Wednesday, March 17, 2021

University provides update on fall term

The University has announced its plans to being moving back to in-person operations for students and employees, confirming its intent to significantly expand in-person campus experiences starting in September 2021.

"The COVID-19 pandemic put everyone to the test," wrote President Feridun Hamdullahpur in an email distributed to campus earlier this morning. "The unpredictability of the last year has been as challenging as any of the new public health measures we have added to our lives. I know many of you are eager to get back to in-person learning, work, and other campus activities as soon as possible."  

"The recent news of an increase in the number of vaccines across Canada is giving us reason for new hope. It is with that sense of hope that I am pleased to announce that we are planning to deliver significantly more an in-person learning, work and research starting in the Fall 2021 term. We are optimistic that on-campus activity can happen in person with a staged and strategic return to campus. Above all, our plan will be flexible so we can tackle unexpected challenges. Our goal will be to create as many on-campus experiences as possible starting September."

The University has also released a memo that Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush has sent to Executive Council describing in more detail the process the University is taking for in-person activity.

"Fall 2021 is the first time during the pandemic that we are declaring an intention to deliver much more in person learning," the provost writes. "It is also the first time that we must be ready with plans for multiple possible scenarios. Faculties and departments have been and must continue to lead this work to make sure we have local plans, supports and services that serve our students and enhance our campus communities."

For more information about return-to-campus plans, visit the COVID-19 website.

Introducing the Accessibility Advisory Panel

A message from the Accessibility Committee.

The Accessibility Committee (AC) would like to introduce the Accessibility Advisory Panel. This panel is open to everyone, including students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. However, the Accessibility Committee is particularly interested in working with individuals who have lived experience to gain a sense of their needs and their perspective on campus accessibility.

The Accessibility Committee works towards improving accessibility of the University of Waterloo for persons with disabilities. This includes students, staff, faculty, visitors, community members and anyone who interacts with our campus. The committee provides a forum to consult and work together on campus-wide initiatives to improving accessibility, with the foundational focus of being compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The Accessibility Advisory Panel has been developed to provide consultation to the Accessibility Committee on their work. This provides panelists a platform to voice concerns related to accessibility and express their needs, while giving the opportunity to offer suggestions regarding current/new initiatives.

Establishing the Advisory Panel achieves one of the key objectives in the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan (MYAP) 2018-2022 by “developing community engagement strategy to ensure the voice of University community is considered in all aspects of accessibility planning within the university”. Through this panel we will be able to reach a large audience, including persons with disabilities, while also maintaining confidentiality.

University of Waterloo campuses endeavor to be as accessible as possible for everyone. This means creating a barrier-free environment for persons with disabilities who interact with our university in any way. For more information or if you are interested in becoming a member of the panel, please visit the Accessibility Advisory Panel webpage, including the sign up form to become a member.

Feel free to send any questions you may have about the Accessibility Advisory Panel to aoda@uwaterloo.ca.

Archaeology course offers remote experiential learning in an English castle

Are you an undergraduate student interested in medieval history and archaeology? If so, there's a Dungeons & DRAGEN opportunity available for you.

From May 10 to June 17, you can immerse yourself in historical and archeological discovery through an innovative online program offered in partnership with the Bader International Study Centre (BISC), Queen’s University, and Waterloo. The BISC is located at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England.

For the past ten years, the team at the DRAGEN Lab (the Medieval Digital Research in Arts and Graphical Environmental Networks Laboratory) has partnered with the BISC each summer to send Waterloo students to England, where they take part in an experiential learning program. Due to COVID-19, the Field School will be held online this year. The Online Field School provides students with the opportunity to participate in livestream video classes of a brand-new excavation site for credit. Registrants may apply to the DRAGEN Lab for funding.

The DRAGEN Lab is offering five $900 scholarships for registered University of Waterloo students. Students who complete the course receive 1.5 credits, the equivalent of three classes at the University of Waterloo. Students will also embark on virtual expeditions into London, the London museum, other areas around the historical Herstmonceux castle.

This summer, the Online Field School will be excavating a new site. Researchers at the DRAGEN Lab have been waiting for over ten years to explore the site, and have just received approval. Professor Steven Bednarski, director of the DRAGEN Lab and professor in the History department at Waterloo, believes this to be the site of a mysterious building, possibly the medieval gamekeeper’s lodge: “The Herstmonceux Estate featured a deer park throughout the Middle Ages, and, based on the lidar images, we think this might have been the residence of the gamekeeper who managed the park. We will not know for sure until we begin digging, which makes this project even more exciting.”

