Tuesday, May 11, 2021

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• Return to Campus Town Hall this afternoon
• Supporting students online this spring
• You don't even have to audition
• Waterloo researchers join Office of Research staff for award-winning workshop
• Q and A with the experts: Has the COVID-19 pandemic justified the need for a wealth tax?

Return to Campus Town Hall this afternoon

President Feridun Hamdullahpur will be hosting a Return to Campus Virtual Town Hall Meeting for faculty and staff today. More than 1,500 people have registered to attend the virtual town hall this afternoon.

Waterloo's senior leaders will outline the University’s plans to expand in-person experiences for many more of our students in the fall and describe how the University is preparing to invite more employees back to campus to support Waterloo’s academic mission.
 
Marilyn Thompson, associate provost, human resources will host and moderate the town hall event. Attendees will be able to take part in a live Q&A following the president and provost's presentation. 

The event begins at 1:30 p.m. Watch the event live on Microsoft Teams.

Supporting students online this spring

A message from the Student Success Office (SSO).

The Student Success Office is continuing to offer a variety of flexible, online resources to support students this spring. We know that the ongoing pandemic has presented students with new challenges, and we’re committed to providing supports that address their unique needs.

Academic development

• Warrior Virtual Study Halls are weekly supported study sessions facilitated by a Peer Success Coach to introduce new academic skills, help students create study goals and answer questions. This is a great space for students who are missing campus study spaces.
• Peer Success Coaches offer one-on-one appointments for personalized support addressing academic challenges and creating a plan for success. Our coaches are upper-year students with experience overcoming their own study roadblocks.
• Making the Most of Online Learning workshop can help students prepare for a successful online term. A Peer Success Coach will discuss course resources, how to create a routine that works and setting up a study environment for success.
• Online Learning Resources are available for students looking to independently build strong study habits. Students can use the Learning Skills Self-Assessment to determine their existing strengths and gain insight into which areas they should focus on developing if they’re unsure where to start.
• Tutor Connect is now in UWaterloo Portal. Students use Tutor Connect to look for a tutor, sign-up to become a tutor and learn about free drop-in tutoring services provided by Waterloo departments and services.

Leadership development

• NEW - Mentor resources are now available online to support students in mentor or peer leader roles.
• Student Leadership Program provides opportunities for students to develop their leadership skills and apply their new knowledge in a campus leadership role.
• Foundational Training Program for Peer Leaders can help students develop core skills for working in a peer-to-peer program at the University of Waterloo.

International student experience

• International student arrival supports like the Quarantine Warrior’s Support Group and International Travel Pre-departure Drop-ins are scheduled each week to support students who are planning to come to Canada.
• International Peer Community and Online Discussions continue to be offered to enhance the student experience from home.
• Immigration Info Sessions for international students to learn how to apply for and maintain their documents.

Global learning

• Students who are interested in going abroad in winter or spring 2022 can attend an information session to get started.
• The Global Experience Certificate is a good way for students to showcase their achievements in internationalization – even from home.

You don't even have to audition

A message from Heather Mair, Tony Munro and Jim Frank, Co-Chairs of the Faculty, Staff and Retiree Giving Program.

We’re celebrating the new Waterloo Faculty, Staff and Retiree Giving Program with a virtual talent showcase, and we want you to join in.

Can you dance like no one’s watching, play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix, paint like Bob Ross, or put your leg behind your head? If you answered “yes”, then dim the lights, channel your inner celebrity, and show your colleagues what you’ve got.

Record your video (maximum 60 seconds) and upload it to the contest site by midnight May 18. Then, from May 21 through May 28, you can return to vote for your favorite video. One winning entry from current faculty and staff will enjoy a day off with pay, and one winning entry from retired faculty and staff will score a $100 gift card to the W Store.

Voting is open to all current and retired faculty and staff. Winners will be announced May 31. Full contest rules are posted on the contest site.

Waterloo researchers join Office of Research staff for award-winning workshop

More than 50 University of Waterloo researchers joined staff from the Office of Research online in mid-April for the annual Planning your Research Trajectory: Strategies for Success workshop.

This was the second annual workshop, with the inaugural event winning a 2020 Quality & Productivity Award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO). The workshop was recognized for Excellence in Research Support for its strategic approach to introducing new faculty members to best practices for research funding success and to the Office of Research and its services. This event has streamlined faculty introductions, will lead to increased grant success rates across programs and has increased understanding of compliance with programs and policies.

Spanning all eight units within the OR, the workshop covered best practices in writing stellar grant applications, climbing the research funding ladder, knowledge mobilization, research partnerships, intellectual property, commercialization, student training/mentoring, ensuring compliance with research ethics, financial administration of research funds, and research communications.

Watch the video about the award-wining workshop: https://www.caubo.ca/discover-caubo/quality-productivity-awards-program/

For more information on the event, please contact Ruth Knechtel at rknechtel@uwaterloo.ca.

Q and A with the experts: Has the COVID-19 pandemic justified the need for a wealth tax?

The University of Waterloo has a number of experts available for comment on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted economic inequities. Chris Lowry, a professor at the University of Waterloo who researches social and political philosophy, bioethics and applied ethics, discusses our relationship with wealth, our understanding of fairness–and how taxes can be used to create a more just society.

Has the pandemic demonstrated the need for a wealth tax in Canada?

The main reasons being offered for a wealth tax are to help pay for the pandemic recovery efforts and to reduce wealth inequality. The pandemic-recovery reason is likely based on an “ability-to-pay” argument: if there is something expensive that must be done, then those who have the most ability to, should pay for it—or at least pay more than the rest of us. The idea here is that asking or requiring payment from those who have the most ability to pay will not have a significant negative impact on their quality of life. When we think like this, we might like the idea of a wealth tax that is applied only to the super-rich and involves a small enough percentage that they will likely not even notice it in their daily life and will nonetheless generate significant tax revenue for pandemic recovery spending.

Is there fairness in Canada around who has more and who has less?

If you think that Canada’s current economic rules regarding taxes, inheritance and subsidies are significantly far away from being fully fair, and you think that some or all of Canada’s rich or super-rich have more than they ought to have, then you might support a wealth tax as a very modest way to help correct that.

But what is fair? There are, of course, plenty of views about this in philosophy, politics, and daily life. I find we can tell if an economic system is fair if it’s designed so that wealth inequality serves a public purpose—meaning that there is a level of wealth inequality that is good for everyone, including low-income Canadians. This view is plausible only to the extent that we have reason to believe a well-designed system can make it in the self-interest of the super-rich or rich to put their wealth to use in ways that are also good for others.

What are the political effects of wealth inequality in Canada?

At the low end of the economic spectrum, healthy democratic processes don’t want people to be disengaged and apathetic about politics because of poverty or income insecurity. Implementing a basic income can help.

At the high end of the economic spectrum, healthy democratic processes don’t want an extreme concentration of wealth and private power in a small number of people or families, because it can then become practically very important for politicians to please these people. That results over time in a system that focuses too much on serving the interests of the super-rich, rather than the needs of the majority or the marginalized.

It is worth noting that to prevent concentrations of wealth and private power that are so excessive they are harmful to a healthy democratic process, we might well need a wealth tax that would be noticeable by the super-rich. Of course, if we are serious about acknowledging harmful levels of wealth inequality and not merely finding agreeable ways to increase tax revenue, then a noticeable wealth tax is worth considering.

Chris Lowry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy. His research includes political philosophy and bioethics focussing on egalitarianism, disability, capabilities, and justice.