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Board of Governors approves staff salary agreement
On Tuesday, April 6, University's Board of Governors voted on recommendations from the Provost's Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC) for the next three-year staff salary agreement.
The recommendations include increases to salary ranges to be implemented over three years and updates to employee benefits. The terms of the agreement run from 1 May 1 2021 to 30 April 2024.
Salary increases will proceed as follows:
- On each of 1 May 2021, 1 May 2022, and 1 May 2023, increase the salary ranges by 1 percent, which is the legislated maximum scale increase allowed during the Term.
- On each of 1 May 2021, 1 May 2022, and 1 May 2023, run the merit program in accordance with the established staff salary increase process.
As per the agreement, the Board's Pension & Benefits Committee submitted a motion to provide staff members and their eligible dependents with a basic vision care plan that will provide a reimbursement of $85 per participant every two years for eye exams, retroactive to 1 May 1 2021. This motion also passed at Tuesday's Board meeting.
Other provisions of the agreement include:
- The University will form a policy drafting committee to create a new policy on compassionate care and bereavement leaves, and a new compassionate care leave (CCL) supplemental benefit plan will become effective no later than 1 May 2022;
- the Vacation Exchange Program, which consists of a one-time salary adjustment of 2 per cent in exchange for one week (5 days) of vacation for each year of participation, will be extended to 30 April 2030 for those staff that retire on or before 1 May 2033. As of 1 May 2021, the declared retirement date for the purposes of this program must be no later than the first of the month coincident with or following the month the employee turns 71;
- the University agrees to a target date of the end of 2021 for initiating disaggregated data collection on staff members’ race and Indigeneity as part of an equity data collection strategy for all students, faculty, and staff;
- the University will continue to contribute $250,000 per year to the Staff Excellence Fund, which will be allocated through the current, established processes;
- PACSC has committed to conduct a review of the competitiveness of benchmark jobs in 2023 through the engagement of an external compensation consultant to inform scale adjustments for the agreement effective 1 May 2024. The last compensation review of benchmark positions took place in 2018; and
- the University also commits to reviewing the provisions of the new agreement “should Ontario legislation change with respect to annual salary increase maximums and/or if compensation changes occur for other pay groups that could benefit staff.
The agreement was discussed in greater detail in the Daily Bulletin on March 25, and full terms of the agreement can be found in a memo from Provost James Rush published on the Employee Communication website.
Remembering Professor Robert Mundell
Left to right: Bob Kerton, Waterloo Dean of Arts from 1999 to 2006, Professor Sheila Ager, (currently Dean of Arts), Robert Mundell, Nobel Memorial Laureate in Economics 1999 and former Chair of Economics, and Professor Emanuel Carvalho, Economics and Associate Dean of Arts, in 2006.
By Wendy Philpott.
Robert A. Mundell, professor and former chair of the Department of Economics passed away at the age of 88 on April 5, 2021, at his home in Italy. While his tenure at the University of Waterloo was brief, from 1971 to 1973, his impact on the study of economics at our University and in the region is significant. Moreover, Mundell’s “prophetic” research on global economics was recognized with a 1999 Nobel Prize in economics for his “far-reaching and lasting impact.” A recent New York Times tribute to Mundell called him the “Father of the Euro and Reaganomics.”
Robert (Bob) Kerton, economics professor emeritus and former dean of arts, served as Deputy Chair for Professor Mundell and he shares more about Mundell’s contributions:
“Robert Mundell upset economics by explaining it was short-sighted for the discipline to focus solely on monetary policy and taxation. He showed that policymakers needed to juggle those two complex systems and the international exchange rate.
“At the University of Waterloo, Robert Mundell’s term as chair of Economics was a rollicking intellectual feast without a menu. One example was a crackling economic debate Bob Mundell had with a Visiting Professor, prominent British economist, Joan Robinson. During this time, we experienced a torrent of distinguished speakers covering a wide range of topics – often without much notice.”
As chair, Mundell made two signal contributions to the teaching of economics. With a bold stroke, he redesigned the economics curriculum to facilitate “policy streams” which became attractive to both students and employers – adding thrust later, to new econ co-op opportunities.
Secondly, there is a plaque on a wall in the Economics department awarded by college and high school teachers thanking the University of Waterloo for help with economic education in Canada. During his term as chair, Mundell decided it would be a valuable for UW to offer a short conference in the summer to help teachers prepare to offer economics in high schools. This was vital for teachers because there was no curriculum and no evident source of teaching materials. UW volunteers provided a forum for brilliant high school teachers to share lessons with highly motivated attendees. The initiative carried on long after Professor Mundell’s term here and thrives five decades later under the care of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education.”
