Monday, February 14, 2022

Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-racism releases Strategic Plan Framework

A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-racism (EDI-R).

Following our response to the Human Rights, Equity, and Inclusion (HREI) organizational review report, the EDI-R Office had paused non-essential work during the month of December to invest our time into the reflection, planning, and building of our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. We are deeply grateful to the University of Waterloo community for understanding the need for this pause, and as a result, we are pleased to share the framework of our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.

Drawing on our mission to build, incubate and enhance EDI-R competency and capacity across campus to identify and interrupt institutional barriers and embed equity within policies, processes, environments and experiences at the University of Waterloo we are committed to reaching the following goals by 2025: 

1. Lead and facilitate culture change
2. Ensure EDI-R leadership is centralized, accessible and accountable 
3. Increase the financial sustainability of the EDI-R Unit 

This framework will guide the rest of our strategic plan which will be released May 2022. 

In addition to the framework, we are excited to launch two new EDI-R projects and initiatives: 

Program Area Leads (PALs)

We are recruiting 20 staff and faculty from across UWaterloo to help assist with embedding equity and anti-racism in their units/areas. The PALs program aims to develop and support new and existing EDI-R leads to assist with the centralizing and harmonizing of this work. If you know anyone who may be a great fit, please encourage them to apply here. 

EDI-R Intake Form 

The EDI-R office is here to support you. To help us best identify and support the needs of our campus community, we have launched an online intake form where individual or departmental requests can be made. These requests can include recommending new projects, a training request, disclosure of harm, general EDI-R inquiry etc. 

Additional EDI-R projects that will be launched within the calendar year include: 

1. AIWL: Advancing into Waterloo Leadership: a pilot program that aims to support racialized employees achieve transferable skills and knowledge to advance into senior leadership/management roles.
2. EDI-R Office Fellowship Program 
3. Anti-Racism Impact Assessment 

As you review the framework and new projects, we welcome and look forward to your feedback. Please share any comments, suggestions, or questions by emailing: equity@uwaterloo.ca.

Indigenous Relations office welcomes new coordinator

A message from the Office of Indigenous Relations.

Effective today, Kevin George joins the Office of Indigenous Relations team as the Indigenous Special Projects Coordinator. Kevin is Potawatomi and Cree and a member of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation located on the shores of Lake Huron and has strong community connection to Fort McMurray 468 First Nation, his Cree community in Northern Alberta.

Kevin has been a University of Waterloo employee since 2020 and is coming to the Indigenous Relations team from Plant Operations. In his new role Kevin will advance the work of the Office of Indigenous Relations with a focus on communications, events, and management of special initiatives and projects. Kevin brings experience in project management, communications, and community building gained through his employment and volunteer experience including the Kitchener Waterloo Youth Basketball Association and Anishinaabeg Outreach. Kevin is an active member of the growing Indigenous community on campus.

Please join us in welcoming Kevin to the Indigenous Relations team.

Have your say: Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey launches today

A message from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA).

The 2022 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) launches today, asking Waterloo graduate students to share their thoughts about their university experience. The survey, sent via email as a personalized link, will seek feedback on topics such as satisfaction of graduate student financial support, professional development, graduate program choices and university services.

The purpose of this national survey is to improve teaching, learning, graduate student services, programs, student support and overall campus life for current and future graduate students. It takes place once every three years, and is administered in collaboration with Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP), Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA), and the Graduate Student Association-UWaterloo (GSA-UW).

Previous survey results have been used to make improvements to graduate student services such as:

• Development of policy workshops
• The launch of a graduate petitions process
• Remote engagement – the creation of a fully online version of Professional Skills Foundations
• More graduate student social spaces – funding of the Graduate House patio expansion

Graduate students, voice your opinion. Check your email today for a personalized survey link.

The future of specialist care in Africa

By Stephanie Longeway. This is an excerpt of an article originally published in Waterloo News.

Infertility is a health issue for many people around the world that can also lead to broader social and economic consequences. However, access to treatment can be difficult or nearly impossible in many regions. 

“Seventy million people on the African continent are impacted by infertility,” says Margaret Mutumba, a PhD candidate in Public Health and Health Systems. “But access to health care can be challenging, and even more challenging when you need to see a specialist.”

Mutumba was born and raised in Uganda, and after completing her master’s degree in England, she returned home to work in health care. She has overseen fertility clinics in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia, and has witnessed firsthand the barriers patients face. 

Accessing care is difficult because there are generally too few specialists and clinics to serve this vast geographical region.  

“Only 21 countries out of 53 have fertility clinics. It’s not enough,” Mutumba says. This has led to major delays in patients being able to seek the treatment they need. Many couples are also required to travel far distances to larger urban centres to access in-person care, adding to the cost of an already expensive service.  

Thinking outside traditional health systems 

Mutumba knew a solution to create more accessible care was needed. She founded MedAtlas, an affordable telemedicine healthcare platform that connects patients to a specialist from anywhere in Africa. But becoming an entrepreneur was not her original goal when she began her journey to better support patients. 

“I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. Coming from a public health background, I have always been used to working in established traditional systems,” says Mutumba, who had been working for eight years in traditional clinic settings. “It wasn’t until I attended a Concept pitch competition that I thought, ‘I could do this.’” 

The Concept $5K pitch competition gives Waterloo students with innovative solutions and high-potential business ideas the opportunity to showcase their work and compete for grant funding. Participants receive valuable feedback, pitching experience and idea validation from a network of entrepreneurs and coaches. 

“Being at the University of Waterloo, and having access to this entrepreneurship ecosystem, has given me the technical expertise and coaching to guide me through the process of building a startup,” Mutumba says.  

The future of health care in Africa 

MedAtlas is focused on building a digital network of licensed specialists to offer accessible and affordable care. The startup launched with 10 doctors serving four countries: Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda. With new funding from Concept, Mutumba plans to expand into West African nations and add an additional 20 doctors to the team.  

Currently, the technology provides holistic fertility care that treats patients’ physical health as well as offering mental health supports and counselling.  

“There is a lot of social stigmas around infertility and there is a huge psychological component when going through this journey,” Mutumba says. Along with the emotional and economic strain infertility can have, there is often devastating social and cultural stigma, particularly for women. 

MedAtlas also allows for the added comfort of seeking treatment from a patient’s own home. “Using digital technology means patients don’t have to travel to consult with a doctor, so there is an added element of privacy.” 

Mutumba is not planning to stop here. She has a vision to grow MedAtlas so that it offers more specialized care across the continent. “I want MedAtlas to create the future of specialist health care in Africa,” she says. 

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News.

Scenes from an active campus

It's been a week since students returned to campus for ever-increasing in-person activities, and our colleagues in Digital Communications put out the call for photos showing how campus is returning to life in February. Here is a selection of images:

Students walk through the Peter Russell Rock Garden.

Students play basketball in the Physical Activities Complex.

Dean of Engineering Mary Wells, Engineering Society President Kathrine von Friedl, the stalwart Tool Bearers and the eponymous Tool (making a special public appearance in honour of the return to campus).