Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Updating you on Fall health and safety

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor and James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic & Provost.

In two weeks’ time we will begin a new academic year, welcoming new and returning students to our campuses. Over the summer we’ve kept up-to-date with the latest data from Ontario’s Science Table on COVID-19 and with colleagues in public health to inform our plans for the health and safety of our campuses this Fall.

The University continues to track the evidence very closely. Any decisions we make about our operations will continue to be based on that evidence, and the science that supports it. We also rely on direction and advice from the government, local public health units, other universities and our own campus experts to develop our COVID-19 response plans.

This Fall promises to be as unpredictable as any other point in this pandemic. So as always, we may need to change course and we’ll continue to let you know if our plans change by email and on the COVID-19 information website.

Here's what you need to know.

Stay up to date with vaccinations

Experts agree that staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations is the most important way to keep you and others safe; vaccination offers the best protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. You can book your booster dose on the provincial vaccination portal or by booking with Health Services.

We are a mask-friendly campus

We continue to strongly encourage you to think of the people around you and help limit the spread of COVID by wearing a mask.

Wearing a mask is an easy way to protect yourself and the people around you against most airborne diseases. When you are in close contact with others, we strongly encourage you to consider wearing a tight-fitting, multi-layer mask. A medical-style mask is best.

We’ll continue to make masks available for pick up on campus. You can check the COVID-19 information website for more information on mask pick up. We are confident that everyone in the Waterloo community will continue to do what is necessary to stay safe and to protect each other. Most of all, we ask you to respect people’s choices and work together to make our campuses inviting and friendly.

To be sure, we will not hesitate to bring back a requirement to wear masks if the situation requires it at any point during the term.

If you are sick, stay away

Another way to care for the people around you and limit the spread of disease is to stay away if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or think you were exposed to the virus. Ontario public health requirements still require you to do the Ontario self-assessment to get advice on what to do and whether you should stay home if you have any symptoms.

If you have symptoms and you want to access rapid antigen tests, many local grocery stores and pharmacies have them available for free. Routine testing with rapid antigen tests is not recommended for anyone without symptoms. We have a limited supply of Rapid Antigen Tests available on campus and we will share information on how to access these tests on the COVID-19 information website in the coming weeks.

If you’re a student who needs to miss classes you can self-declare your absence in Quest to let your instructors know what is going on. If you’re an employee, talk to your supervisor about arrangements for work if you need to isolate, and remember to log sick time in WorkDay.

As always, we’ll keep the COVID-19 information website up to date with information. Please continue to check the site often throughout the term.

Gearing up for Fall Convocation

The University of Waterloo is excited to excited to welcome graduating students, their friends and family to campus for convocation ceremonies taking place October 21 and 22. This is a momentous time where we celebrate and recognize the accomplishment of our students.

All ceremonies will be livestreamed and available to watch on the convocation website. Class of 2022 convocation dates and times are listed below: 

Friday, October 21, 2022   

10:00 a.m. — Faculty of Health & Faculty of Science 

2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Mathematics 

Saturday, October 22, 2022 

10:00 a.m. — Faculty of Arts 

2:30 p.m. — Faculty of Engineering & Faculty of Environment

It takes many staff and faculty to bring this large celebration to life, and your interest in volunteering is key to making convocation a memorable experience for graduating students. Volunteer registration will open on September 12.

Up-to-date information is also available on the convocation website. Please email convocation@uwaterloo.ca if you have any questions. 

Stephanie Whitney brings partnership development expertise to Math's Innovation and Entrepreneurship office

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

Stephanie Whitney joined the Faculty of Mathematics this summer as the Director of Research and Innovation Partnerships. She works closely with Professor Charlie Clarke, the Faculty of Math’s Associate Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, to raise research profiles, initiate and develop industry and government relationships, and secure funding to support student entrepreneurship.

She is a professional engineer with more than 15 years of multi-sectoral experience through employment in small and large consulting firms (AET Group, AMEC-Geomatrix, GHD, Deloitte), and a research background including administration at Wilfrid Laurier University and affiliation with the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, and Waterloo’s School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. Over her career, Stephanie has forged and maintained strong relationships with representatives from federal, provincial and municipal governments as well as with private- and public-sector stakeholders in applied research projects.

Stephanie has a PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability (2018), a Master’s degree in Environment and Business (2013), and a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Environmental Engineering with an Option in Management Science (2004).

The following is a lightly edited transcript of a Q&A interview with Joe Petrik, the Cheriton School of Computer Science’s communications officer.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a first-generation born Canadian who grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. I moved to Waterloo when I started my undergrad degree in engineering and have been here since. When starting my studies, initially I was torn between focusing on math and accounting or on science and engineering. But after taking science courses at the Ontario Science Centre Science School, the scale was tipped towards science and engineering.

I’m an avid runner. I also like to cook and love to try different types of cuisine. My husband is a doctoral candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Waterloo. We have two elementary school–age kids who are currently in the Engineering Science Quest summer program that Waterloo runs. It would be great to see a Math camp, one day!

