Monday, January 19, 2026

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• Introducing the next steps for the future financial ERP system at Waterloo

• Leadership update: Chief Human Resources Officer

• When your AI tutor becomes your student: learning by teaching with Chrysalis
• Reminder: tune in to the Global Futures Launch Forum on January 21

Introducing the next steps for the future financial ERP system at Waterloo

A message from Finance.

Finance and IST are excited to announce the launch of a major campus-wide initiative to replace our current financial system, Unit4, with a modern, integrated platform that better supports Waterloo’s evolving needs.

As part of our Enterprise Systems Transformation, the financial ERP system project is part of a broader 10-year roadmap to enhance and modernize our core enterprise systems. A new financial ERP system will be a foundational step toward greater efficiency, improved data accessibility, and streamlined processes across the University.

Through a competitive RFP process, the University will select both a new platform and an implementation partner to guide us through this transformation.

To ensure the success of this initiative, the project team will be guided by the following principles:

• Collaborate across campus to build a system that reflects diverse needs
• Modernize and simplify financial processes to meet future business needs
• Leverage AI, automation and standardization to reduce manual work and exceptions
• Consolidate systems to improve data consistency and reporting capabilities
• Make timely, informed decisions to keep the project on track

What to expect

This project will be a collaborative, institution-wide effort within the Enterprise Systems Transformation. Over the next year, our focus will be on planning, business process review, and completing Request for Proposal activities. This phase is planned to conclude in March 2026, paving the way for design sessions and implementation of a new system in the coming years.

To support this planning phase, a campus-wide survey has been launched to gather input on system requirements from across the University. Your feedback will help shape the future of financial operations at Waterloo.

Key elements of the project include:

• Engagement with campus leaders to define system requirements
• Streamlined workflows that reduce complexity and improve efficiency
• Enhanced data and reporting through system consolidation and a unified data model
• Improved user experience with modern functionality and intuitive design

Staying connected

We will be sharing updates regularly and inviting input from across campus. A dedicated Financial System Implementation project website is available to provide updates, resources, and opportunities for engagement.

We look forward to working together as we shape a modern, integrated financial system that supports the University of Waterloo’s academic missions and efficient administration for years to come.

Leadership update: Chief Human Resources Officer

A message from Jacinda Reitsma, Vice-President, Administration and Finance.

I am writing to share a message about a change in leadership for the Human Resources team. Michelle Hollis is no longer the Chief Human Resources Officer of the University.

Over the last 15 years at the University of Waterloo, Michelle demonstrated commitment and dedication to leadership roles within the HR group. Those of you who worked closely with Michelle experienced kindness and empathy in your interactions with her. We appreciate the time and contributions Michelle made during her time here and wish her all the best moving forward.

Lisa Yuhasz, Director, Employee Relations and Planning, has accepted the appointment of Interim Chief Human Resources Officer during this period of transition. I appreciate your continued support as she takes on this leadership role. 

When your AI tutor becomes your student: learning by teaching with Chrysalis

A message from the Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic. 

What if the most powerful way to learn with AI isn’t by asking it for answers, but by teaching it yourself? 

That’s the idea driving Learning by Teaching a Large Language Model, a Teaching Innovation Incubator project that has, over the past year, turned a bold idea into a working AI “student” for Waterloo learners: Chrysalis. 

From peer tutoring to an AI study partner 

The project began with Prashanth Arun, a Computer Science graduate student who spent years as an undergraduate peer tutor. During COVID-19, he saw tutorial attendance drop, study groups fade, and social anxiety rise. Students who might benefit from explaining concepts to one another as a way to better learn the material themselves were instead staying silent. 

As someone who personally benefitted from peer engagement, Arun asked a simple question: How can we recreate the benefits of a study group in a private, low-pressure environment? His idea: build an AI that behaves like a human study partner—one that learners must teach. 

In January 2025, Prashanth joined Waterloo’s Teaching Innovation Incubator as a project lead alongside Pascal Poupart, working with an interdisciplinary team that also included faculty member Igor Grossmann, to bring this idea to life. 

