Wednesday, October 18, 2023

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• Sustainability Office urges you to take the trash out of Zero Waste Month
• Peer-to-peer support critical to Centre for Work-Integrated Learning's success
• GreenHouse celebrates 10 years of social community impact
• PANDA study seeks lens wearers to compare the performance of 2 soft contact lenses
• Library celebrates Open Access Week Next Week and other notes

Sustainability Office urges you to take the trash out of Zero Waste Month

A message from the Sustainability Office.

October is zero waste month, and the Sustainability Office is here to support the prevention and diversion of waste on campus. Continue reading to discover programs and events to help Waterloo become a zero-waste campus!

Join the Sustainability Office on Thursday, October 26 for the annual zero waste fair! The official launch of the Free Store, sustainability prizes, and waste-reduction resources will be available in the SLC Marketplace and Multipurpose room from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Plus, free coffee awaits the first 150 people to bring their own reusable cup.

Unsure how to sort your waste? The Shift: Zero Sorting Guide allows you to search for waste items on campus to find out where they go! Better yet, avoid disposing reuseable items by donating them to the Sustainability Office’s Free Store. Keep an eye out on our website and social media to learn about upcoming Free Store pop-ups to get some free school supplies and home goods! Donations to the Free Store are accepted Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in CPH 2383.

Peer-to-peer support critical to Centre for Work-Integrated Learning's success

By Matthew King.

Leaning on co-op students to support their peers is a structural pillar of the Centre for Work-Integrated Learning’s (WIL) approach to their courses and programs. With more than 70 co-op students employed every year, the multi-disciplinary group is vital to providing close support to students and assisting staff.

“Student roles are at the core of everything we do at the Centre for WIL,” says Andrea Prier, director of the Centre for WIL. “Due to the vast enrollment of our courses and programs, our student staff help us to ensure we can provide timely, relevant and reliable support to our Waterloo students.”

Student staff work in various roles to support the Centre for WIL in:

• PD course administration;
• EDGE certificate engagement;
• WE Accelerate administration; and
• Curriculum development.

“Acting as a mentor to near peers engaged in our courses and programs not only supports the students, but also, supports the co-op student to better understand the types of work they most enjoy,” says Prier.

Their own experiences as co-op students have led nine current full-time Centre for WIL staff to make a career out of supporting Waterloo students.

“I was in the Faculty of Environment doing co-op and I loved the program, but none of those jobs felt like a good fit for me. It didn't really ignite a spark until I worked as a teaching assistant (TA),” says Olivia Muysson, an instructional support coordinator at the Centre for WIL. "Seeing the growth in the students I worked with was really rewarding. That kind of shifted what I want to do for work and what kind of fills my cup in that way.”

Support starts with the students

At the Centre for WIL, most of the student staff serve as the first point of contact for students engaging in the courses and programs offered. The Centre for WIL believes that it makes the offerings more authentic and results in better engagement.

“With fellow students, you kind of think about it like they've been there before. They know what it's like. You feel a bit safer because you feel like this person really gets it,” says Melanie Bullagao, a WE Accelerate team lead. “When students feel comfortable enough to reach out to you and they're not just doing it because they have to, it’s a great feeling.”

“I like interacting with students, I want to be in education. So, it works out really well,” says Melissa Moorthy, a lead TA at the Centre for WIL. “It's nice to be in my role, because I get to see the relief on their faces when they aren't as stressed anymore.”

With so many co-op students employed, the role also includes supporting fellow co-op students. Roughly one third of the students in the fall term are returning from previous work terms.

“I wanted to come back because of how open the communication was, how supported I felt from my supervisors, but also from like the other team leads.” says Bullagao, who returned for her second work term in the fall. “I realized this is a great opportunity to not only help students who are in their first work term, but also connect with students who are in the same term as you who want to support other students too.”

Scaffolding support throughout the Centre for WIL

Each year, because of the vast numbers of students supported through WIL courses and programs, the Centre for WIL has twice as many co-op students as the number of full time staff employed.

“With our largest enrollment yet, we had over 9,600 undergraduate students enrolled in PD courses this past winter term. To manage that scale, leveraging the talent that we have in our students is incredibly valuable,” says Lauren Broderick, senior manager, work-integrated learning courses at the Centre for WIL. “Our full-time staff along with our course instructors support our co-op students, and they in turn support each other as well as our students who engage in our courses and programs.”

