Wednesday, October 9, 2024

New resource launches to support sustainability integration

A message from the Sustainability Office.

The Sustainability Office is pleased to pilot a new funding program for academic departments to deepen integration of sustainability within any undergrad program of study.

With support from the Teaching Innovation Incubator, the new Sustainability Integration in Curriculum (SIC) grants are intended to catalyze efforts that draw connections between major sustainability challenges and the skills, experiences, and competencies students can leverage through their discipline to support a more sustainable future.

“Climate change, biodiversity collapse, pollution, and the effects of these issues across society will have defining impacts across many student careers,” said Mat Thijssen, Director of Sustainability. “The SIC grants are a new resource to help departments deepen their understanding of these sustainability topics, their connection to the discipline, and opportunities to efficiently integrate these into a student’s learning journey at Waterloo.”

The grants can be for up to $7,500 each and can cover a wide range of activities that a department could implement to further their sustainability integration efforts, including research, workshops, supplies and materials, student incentives, and more. Applications are due by November 1 and will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary team of faculty and educational developers.

"I think the SIC grants are an excellent example of how the University can support efforts to make our curricula, and so our students, ready for the future,” says David DeVidi, AVP Academic. “They provide ‘central’ support and expertise about sustainability issues so that the faculty, staff and students with local, disciplinary knowledge can create learning opportunities that will prepare students to thrive in, and improve, the world they will graduate into." 

SIC grants were a key recommendation from the first phase of the Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum project, which has also launched a beta toolkit for instructors and program designers, is convening a community of practice, and is in the process of launching a new alternative credential for students.

Make an impact as a Convocation ambassador

A message from Community Relations and Events.

Convocation offers a unique chance for all of us to come together and make a meaningful impact on our newest graduates. There’s still time to join the team of Ambassadors who help bring this special celebration to life!

Sign up now.

Various shifts and roles are available, providing great opportunities for professional development and networking across campus.

Staff and managers are encouraged to embrace the University’s core values to think differently, act with purpose, and work together. We appreciate you promoting this opportunity to your teams. 

Training and meals will be provided.

Check out the convocation website to learn more and sign up today!

Employees to be honoured for years of service

Nearly 400 employees will celebrate and be celebrated for their service to the University at a special reception on November 18 at Federation Hall hosted by President Vivek Goel. Here is this year’s honour roll.

Those celebrating five years, who joined the University in 2019:

Javier Alarco; Anastasis Alkiviades; Anata Alphonso; Fariba Amiri; Kristen Archbell; Victor Arora; Adrian Ashabi; Meghan Ashdown; Diane Bairos; Kathryn Bakos; Jason Ballantyne; Cam Bartel; Vincinzina Bartolotta; Thomas Blazon; Jenna Boss; Cristen Brown; Kaitlin Bynkoski; Daniel Campbell; Jan Chomyc; Suzanne Chung; Jennifer Coghlin; Shiela Constant; Crystal Cooper; Tracelyn Cornelius; Wendy de Gomez; Loren-Richard Dennis; Nick Di Benedetto; Mary Ann Duhamel; Dalibor Dvorski; Adrienne Dwyer; Bryan Emonts; Heather Eustace; Jenny Flagler-George; Holly Forsyth; Lewis Fraser; Olivia Gadd; Jessica Galway, Taha Gilani; Sanjeev Gill; Meredith Gillies; Simon Glauser; Krista Godfrey; Guillermo Gomez Rodriguez; Diana Goncalves; Matthew Hanna; Kyle Harris; Kait Hazzard; Matthew Hinton; Shoshannah Holdom; Brittney Howard; Mark Hummel; Cristina Jones; Ashley King; Dragana Kostic; Laura Kreuzer; Jaimee Kropf; Elaine La Chanse; Meagan Lai; Delores Lanni; Kristin Leis; Frank Li; Richard Li; Katie Lien; Angela Ling; Marie Lippens; Sandra Lopez-Rocha; Kathryn Lyrons; Ryan MacMillan; Clint MacPhee; Shinong Mao; Evan Martin; Jen McCaig; Jeffrey McCormick; Benjamin McDonald; Megan McGarry; Karen McIlroy; Sarah McKone; Abate Mergia; Hailu Molla; Hamidreza Nafissi; Aleczandra Nieboer; Christine O’Krafka; Caitlin Old; Michael Park; Darryl Pearle; Joseph Petrik; April Philpotts; Julie Phipps; Harminder Phull; Nicole Pin; Kayleigh Platz; Denis Porter; Lori Preiss; Summer Rashed; Jeremy Reed; Brett Roberts; Jana Roberts; Anthony Roopram; Meaghan Ross; Michelle Ryan; Merliza Salonga; Brian Schwan; Corey Stadnyk; Jennifer Storm; Hao Sun; Michael Syms; Michaela Tatu; Nicole Tavares; Joseph Thomas; Daniel Trudelle; Tracy Turner; Raven Urbanowicz; Elisabeth Van Stam; Sarah Vandekerckhove; Julianne Vermeer; Elise Vist; Amanda Vos; Louise Walker; Riyin Wan; Eleanor Waslander; Shona-Lee Whittaker; Phoebe Wong; and Bo Yi.

