Monday, October 3, 2022

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• Join the Conversation at the President's Forum today
• Today, Waterloo Goes Red for United Way
• Check out W Store's new look
• Celebrating Latin American Heritage month
• Fall Student Experience Survey opens October 17
• Keeping Well At Work Daily Inspirations begin and other notes

Join the Conversation at the President's Forum today

The stage is set for this afternoon's President's Forum.

President Vivek Goel will be hosting the first in-person President's Forum in two years in the Theatre of the Arts this afternoon from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The forum will also be livestreamed via Microsoft Teams for those unable to make it in person.

Throughout the fall term President Vivek Goel is holding a series of in-person and virtual consultations to hear ideas from the University community and our partners about how we can accelerate Waterloo’s evolution to become an institution fit for the future.   

The President’s Forum is your opportunity to hear from President Goel about the Waterloo at 100 initiative, and will also include a Q&A session hosted by Sandra Banks, Vice-President, University Relations, where President Goel and other University leaders will answer questions from the audience in person and participating online.

There's still time to register for today's forum and submit a question to University leaders.

Watch the livestream beginning at 1:30 p.m. today

Today, Waterloo Goes Red for United Way

A message from the United Way Campaign.

It’s back: The United Way Workplace Campaign has started today – and campus has turned red for October. Even our iconic Waterloo sign has its traditional red wrapping.

What the campaign is all about

Every year we launch a month-long campaign to raise funds for the United Way Waterloo Region Communities. We encourage all staff and faculty to donate to the United Way Workplace Campaign. You can give a one-time donation, or you can set up an ongoing payroll deduction. Every little bit counts.

Money raised will fund charities across our Region that tens of thousands of our most vulnerable community members rely upon. With fewer donations coming in because of the pandemic, local charities are turning to the United Way more than ever to try to keep pace with the surge in demand for their services. The University of Waterloo has always stepped up to help our community. Let’s make this year the most successful yet.

New this year: Cause Areas

The United Way has organized their charities and funding into 10 targeted campaign areas, or cause areas. The University of Waterloo has decided to incorporate three of these cause areas into our Campaign. They are:

• Advocating for Mental Health
• Increasing Food Security
• Advancing Equity

When you donate money on e-Pledge, the United Way’s donation portal, you’ll be asked if you wish to contribute specific funds to any of these cause areas. It’s a great way to ensure your donations match your values. Or you can keep your donation general and continue to support all of the local charities that the United Way funds.

How to get involved

This year, the United Way Committee has organized amazing events to bring the spirit of community and philanthropy to our campus, and to help us stay red throughout the month of October.

Houseplants 102: Join Bryan Dobson of Gold Leaf Botanicals for a lunch and learn on plant care and get answers to your questions about all things houseplants, as a follow up to last year’s incredible event, on October 13at 12:00 p.m. Prior attendance is not needed. NOTE: This is a virtual event.

Yoga Class: Join host Sandra Gibson to relax your body and align your mind through a yoga session with Thrive on October 14 at 12:00 p.m. in PAC Studio 1.

Soup Day: We’ve been waiting for an in-person Soup Day for two years and it’s finally here! On October 17 at 11:30 a.m. in the Science Teaching Complex (STC) atrium, we’ll be dishing out some delicious, comforting soup (what’s better on an October Monday?), and you might even see some familiar faces working the ladles and pots. Prepared by UW Catering and Events Services, this event will warm everyone. A $5 donation is suggested.

As always, we encourage everyone to participate in any department-run events organized by our incredible ambassadors. Past events have included bake sales, recipe books, and pet calendars. It’s a great way to connect with your teams and provide much needed donations to a great charity.

If you have any questions about donations or events, please connect with us through united.way@uwaterloo.ca. We’re looking forward to another amazing campaign throughout October.

Check out W Store's new look

A message from Print + Retail Solutions.

W Store is celebrating the newly renovated store located in South Campus Hall from 9 am to 4 pm on October 3 and 4 with a gift card giveaway, a visit from King Warrior and new product launches.

W Store will give the first 50 customers who make a purchase ($25 before taxes) each day a gift card to spend later. Gift card amounts range from $10, $15, $50 and $100 and will be randomly allocated. King Warrior will attend on Monday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm to take pictures and shop the newest arrivals, including the latest Adidas collection.

For more information about the draw, check out the giveaway details at https://wstore.uwaterloo.ca/help.

Celebrating Latin American Heritage month

By Tracelyn Cornelius.

October is Latin American Heritage month. Latin American immigrants and their communities continue to play a key role in the social, economic, political, and cultural fabric of Canada. This is an occasion to honour the contributions and share the achievements of Latin Americans in Canada. 

Latin American Heritage month is also an opportunity to explore the shared legacy of colonialism in Canada and Latin America, reflect on the common challenges posed by coloniality today and foster productive Inter-American dialogues for reciprocal solidarity.   

The Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies invites you to learn more about innovative forms of equity and inclusivity borne out of the pluricultural and multilingual experiences in the territory, often referred to as Latin America, but that many call Abya Yala.  

Dr. Madelaine Cahuas, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and a Latina feminist urban scholar is scheduled to facilitate a talk called "Unsettling Latinx Senses of Place: Stories from Tkaronto" on October 26 at 1p.m. on Teams, where she will discuss the fight for environmental justice undertaken by Latin American immigrant women in Toronto. Dr. Cahuas holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, where she focused on Latinx urban life and politics, specifically in Toronto.  

