Monday, April 18, 2022

Face covering requirement extended until further notice

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor; James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic & Provost; and Kate Windsor, Director of Safety.

Last week we sent you an update about health and safety at the University for the spring term. We have previously announced that our plans to relax some of our requirements at the start of the spring term on May 1 were based on public health conditions.

We have been monitoring changes to the public health environment on our campus, in Waterloo Region, and beyond, using a variety of indicators including campus data, case counts, test positivity rates, local hospitalization and wastewater data, and consulting public health guidance.

Face covering requirement extended

Based on current trends, we have determined that it is necessary to extend our current face covering requirement until further notice. This requirement will continue through our Convocation ceremonies in June, at which point we will review public health conditions and advise of any updates.

This means that masks remain mandatory in most indoor spaces for the foreseeable future. The University has appropriate options for face coverings available at no cost to units for employees and students. Check the COVID-19 website for more information. Ongoing, in work areas not accessible to the public, employees are not required to wear a mask if physical distancing of 2m is maintained.

Wear a mask that fits well, has multiple layers, and includes an effective filter layer. Masks are worn properly only if they cover the mouth, nose and chin and fit snugly.

As we have stated previously, messaging to the public from health authorities throughout the pandemic has been consistent: vaccination offers the best protection against the worst effects of COVID-19 and its variants and is the most important way to protect public health. For this reason, we continue to strongly recommend that you have a full course of vaccination, including third or fourth doses when you are eligible. You should also ensure that you have access to your proof of vaccination and QR code if you have been vaccinated in a region that provides one.

We will provide information on how to keep your vaccination records up to date with the University before May 1 to help minimize any disruption to work and learning if we need to bring back a proof of vaccination requirement.

More information is available online on the COVID-19 Information website.

We understand that these changes in guidance can be stressful, but they are necessary. Thank you yet again for everything you are all doing to keep one another safe. Please follow the links embedded above for more information, and send any questions you may have to coronavirus@uwaterloo.ca.

Indigenous Collection now available at W Store

A message from Print + Retail Solutions and the Office of Indigenous Relations.

Building on the success and impact of a previous partnership, Print + Retail Solutions and the Office of Indigenous Relations have worked closely together to curate a new collection of Indigenous products in collaboration with a local Indigenous artist, Alanah Astehtsi Otsistohkwa (Morningstar) Jewell of Morningstar Designs.

Alanah is a mixed French-First Nations artist, belonging to the Bear Clan from the Oneida Nation of the Thames. Alanah drew her inspiration for this design from the Grand River, the land that is part of the Haldimand Tract, on which the University sits. “I wanted to create something that incorporates the feeling of being on these lands in a natural way,” says Alanah Astehtsi Otsistohkwa (Morningstar) Jewell.

“I often go to the Grand River and each time, I am fortunate enough to see a heron. It was important for me to illustrate herons in flight, taking energy from the Great Tree of Peace and the florals that grow on the side of the river bed and flow up towards the moon. The moon controls the waters and has a deep connection to the Grand River. The circular shape depicts the cycles of the natural world and the idea of people sitting in a circle learning from one another, demonstrating the interdependence and reciprocal nature of the land, wildlife and people.

“The Office of Indigenous Relations is very excited to have this beautiful Indigenous collection available at W Store,” says Jean Becker, associate vice-president, Indigenous Relations Office. “We are grateful to the W Store team for working with us to make this happen, and grateful to have these exquisite designs by the gifted artists, Alanah and Emma, available to the Waterloo community.”

The collection includes a variety of unique items such as apparel, drinkware, stationery, and beaded jewellery. The beaded jewellery was crafted by another local Indigenous artist, Emma Rain Smith, who took Alanah’s original artwork or elements within it and incorporated them into traditional beadwork. Emma is an Anishinaabeg artist from Bkejwanong (Walpole Island) First Nation. Emma is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Waterloo in the Department of History.

This collection also includes a t-shirt of Alanah’s full design in black and white, which has been screen printed on an Orange Shirt to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to build upon our 2021 partnership with the Office of Indigenous Relations for the Orange Shirts, which commemorated the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Working with them is always a great opportunity,” says Ryan Jacobs, director of the Print + Retail Solutions department.

He adds: “Our team is beyond pleased with the outcome of this new collaboration. We look forward to continuing to work with the Indigenous Relations team to expand this initial collection and support the great work they do for the campus. Everyone has a role to play in the decolonization and Indigenization of the University, and we’re proud to be able to play a small part in this critical work.”

W Store will be donating proceeds from the sale of this collection to support the Indigenous Student Success Fund on campus. The Indigenous Student Success Fund was established to provide financial assistance to those Indigenous students who are most at risk of abandoning their education due to financial hardship.

Funds received will be used to support students with:

• Tuition and fees not covered by third-party funding, scholarships, financial aid, grants or other potential sources of funding.
• Educational enrichment opportunities, where other funding cannot be found, examples include but are not limited to conference fees, professional testing fees, and student professional association fees. 
• Tools and other school supplies or additional technology needs, where costs are over and above third-party funding allowances and additional funding cannot be found.
• Emergency housing-related expenses, including rental payment.
• Emergency transportation costs. Examples include travelling home for family emergencies, travelling home or to a ceremony for cultural and/or mental health reasons.
• Emergency family and childcare costs for Indigenous students with families. 
• Healthcare and/or medical expenses above what is covered through NHIB, OHIP or UHIP, as well as any supplementary healthcare offered by the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Associations' Waterloo Student Health Plan (www.studentcare.ca).
• Other unanticipated expenses.

