Friday, May 14, 2021

A decade of prioritizing student growth and development

By Melanie Scott. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

During his time as president and vice-chancellor, Feridun Hamdullahpur has invested deeply in the success, support and development of Waterloo students. Known for approaching students on campus to chat or say hello, Hamdullahpur often took the time to make connections. Over the past decade, he has overseen the growth and development of our campuses, a renowned co-op program and many diverse initiatives, all designed to foster student learning and growth.

“Feridun’s genuine care for our students has been a hallmark of his leadership,” says Chris Read, associate provost, students. “Over the last decade, he’s championed and supported initiatives and programs that focus not just on student academic success, but on every aspect of the student experience here at Waterloo. These initiatives have elevated our campus culture, allowed students to thrive during their time here and set them up for success as they continue into the workforce as industry leaders and change makers.”

A growing campus

Under Hamdullapur’s leadership, 17 innovative spaces have been added to the University of Waterloo. These include our Stratford Campus, three engineering buildings, Math 3 as well as the Student Success Office and The Centre — all added to support new and growing programs.

Students spend much of their time on our campuses, and for many, it’s their first time away from home. Buildings and spaces like Claudette Millar Hall, Waterloo’s newest residence, the upcoming PAC-SLC expansion, the Field House and Hagey Hall Hub were designed for comfortable living, studying and recreation. Waterloo’s campuses have evolved to feel like home for students.

Other supports and initiatives, such as the Student Success Office (SSO) and The Centre were created to enhance the student experience by centralizing services and making more resources available to students. Both offices were crucial supports for students when Waterloo transitioned to online learning during the global pandemic. 

President Feridun Hamdullaphur poses with students from different faculties at the opening of the Student Success Office in 2011.

A leader in experiential learning

Hamdullaphur’s focus on experiential learning has ensured the successful and continued growth of North America’s largest co-op program. Hands-on work experience through Waterloo’s renowned co-op program has enriched student learning, provided students with valuable job experience and prepared them for the workplace. Co-operative education opportunities are now available for the majority of undergraduate programs and many graduate programs at Waterloo. Students are better prepared to enter the workforce with 96 per cent of co-op grads, employed six months after graduation, working in positions related to skills they acquired at Waterloo.

Meeting student needs with the right supports

Through the efforts of the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH), which began in 2017, Hamdullaphur has ensured that student mental health and wellness are pressing priorities on campus. The PAC-SMH developed 36 recommendations to improve student mental health and wellness on campus, and as of March 20, 2021, 86 per cent of those recommendations have been completed through the Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH).

“In 2017, when the University community rallied around concerns about student mental health, Feridun became fully engaged in the discussions. He was convinced that the University needed to demonstrate an immediate strong commitment to action on mental health,” says Walter Mittelstaedt, director of Campus Wellness. “His sponsorship of the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH), and the follow-up Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH) has changed the University. His leadership in this area has been consistent in calling for a culture of caring at the University and a balance between academic success and student wellness.” 

In 2018, President Feridun Hamdullahpur, along with Director of Campus Wellness Walter Mittelstaedt and others participated in the student mental health forum.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News.

Event will explore Asian identity

A message from the President's Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART).

The President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) is pleased to present Explorations of Asian Identity, Perceptions and Belonging, in honour of Asian Heritage Month.

The virtual event will take place on Tuesday, May 25 at 1:00 p.m. and feature a moderated panel discussion that explores Asian-Canadian identity and anti-Asian racism, particularly in light of the rise in hate crimes over the past year.

Panelists bring a breadth of perspectives from human rights law, private-sector diversity, equity and inclusion work, critical race studies, Asian diasporic literature, and their lived experiences.