Please register.  

“This Latin American Heritage month, we hope to cultivate empathy, community, and solidarity, while celebrating the achievements of Latin Americans in Kitchener-Waterloo region and across the country,” said Monica Leoni, associate professor and chair of the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies. “We invite you to join us in showcasing and promoting the vibrant diversity of Latin American cultures and experiences on campus and to the broader community.” 

The Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies also helps to promote interdisciplinary collaborations that recognize multiple ways of thinking, through partnerships with programs like the Annual Latin American Film Festival, organized in collaboration with Kitchener Public Library, and the Spanish Conversation Circle offered through the Waterloo Public Library (at the John M. Harper Branch). 

Last year’s celebration of Latin American Heritage Month included an event with sociologist Dolores Figueroa Romero and Indigenous activist Norma Don Juan Pérez, who shared their work on violence against Indigenous women in Mexico and Canada in a presentation titled “Binational Dialogues on the Challenges to Document Violence Against Indigenous Women in Mexico and Canada.”   

Fall Student Experience Survey opens October 17

A message from the Survey Research Centre and Institutional Analysis & Planning Departments.

Are you a student in a course-based program? Your feedback matters. The Student Experience Survey (SES) is a short survey sent out once a term to help the University understand students' learning environment and experience, challenges, and successes.

The survey is opening on the 17 of October. Only 10,000 students receive the survey invitation each term. Keep an eye out for your invitation to participate in the SES. Invitations will be sent to your @uwaterloo.ca email and through LEARN on October 17. If you did not receive an invitation, don’t worry, you may receive one for future iterations of this survey.

The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete and students who submit their survey will receive $5 added to their WATcard.

The survey will be open from October 17 to 31, 2022.

The SES is voluntary and confidential, and if you decide to participate, you can skip any question you do not feel comfortable answering.

The Student Experience Survey is administered by the University of Waterloo Survey Research Centre (SRC), in collaboration with Institutional Analysis & Planning, the Associate Vice President, Academic, the Associate Vice President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, the Keep Learning Team, and the Student Success Office. For more information on the survey, you can visit the FAQ page [hyperlink: uwaterloo.ca/iap/fall2022studentsurvey] or email  srcccinb@uwaterloo.ca.

Keeping Well At Work Daily Inspirations begin and other notes

Need a little inspiration this October? It’s busy, there’s less sunlight as the days are getting shorter, priorities are piling up - there’s just so much going on. But let’s not forget to carve out a little time to make sure we’re doing okay.

Today marks the start of Mental Illness Awareness Week in Canada, where we recognize there is no health without mental health, and so it’s the perfect time to kick off the annual Keeping Well at Work Daily Inspirations challenge.

Every day in October, right here in the Daily Bulletin and on Twitter, take on the bite-sized wellness challenge-of-the-day for a fresh boost of well-being. Invite your colleagues, family and friends to join you. Tweet @OHDuwaterloo to inspire others.

Need an even bigger dose of inspiration for your wellness? Don’t miss the Keeping Well at Work conference on Thursday, October 13 brought to you by Organizational and Human Development in partnership with the Healthy Workplace Committee – register to join in-person at Fed Hall or online.

Are you ready for your first challenge?

Commit to a month of daily inspirations, focused on you

Record the daily inspirations in a place that makes sense for you…. Your notebook, Outlook calendar, OneNote, on individual post it notes - whatever works for you. Take 15 minutes today to set yourself up for success the rest of the month.

Let the games begin: The Games Institute will be hosting an open house on Wednesday, October 5. "Come and discover the interactive and immersive technologies research conducted in the Games Institute's collaborative interdisciplinary environment," says a note from the Games Institute. "Anyone interested in the research happening at the Games Institute (GI) is more than welcome to come and explore our space during the Open House. We especially encourage anyone considering or currently pursuing graduate school or a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Waterloo to come and learn about the work conducted at the GI over the past ten years."

The Games Institute is a 9000-square-foot interdisciplinary research centre with multiple interdisciplinary lab spaces, a maker space with two 3D printers, a 30-person presentation space, and a large collaboration area. The institute is led by Executive Director Dr. Neil Randall (Faculty of Arts) and Associate Director Mark Hancock (Engineering) and has members from every faculty and most departments on campus.

The open house will feature an array of research projects from multiple Virtual Reality experiences (with demos), restorative justice technologies, feminist archiving and social media activism, table-top role playing games, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) exhibits, gamification and more.

The event takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Games Institute space in East Campus 1.

The Office of the Associate Vice-President Education, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism and the Graduate Student Association of the University of Waterloo (GSA-UW) are offering a new workshop series entitled Managing Workplace Conflict, part of a Maintaining Effective Relations with your Supervisor for Graduate Students microlearning series, which is always available online.

"Graduate Student TAs, RAs and Sessional Instructors are critical agents in the research and educational services of the University of Waterloo," says an explanatory note. "While there are many opportunities for work experience and professional development through such roles, it is important to review resources for support when met with interpersonal disagreements or challenges relating to divisions of labour, time or responsibilities."

"Recognizing the inherent power imbalance between graduate students and the supervisory role, it is important to establish healthy and effective working relationships to ensure everyone’s time, abilities and energy are being respected. This allows all parties involved to manage the demands of the work assignment while also balancing the many other competing priorities of academia."

Check out the full list of learning modules