Wednesday, April 27, 2022

President's Anti-Racism Taskforce releases report

After more than a year of planning and consultations with the University community, the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) has developed eighty-eight recommendations aimed at rooting out and eliminating racism at the University. 

PART is comprised of a team of advisors from Black, Indigenous and other racialized groups on campus, committed to addressing racism at the University. These individuals formed working groups and implementation teams, which were tasked with connecting with the University community to develop an overarching framework for dismantling racism and discrimination, and for building and sustaining an inclusive environment.  

PART has suggested leaders across the University who will be responsible for each recommendation. The Office of the President will support these leaders with the resources, programs, services, initiatives, and other activities needed to implement the recommendations.  

“I am pleased to receive PART’s comprehensive report with eighty-eight recommendations to address racism at the University,” said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor. “Implementing the PART report’s recommendations requires a collective effort and I look forward to working with the University community to carry out this important work."

University leaders will regularly review and discuss progress on implementing these recommendations. Progress updates and other accountability frameworks will be shared through the Anti-racism website and other communications channels. 

“Though we have a great deal of work ahead of us, the PART report highlights the great work that has already happened across our campuses including: two diplomas in Black Studies starting Fall 2022, the Black Excellence and Indigenous Excellence Cluster Hire initiatives, ongoing University-wide events, such as the Anti-racism book club, and the ongoing Equity Data survey,” Goel said. 

President Goel has expressed his sincere gratitude to the members of PART and its working groups, and all members of our community who have been involved in anti-racism initiatives across our campuses, including the Community Collaborative, and other groups that were formed for similar purposes.   

“It takes bravery, dedication and resilience to do this work,” he said. You have worked tirelessly to meet your mandates, responsibilities, and objectives, which you fully fulfilled in the face of the pandemic and other challenges. I am grateful for the work you have accomplished for the betterment of the University. You are a shining light for us all.” 

The president said that anti-racism is the shared responsibility of the entire community – not that of a specific leader or a campus unit. He called on all faculty members, students and staff and the wider University community to work together to assist and support those accountable for PART’s recommendations, and to look for ways to implement anti-racism into their daily work.

President Goel will host a president's forum on Thursday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m. to spark a conversation about the work of PART, the final report and its eighty-eight recommendations to address racism at the University. Register now.

New approach to advance care planning preferred by Canadian long-term care residents

Researchers have developed a better way to support end-of-life planning in long-term care homes, according to a recent study. 

The researchers also found that only 40 per cent of homes were routinely involving residents in end-of-life care discussions. 

“Often people assume that a non-capable resident can’t participate, but there are other ways of communicating and understanding an individual’s preferences,” said George Heckman, a researcher in Waterloo’s School of Public Health Sciences and Schlegel Research Chair with the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging. 

The new approach to support end-of-life planning, Better tArgeting, Better outcomes for frail ELderly patients (BABEL), was found to be much more comprehensive than the usual manner in which long-term care homes conduct advance care planning.

The BABEL approach, developed by researchers at the Universities of Waterloo, Manitoba and Calgary, uses a tailored, person-centred approach based on best practices, and was designed with stakeholder input. BABEL was tested in 29 long-term care homes in three provinces: Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. 

Advance care planning is a critical process that ensures individuals’ values, wishes and preferences are understood and honoured at the end of life. BABEL achieves that by involving residents as active participants and putting their values and wishes first. Since it is hard for individuals to think about hypotheticals, the care team focuses on situations most likely to happen to a resident and how outcomes of different treatments might align with their individual goals. 

“It’s a conversation that needs to happen often, as health status changes, and it involves residents, family members and the care team,” Heckman said. “As a physician, I know how important care at end of life is for individuals and their families, and this is an opportunity to get this right. BABEL certainly seems to help residents and substitute decision-makers with these otherwise challenging conversations and paves the way for more timely and comprehensive palliative care.”

Residents who participated in BABEL also avoided unhelpful and potentially harmful treatments at end of life. “Reducing the use of unnecessary treatments is often preferred at the end of life when comfort becomes a higher priority,” Heckman said. 

“Reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics in care settings also has broader benefits, given its current overuse.” The study found that lower use of antibiotics in participating residents did not impact survival.

