Monday, April 8, 2019

Volunteers: connecting communities, enriching our world

A message from the Office of Advancement.

Sunday kicked off National Volunteer Week 2019 — a time to celebrate the volunteers who help our communities thrive.

Across our campuses and beyond, Waterloo’s volunteers connect us to one another and help us achieve our goals. Whether you’ve set up tables at an event, mentored a student, lent your skills to a committee, or planned an outing for Waterloo alumni, you’ve built meaningful relationships that support our University’s efforts to make a positive impact on the world. Thank you!

Members of our campus community also volunteer throughout the region, enhancing and enriching the lives of our friends and neighbours. You make Waterloo a great place to live, learn and work, and for that, we’re truly grateful.

To mark National Volunteer Week, the Office of Advancement is showcasing volunteers on our Impact Stories site and the Alumni Instagram account. We hope you’ll take a look — and if you see a post you like, please share it with a volunteer in your life.

Thank you again to everyone who volunteers in our campus community. We hope you have a very happy National Volunteer Week!

Annual staff conference begins today

The annual Waterloo Staff Conference will be taking place on campus today and Tuesday, April 8 and 9. The two-day event features world-class keynotes as well as personal and professional development workshops for employees. If you missed out on a chance to register for the event, limited registration of open workshops will be available on the days of the conference at the registration desk in the Don Craig Atrium in the School of Accounting & Finance in Hagey Hall or at the Science Teaching Complex. 

The office of Organizational and Human Development, the staff learning and development department that organizes the conference, will be closed on the days of the event. The office will also be closed on Thursday, April 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for a staff event.

The event kicks off today with opening keynotes by:

Celeste Headlee, author and journalist for National Public Radio (NPR) as well for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). 

Headlee contends that listening is what separates those of us who can gain a competitive advantage, and that building relationships is critical to cultivating existing business and attracting new clients or customers.  

Ilana Ben-Ari is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of Twenty One Toys. The company’s first product is The Empathy Toy, a 3-D abstract puzzle that was originally designed with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to bridge the communication gap between visually impaired students and their sighted classmates. It is now used as a tool for empathic learning and creative education for people of varying ages and abilities. Ilana identifies creativity and emotional intelligence as two of the top skills workers need—now and in the future.

In addition, today's conference proceedings feature a mini-keynote by Jeremie Saunders, an award winning actor, producer and host of popular original Canadian media, including film, television and podcasts, will be looking at how we define success and accomplish our goals.

Jeremie, who lives with a genetic lung disease called Cystic Fibrosis, breaks down the importance of building community when striving for success and the vital role vulnerability plays in building the trust needed to strengthen the foundation of support we need. Using humour as a lens to lower the stigma of critical illness, Saunders asks us all to consider, “How would you live if you knew your expiry date?”

For more information about the conference session schedule, visit the website.

Remembering Brent McFarlane

Pat Steele, Dana Ellis, Brent McFarlane, and Tim Mussar.

This is an excerpt of an article originally posted on the Athletics website.

The Department of Athletics and Recreation is deeply saddened by the loss of one of their most accomplished and well-known coaches, Brent McFarlane (BSc '73) after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

"Brent was a tremendous person and coach and paved a bright future for both our cross-country and track and field programs here at the University of Waterloo," said Director of Athletics and Recreation Roly Webster.

"He has left an ever-lasting impression on our department and we are truly thankful for everything he has done for the Warriors and beyond. Our sincere condolences go out to his entire family during this difficult time."

McFarlane, an alumni of Waterloo, was the head coach of the Warriors track and cross country teams from 1989-2000, reaching the pinnacle in 1996 where he guided the women's cross country team to both a Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) and Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) Championship.
 
That was Waterloo's first national title in twenty years. That same year he was named the OWIAA and CIAU Coach of the Year. He was also the recipient of Waterloo's Coach of the Year Awards in 1991 and 1997 presented at the annual year-end banquet.

McFarlane has coached more than 30 national teams, including four Canadian Olympic teams, serving as head coach for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Read the rest of the article and find out funeral details on the Athletics website.

Registration deadline for Teaching and Learning Conference approaches

The 11^th annual University of Waterloo Teaching and Learning Conference is set to take place on May 2, 2019 in Federation Hall and Science Teaching Complex.

The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) has announced that the 2019 Conference Program is now available.

The 2019 conference theme is Teaching and Designing for Diverse Learners.

To register and learn more about faculties, departments, and units covering registration fees, please visit the Conference Registration webpage.

"Last year saw over 330 faculty members, staff, and students gather to learn from and with one another around the theme of motivation in teaching and learning," says a note from CTE. "This year, we are excited to welcome Allison Lombardi, Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, as our keynote speaker, as well as Drs. Carol Hulls (Continuing Lecturer, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) and Markus Moos (Associate Professor, School of Planning) from Waterloo, who will each recreate a successful instructional approach in our Igniting Our Practice plenary session, which showcases some of the excellent teaching being done on our campus."

The registration deadline is Thursday, April 11.