Monday, October 26, 2026

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• CareNext Collective: Have you seen the...? Discover how asset tracking helps hospitals

• Keeping the Waterloo community resilient

• Announcing James Skidmore's retirement: the last “out of office haiku”

• Take Our Kids to Work Day!

• Monday's notes

CareNext Collective:Have you seen the...? Discover how asset tracking helps hospitals

Finding equipment was just the beginning. Learn how asset tracking helps us to better understand and manage hospital assets.

Join us for the next CareNext Collective on November 6 from noon to 1 p.m. to learn about WRHN's recent asset tracking project, funded by CAN Health, and how real-time location technology can improve equipment visibility, reduce search time, and support better asset management across the organization by reducing loss and informing future equipment purchases.

Joining Danina Kapetanovic, Vice President, Innovation & AI Strategy & Chief Health Innovation Officer, are:

• Daniel Veniott, Program Manager, Respiratory
• Meghan Mazza, Clinical Manager, Medicine 400/500/CTU
• Karissa Manning, Innovation & Co-Creation Specialist
• Kent Rawlings, CEO, at SPARQ IoT Solutions

Hear these project leaders and clinical stakeholders share:

• Key findings from the asset tracking project
• How staff located equipment faster during the trial
• Opportunities for improved inventory management and asset utilization
• Future possibilities for reducing equipment loss and supporting operational efficiency at WRHN

Whether you're a clinical, operational, or leadership team member, this session will provide valuable insights into a technology that could help improve workflows and support better patient care. And if you’re responsible for assets in your hospital, we’ve got lessons to share!

Date: November 6, 2026
Time:  noon to 1 p.m.
Where: Join the Virtual panel discussion on Teams with audience participant through chat and live Q&A

We hope you'll join us!

Keeping the Waterloo community resilient

A message from IST.

Honk! Welcome back to Cyber Awareness Month!

This week marks the final Goose Guide for Cyber Awareness Month. Over the past three weeks, the Goose has shared lessons that help each member of the University community build their own digital resilience: securing your Waterloo digital home, watching for threats across campus, and sharing information safely in our shared spaces. Together, these practices reflect our personal responsibility for keeping ourselves, our information, and our community secure. Even as Cyber Awareness Month migrates with the geese to winter somewhere warm, there are still things we can learn from their departure.

Every autumn, Canada geese prepare for one of nature's most remarkable journeys. Flying thousands of kilometres requires more than strong wings. Geese learn migration routes from experienced members of the flock, prepare for the challenges ahead, and adapt when conditions change. 

Cybersecurity resilience works much the same way. A resilient community learns from those with experience, prepares before problems occur, responds when conditions change, and recovers when something goes wrong.

Visit the Cyber Awareness website to learn more!

Announcing James Skidmore's retirement: the last “out of office haiku”

Retirement: Skid thought

it was far in the future.

That future is now.

On Tuesday, November 24, we invite the community to come together and celebrate James Skidmore's many contributions to campus. Skid, as he's fondly known on campus, would also love the opportunity to thank you for being part of his journey and for all the ways you’ve made his time at Waterloo so memorable.

Please RSVP by Monday, November 9 if you're able to attend.

You might recognize the name James Skidmore if you ever took a class in Germanic studies or volunteered with the University of Waterloo's United Way or Keystone Treat-a-Gram campaigns. Maybe you know him from Senate or Board meetings (at Waterloo or St. Jerome's), or as the byline on the often-forwarded Senate Digest emails. Perhaps you've volunteered alongside him at Convocation or one of the many other events he has helped bring to life. Or maybe you've emailed him and received an out-of-office haiku that made you question your own approach to vacation messages.

For more years than he'd like us to publish (26, in fact), Skid has helped shape Waterloo's community, always finding ways to bring people together. His impact extends far beyond his formal roles and can be seen in the countless people, initiatives, and traditions he's supported along the way.

As he turns the page to a new chapter, we invite you to join us for an afternoon of stories, memories, well wishes, questionable amounts of nostalgia, and a proper send-off for Skid.

Event details:

• Date: Tuesday, November 24 from 3 to 5:30 p.m.
  • There will be a short program of speeches and a toast at 4 p.m.
• Location: Federation Hall
• Light refreshments will be served with a cash bar available.
• Please RSVP by Monday, November 9

Take Our Kids to Work Day!

A message from MUR Outreach.

As part of the national Take Our Kids to Work Day, Waterloo is hosting activities on Wednesday, November 4 to allow Grade 9 students of Waterloo employees to explore careers and to shadow their UWaterloo employee host. 

Hands-on sessions are being offered by Athletics and Recreation Services, Campus Engagement, the Earth Sciences Museum, and the faculties of Engineering, Environment, and Science. 

Morning sessions run at various locations from 10:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with afternoon sessions running from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. In between sessions, employees can take their child to work, show them around, grab some lunch on or off campus, and give them a window into their working life here at Waterloo. 

Students will also receive discount coupons for Food Services and the UWaterloo Store to use during the day. 

If you’re a Waterloo employee with a student in Grade 9, you're invited to register for a fun and engaging day on November 4! 

Monday’s notes

Plan ahead to stock up on local produce at this week's Community Fruit and Veg Market, SLC Marketplace and PSE 1st floor. The cost of a bag of assorted produce is $12.99. Bags of produce have been pre-sorted, allowing you to grab, pay, and get back to class or work quickly.

Join The Environmental Humanities Network (EHN) and the Waterloo Initiative of Solarpunk and Hope (WISH), for the Fall 2026 EH Slow Reading Group! Facilitated by Dr. Katy Fulfer (PHIL) and Dr. Jennifer Clary-Lemon (ENGL), the Slow Reading Group is a space for thoughtful, collaborative inquiry and open to all scholars--MA students, PhD students, postdocs, and faculty--interested in the Environmental Humanities (EH). The book for fall 2026 book is Bubant et al.'s Rubber Boots Methods for the Anthropocene (U of Minnesota P, 2022). Each Slow Reading Group session will begin with a period of silent reading, followed by open discussion. No prior preparation or registration is required and readings are provided. You can send any questions you have to jclarylemon@uwaterloo.ca. View these events and upcoming meeting dates. 

Applications are now open for WUSA's Change Engine 2026-27 competition. Waterloo undergraduate students can submit an idea for improving student life and develop it into a real, student-led project. Students can apply individually or as a team, and two winning projects will each receive $5,000 in funding, along with mentorship and marketing consultation to help move their projects forward. Applications close November 15, 2026.

Employers hosting CEE Employer Information Sessions this week include Apple, Skydio, Multiplex, Rivian, Alamos Gold, Brookfield, and Index Exchange.