Friday, December 11, 2020

Waterloo will celebrate the life and legacy of Pearl Sullivan

The University of Waterloo is preparing to celebrate the life of Pearl Sullivan, former Dean of Engineering who died on November 28, with two memorial events in 2021.

“A champion for Waterloo and for Engineering, Pearl made an incredible impact on this institution, our people and partners during her service as a professor, department chair and dean as shown by the continued outpouring of support and tributes from her students, colleagues, and members of the community.” wrote President Feridun Hamdullahpur in a memo to employees. “I want you to know that the University, together with the Faculty of Engineering, is planning to celebrate Pearl’s life and legacy on two occasions in the new year.”

The first event will be a celebration of life, held virtually in January, for the internal University community that will feature remarks from President Hamdullahpur and Dean of Engineering Mary Wells.

The second event will be hosted sometime in May and, to the extent possible, in person, at Engineering 7 (E7).

More details for the virtual celebration will be shared in early January.

COVID tracking update:one new case leads to outbreak at Claudette Millar Hall

On Thursday, December 10, 2020, Region of Waterloo public health informed us of an individual on our campus who tested positive for COVID-19. The individual tested positive on Monday, December 7 and has been in self-isolation since their test. 

Upon further investigation, public health officials today confirmed that this person is a close contact of an individual who tested positive on Friday, December 4. As both individuals currently live in Claudette Millar Hall, public health officials have declared these two cases as an outbreak of COVID-19 in the residence.  

Both individuals are self-isolating in dedicated units and our residence teams are supporting the students affected.  

Public health officials are continuing to monitor the outbreak and are in touch with all high-risk contacts. Residents who are experiencing symptoms, are concerned about exposure, have been identified as a high-risk contact, or have received advice to self-isolate can contact reslifeteam@uwaterloo.ca or the appropriate college residence team for support. 

If you do not hear from public health or University officials, you should continue to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and seek testing if needed. Public health officials have not identified a risk to members of the public. 

If you have any concerns you can contact the Campus Housing team for support. 

University of Waterloo has robust protocols to manage COVID-19 cases on campus and in residence. Our Campus Housing team developed the procedures in consultation with public health and the Safety Office to protect the safety of our community. We maintain cleaning and disinfection that exceeds public health requirements. 

Learn more about what happens when someone is sick in residence from our Residence Life Manager, Kristen Leal.  

COVID-19 testing is available for University students, employees, postdocs and family members living in the same household. To book a test, please use the online registration form. 

We take the privacy of individuals extremely seriously. In reporting on positive cases, the University will protect the private health information of individuals. You should check our disclosure protocol for what to do if someone reveals to you that they have tested positive for COVID-19. 

New site supplies instructors with resources for student success

A message from the Office of Academic Integrity.

A new site in LEARN is now available for instructors. The Instructor Resources for Student Success LEARN site connects instructors with resources they can easily import into their Learn courses to help support students. The content includes videos, workshops, and other resources from academic support units at the University of Waterloo, such as the Office of Academic Integrity, the Student Success Office, and the Writing and Communication Centre.

Instructors can self-register for the site in Learn. If you have any questions about the resources or would like further support options, contact the relevant support unit.

Taking the good with the bad

This article was originally featured on Waterloo Stories.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences, whether positive or negative, play an important role in developing successful entrepreneurs, according to recent research.

“Work-integrated learning is tied to developing entrepreneurs because it provides experiences for students to think outside the box, build resilience and establish strong professional networks,” said Judene Pretti, director of the Work-Learn Institute at the University of Waterloo and lead author on the new study. “This enables students to be better critical thinkers and problem solvers, further supporting them in turning disruption into opportunity.”

Supportive mentorship and positive outlook were found to help WIL students build confidence and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.

As part of the study, interviews were conducted with seven university alumni from Canada and the United Kingdom. Each of the alumni had at least one WIL component in their degree and went on to set up their own business.

During the interviews, participants reflected on how WIL impacted their career. The participants created pictorial representations to depict their perceptions of an entrepreneur, and what influenced them to become an entrepreneur.

WIL experiences didn’t have to be positive to be impactful.

One student in the study noted that a tough WIL experience helped develop their resilience and their ability to respond when facing adversity. They deemed these traits as key ones for entrepreneurship.

Despite the study being completed prior to COVID-19, the pandemic presents increased opportunities for the development and application of entrepreneurial activities. The world’s response to the virus has exemplified the importance of these skills students and graduates will need to navigate a rapidly changing world.

Entrepreneurial WIL programs may prove to be viable alternatives during an uncertain job market.

Other important themes expressed by alumni in terms of entrepreneurial skills were “thinking outside the box,” being resilient during difficult times and the importance of networks.

One study highlighted within the research indicated that 29 per cent of managers look for students with entrepreneurial experience when recruiting for their workplace.

The role of work-integrated and learning in the development of entrepreneurs can be read in the International Journal for Work-Integrated Learning.

Grad gives everyone their 15 minutes of fame; other notes

Waterloo alumnus Ulkar Akhundzada has developed an app that gives normal people a taste of fame, and has received some recognition of her own in the process. Akhundzada's app "Hype Simulator" recently topped the app charts in early December in the USA, Canada, UK, UAE, Bahrain, and Israel. Hype Simulator simulates what it's like being a celebrity on social media, with rapidly-increasing follower counts, notifications, DMs, and other aspects of going viral—all fake, of course—available in a thrill ride of fame and stardom that resets after 15 minutes, in accordance with Andy Warhol's famous prophecy, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

Hype Simulator was recently profiled on Dazed.

It's that time of year again and President Hamdullahpur can't wait to share a special message of good cheer with you next week. Check your inboxes Monday for a special holiday video gift.