Friday, March 8, 2024

Waterloo celebrates International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day, and the University of Waterloo is marking the occasion with a number of events across campus.

"International Women’s Day (IWD) is a celebration of the achievements of women. It is an opportunity to recognize the exceptional women faculty, students and staff at our institution," writes President Vivek Goel in his blog. "Today also serves as a reminder of the work we still need to do to accelerate equity for women in our community and society. The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “inspire inclusion.” The University of Waterloo is fortunate to have many inspiring female leaders in our community. Vice-presidents, deans, directors, professors, staff, students and alumni who are leaders and mentors. Many had mentors along the way -- someone who inspired them and pushed them to succeed."

Today's events kick off with the International Women's Day Breakfast from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel and incoming Vice-President University Relations Eleanor McMahon will deliver remarks along with a panel of UWaterloo students, staff and alumni. The in-person event is sold out but you can watch online via the YouTube livestream.

Check out the University's International Women's Day website for a rundown of all the events taking place today, including the Faculty of Science's High Tea Social, Velocity's Women in Innovation Mixer, the Women in Mathematics panel discussion, and check out the profiles and testimonials penned by students, faculty and staff.

Inspiring gender equity at Waterloo

A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism.

On International Women's Day, the call is extended to all of us: To inspire inclusion by openly embracing diversity irrespective of race, age, ability and gender. 

UWaterloo's dedication to fostering an inclusive campus necessitates addressing the systemic barriers around gender equity. On this International Women's Day, it is essential that we actively engage in understanding these challenges to collectively build an institution that fosters a community valuing diversity and respect for everyone, mitigating the impact of gender inequity on our campus. 

Monique Chambers, Acting Director of Education and Outreach in EDI-RO sat down with Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, a Philosophy professor at UWaterloo to share profound insights into the interplay around gender, intersectionality, and equity, shedding light on the profound impacts of gender inequity within our campus community. 

This two-part video series will prompt you to reflect on the what, how, and why of gender inequity, mobilizing us in contributing to the creation of a more inclusive environment and inspire inclusion.

Revving up female car owners' confidence to bring trust to auto repairs

Stefanie Bruinsma holds a flashlight as an onlooker looks on at an AutoCate workshop in Toronto.

AutoCate, a newly-launched membership-based platform geared toward women, aims to reduce fraud and discrimination in the auto repair industry.

The platform, created by Stefanie Bruinsma, a mechanic and engineering grad from the University of Waterloo, connects people in need of car repairs or advice with trusted experts and educators. 

While membership is open to all, the company is focused on helping women car owners, who are sometimes charged more than their male counterparts for auto repairs due to the assumption that they’re not well educated with automobile-related issues.

"Women are more susceptible to being oversold, patronized and underserviced, but they are absolutely capable of understanding everything about their car," Bruinsma said. "There should never be an opportunity to be swindled, especially based on gender."

When an AutoCate member needs help or has a question about car purchases, maintenance or repairs, they are triaged depending on the severity of their issue. An expert walks them through the issue and answers questions to instill car owners’ confidence in making the best decision. 

For example, the company found that 27 per cent of auto services are unnecessary, they are purely upsells, and excess services can cost consumers in the U.S. and Canada an extra $12 billion a year. AutoCate educates and empowers consumers to make informed choices about what to buy — or not. 

"Resources to get car repair estimates and finding auto shops exist, but that's not getting at the core issue, which is gaining confidence in understanding how cars work and what needs to be fixed," Bruinsma said. "AutoCate gives you access to experts who work for you, like calling a family member for help when you don't know where to turn."  

Read the full story on Waterloo News

A career as linear as Ring Road: celebrating Jayne Hayden

A message from Centre for Career Development (CCD).

Jayne Hayden has been putting care in career advising for 26 years with the Centre for Career Development (CCD). After 32 years at the University of Waterloo, on March 8, 2024 she embarks on a new path on her career journey heading toward retirement.

For anyone who's had the privilege to work or have an appointment with Jayne, you know she is a kind, compassionate, inquisitive, thoughtful and supportive person. She cares deeply about an individual’s passions, creativity, purpose and ability to think about careers from different angles. She approaches career advising from a person-centered, trauma-informed lens. One of her greatest skills is creating a rapport with folks that puts them at ease as they deep dive into personal reflection and analyze what’s next on their career journey. Jayne has built a career by connecting well with students and alumni, probably because of her non-linear education and career journey, as well as the understanding and wisdom she brings to her interactions and relationships.

Read the full article on the Centre for Career Development's website

Register now for Task Force on Freedom of Expression and Respectful Engagement focus group sessions

A message from Drs. Scott Kline and Christine McWebb, co-chairs of the Freedom of Expression and Respectful Engagement Task Force

We invite members of the University community to provide their perspectives on freedom of expression and the principles that are foundational to the exercise of that freedom by attending one of the upcoming open focus groups, either in-person or online.

As stated in the announcement launching the task force, among the task force’s objectives is the development of principles to guide University members (faculty, staff, students) in upholding freedom of expression and in understanding the relationship between freedom of expression and academic freedom as components of an inclusive environment that fosters respectful engagement.

The task force is hosting four focus group sessions that are open to faculty, staff, and students. Two sessions will be held in-person and two will be held online. If you wish to attend one of the open focus groups, please go to the Freedom of Expression webpage to register.

• Wednesday March 13 (In-person) 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.;
• Thursday March 14 (Online) 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.;
• Monday March 18 (Online) 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.;
• Thursday March 21 (In-person) 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If you are unable to attend any of the open focus groups, we invite you to leave anonymized comments through a webform that will be published on Monday, March 18.

The task force is currently scheduling meetings with community groups (faculty, staff, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduate students). If there are groups on campus who wish to meet with members of the task force, group leadership should contact the co-chairs at avpfpp@uwaterloo.ca.    

We look forward to your participation.

Senate election results and other notes

The Secretariat has released the results of the elections for the University's Senate. Check out the full results on the Secretariat's website.

The Warriors Women's Hockey Team will be facing off against the Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA McCaw Cup Championship tomorrow evening as the team skates into the postseason and secures its first-ever U Sports national championship berth. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. at U of T's Varsity Stadium.

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has published the latest in its Atlassian blog series entitled How to manage Scope Creep in Jira?. If you want an answer to that question, read the blog post!