaction. That’s where our incredibly innovative students stepped in and offered their unique solutions for Canadian hockey fans.  

From strangers to teammates  

Armed with the problem statement to provide Sportsnet and NHL fans an unmatched viewing experience that delivers immersive, social-safe, and fun engagements both inside and outside the physical arena by leveraging 5G, teams began creating their initial ideas towards winning solutions. These new teammates worked to create their initial ideas and began building the front and back ends of their hacks.

“Working with four strangers, when we haven’t even met, was quite challenging but interesting as well because I got to learn so much from them," says Navpreet Kaur, Game² team member and Masters of Electrical & Computer Science student. "It was a great opportunity."

After receiving customer feedback from UWaterloo community members, teams adjusted their approach to improve or adapt the features of their solutions — all while receiving support from their dedicated coaches.

In addition to coaches, students had access to a roster of highly experienced mentors who answered specific questions, helped implement technical changes, utilize the full potential of new technologies and provided feedback on the students’ ideas. This offered students the opportunity to work directly with industry contacts, build their networks and showcase their capabilities to successfully design with customers in mind.

“This hockey hack was a crash course for me in applying all the skills that I’ve learned from my courses and put it into a real-life case, said Karthik Prasanna, Master of Business, Technology and Entrepreneurship student and The Great Ones team member. "I looked at it from the perspective of business creation by solving these problems."

A race to the final buzzer

As the week came to a close, teams prepared three minute pitches to distill their solutions and showcase their designs. High level representatives from Rogers, Sportsnet, The NHL, Rogers, and the University of Waterloo made up a prestigious judging panel. They selected the three teams they felt best addressed the problem statement, applied the capabilities of 5G technology and created a unique offering to further engage hockey fans. Introducing the winning teams from the Sportsnet Hockey Hack: Powered by Rogers 5G.

Congratulations to our winners 

First place: Game²

Game² created new advanced stats to bring fans the game within the game and bring new player metrics to the world of fantasy hockey and betting.  

Second place: The 5 G’s

The 5 G’s brought us Fan Fortune, a new micro-betting experience for fans inside the arena and at home to predict next actions in hockey games.  

Third place: The Great Ones 

The Great Ones developed NHL Party, a multi-screen 5G streaming platform to watch hockey games with friends and other fans.  

This weeklong hackathon brought some incredible ideas to light and great progress was made, but this is just the beginning. Winning teams have the opportunity to continue developing their idea with increased support from our partners to further build their 5G concepts. Follow Concept on social media to stay up to date with the progress these teams are making and hear about other exciting opportunities like this Hockey Hack.  

Read the rest of the article on the Concept website.

Waterloo signs strategic mandate agreement with provincial government

On Thursday, November 26, the Honourable Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities announced the next round of Strategic Mandate Agreements, signed by the Government of Ontario and all 45 of Ontario’s publicly assisted universities and colleges.

The agreements, which are in effect from 2020-2025, introduce a new performance-based funding model including metrics on student and economic outcomes. Performance-based funding for universities is planned to increase from 1.4 per cent to 60 per cent by the end of 2025.

Beginning in 2020-2021, institutions will begin providing the government with data points on 10 metrics, though the performance-based funding will not begin to be tied to these metrics until 2022-23, a delay resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities are not measured against other institutions, but rather on their own set of data points year-over-year.

Read more about the University of Waterloo’s Strategic Mandate Agreement. 

Read more about the Strategic Mandate Agreements.