Tuesday, April 14, 2026

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• Christopher Stuart Taylor reappointed Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

• Registration for Convocation opens May 12

• Lectures in Catholic Experience hosts talk on hospice care by Fr. Matthew Durham

• Board will meet in Stratford today and other notes

Christopher Stuart Taylor reappointed Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

"I am pleased to announce that Christopher Stuart Taylor has been reappointed Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism effective October 1, 2026, for a 3-year term," wrote interim Vice-President, Academic and Provost Tom Duever in a memo sent to Executive Council yesterday.

“Following his appointment in 2021, Christopher established the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (EDI-R) and has led the growth of the portfolio with purpose and conviction,” the provost’s memo continues. “His stewardship has shaped this office into a trusted, central institutional hub, providing first-call support and coordination for equity, anti-racism, and harm-related concerns affecting students, staff, and faculty.”

“Christopher’s work has advanced the University’s capacity, and its shared responsibility, to address systemic inequities and respond to harm with care and accountability. He guided the successful completion of the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART), marking a major institutional milestone, with significant progress achieved on its recommendations and remaining multi-year actions now underway." 

“These include initiatives such as the Trans and Non-Binary Equity Strategy, the Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR), and ongoing programming in support of the Cluster Hires initiative. He has advanced equity-driven change by embedding anti-racism commitments into policies, procedures, and planning frameworks; leading campus culture initiatives to strengthen community trust and institutional responses to harm; and developing institution-wide equity and anti-racism education programs to build understanding and lasting change.”

“Christopher’s reappointment reflects his strategic, values-driven leadership and continued commitment to this vital work,” Dr. Duever’s memo concludes. “Please join me in congratulating him on his reappointment.”

Registration for Convocation opens May 12

The University of Waterloo’s 132^nd Convocation ceremonies will run from June 16 to 20, and this spring’s graduands are being notified via email that registration opens on Tuesday, May 12.

Additionally, students will receive an email on May 12 officially inviting them to attend their convocation ceremony and will be asked to register and reserve up to two guest tickets. This registration must be completed by June 3. Students will be notified if there are additional guest tickets that can be reserved, subject to availability.

All ceremonies will be livestreamed and available to watch on the convocation website.

For more details, visit the convocation website.

Lectures in Catholic Experience hosts talk on hospice care by Fr. Matthew Durham

On Thursday, April 23, St. Jerome’s will welcome Fr. Matthew Durham, who is a leading national expert on hospice for marginalized populations. This talk, “The Last Shall Be First: Equity and Mercy in End-of-Life Care for the Forgotten,” serves as a fitting capstone to the lecture series theme for the year—living the mission on the margins. St. Jerome’s University President Dr. Peter Meehan says, “we are looking forward to welcoming Fr. Matthew Durham to St. Jerome’s as our final speaker for 2025-26 in the Lectures in Catholic Experience. Journey Home Hospice affirms the simple but profound truth that every life matters, perhaps especially at its end. In welcoming people who have been marginalized by homelessness, poverty, illness or social isolation, Journey Home restores human dignity where it has often been denied and reminds us that compassion is not an option or a 'nice to have’ - it is the measure of a caring, humane society.”

Fr. Matthew Durham is a priest of the Diocese of Hamilton and serves as the Bishop's Delegate to Healthcare. He is also the National Executive Director of Hospice Palliative Care for the Saint Elizabeth Foundation and the founding Executive Director of Journey Home Hospice in Toronto and Windsor. He holds a Doctor of Ministry with a focus on healthcare administration and teaches at the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. Fr. Durham is deeply committed to advancing equity and compassion in end-of-life care, particularly for structurally vulnerable populations, including those experiencing homelessness, poverty, and marginalization. Through initiatives like Journey Home Hospice and the newly launched Centre for Equity in End-of-Life Care, he champions trauma-informed, harm-reducing, and culturally safe care models that prioritize dignity and justice for all.

The event will take place in the Notre Dame Chapel in SJ1 Academic Building at 7:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed. Register on Ticketfi.

Board will meet in Stratford today and other notes

The University's Board of Governors hits the road today for a meeting at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business today at 1:30 p.m. Among the agenda items:

• A motion to approve Policy 19 – Student Academic Disability Accommodations, on the recommendation of the Community & Culture Committee;
• A motion to approve the 2026-27 Tuition Fees, effective May 1, 2026, on the recommendation of the Finance & Investment Committee. This follows a recent provincial policy change on tuition fees, permitting 2 per cent increases for domestic tuition fees for the next three years;
• A motion to approve the operating budget revenues and expenses for 2026-2027, on the recommendation of the Finance & Investment Committee;
• A motion to approve Guidelines for Use of Confidential and In Camera Sessions, on the recommendation of the Governance & Leadership Committee;
• In the consent agenda, a motion to approve the Bill S-211 Annual Report, on the recommendation of the Audit & Risk Committee and a motion to approve upcoming sabbatical and administrative leaves.

The Board will also receive reports from its standing committees and the 2025 Ombudsperson report.

The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube beginning at 1:30 p.m. More details about the meeting and the agenda are available on the Secretariat's website.

Also happening today:

The WIN-BME Joint Seminar featuring Marketa Kaiser and Jakub Salplachta entitled "Beyond Static Imaging: Structural and Functional Insights through X-ray microCT" takes place today from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. in PSE 2317. "In this seminar, Marketa Kaiser and Jakub Salplachta will talk about X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) is a powerful, non-destructive imaging technique that provides micrometer-scale 3D visualization of the samples," says a note from WIN. "This talk will discuss relevant sample preparation strategies for both conventional and in-situ imaging and demonstrate their application across multiple biological systems."

The GenAI in Teaching Material Development (CTE7553) workshop takes place today from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in MC 2036.