Lidar imaging captured the remnants of what appears to be the foundation of an extensive enclosure, now long gone. Depicted on an eighteenth-century map, this mysterious structure has long puzzled scholars. The BISC and the DRAGEN Lab team are excited to begin excavations to see what artifacts will be unearthed there.

After COVID, all Waterloo students who complete the Online Field School certification are eligible to apply to the DRAGEN Lab to travel to Herstmonceux Castle to complete additional fieldwork or research.

The DRAGEN Lab is a state-of-the-art digital humanities lab located at the University of Waterloo. It occupies 3,600 square feet of space in the newly renovated St. Jerome’s University Library. The DRAGEN Lab operates at the centre of the Environments of Change Project, aimed at shining light on the historical relationship between premodern people and the natural world. The DRAGEN Lab provides a space for experts (faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, independent researchers), graduate, and undergraduate students to learn and conduct important historical research.

The application deadline is April 1, 2021.

View the website and learn more about opportunities at the DRAGEN Lab.

Just in time for spring, it's the Sunshine List

The University of Waterloo has released a list of the 1,760 employees who were paid more than $100,000 in 2020.

Public-sector employers in Ontario are required to publish the list every March since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was passed in 1996. Other universities, school boards, hospitals, colleges, municipalities, and the government itself are now making similar information for last year public.

The $100,000 list includes most of Waterloo's professors, and a number of staff members and senior administrators. It includes people employed by Renison University College, Conrad Grebel University College and St. Paul's University College.

In addition to the salary, a figure is given for taxable benefits received by each individual, for such extras as employer-paid life insurance.

Last year's salary disclosure is also available online.

Architecture podcast and other notes

The Living Architecture Systems Group (LASG) at the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture has launched the Living Dialogs podcast, the inaugural episode of which is available now at http://lasg.ca/living and from your favourite podcast source. In this first episode, expert architects and designers Jenny Sabin, Mitchell Joachim, and Philip Beesley discuss the principles, aesthetics, and sustainability of living architecture.

"The podcast series will bring together scholars and thinkers to collectively reflect on living architecture and its implications for our changing world," says a note from the LASG. "We invite you to listen and to contribute your own thoughts and comments to the discussion at the bottom of the webpage - the Living Dialogs team will be including some of these comments in the live webinar that will follow on April 7. Thanks for being part of the Dialog."

The podcast is hosted by LASG collaborator Edgar Cardenas of the Toolbox Dialog Initiative at MSU and edited by Sascha Hastings, with digital facilitation and graphic design contributions from Bianca Weeko Martin. Each podcast episode, which will appear "every few months" according to the producers, will feature a podcast, interactive web discussion forum, and live webinar with Q&A. Podcast listeners will be invited to consider the same prompts as our guests, respond to them on the web, and attend a later live webinar. The webinars will occur a few weeks following the release of each podcast episode, and are moderated by the LASG's Sarah Bonnemaison from Filum Ltd. and the Dalhousie University School of Architecture.

Here is the latest Nutrition Month "Myth vs. Fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace:

Today is Dietitian’s Day in Canada, so I’m going to deviate from my usual myth vs fact columns. This year’s Nutrition Month theme is “Good for you! Dietitians help you find your healthy.” It validates the notion that there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all nutrition guidance and that healthy eating looks different for everyone. Canada’s diverse population has varied and unique needs and our food supply can support many different eating patterns, all of which can be synonymous with good health. Even our national nutrition guidelines, Canada’s Food Guide, are designed to be flexible and relevant to everyone living in Canada, at any age, living in any region, and from any cultural background. The Food Guide encourages everyone to make enjoyable choices that reflect their personal and cultural preferences, family traditions, budget, life stage and lifestyle.

It is a myth that there is an ideal diet. And while an endless menu of fad diets compete for our attention and try to convince us otherwise, there is no scientific evidence that a single one of them will help us live healthier, longer, more productive or happier lives. In fact, in the quest to find a “healthy” or “perfect” diet, the importance of enjoying meals can easily be lost.

So to clarify, when I use the word “healthy” I’m not just referring to the beneficial components of food which fuel our bodies and brains. A “healthy” diet also means having a positive relationship with food. Having a healthy diet means being able to eat for both hunger and pleasure, as both are essential for physical and mental wellness.

Dietitians understand the science of nutrition and the unique needs of each person. We value health and also want you to enjoy your food and are uniquely positioned to consider both when giving advice. Dietitians provide a safe and judgement-free space for learning and dialogue to empower our clients to reach their health goals and other goals, including learning how to have a better relationship with food. If you need help finding your “healthy,” a dietitian can help. Learn more about what dietitians do and how to find one.