Mundell left the University of Waterloo in 1974 to begin a long tenure at Columbia University. In 2003 he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada.
He returned to our campus in 2006 to receive an honorary LL.D. and to address an international economics conference. “The visit was packed with activity, yet possibly the quietest time he ever spent in Waterloo,” says Bob Kerton.
Elementary students rally behind alumnus athlete
This article was originally featured on the Faculty of Engineering website.
A class of elementary students in the Ontario town of Haliburton are getting behind a Waterloo Engineering alumnus who went on to play in the Canadian Football League.
The students want to see Taly Williams (BASc ’94, civil engineering) recognized on the wall of a local arena along with other hometown athletes who made good.
Williams grew up in Haliburton and played for the Waterloo Warriors before suiting up as a defensive back with the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats in the mid-1990s.
He is now a co-founder and managing partner at AQORA Capital, an investment firm focused on water infrastructure, technology and services.
Students in a grades 7 and 8 French immersion class at J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School in Haliburton wrote a letter to the mayor and council of Dysart et al Township after learning about the accomplishments of Williams and his sister, Lesley Tashlin, a sprinter who competed for Canada at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
They argued murals of Williams and Tashlin, who are Black, belong on a wall of fame at the A.J. LaRue Arena along with other local sports stars.
“We are very proud of them and we would like the town to celebrate and recognize their athletic achievements,” the students wrote.
Williams told a local newspaper that his academic success set him apart as a pro athlete and that he was “touched” by the effort by students at his old school.
“I would love to be on a mural to be a symbol to my kids and others regarding what you can achieve and who can achieve it,” he wrote.
Participate in GreenHouse's virtual Social Impact Showcase
Each term, the GreenHouse social impact incubator at St. Paul’s University College hosts its Social Impact Showcase. It celebrates the amazing work GreenHouse students accomplish through their journeys of social innovation and entrepreneurship, while also providing an opportunity for students to acquire seed funding for their ideas.
Due to COVID-19, the event has been made virtual and seven student teams have pitched their ventures online. While the initial adjudication decisions have already been made, there is still time to vote for your favourite student-led social venture.
The People’s Choice Award will be given to the social venture with the most online votes, alongside an additional $1,000. Voting is now open until April 12, with all winners of the Social Impact Fund being announced on April 13, at noon via the GreenHouse Instagram account.
Some of the problems the ventures aim to solve include reducing the carbon footprint of the textile industry, addressing systemic barriers surrounding homeownership, creating models for the circular economy, developing tools for measuring social impact, and supporting youth leadership in anti-racism rhetoric.
Experience the virtual showcase and vote today.
Map the System Finals coming up and other notes
The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement has announced that registration is now open for this year’s Map the System Campus Finals on Thursday, April 15 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
"This event is open to the public and will include a showcase of the top six entries of the year, followed by an announcement of this year’s winning teams, three of which will receive cash prizes, and one that will go on to compete at the Canadian finals," says a note from the organizers. "Not only do this year’s pitches promise to be fascinating, but the event is a perfect opportunity to introduce new audiences to Map the System."
Registration will remain open until 2:00 p.m. on April 15, and a link for the showcase will be distributed prior to April 15.
The University of Waterloo's Employee and Family Assistance Plan provider, Homewood Health, has published an article on vaccine hesitancy. "As COVID-19 continues to evolve with new variants and changing safety measures and guidelines at regional levels, rumours surrounding the safety of vaccinations have dominated both social media and new headlines," says the message from Homewood Health. "These concerns can create skepticism, which may affect decisions about whether or not one should consider receiving a vaccine. These concerns are natural. However, it is important to look to the science and facts, rather than to follow potentially misleading information."
"Rumors about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines have been circulating on social media for months and with the AstraZeneca vaccine recently making headlines over potential risks, public anxiety about receiving COVID-19 vaccines—or vaccine hesitancy—has been expressed," the article begins. "These concerns are natural. However, it is important to look to the science and facts, rather than to follow gossip and “fake news” on social media."
A recent CBC documentary and interactive website features commentary from Waterloo alumnus Valerie Spring, who received an MA in History in 1986 from the University. The Mill Girls tells the "largely unknown story of young women from Newfoundland who made their way to the industrial heartland of Ontario almost eight decades ago," working at Dominion Woolens and Worsteds in Hespeler (now part of Cambridge), which at the time was the largest textile mill in the British Commonwealth (today, the Len's Mill Store outlet operates out of what remains of the old mill).