Those 10-year veterans who started at Waterloo in 2014:

Victoria Alderson; William Bankiner; Felipe Barros; Michelle Bauer; Dan Beaver; Jessica Blackwell; Janine Blair; Dhananjai Borwankar; Cyntia Bratan; Lauren Broderick; Jason Brown; Eric Buller; Aziza Chaudhry; Kristen Chuop; Pavol Chvala; Michael Cooper-Stachowsky; Danielle Daly; Jeremy de Boer; Fiona Dhanapala; Paula Donelson; David Drewery; Annette Ertel; Rachel Figueiredo; Kevin Gabriel; Mark Gaulton; Tara Gingerich; Laura Gordon; Georgia Graves; Sandra Groen; Victoria Groh; Sarah Hadley; Jennifer Halcrow; Melanie Hannaford; Julie Hartley; Geff Haugh; Angela Herman; Stephen Hiebert; Jenny Hirst; Carol Hoffer; Rebecca Hutchinson; Marwa Ismail; Andrea Jennings; Mary-Lou Jensen; Boon Khoo; David Lau; Kayla Lorentz; Lisa Maenpaa; Doris Makowich; Deanna McLaren; Greg Mittler; Karleigh Nyman; Sean Oates; Travis Oldrieve; Shannon Oliu; Firuze Ortanca; Melissa Plouffe; Katherine Pyke; Beverly Raimbault; Terri Rau; Shaun Reagan; Lisa Reynolds; Nina Ripley; Anton Romantsov; Jose Romero; Angela Rooke; Virginia Rynard; John Saad; Andrew Scheifele; William Shuck; Kevin Smith; Jennifer Tabar; Kylie Thomas; Sean Thomas; Samuel Vandekerckhove; Mariana Vasquez; Mirko Vucicevich; Ishari Waduwara-Jayabahu; Jonathan Walgate; Roly Webster; Tyler Wendland; Susan Willsie; Chua Xiong; Jie Yan; and Christine Zaza.

Those celebrating 15-year milestones, who joined the University in 2009:

Bryan Ashby; Trevor Black; Orion Bruckman; Robin Jeannette Burkhalter; Enis Cahit; Andrea Charette; Soraya Cieplicki; Blair Clarance; Emma Courlander; Adam Glover; Sara Houston; Janet Janes; Karl Janzen; Matt Justice; Rosalind Klein; Michael Lackner; Jessica Lang; Stacey Majaury; Sarah Martin; Sharon McConnell; Sheila McConnell; Kelly Millar; Richard Wayne Nixon; Wendeline Philpott; Alexander Piticco; Pawel Pomorski; Heather Roshon; Martin Scherer; Lisa Sergovich; Kirstie Slaney; Susan Stewart; Melissa Taylor; Christina Treusch; Amilyn Wall; Bruce Wolff; and Chao Yang.

Those marking 20 years of service, having started at Waterloo in 2004:

Jeannie Bairos; Breean Belton; Gannayya Bommali; Koorus Bookan; Terri Brot; Christopher Calzonetti; Andrea Carthew; Leslie Copp; Michelle Coulombe; Katja Czarnecki; Randy Dauphin; Jenny Davey; Marcel David; Annette Denny; Tim Dubois; Dana Evans Laity; John Fedy; Daspina Fefekos; Sarah Forgrave; Matthew Fries; Michelle Gilbert; Dragica Graovac; Marlon Griffith; Debra Harrison; Angie Hildebrand; Carrie Howells; Andre Jardin; Danielle Jeanneault; Peter Kessel; Jacqueline Lang; Lisa Loiselle; Tammy Marcinko; Lisa McAughey; Laurie Meyer; Josephine Orso Simon; Krista Parsons; Scott Pearson; Colleen Phillips-Davis; Andrea Pinos; Sandra Prentice; Erin Melissa Johannson Rakita; Selena Santi; Donna Shin; Maher Shinouda; Alisa Sivak; Leslie Smith; Yanling Sun; Marcia Taylor; Lisa ter Woort; Andrew Urschel; Michele Van Dyke; Zhenwen Wang; Allison Wells; Heather Westmorland; and Stephen Woods.