Speakers

• Tanya "Toni" De Mello, Assistant Dean of Students, Ryerson University Faculty of Law
• Vinh Nguyen, Associate Professor, Renison University College
• Jason Tham, CEO and co-founder Nuology
• Moderator: Anne Galang, Associate Director, Executive Communications, University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is addressing systemic racism on campus through the work of PART. This panel is the latest in a series of events dedicated to race, culture and ethnicity awareness. All University employees, students, alumni and the wider community are invited to join.

Learn more and register through Ticketfi.

Quest is moving to Oracle Cloud

A message from Information Systems & Technology (IST).

The University’s student information system Quest will move from its current on-premises environment to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The Oracle Cloud offering is pre-configured and tightly integrated with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, the foundation on which Quest is built, and comes with Oracle’s database software Cloud Manager, a tool that enables optimization of resources, streamlines processes, and improves performance. 

Leveraging Oracle Cloud’s high-performance computing capabilities to optimize your overall experience

Oracle's next-generation cloud infrastructure will provide a modern, high-performance environment for our Quest system. Leveraging real-time data analytics, the student information system team will be able to quickly scale development and production environments to meet demand. This leading-edge technology will ensure the Questsupport team is in the best position to respond to feature and functionality requests, better supporting and enhancing your overall experience. Visit the project web page to view a full list of benefits.

How will this change impact me?

There will be no change to visual elements within Quest, or in how students and/or employees interact with the system; this work will impact Quest's infrastructure only (i.e., work will be completed "behind the scenes"). Once Questhas been moved to the Oracle Cloud environment, hosting of Quest data will move from the University's on-premises data centres to Oracle Cloud's secure Canadian data centres, hosted in Toronto and Montreal.

Ensuring the privacy and security of Quest data

The continued privacy and integrity of Quest student information is and will continue to be the project's top priority. A security review and two privacy information risk assessments have been completed and no issues or risks were identified.

This project will take a security by design approach, where Security Information Services will participate throughout the duration of the project, helping to design and review system configurations, conduct regular security assessments, and review and measure risks against the NIST-800-171 security standard. Summaries of this work will be made available on the project site.

Learn more

You are encouraged to visit the Quest moving to Oracle Cloud project page to learn more about this work, view the privacy and security assessment documents, see the project timeline, and project FAQs.

Sustainability committee recruiting new members

The President’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (PACES) is currently recruiting new members. Formed in 2015, PACES represents a cross-section of stakeholders on campus, including students, faculty, staff, and administration, who work to advance Waterloo’s sustainability efforts and activities. The following positions are open for a two-year term from May 2021 to April 2023:

• One faculty position
• One staff position

The committee meets at least once per term. If you are interested in joining, please submit an application by Friday, May 21 at 11:59 p.m. For more information and to apply, please visit the PACES webpage.

Upcoming talk on sports and gender and other notes

Renison University College and the Waterloo Public Library are teaming up for a lecture on May 18 entitled Field of Dreamers: Recreational Sports Outside the Gender Binary.

"How do we imagine recreational sports outside of the gender binary and the forms of toxic masculinity that often permeate these spaces?" asks the lecture's promotional material. "The Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association and Sqwish recreational basketball drop in have been asking these questions for the last 5 years in Toronto. This panel will discuss the basics of creating queer and non-binary sports leagues, the political work of recreational sports, and the need for municipalities to re-imagine adult recreation post-pandemic."

The event will be moderated by Sam Toman, communications officer in the Faculty of Environment, and will feature a panel including:

• Craig Fortier, professor in Social Development Studies at Renison;
• LJ Robinson;
• Amina Mohamed; and 
• Mingus.

The event takes place on Tuesday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. For more information on the panellists and to register, visit Eventbrite.

The next meeting of the University's Senate takes place on Monday, May 17 via MS Teams videoconference. "Guests are welcome to join the open session of the meeting similar to a normal "in-person" Senate meeting," says a note from the Secretariat. "If you would like to attend the meeting as a guest observer, please contact Emily Schroeder to request to join the meeting. All requests must be received by noon Monday 17 May 2021. The agenda is posted on the Senate webpage."