Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Previous | Next

• The EDI-R Office's Impact Report highlights progress and ambition
• The talk of the operating budget town hall
• Nominate an exceptional student teacher for the 2024 Amit and Meena Chakma Award
• Young people gear up for robotics competitions on campus
• Wednesday's notes

The EDI-R Office's Impact Report highlights progress and ambition

A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDI-R).

The University of Waterloo’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDI-R) has made significant strides in its mission towards leading transformative cultural change across our campus. Rooted in collaboration and partnerships with stakeholders across the university, the 2024 Impact Report highlights tangible progress achieved through sustainable initiatives, amid a year of challenges and unforeseen complexities.

The report emphasizes efforts that have expanded EDI-R competency and integrated anti-racist practices into policies and procedures.  Initiatives such as the Amplify podcast, and the Gender Equity video series, are celebrated for enriching the campus by sharing diverse perspectives, challenging traditional ways of thinking and empowering students, staff, and faculty to lead with inclusivity.

The report also provides highlights on how the Office of EDI-R has contributed to creating inclusive physical spaces on campus through initiatives such as all-gender washrooms and the menstrual equity initiative  —both developed through close collaboration with key stakeholders across campus. These efforts are already making a tangible impact. One student shared, “Having products in the washrooms has saved me so many times,” while another expressed, “This is exactly the kind of initiative we need on campus to create communities of support.”

The report also highlights initiatives that foster community, such as Celebrating Black Communities and the success of the Black Student Opportunity Fund aimed at elevating Black faculty, staff, and students. Building on this commitment, we launched the Mentorship Collective, created in partnership with Organizational Human Development (OHD) and the Office of Indigenous Relations (OIR), that brought together 18 Indigenous, Black, and racialized participants to develop professional development plans that directly support continued learning, growth, and career advancement at the University of Waterloo. 

“These initiatives are backed by data-driven results, which demonstrate our ongoing progress toward building a truly inclusive and sustainable campus environment,” said Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor, associate vice-president, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism. “But the work is far from done. We are committed to expanding EDI-R competency, addressing institutional inequities, and driving growth in this area. Our office will continue to lead these efforts and develop partnerships with diverse communities within and outside the institution to ensure our efforts are inclusive and far-reaching."

The EDI-R Office’s impact report captures the essence of progress and purpose that defines UWaterloo's commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts. The report celebrates the achievements of the past year but also details an ambitious path forward, with ongoing initiatives designed to empower the entire campus community.  

Read the full report to see how these efforts are shaping a more inclusive future at UWaterloo.

The talk of the operating budget town hall

Nearly 2,000 attendees tuned in for a virtual town hall meeting on Monday, November 18. The event featured remarks from President Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Administration and Finance James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Administration and Finance Jacinda Reitsma, and Vice-President, University Relations Eleanor McMahon, broadcast from the Board and Senate room in Needles Hall.

The leaders spent the first few minutes of the town hall laying out in detail the context for the University's current $75M deficit. President Goel summarized how the Ontario government cut domestic tuition by 10 per cent in 2019 and then froze it, a freeze that continues to this day and is set to continue for two more years, and how the province also froze the provincial operating grant and capped the number of domestic students Ontario universities can admit. More recently, there have been many changes made at the federal level to rules for international students and the number of international students who can be admitted. These problems have compounded to create challenges for universities across the sector.

"With fewer international students enrolling, the freeze on tuition, no big increases in government grants and increasing costs, we need to find ways to reduce spending to balance the budget," President Goel said. 

Provost Jim Rush presented the current state of the University's operating budget and explained how the University was using one-time resources to blunt the effects of the current year's deficit. He also summarized some of the cost-saving initiatives currently underway.

Vice-President, Administration and Finance Jacinda Reitsma explained that with 80 per cent of the operating budget related to employee salaries and benefits, the University needs to make changes to the number of people who work at Waterloo in order to address the budget deficit challenge. Chief among the changes was the announcement of a hiring freeze, with exceptions for critical positions and those positions funded by research grants. Reitsma also spoke about functional reviews that were either currently underway or coming up in the new year, with the workforce planning group reviewing process and services in areas such as Plant Operations. On deck were reviews of the information technology, finance, communications and marketing functions of the University, with Reitsma noting that these were not reviews of individual academic support units, but rather reviews of the way these functions are distributed across campus. Reitsma also highlighted some of the cost-saving ideas shared by members of the University community over the past few weeks, including keeping work in-house instead of hiring contractors, merging software tools to save on licensing fees, creating a centralized inventory system and coordinating internal and external travel. There were also suggestions around ways to generate additional revenue, including selling or leasing University buildings, and online education initiatives. “We do ask you to keep sending in your ideas,” Reitsma said. “We commit to responding and looking at each of them carefully.”