Those who have hit their 25-year milestones, joining the University in 1999:

Gary Aitman; Daniel Berry; Therese Biedl; Raouf Boutaba; Gerry Brummelhuis; Robert Burns; Pamela Charbonneau; David Clausi; Eric Croiset; Cheryl D’Arcy; Gillian Debrowski; Barbara Daly; Iain Dmitrienko; Mary Dufton; Kimberly Dunne; Robert Feick; Xianshe Feng; Chris Gilbert; Christine Gillis Bilton; Roland Hall; Roman Hlavac; Michael Hudson; Mike Hurst; Shoufa Lin; Paul Malone; Michelle Mank; Richard Mann; Raafat Mansour; Fiona McAlister; Kristine McGlynn; John McMinn; Isaac Morland; Matthew Oliver; Michael Power; John-Paul Pretti; Rahul Racharla; Jamie Russell Reilly; Anindya Sen; Michele Sguigna; Jackie Stapleton; Vera Starz; Veronica Stephenson; Jean Stevenson; Russell Tam; Scott Taylor; Changbao Wu; David Yevick; and Hong Zheng.

Those celebrating 30 years of service, having started at Waterloo in 1994:

Kimberley Boucher; Sue Ann Campbell; Stephanie Filsinger; Jenniffer Fleet; Louise Green; Timothy Ireland; Randy Jardin; Robert Park; Keith Peck; Michael Stone; Lori Suess; Monica Vesely; and Jeff Voskamp.

Those marking 35-year milestones, who joined the University in 1989:

Susan Beaupre; Dorothy Chapman; Jennifer Crane; Sharon Dahmer; Brenda Denomme; Brian Forrest; Roydon Fraser; Nancy Heide; James Johnston; Karl Kliewer; Robyn Landers; Karen Macedo; Denise Mueller; Anita O’Connor; Margaret O’Neill; J. Scott Patterson; James Peacock; Jennifer Rothwell; Patricia Rumble; Lisa Schneider; Helen Simon; Lisa Szepaniak; MaryJane Thomas; David Wang; and Cynthia Zalewski.

Those celebrating 40 years at Waterloo, having started working here in 1984:

Joyce Becker; Robin Cohen; Benjamin Colussi; Marian Davies; Robert Gibson; Kimberley Gingerich; Dennis Herman; William Kern; Catherine Richardson; and Alison Zorian.

Those who have hit their 45-year milestones, who joined the University in 1979:

Patricia Bester; and Joseph Heffernan.

And, last but certainly not least, those celebrating 50 years at the University of Waterloo, who were first put on the payroll in 1974:

Connie Deighan.

Employees and their managers have received invitations to the years of service reception via email. Attendees should RSVP by Monday, November 4.

Congratulations all on your milestone achievement at the University of Waterloo! 

Wednesday's notes

The Noon Hour Concert series continues at Conrad Grebel University College today with Mendelssohn’s Own. The Phoenix Trio will perform an arrangement of the Mendelssohn Piano Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano that was done by Mendelssohn himself! The concert takes place today at 12 noon in the Conrad Grebel University College chapel.

The Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism office is hosting an event today entitled Cycles, Cramps, Cravings...Oh My! Nutrition for Menstrual Wellness Lunch & Learn. "Join Registered Dietitian Courtney Wilson for her online presentation on all thing’s nutrition, menstruation, and hormones!" says the note from organizers. "On October 9, we will look at how the phases of the menstrual cycle can impact physical symptoms, intake patterns, and nutrient needs and chat about strategies to support these needs." The online event runs from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. Register today.

The annual Further Education Fair will take place on Thursday, October 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the SLC Great Hall and Multipurpose Room. Attendees will have the opportunity to chat with over 60 representatives from teaching, law, MBA, engineering, health, pharmacy, medicine, social work, college post-degree/certificate programs in Canada and abroad. In addition, Centre for Career Development career advisors will be present to answer questions about career planning and further education. If that's not enough of a draw, there will be free popcorn for participating students. The event is hosted by the Centre for Career Development.

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has a double dose of Atlassian blogs on order:

• Discover Our New Pre-Recorded Atlassian Courses
• Automatically Updating Friendly Email Addresses to Proper Atlassian Accounts

Employers hosting Employer Information Sessions next week include TiC, Plains Midstream, Salas O’Brien, Zebra, Formlabs, Robinhood, GeoVerra, SGInnovate. Make sure to register through WaterlooWorks and check the calendar for any updates.