Monday, November 7, 2022

Waterloo will host celebration of life for President Emeritus James Downey

By Jon Parsons.

The University of Waterloo will celebrate the life and legacy of former-president Dr. James (Jim) Downey on November 25 in a special ceremony and reception.

The event takes place in-person and will also be live-streamed on the University’s YouTube channel.

Downey was born in Winterton, Newfoundland in 1939. He completed a BA, BEd and MA at Memorial University, and then a PhD in English at the University of London. Among his many accolades, Downey was a recipient of the Order of Canada and was awarded eight honorary degrees.

During his time at Waterloo, Downey was instrumental in the evolution of the University’s world-renowned co-operative education program as the founding director of the Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education (WatCACE). In 202o, WatCACE would be rebranded as the Work-Learn Institute (WxL).

“Jim’s support of co-operative education at Waterloo continues to serve our students today, and the University’s solid position as a global leader in co-op is a direct result of his leadership and vision,” says president and vice-chancellor Vivek Goel. “Indeed, universities across Canada and beyond have benefitted from his intellect and his dedication to students and their learning.”

Downey served as president of the University of Waterloo from 1993 to 1999. He continued to be an important influence at the University after his time as president, returning to the classroom as a professor of English and taking on several administrative roles.

Ken McLaughlin, distinguished professor emeritus, historian and a friend of Downey’s, was part of the founding committee for WatCACE. In a recent interview on the Beyond the Bulletin podcast, McLaughlin told host Pamela Smyth of Downey’s approach to collegiality.

“He wasn’t just making a peremptory decision. He knew everybody on campus, and he was very friendly and very gregarious,” McLaughlin says.

Ken McLaughlin, historian and distinguished professor emeritus, appears on the Beyond the Bulletin podcast to discuss James Downey’s time as Waterloo president and vice-chancellor.

During his time as Waterloo’s president and vice-chancellor, Downey also served terms as chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Downey became an education consultant for the Government of Ontario and advised several Canadian and international universities on issues of governance and management. He was the founding president of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

Downey’s annual seminar for new university presidents was sponsored by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. In 2005, he was appointed chair of the Board of Governors of the Royal Military College of Canada.

Read more about Downey’s impact on co-operative and experiential education at Waterloo in the feature article from Waterloo’s Work Learn Institute.

A pivotal moment in our collective goal to limit global warming

By Chantal Vallis. This article was originally featured on Waterloo News.

This September, Hurricane’s Ian and Fiona underscored what we already know — extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity. These events displaced approximately 30 million people worldwide in 2020, and this number is expected to increase in the coming decades because of climate change.  

We are at a pivotal moment in our collective goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The conversations, agreements and actions taken now will impact our immediate and long-term collective future. For this reason, the meeting of the world’s leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to 18 for the climate change negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) annual Conference of the Parties (COP) is more critical than ever. Leadership, citizen engagement and global attention are of the utmost importance to push for action.   

The University of Waterloo, through the Waterloo Climate Institute, has been an official observer of the conferences for many years. For COP27, the institute will send an in-person delegation of top student leaders and faculty researchers to represent the University, bear witness to the negotiations and foster an informed conversation about the climate crisis at Waterloo. 

Dr. Zahid Butt, a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences, and Alexandra Ho, Master of Climate Change student, are currently in Sharm El Sheikh to observe the first week of the negotiations. Dr. Sarah Burch, Waterloo Climate Institute’s executive director, and Isra Saeed, PhD candidate in sustainability management, will participate in the second week. 

Mirroring the interdisciplinary nature of the Waterloo Climate Institute and the complexity of the climate crisis, the delegates bring a range of expertise to the conference spanning the topics of health, governance, energy, and communications. Their attendance offers the broader Waterloo community a deeper understanding of the negotiations process and to understand the key takeaways as the world comes together in Egypt to tackle the most pressing issue of our time.

Follow the delegation.

Take the 2022 Travel Survey

A message from the Sustainability Office.