A robust and lively question and answer period followed the leaders' presentations, with dozens of questions coming in live via the MS Teams chat. Vice-President, University Relations Eleanor McMahon moderated the Q&A, alternating between questions submitted in advance during the town hall registration and questions asked by livestream viewers. Employee concerns included workforce reductions and the potential for layoffs, issues around salaries, benefits, and pensions, workload considerations when positions aren't being backfilled, the operating budget and cost saving strategies, and the impact of budget cuts on the quality of education at Waterloo, to name a few.A Question and Answer list has been published on the Vice-President, Academic and Provost's operating budget town hall page containing some of the more frequently-asked questions, grouped by theme. The site also contains the video recording of the town hall, which can be viewed on YouTube below:

Watch video on YouTube

Nominate an exceptional student teacher for the 2024 Amit and Meena Chakma Award

A message from the Centre for Teaching Excellence.

Do you know a teaching assistant, lab demonstrator, or instructor who has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in teaching? Celebrate their impact by nominating them for the 2024-2025 Amit & Meena Chakma Award for Exceptional Teaching by a Student (AETS).

Nominations are now open and will be accepted until Friday, February 7, 2025. 

How to nominate: 

1. Visit the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s AETS page to review the award criteria and confirm your nominee’s eligibility. 

2. Complete the nomination form and email it to cte-aets@uwaterloo.ca by the deadline. 

Recognize the outstanding contributions of your favorite student instructor today!

Young people gear up for robotics competitions on campus

A message from Systems Design Engineering.

If you like robots, you will want to watch teams compete at Waterloo during the weekend of Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1. The fields are set for innovation, creativity, and teamwork as FIRST Lego League (FLL) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams from across Waterloo-Wellington region, Hamilton region and the Greater Toronto Area prepare to display their skills at the two qualifier events organized by Waterloo-Wellington FIRST Robotics in partnership with Waterloo Engineering.

On Saturday, November 30, teams of Grade 4 to 8 students will put their engineering skills and student-designed LEGO-based robots to the test on the SUBMERGED competition fields. The opening ceremony is at 8:30 a.m. followed by FIRST LEGO robot matches starting at 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., with the award ceremony at 3:45 p.m. 

On Sunday, December 1, 24 teams of high school students will compete with their FIRST Tech Challenge robots and build their alliance to become the champion of the inaugural event at Waterloo. The opening ceremony is at 11am and robot games will take place from 11:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m..   The awards ceremony is at 5:30 p.m. 

Both events take place in Engineering 7. Members of the public are welcome to attend the events and can find schedules and parking information here. Pits, where teams work on their robots and display their projects and outreach activities, are also open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If you need any more information, please email at info@wwwfirst.ca.

Wednesday's notes

Friends and colleagues of Fred East, an electrician in Plant Operations, are invited to a retirement celebration on Saturday, November 30 at the Royal Canadian Legion on Belmont Avenue in Kitchener. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and festivities include live music and a 50/50 draw.

Kinesiology and Health Sciences graduate student Viquar Unnisa is conducting a study on structural and functional correlates of audiovisual integration and is seeking participants.

"The aim of this study is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying audiovisual integration," Unnisa writes. "We will conduct two main tasks: behavioural tasks including Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ) and Simultaneity Judgment (SJ) tasks, and non-invasive brain imaging utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Prior to the TMS session, we will screen participants for normal vision and hearing by assessing visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and hearing thresholds. Additionally, all participants will receive study materials in advance, including a screening form for brain stimulation, to ensure eligibility."

If you're interested in participating, contact vunnisab@uwaterloo.ca or fill out the form.

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee, ORE #23241.

Take Christmas Dinner to go: Food Services is now taking orders for their Holiday Dinner in a Box. "Each box comes with your choice of turkey, smoked brisket, maple BBQ salmon or vegan Beef Wellington a la rose as well as 2 sides, a sauce, and a dessert for $27.50," says a note from UW Food Services. "The Holiday Dinner in a Box is made to order and prepared cold for you to reheat and enjoy at home."

You can place your order now until December 16, with order pick-up available at Federation Hall on December 20 from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m.

Order your custom dinner box today!