Tuesday, June 16, 2026

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• Waterloo’s one hundred and thirty-second Convocation officially starts today
• Environment and Health convocation ceremonies today
• Launch of revamped Office of Research Ethics website
• New website for sessional instructors and graduate TA and RA job postings
   

Waterloo’s one hundred and thirty-second Convocation officially starts today 

It’s time for an incredible milestone at the University of Waterloo as we celebrate the one hundred and thirty-second Convocation. Approximately 7,349 degrees will be awarded to a new generation of Waterloo graduates over 14 ceremonies from Tuesday to Saturday. 

Convocation has been, for the past 900 years, a meeting of the university community at which symbols are displayed, participants wear special attire to emphasize their official roles, and speakers share their wisdom and the values that the university seeks to teach. Each Waterloo procession, held at the Physical Activities Complex, includes a signature mix of distinct elements such as the ceremonial Eagle staff, the mace, and an Indigenous opening and closing ceremony. Read more about what makes Waterloo’s Convocation unforgettable.  
 
One student is chosen as the prestigious valedictorian for each convocation ceremony. Their journeys reflect more than academic achievement. They capture the curiosity to try something new, the perseverance to take on new challenges and the drive to make an impact. Learn more about this year’s valedictorians and their experiences. 
 
This year, the University will award nine honorary doctorates to individuals whose outstanding achievements and contributions have had a meaningful impact on the University, their communities, their fields and the world. Recipients are celebrated for excellence across disciplines including research, scholarship, the arts, professional achievement and voluntary service. Find out more about this year’s honorary doctorate recipients. 
 
This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Kevin Lim, B S c, M S c (’00), P h D. — Chief Executive Officer of Remsoft, a global software company providing intelligent planning solutions for the forest industry. Lim is also an active alum, scholarship supporter, and employer of Waterloo co-op students and graduates. 

This Convocation marks Vivek Goel’s final one as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University. “At Waterloo, we are proud to be a community of curious, collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial problem solvers and leaders who seek to build a better future for humanity and our planet,” said Goel. “We think differently, act with purpose and work together. Our students don’t just inherit this ethos – they continue to help shape it throughout their time at Waterloo and beyond.” 

The ceremonies will be livestreamed on the Convocation website. Congratulations to all Waterloo graduands, their families and supporters.  

Environment and Health convocation ceremonies today 

The Faculty of Environment and the Faculty of Health will celebrate convocation today, in morning and afternoon ceremonies. 

Faculty of Environment 

Grads by the numbers: 356 undergraduates, 58 Master’s students, and 21 PhD candidates.  

The ceremony will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the PAC. Watch the livestream.  

The Valedictorian is Francesca Girmenia and the mace bearer is Andrew Trant. The national anthem will be sung by Julie-Anne Desrochers. 

Distinguished awards for the Faculty of Environment 

• Finalist for the Governor General's Gold Medal award: Nathanael Thomas Bergbusch  

• President’s Award of Excellence: Abigail Rose La Chappelle  

• Alumni Gold Medal: Emma LeCouffe (fall 2025)  

Departmental awards  

• Francesca Lucia Gimenia, Environment and Business   

• Abigail Rose La Chappelle, Environment, Resources and Sustainability   

• Samuel Douglas Ferreira, Geography and Aviation   

• Kirsi Grace O’Quinn, Geography and Environmental Management   

• Campbell Charles Ray Bowser, Geomatics   

• Emma LeCouffe (fall 2025), Knowledge Integration   

• Ealy Fong, Planning   

• Kathleen Anne Croutch, Climate and Environmental Change   

• Etsubdink Addis Kasu, International Development   

Faculty of Health  

Grads by the numbers: 531 undergraduates, 74 Master’s students, and 17 PhD candidates. 

The ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the PAC. Watch the livestream.  

The Valedictorian is Majdalen Azouz, and the mace bearer is John Hirdes. The national anthem will be sung by Julie-Anne Desrochers. 

Distinguished awards for the Faculty of Health  

• Finalist for the Governor General's Gold Medal award: Laura Peach  

• President’s Award of Excellence: Elaina Vuu  

• Alumni Gold Medal: Thenugaa Thusha Rajeswaran  

Departmental awards  

• Elaina Vuu, Kinesiology and Health Sciences   

• Braiden Frank Sunn, Recreation and Leisure Studies (fall 2025)   

• Melissa Lu, School of Public Health and Health Sciences   

Launch of revamped Office of Research Ethics website

A message from Ian Milligan, Associate Vice-President, Research Oversight and Integrity, Office of the Vice-President, Research and International.

I am pleased to share that the Office of Research Ethics (ORE) has launched a newly revised and refreshed website, which is now live. Whether you are working with human participants, animals in science and teaching or biological materials, the new site is designed to better support your needs.  

This update reflects our ongoing efforts to make research ethics information more accessible, intuitive, and useful for the University of Waterloo community. 

Key features of the new website include:  

• a centralized online home for research ethics information, covering human participant research, animals in science and teaching, and biological materials, 

• an improved user experience and interface for clearer navigation, 

• easier access to information, with content organized to help you find what you need more quickly, and 

• a searchable catalogue of resources, enabling efficient access to guidance documents, forms, and other helpful information. 

As part of this transition, research ethics-related pages currently hosted on the main Research website will no longer be available. To support continuity, redirects are in place to guide users to the new ORE website. I encourage you to check out the new site and bookmark or add these pages to your favourites. As a reminder the research ethics system login can be easily found on the main page.   

We welcome your feedback as you begin using the new site. If you have questions or would like to share comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out: 

• Office of Research Ethics (ORE), researchethics@uwaterloo.ca 

• Office of the VPRI, researchoffice@uwaterloo.ca 

Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment to conducting research with integrity and care. 

New website for sessional instructors and graduate TA and RA job postings

A message from Christine McWebb, Associate Vice-President, Faculty and Academic Life and Lisa Yuhasz, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer.

Earlier this year, the University of Waterloo and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 5524 ratified two collective agreements: one governing sessional instructors and the other governing graduate teaching assistants (TAs) and graduate research assistants (RAs). Since then, the University has been developing the resources and processes needed to support the implementation of these agreements.

A key component of this work is the establishment of a centralized, accessible platform to support the new hiring processes for sessional instructors, as well as graduate TAs and RAs. Campus administrators have received training on the updated hiring processes for both collective agreements, and a new website has been created to serve as a hub for job postings for these roles.

Opportunities will be posted starting on June 15 on the CUPE 5524 Opportunities website.

Please contact Glenda Rutledge for questions related to sessional instructors, or your HR Partner for questions about graduate TAs or RAs.