All members of the campus community are invited to complete the 2022 travel survey, hosted jointly by the University and the Region of Waterloo’s TravelWise program.

Whether you drive, walk, bike, take transit, carpool, or anything else, we want to hear from you! Your feedback develops a more detailed understanding of how employees and students travel to campus, and helps identify programs, services, and infrastructure that can support sustainable travel choices.

This input is used to help the University of Waterloo uncover changing travel patterns, particularly after the past few years, and feeds into ongoing transportation planning efforts within the campus and across the wider community.

Plus, you can be entered into a prize draw through the TravelWise program for:

• One $500 VIA Rail gift card
• One of 20 $50 gift certificates for your choice of Uptown Waterloo, Downtown Kitchener, or Downtown Cambridge (Galt)

The survey is fully anonymous, takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, and is available between November 7 and November 18.

For more information, and to complete the survey, please visit the 2022 Travel Survey launch page.

Questions about the survey can be directed to sustainability@uwaterloo.ca.

Provide your feedback on LEARN by joining a focus group

A message from Information Systems and Technology (IST).

Instructors, faculty and staff of the University of Waterloo community are invited to participate in upcoming focus group sessions for the Learning Management System (LMS) Review (LEARN) project. The focus group will require approximately one hour of your time. Questions, informed by the LMS Review survey results, will be asked to gather additional details on the LEARN platform and how it may or may not meet ongoing teaching and learning needs. Those interested in attending may register for one session via Portal.

Instructors/Faculty/Staff focus groups | Led by LMS Review project team, via Teams

Please register via Portal for one of the below sessions. Capacity for all sessions will be limited.

• Tuesday, November 8, 2022 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon | Register via Portal
• Friday, November 11, 2022 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. | Register via Portal
• Tuesday, November 15, 2022 - 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. | Register via Portal
• Wednesday, November 16, 2022 - 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. | Register via Portal
• Thursday, November 24, 2022 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon | Register via Portal

 We look forward to your participation in this project.

WIL Programs becomes the Centre for Work-Integrated Learning

By Matthew King.

Co-operative and Experiential Education’s (CEE’s) Work-integrated learning (WIL) Programs is changing – or the name at least. The department will now be called the Centre for Work-Integrated Learning to better reflect the expanded mandate of the portfolio.

The Centre for WIL will continue to deliver PD courses, the EDGE experiential education certificate and strategic initiatives like WE Accelerate. The name change will help to better align with other units in CEE and centres around campus.

“As leaders in the pedagogy and practice of work-integrated learning, this change of name will help reflect the truly innovative and hard work of our team in advancing our WIL curriculum, courses, and programs over the last two-plus years,” says Andrea Prier, Director, Centre for WIL.

The rebrand will continue into the new year with updated branding, signage and a web presence that outlines the many offerings from the Centre for WIL. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Professor leads wetland clean-up event as a teachable moment

Members of the University of Waterloo community led by Dr. Rebecca Rooney and the Waterloo Wetland Lab will engage in a wetland clean-up event and information session on Wednesday, November 9.

The clean-up event will take place at the wetland at the corner of Columbia and Fischer-Hallman, across the street from the Sobeys plaza. It is one of the first sites in Canada where biocontrol moths have been released to help control Common Reed, which was listed as Canada’s worst invasive plant in 2005. The highly visible site has collected a large amount of litter. Led by professor Rooney and the Waterloo Wetland Lab, the research team began studying the invasive Common Reed at this campus property in 2022.

Members of the media are welcome to hear from researchers, ask questions about the value of wetlands and the threats facing them, and discuss the proposed provincial changes to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System.

Following the presentation, all are invited to participate in the wetland clean-up event—tools, gloves, bags, and n95 respirators will be provided.

When: Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Where: Wetland at the corner of Columbia and Fischer-Hallman, across the street from the Sobeys.

Time: 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.

Rain date: Friday, November 11, 2022