The study, detailing the researchers’ findings, was authored by Heckman, the University of Manitoba’s Allan Garland and a team of Canadian researchers. It was published in the journal Age and Ageing. The research was funded by the Canadian Frailty Network and Research Manitoba.

Waterloo selected to compete in four-year EV contest

Waterloo students will work on a donated 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ as competitors in the four-year EcoCAR EV Challenge.

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Engineering website.

A team from the University of Waterloo has been named to compete in a four-year event to engineer a next-generation, battery-powered electric vehicle.

Waterloo will tackle the EcoCAR EV Challenge alongside teams from 14 other North America schools including the Georgia Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech. It is one of only two Canadian universities selected.

Sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks, and managed by the Argonne National Laboratory, the event challenges students to use the latest automation and vehicle connectivity to improve energy efficiency, add features for consumers and help the automotive industry meet its decarbonization needs.

It will also include a major focus on diversity, equity and inclusion while fostering clean energy mobility solutions.

“These budding energy leaders are heeding President Biden's call to get more Americans into EVs,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a media release today. “Collegiate competitions like EcoCAR are critical to building a clean energy talent pipeline that reflects the diversity of America and make room for more domestic manufacturing to strengthen our energy independence.” 

Teams chosen for the prestigious event, which begins this fall and continues until the spring of 2026, will receive extensive financial support and mentoring while competing for prize money by building on a donated 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ.

Renison Founders' Day celebrations will turn hope into action

A message from Renison University College.

For over 60 years, with each Founders’ Day celebration, Renison staff, faculty, students, alumni, donors and other community members come together to honour our core values and the work that we do to promote them. This annual celebration includes formally recognizing individuals who live these values and help to advance them each and every day. To become a Renison Honouree is to be welcomed into a select company of founders of positive change.

Turning Hope into Action - Renison 2022 Founders' Day Celebrations will take place Thursday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. online. Register for the event.

Keynote Speaker: Cornelia (Nel) Wieman, MSc, MD, FRCPC

Dr. Nel Wieman is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in British Columbia.  She is Anishinaabe (Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba) and lives, works and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Dr. Wieman has served as the President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) since 2016.

Dr. Wieman completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada's first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 20 years' clinical experience, working with Indigenous people in both rural/reserve and urban settings. Her previous activities include co-directing an Indigenous health research program in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the National Network for Indigenous Mental Health Research, being Deputy Chair of Health Canada's Research Ethics Board, and serving on CIHR's Governing Council. She has also worked and taught in many academic settings, has chaired national advisory groups within First Nations Inuit Health Branch - Health Canada, and has served as a Director on many boards, including the Indspire Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross. She sits on the Executive Committee of the National Consortium on Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME). She has been appointed to the BC Provincial Task Team charged with ensuring implementation of the recommendations arising from the “In Plain Sight” report.

Dr. Wieman holds faculty appointments at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia and McMaster University.

Have your say: Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey ends Friday

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

The 2022 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) asking Waterloo graduate students to share their thoughts about their university experience, is ending on Friday, April 29.

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.

Graduate students can voice their opinion by checking their @UWaterloo email today for an invitation sent from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) to find a personalized link. Every student who submits the 20-minute survey receives $5 on their Watcard and a chance to win one (1) of ten (10) $100 weekly prizes.

WUSA's poster run returns and other notices, bills, and posts

The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association is reviving its poster run service for the spring term. "Promote your event or program to the Waterloo campus community through the WUSA Poster Run starting back up this spring," says an announcement from WUSA. "In just a few short steps your message can be seen by hundreds of students walking around campus. Learn more by visiting the WUSA Poster Run web page and following the instructions for submitting your poster. https://bit.ly/WUSAposterrun."

FAUW's Equity Committee (formerly the Status of Women & Equity Committee, or "SWEC") has issued a call for nominations for its Equity & Inclusivity Award. Established in 2012, the Equity & Inclusivity Award recognizes a member, group, or affiliate of the University of Waterloo community. The award is meant to further support individuals or groups who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving equity, inclusivity, and/or diversity at the University of Waterloo. 

Nomination packages can be sent, in a single PDF file, to Kim Hong Nguyen, chair of the Equity Committee via email at  kh5nguye@uwaterloo.ca. Nominations will be accepted up until May 13, 2022.