Thursday, June 22, 2023

Five thoughts of a dying professor

Dr. Scott Leatherdale, a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, gave this address to more than 600 students at the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Health convocation. What follows is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News:

When I was originally approached to be the speaker for this convocation ceremony, I was told that I should provide an uplifting and motivational speech. So here I am with my talk titled “Five thoughts of a dying professor.”

Don’t worry, despite the title, I think it might actually fit the bill of uplifting and motivational.

First, be proud.

I came from a poor rural family where education was valued, but going to university was a far-off dream. My dad stopped school in grade 3 because he was old enough to start working on the family farm; it is a shame because he is quite brilliant and would have been an excellent engineer. My mom finished high school and graduated top of her class; she excelled in math and wanted to be an accountant, but she wasn’t allowed to go to university. Out of all my extended family, my older brother and I were first and the only ones to ever go beyond high school. When it came time for my undergraduate convocation, I didn’t really feel like going. It didn’t mean much to me at the time, but I went, and I am glad I did. I didn’t fully appreciate just how important that moment was to my parents; they never had that opportunity. Graduates, I hope you all take a moment today to realize that the people here supporting you are all incredibly proud of you (even if they don’t say it). More importantly, I hope you are also proud of yourself. What an amazing accomplishment; you just graduated from one of the top universities in Canada, and for that matter, the world. Well done.

Second, don’t be afraid to take risks.

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I decided to continue and do a master’s degree. My very scientific and well-thought out plan when making this important life-altering decision was based on evidence that ‘my girlfriend at the time still had a year left in her degree,’ so why not. While that relationship didn’t work out, taking this risk and applying for graduate school did. After completing my master’s, I finally had a sense of what I wanted to do and I was accepted into two PhD programs: here at the University of Waterloo, and at Harvard University. While most people in my life were pushing me to go to the prestigious school in the U.S., I took what seemed like a risk to many and decided to come here instead. This is one of the best career decisions I have ever made. Not only did Waterloo provide me the exact same knowledge and skills as I would have got in the Harvard program, but the innovative and unique culture here gave me all of the tools and confidence I needed to take the necessary risks required to launch my scientific career. Remember, there is nothing wrong with taking a calculated risk.

Read the rest of Dr. Leatherdale's remarks on Waterloo News.

Welcoming new governors to the Board

A message from the Secretariat.

June 6 marked the first Board Meeting of the 2023–2024 governance cycle. With the new year comes a new group of Governors keen to make an impact in Waterloo’s institutional governance.

As of May 1, we welcomed three new Community-at-Large governors for a three-year term:

• Aubrey Basdeo – Head of Canadian Fixed Income (FI), Guardian Capital LP;
• Linda Blair – Chief Experience Officer, Deloitte Canada; and
• Bilal Khan – Managing Director and Head of Snowflake Canada

Our Waterloo staff community also elected a new staff representative for a three-year term:

• Jennisha Wilson – Director, Anti-Racism (Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism)

Members of Senate elected their faculty and student peers as representatives to serve on the Board for a two-year term:

• Marc Aucoin – Professor; Associate Chair, Operations (Department of Chemical Engineering);
• Neela Hassan – PhD student; President, Graduate Students Association;
• Kristiina Montero – Vice-President, Academic and Dean (Renison University College);
• Rory Norris – Undergraduate student; President, Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association;
• David Porreca – Associate Professor; President, Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo;
• Asher Scaini – Undergraduate student; Vice-President, Finance, St. Jerome’s University Student Union

Terms for Community-at-Large, staff, faculty, and students run from May 1 to April 30.

We are working closely with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to fill three Lieutenant-Governor in Council (LGIC) vacancies that are appointed by the province. We look forward to having these individuals in place in the coming year.

You may learn more about all members of the Board of Governors on the Secretariat website. Welcome to all of our new governors – we thank you for your dedication and service to the University of Waterloo!

Summary of June 6 Board of Governors meeting

The Board of Governors held its first meeting of the 2023-24 Governance year and orientation on 6 June 2023. The agenda and meeting materials can be found online.

Board business and action

The Board approved the following items:

• Revisions to Policy 33 – Ethical Behaviour in compliance with Bill 26 – Strengthening Post-secondary Institutions and Students Act, 2022.
• Delegation of authority to the Board Executive Committee regarding the External Auditor appointment for fiscal year ended 30 April 2024.
• Award of a construction management contract for Math 4.
• Grant of an easement to Enova Power.
• Approval of a new board mandate and position descriptions for Governor, Board Chair, Board Vice-Chair and Committee Chair.
• Approval of a new Board Succession Policy.
• Approval of 2024/25 Board and Board Committee dates.
• Approval to file an actuarial valuation report as at 1 January 2023 with the FSRA and CRA.
• Amendment to the University of Waterloo Pension Plan.
• Incidental fee changes effective Fall 2023.

The Board received updates regarding the following items:

• President’s Anti-Racism Task Force (PART).
• Annual Advancement update.

For more information

Future Board meeting dates can be found online. The Secretariat will make Zoom links available to those wishing to attend Board meetings virtually.

If you have any questions, please contact the Secretariat at board@uwaterloo.ca.

Thursday's notes

"English Conversation Circles can help you feel more comfortable navigating a new culture and environment!" says a note from the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC). "We are here to support your transition to Waterloo!"

The WCC is also sharing some Speak Like a Scholar weekly tips for those who might need them: "Good presenters think about the experience of listening to the presentation and use thoughtful repetition, clear transitions, and expressive body language to help the audience follow along!"