“The co-op students are invaluable when it comes to running our courses,” says Hannah Sesink, an instructional support coordinator at the Centre for WIL. “They take on a lot of work to make these courses run smoothly and we couldn't do it without them.”

GreenHouse celebrates 10 years of social community impact

By Rebecca Wagner. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

On September 29, 80 former students gathered in celebration of a common thread that binds them all.      

It was the 10^th anniversary celebration of social incubator GreenHouse, and dozens of alumni commemorated their shared commitment to making the world a better place, rooted in a desire to foster change and social justice.

The evening was a reflection and celebration of ten years of impact and an envisioning of the decade ahead. 

From vision to reality

In 2013, Tania Del Matto, director of GreenHouse, laid out a vision for the newly established social incubator.     

“We’re growing and supporting the next generation of innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs. There’s pressing global problems and they’re so complex, we need to empower entrepreneurial youth so they can change the world,” she says.     

A decade ago, conditions were ripe for an incubator focused on the social good. From its inception, GreenHouse was able to tap into an innovation ecosystem at the University of Waterloo whose groundwork was laid by the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business and the Velocity incubator.     

With a mission centered around social responsibility, social justice and good citizenship, it is no surprise that GreenHouse began, and is currently based, at United College. 

Graham Brown, former principal of United College, articulates the original GreenHouse vision: “GreenHouse was conceived as an overall strategy to enhance the college’s academic impact in a way that complemented the University of Waterloo’s academic DNA, in a way that differentiated us from the other fine institutions at the university.”     

“GreenHouse is itself a beautiful illustration of social entrepreneurship at its finest. An idea was conceived, and over the course of a decade, filled with many twists and turns, the GreenHouse dream turned into a reality that has touched many people profoundly and has made the world a better place,” says Rick Myers, principal, United College.    

A social impact community: Growing social innovators   

GreenHouse has been, and remains to this day, a catalyst for human growth and connection.    

“GreenHouse has been more than an incubator. It has been a haven for intellectual courage, a place for self-discovery and a nurturing ground for authentic human connections,” explains United College’s chancellor, Michaëlle Jean.        

A student’s social impact journey often begins with a simple statement and a brave inquiry. “I have an idea, but I don’t know where to start.”      

From here, GreenHouse wraps students in support and resources. Through workshops, seminars, working sessions, class collaborations, events, mentorship and a community of support, ideas are nurtured into powerful endeavors that touch thousands of lives.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo News

PANDA study seeks lens wearers to compare the performance of 2 soft contact lenses

A message from the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE).

Our team has been working on a research study that will compare two spherical soft contact lens types and we need your help.

We are comparing the handling of two contact lenses that are made of different materials. One of the lenses is commercially available in Canada, the other one is not commercially available in Canada and is therefore considered an investigational lens. We are seeking habitual soft lens wearers to test and rate these lenses for ease of handling.

Participants will be asked to attend 1 visit, lasting approximately 4 hours. The visit will include standard clinical procedures that you might encounter when you attend an eye exam.

In appreciation of your time, you will receive $80upon study completion. Total time = 4 hours. Parking tokens will be provided as required.

How to participate

To be eligible for any research studies at CORE, potential participants must be registered in our volunteer database. All information collected is confidential.

Create a Participant Profile athttps://prescreen.uwaterloo.ca.

More info: web: http://COREstudies.ca/PANDA | email: COREstudies@uwaterloo.ca.

Library celebrates Open Access Week Next Week and other notes

"The Open Access movement seeks to promote free and open online access to academic information, such as research articles and data," says an announcement from the Library. "As portals to accessing information, libraries are key partners in the open access movement. This year the Library will be hosting a day of events on Tuesday, October 24, highlighting some of the key supports the Library provides related to open access. Learn more and register for events on the Library website."

The Noon Hour Concert Series continues today with Just Friends at 12:30 p.m. Timpanist Michael Wood and jazz guitarist Ralf Buschmeyer will present pieces by Duke Ellington, Rob McConnell, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk and Dave Young. Joining them are Duncan Hopkins on bass and Kevin Dempsey on drums. The concert takes place at the Conrad Grebel University College Chapel. Admission is free.

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions this week and next week include Compulsion Games, Spotify, ADP, Wiley Edge, MTE Consultants, Interac and IBM. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.