Tuesday, October 15, 2024

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• Reminder: faculty engagement sessions for Black and racialized faculty members coming up
• Get your high-risk flu vaccine at Campus Wellness starting October 16
• Waterloo students' art shines bright at Lumen Festival
• Reminder to register for Accessible Education Day on October 16 and 17
• It's Reading Week, so here are some notes to read

Reminder: faculty engagement sessions for Black and racialized faculty members coming up

A message from the Inclusive Research Team, Office of the Vice-President, Research and International.

The Office of the Vice-President of Research and International (OVPRI) is pleased to share an update on our President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) recommendations. The OVPRI will host faculty engagement sessions for Black and racialized faculty in response to Recommendation 63: “Undertake a consultation process to learn about and address research barriers and particular needs of Black, Indigenous and other racialized researchers”. The findings from these engagements will be used to develop recommendations for building an inclusive and equitable research ecosystem at Waterloo.

The OVPRI has retained the services of Dr. Nicole Kaniki, founder and director of Senomi Solutions, an external, third-party consulting firm, to conduct the sessions.

Details of the Engagement Sessions. Please choose based on fit and availability:

• Virtual focus group for Black Faculty members only. Monday, October 28,2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Click here to register (Microsoft Forms).
  • Note for Black faculty members: this is a dedicated space for discussing the Black faculty research experience. If you are unable to attend this session, please consider attending either session below.
• Virtual focus group for all Racialized faculty members. Tuesday, October 29, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Click here to register (Microsoft Forms).
• One-on-one/private sessions. Book here using Dr. Kaniki’s Calendly. These sessions will be open between Monday, October 21 and Monday, November 11.
  • Note: Small group engagements are welcome. Please feel free to book with a colleague or two. Time slots are available from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. for your convenience. You can also book a one-on-one session/private session in addition to a focus group, if needed.

We look forward to continuing to share updates about all the OVPRI activities as we continue to improve the equity, diversity, and inclusion of the research ecosystem at Waterloo!

Get your high-risk flu vaccine at Campus Wellness starting October 16

A message from Campus Wellness, Health Services.

Seasonal influenza outbreaks occur in Canada from late fall through the Winter months. Campus Wellness, Health Services is pleased to offer the flu vaccine once again through appointment-only for all high-risk UWaterloo students (and students' families if registered with the Family Health Clinic), employees, alumni and retirees starting Wednesday, October 16.

High Risk Eligibility is as follows:

• All children 6 months to 4 years of age;
• All pregnant individuals;
• Individuals over the age of 65;
• Individuals who are from a First Nation, Inuit, or Métis community, and/or who self-identify as First Nation, Inuit or Métis, and their household members;
• Members of racialized and other equity-deserving communities;
• Individuals 6 months of age or older with underlying health conditions; and
• Health care workers and first responders.

Please call 519-888-4096 to make an appointment.

Appointments will be available to all other UWaterloo-affiliated clients starting the week of November 4.

Waterloo students' art shines bright at Lumen Festival

By Mayuri Punithan. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

This past September, the City of Waterloo lit up with the annual Lumen Festival, which explores the interplay of light, art and technology.

Hosted by the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Creative Industries team (Create Waterloo), this event invites tech giants, community leaders, local and international artists to push the boundaries of human curiosity. It featured more than 30 installations, ranging from performances to new media, including Pixellation, which featured artwork from CS/FINE 383: Computational Digital Art Studio, a third-year interdisciplinary course at Waterloo.

Dr. Daniel Vogel, a computer science professor who taught the course this past winter, explains that it is simultaneously a fine arts studio art course and a technical computer science course.

“For example, I give a seminar on artists and theories related to generative art in one class, then in the next class I run a hands-on coding workshop showing how to create generative artwork,” he says. “Not only do students produce creative works that stand on their own as art, but they get experience using applied computer science techniques.”

The course culminates into an interactive art exhibit, with the latest version taking place in early April.

Three Computer Science students, Georgia Berg, Hannah Choi, and Rayhan Moidu (BCS ’24) completed the course and exhibited their work, which was then showcased during Lumen as part of the Department of Fine Arts’ Student Art Innovation Lab (S.A.I. L). Contained within a 1975 Airstream trailer, S.A.I.L. provides free community outreach programs while spotlighting Waterloo art.

Read the full story on Waterloo News

Reminder to register for Accessible Education Day on October 16 and 17

A message from the Teaching Innovation Incubator.

Don’t miss out on Accessible Education Dayat the University of Waterloo, happening on October 16 and 17. This two half-day event will include informative sessions on the legislative landscape, available accessibility technologies, accessible teaching strategies, and more.

It's your chance to learn, engage, and take action toward making education more inclusive for everyone at the University of Waterloo. Be sure to review the event agenda, and session descriptions and secure your registration – today is the last day to register!

Let’s work together to create a more accessible educational landscape at Waterloo.

It's Reading Week, so here are some notes to read

Employees may note a distinct lack of student activity on campus this week as they return from a long weekend, because it's the fall Reading Week.

The Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) reports that the Write Spot will be closed over Reading Week, Monday, October 14 to Friday, October 18. "WCC drop-ins are still available at Dana Porter Library Tuesday – Thursday from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m.," says the note from WCC. "Questions? Email the Writing and Communication Centre at wcc@uwaterloo.ca."

The University of Waterloo's Chancellor Jagdeep Singh Bachher penned a tribute to the late Ratan Tata, Indian industrialist, philanthropist and chairman of the Tata Group, who passed away last week. Dr. Bachher's article appeared in the Business Standard. The University of Waterloo and the Tata Group have had many dealings over the decades, including a Tata Lecture series, and a memorandum of understanding that created co-op job opportunities for Waterloo students.

The Int'l Spouses group has launched a twice-monthly Tea & Chat event. "Twice a month on Thursday mornings, join us for a cup of tea and visit with people from around the world!" says a note from Int'l Spouses. "Come alone or bring your children and a friend. Toys will be available."

The Tea & Chats run Thursday mornings from 10:30 a.m. until 12 noon on the following dates:

• October 17;
• October 31;
• November 14;
• November 28; and
• December 12.

All events will take place in the International Experience Centre's Global Lounge on the first floor of Needles Hall. The Int'l Spouses group is for spouses and partners of Waterloo international students, postdocs, visiting scholars, and faculty and staff.

The Mathematics and Computer building is under a "building fire watch" while repairs are carried out on the MC's fire alarm systems. But don't panic. "A fire watch requires continuous patrol of all floors and includes the basement, lobby, stairwells, lounges, and any other common areas," says a helpful note from Plant Operations. "In this particular case the fire watch is being done by security guards who are required to log their patrols every 30 minutes. In the event of a fire, an air horn will be sounded and guards will evacuate the building." The repairs have been going on since Friday and are scheduled to be wrapped up today.

Information Systems & Technology (IST) has published the latest entry in the Atlassian Blog Series, entitled Atlassian Rolls Out New Goals Feature: Streamlining Long-Term Progress Tracking.