Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Dr. Lili Liu reappointed as Dean of the Faculty of Health

A message from James W.E. Rush, VP, Academic and Provost and Chair.

“I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Professor Lili Liu as Dean of the Faculty of Health for a three-year term commencing 1 July 2024 and ending 30 June 2027,” wrote Vice-President, Academic and Provost James W.E. Rush in a memo circulated to Executive Council and the Faculty of Health yesterday. “The appointment was strongly recommended by the Dean of Health Nominating Committee and supported by the President.”  

The Dean of Health Nominating Committee was formed in August 2023 under the terms of Policy 45, and received specific training in equitable recruitment and selection processes prior to beginning consultations within the Faculty of Health and members of the University’s administration. Members of the Dean of Health Nominating Committee included Christine McWebb (senior faculty member from outside the Faculty of Health); faculty: Michael Barnett-Cowan, Diane Williams, Bryan Grimwood, Robin Duncan, John Hirdes, Narveen Jandu; staff: Julie-Anne Desrochers, Bonnie Bishop; and students: Natalie Doan (graduate), and Ailin Jalili (undergraduate).  

Dr. Liu has served as Dean of the Faculty of Health since July 2019, and has advanced initiatives for both the Faculty of Health and the University of Waterloo as a whole in this capacity. Secret electronic ballots were issued to all regular faculty and regular staff in the Faculty of Health, and both ballot results were strongly in support of Dr. Liu’s reappointment. 

“Please join me in congratulating Dr. Liu on her reappointment,” Rush writes. “I look forward to working closely with her as she continues to advance key institutional and Faculty of Health priorities.” 

FAUW to vote on revised Memorandum of Agreement

A message from the Faculty Association of Univesity of Waterloo.

On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, voting members of the Faculty Association (FAUW) will be asked to vote to ratify a revised Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between FAUW and University of Waterloo. These revisions are necessary following the joint approval of the mediated changes to Policies 76 and 77, announced December 6, 2023. 

Voting will close at 12 p.m. EST on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. 

In order to make an informed vote, members may view the revised MoA with all changes highlighted on the MoA ratification vote webpage. The webpage also includes the Policy 76/77 changes that require MoA revisions, a recording of the January 15, 2024 Town Hall, and next steps in the governance approval process for Policy 76/77 and the MoA. 

Voting members of FAUW will receive an email with instructions and a unique link to the ballot at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Results of the vote will be shared publicly after February 22, 2024. 

Changemakers: Waterloo Pharmacy faculty and alumni win leadership awards from Ontario Pharmacists Association

This is an excerpt from an article on the School of Pharmacy's website.

This past January, the Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA) held their annual conference with exciting talks and an award ceremony. Three winners from Waterloo Pharmacy were recognized for their achievements in the pharmacy profession.

Exceptional Achievement in Research and Academia Award 2023: Sherilyn Houle

Dr. Houle is a pharmacy graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and completed her PhD at the University of Alberta. Since joining Waterloo Pharmacy in 2014 she has established a research program that evaluates the outcomes of pharmacy practice to full scope, with a focus on the clinical areas of immunizations and travel medicine. Having authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and three book chapters to date, her work has been presented to both national and international audiences and has been referenced in advocacy efforts to further expand pharmacists’ scope of practice and remuneration for professional services.

Student of Distinction Award 2023: Randilynne Urslak

Randilynne Urslak graduated from Waterloo Pharmacy in August 2023. During her studies, Randilynne has worked at numerous pharmacies and completed unique co-operative education placements at the Canadian Pharmacist’s Association, The Ottawa Hospital, and a rural community pharmacy in Northern Alberta. Stepping outside of her comfort zone in Northern Alberta was the ultimate way to challenge her clinical knowledge, gain confidence in her ability to deliver exceptional patient care and improve access to healthcare.

New Practitioner of the Year Award 2023: Bradley Grightmire

Bradley graduated from the PharmD program at Waterloo Pharmacy in 2021. He is currently working as a registered pharmacist and designated manager at Boggio & MacKinnon IDA Pharmacy in Niagara Falls. Bradley has been active as a presenter to seniors throughout Niagara. He has created his own presentation titled Safety Aids and Medication Safety: Falls Prevention and has presented it multiple times over the last year. Bradley has operated multiple clinics that focused on continuous glucose monitoring devices for patients with diabetes and is interested in continuing to be involved in research to optimize management of diabetes.

Read their full stories on the School of Pharmacy website.

University's entire network core to be updated

A message from Information Systems & Technology (IST)

Information Systems & Technology (IST) will begin work this year to refresh the University’s core network equipment. Current network technology is nearing end-of-life, providing an opportune time to review the current environment and institute changes that will improve performance and allow for the optimization of the core network components as future demand requires.

Impact to clients and planned communications

To minimize the disruption that will occur for our clients, migration to the new core equipment will be completed through several planned and communicated early morning or weekend service windows. Members of the campus community can expect to see announcements about this work, including specific maintenance windows, as this initiative progresses. Work is expected to begin in February and take most of the year to complete.

Technical bytes

Did you know? The current core network operates with bonded 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) connectivity to provide an aggregated bandwidth approaching 40Gbps. The new equipment is based on 100Gbps individual links, providing bonded and/or fully active paths up to 400Gbps.