This collection is available for purchase in-store at W Store located in South Campus Hall or online at wstore.ca.

For more information about this collection, please contact wstore@uwaterloo.ca. For questions directly related to Indigenous initiatives, please reach out to Robin Stadelbauer from the Office of Indigenous Relations at robin.stadelbauer@uwaterloo.ca.

Unleashing inspired talent

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

“We have a unique opportunity for universities and businesses to work together to ensure we are equipping talent to find innovative solutions that will reshape our local and global economies,” said the University of Waterloo’s President, Vivek Goel, in his opening address at the Waterloo Innovation Summit on April 14.

This half-day event welcomed approximately 300 virtual and in-person guests from business, academic and government sectors to discuss how the talent evolution is transforming the workforce in Canada and around the world. From the rapid shift to remote work, to challenges recruiting top talent, to evolving workplace focus on diversity, equity and inclusion — employers and employees are rethinking the world of work. And, Goel adds, universities must rethink how we prepare the next generation of talent to navigate these transformations and inspire them to be champions of equity, sustainability and democracy.

The global talent reset

The Summit’s first keynote was delivered by Dominic Barton, Chancellor of University of Waterloo and former Ambassador of Canada to the People’s Republic of China.

Barton began by naming some of the deep forces underway that are fundamentally changing how we think about developing and attracting talent and says that the speed at which technology is changing is the biggest force shifting the nature of work. He said, “the clock speed of the world has sped up dramatically,” and businesses must be prepared to innovate and adapt much more quickly or risk becoming a “dinosaur”.

Skilled talent is imperative to keeping pace with technology. Barton said that Canadian businesses will need to think outside our borders to attract global talent to fill this demand. People used to move for work, and now work is moving to people.

Hear Barton’s perspective on the need to recruit internationally

Canada’s growth opportunity

John Stackhouse, senior vice-president in the Office of the CEO, Royal Bank of Canada, addressed the Summit audience in person. He began his remarks by acknowledging that Canada’s reopening plan post-pandemic looks a little more financially uncertain than what we envisioned one-year ago. “Canada’s medium-term growth prospects are trailing,” he said. “We need a growth agenda.”

Stackhouse said climate innovation has the potential to be Canada’s growth accelerator. We have the natural resources as well as the expertise and talent here to lead in our global goal to reach net-zero. However, Canada needs to bring together capital and talent to rise to this opportunity and he believes that it will be the younger generation that can do this well. He said the people who will drive the innovations to get us to net-zero are sitting in a classroom right now and we must learn from them. “We need to keep our doors and our minds open to them on how to tackle problems in new ways that combine human skills and technical skills.”

Hear more from Stackhouse on Canada’s growth potential

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News

Spread the word to help find a kidney for Matt Forrest

Matt Forrest is the spouse of Shona Forrest, a Waterloo staff member in the Student Success Office. Shona is on leave after having her second child last year and supporting her partner through his health challenges. Matt was diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease (Berger’s disease) that also impacts his immune system. As the disease has quickly progressed, Matt now has a window of six months to two years to receive a new kidney. Shona and Matt are spreading the word to help find a much-needed donor. The website akidneyformatt.com outlines Matt’s story and has more detail about becoming a living donor. Their story was also featured in a story in The Record.

Please help Matt and Shona by visiting the website, sharing their story, and registering to be a donor.

Senate meets today and other notes

The University's Senate meets today at 3:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. Among the agenda items:

• A motion from the Senate Graduate & Research Council to change the coursework study option degree type/designation from Master of Science (MSc) in Kinesiology to Master of Kinesiology (MKin), effective 1 September 2022;
• Reports from the Teaching Awards Committees announcing the recipients of the Amit & Meena Chakma Awards for Exceptional Teaching by a Student and the Distinguished Teacher Awards;
• Reports from the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA); and
• Reports from the President, the Vice-President, Academic & Provost, and the Vice-President, Research and International.

The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) and the Department of Chemistry are hosting a Distinguished Lecture by Ian Manners, a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Victoria entitled Functional Nano and Micron-Scale Materials via Seeded Self-Assembly Driven by Crystallization.

"The ability to prepare materials in the 10 nm – 100 micron size regime with controlled shape, dimensions, tailored functionality, and structural hierarchy is still in its relative infancy and currently remains the virtually exclusive domain of biology," says the talk's abstract. "In this talk recent developments concerning a promising “seeded growth” route to well-defined 1D, 2D, and more complex hierarchical materials on these length-scales termed “living” crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA), will be described. This talk will focus on the creation of functional architectures via living CDSA with emphasis on applications in catalysis, optoelectronics, nanomedicine, and surface modification."

This in-person lecture will take place in QNC 1501 on Tuesday, April 19 at 3:00 p.m.

Professor Ian Manners is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Victoria, where he holds a Canada 150 Research Chair. His research interests focus on the development of new synthetic approaches involving catalysis and self-assembly and their applications in molecular chemistry, polymer and materials science, nanoscience, optoelectronics, biomedicine, and energy-related science. Manners also holds a visiting professorship at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He is an elected member of the Canadian and the British National Academies of Science and the European Academy of Science.