Chrysalis: an AI that learns from you 

Most educational AI tools act like tutors. Chrysalis, a UW built large language model (LLM), flips that script. Instead of acting as the expert, Chrysalis plays the role of a novice, eager learner, where learners (students) are invited to: 

• explain core concepts and theories 

• walk Chrysalis through examples and problem-solving steps 

• assess what the LLM has learned based on their own teaching 

By teaching Chrysalis, students are pushed to organize their thinking, explain clearly, and respond to misunderstandings—key ingredients for deeper learning and long-term retention. 

One year in: from concept to campus pilots 

Since entering the Incubator in January 2025, the project team has moved quickly: 

• Built with a privacy-first architecture 
  Chrysalis does not operate as a public, consumer chatbot. Instructor course materials and intellectual property are securely stored on University of Waterloo servers and remain within Canadian jurisdiction. When responses are generated, limited data is sent temporarily to externally hosted large language models (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, and soon the Vector Institute) solely for inference. This data is not stored, retained, or used to train any models. Privacy is ensured through local data storage, strict controls on data sharing, and a commitment to never train models on instructor-provided materials for the purpose of disseminating or otherwise distributing their content through our models (commercially or otherwise). 

• Piloted with ~150 users across campus 
  Students, instructors, and staff from multiple disciplines have tested what it is like to “teach” an AI rather than rely on it for ready-made answers. Users have provided feedback on their experience to improve processes and to refine the LLM. 

• Deployed in three undergraduate courses (CS 486, PSYCH 101, ERS 215) 
  Chrysalis has been deployed across three undergraduate courses at Waterloo since the Spring 2025 term. In the Spring, students enrolled in CS 486 had the opportunity to trial the tool in its early prototype phase. Feedback was collected to refine Chrysalis’ functionality and was piloted again in PSYCH 101 and ERS 215 in the Fall term. The team is continuing to explore the integration of Chrysalis in academic courses, with the tool being deployed again in CS 486, where students will work with Chrysalis and can gain class participation credits (worth 10% of their final grade). Upon completion of the pilot in CS 486, the project team hopes to gain further insight into students’ experiences, needs, and attitudes to improve facilitation of this pedagogical approach. 

Get Involved: Opportunities for instructors, staff, and students 

Waterloo instructors and staff are invited to register for the January 30^th workshop (10:00-11:30 am) on the pedagogical benefits of learning by teaching, its implementation in Chrysalis, and explore how a “learning by teaching” AI could support their courses as a study tool, reflective activity, or innovative assessment. University of Waterloo students that are interested in exploring Chrysalis may get started by visiting the Chrysalis website and creating a personal account to begin leveraging Chrysalis to prepare for their studies. Training opportunities aimed at students in Chrysalis will be available in the future.  

In the meantime, check out the Chrysalis introduction and demo video, Learning by Teaching a Large Language Model: Introducing Chrysalis, on the Teaching Innovation Incubator website. If you have questions and would like to book a consult with the project team, please contact us by email (tii@uwaterloo.ca).

Reminder: tune in to the Global Futures Launch Forum on January 21

Members of the University of Waterloo community are invited to join the Global Futures Launch Forum 2026, a virtual event that will highlight how Waterloo’s research, partnerships and ideas are shaping a healthier, more sustainable and more prosperous future for people and the planet.

Hosted by President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel, the forum marks the launch of the Global Futures 2026 Innovation Update. The event will bring together voices from across the university and beyond to share progress, reflect on impact, and explore how Global Futures is translating research excellence into real-world change.

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Time: 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)

Register now

During the forum, participants will hear how Global Futures advances Waterloo’s Waterloo at 100 strategic vision by connecting people, ideas and investment around the world’s most pressing challenges.

The event will also mark the launch of the 2026 Global Futures: Innovation Update—storytelling platform exploring how these initiatives connect to research and collaboration at Waterloo.

All members of the campus community are welcome to attend. Whether you are directly involved in a Global Futures initiative or simply curious about how this work connects to your own role, the forum offers an opportunity to learn more about how Global Futures supports collaboration, amplifies impact and helps translate ideas into action across the University.