What attracted you to the Faculty of Math’s Innovation Office?

This Directorship role blends several exciting initiatives. As part of the Faculty of Math’s strategic plan, the Math Innovation Office has funding to lead a Math and Computing Research Discovery Days event and to run the eCapstone, an entrepreneurial project piloted at the School of Computer Science that will now be implemented Faculty wide.

I will also get to support student entrepreneurship by working with the Faculty of Math’s Advancement team to facilitate targeted gifts. More broadly, my mandate includes identifying and facilitating large partnerships around strategic opportunities for the Faculty of Math, including interdisciplinary initiatives that may involve institutional collaborators such as the university’s various Research Institutes.

Another project that interests me is the capital project for a new Math building — Math 4. Specifically, I’d like to use my experience and PhD training to work at the intersection between human behaviour and high-performance buildings in a way that serves the Faculty of Math during this capital campaign.

Over the past 15 years, you’ve collaborated with many partners in the private and public sectors. How will you apply your expertise in partnership building, research advocacy and research translation to seed and expand entrepreneurial opportunities for researchers in the Faculty of Mathematics?

Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics is home to many world-class researchers who have made outstanding research contributions, both theoretical and applied. Individually and through clusters in Institutes, some of these researchers have already built robust relationships, but other partnerships may be less developed or in need of facilitation. I’m excited by this opportunity and my aim is to get to know the researchers and facilitate and expand partnerships.

One of my strengths is identifying shared interests and outcomes for everyone in a partnership, whether they are faculty, students or external partners within industry or the public sector. I also love working across the institution, with Government Relations, Advancement, and other teams that can support research dissemination. These are two areas where I can contribute significantly, increasing Math’s profile within the institution and strengthening Math’s relationships with government partners at various scales.

A lot of the research that Faculty of Math professors conduct can be commercialized, but it also has great potential for positive societal impacts. I’m hoping to foster both. Partnerships have all kinds of formats and outcomes, and they don’t have to be immediate. Pure research, for example, can become applied over time. We don’t always see that potential, and even if pure research is not immediately applicable it provides the foundation for future applied research and new opportunities.

Which career accomplishments are you most proud of?

Before I joined the Faculty of Math, I was the Manager of Research Partnerships within Laurier’s Office of Research Services. I led the governance of their Centres and Institutes. Laurier has a policy around establishing, operating and reviewing Centres that was put in place in 2019. When I began in 2020, my role was to bring that policy to life and into operation.

I supported the Centres and Institutes as well as Laurier’s broader research partnerships, the largest of which was with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). The shared commitment between Laurier and the GNWT was to expand the partnership in both depth and breadth. It started with a focus on environment and natural sciences, but there was interest in social sciences — for example, education and social work — and business, areas in which the government wants to build capacity and in which Laurier has established strengths.

In May 2021 I supported the launch of CLRiE — the Centre for Leading Research in Education. Membership in CLRiE spanned all Faculties at Laurier.  Just before I left Laurier, CLRiE was successful in securing an SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant with the School of Community Government within the GNWT. This facilitated relationship is a milestone on which to build even larger partnerships to support education within the Territory. It was nice to see my efforts lead to a tangible outcome.

In general, partners and colleagues have recognized me for having a high degree of customer service orientation. I have a passion and aptitude for research administration and partnership support.

What’s one thing you’d like researchers in the Faculty of Mathematics to know about you?

My door is always open. Whether researchers have established partnerships or they’re not sure where to start, I’m happy to have a conversation to begin and facilitate the process. Partnerships can take many formats and have many sorts of outcomes. I would like to connect with faculty, students and partners who want to learn more and see where a collaborative relationship can take them.

Who has inspired you most in your professional life?

I’ve been fortunate to have many wonderful mentors and role models throughout my career.

First, I’d like to acknowledge my mom. As a child, I saw her being the partnership development and engagement person in the community even before I knew what those terms meant. She was a stay-at-home mom, but she was deeply involved in the community. She started and grew a successful Boy Scout troop in our area. She is the kind of person who sees the benefit of getting everyone involved and excited about a project. I watched her network and engage with people from an early age.

Pearl Sullivan, the first woman Dean of Engineering at Waterloo, showed me what’s possible when passion meets talent.

During my transition from being a PhD candidate to a research administrator, Shari Graydon, the founder and catalyst of Informed Opinions, helped me find and amplify my voice, and taught me that my opinion is valuable and should be shared. After taking some of her courses and meeting and chatting with her at conferences, I published two opinion pieces about various points in my professional journey in University Affairs. One of the op-eds, titled Reflections on being a woman in engineering, was the most read article in that year.

Amelia Clarke, who was the Director of the Master of Environment and Business program when I was a grad student there and who is currently the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo, has been a wonderful mentor, role model and cheerleader for me.

Kathy Hogarth, the current Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work, is an amazing and strong trailblazer. She is a wonderful leader and travel companion, as we went to Yellowknife to work on partnership engagement with the Government of the Northwest Territories.