Friday, August 16, 2019

Revised Policy 42 now in effect

A message from the Office of the Associate Vice-President, Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion.

The Board of Governors recently approved the newly revised Policy 42 – Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence and associated Sexual Violence Response Protocol and Procedures on June 4, 2019 and the policy is now in effect. This “G” policy can be found on the Secretariat website.

The Policy 42 review committee initiated the review process in the winter term 2018, with the primary goal of improving the policy and procedures in light of experience and to better meet the needs of our campus community. 

Policy 42 applies where a student has been alleged to have engaged in sexual violence towards another (including student, staff, or faculty).  Sexual violence is a broad umbrella which means any sexual act or act targeting a person’s sexuality, gender identity or gender expression, whether the act is physical or psychological in nature, that is committed, threatened or attempted against a person without the person’s consent, and includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, indecent exposure, voyeurism and sexual exploitation.

Key changes to the Policy include:

• Application of the policy exclusively to incidents where a student is the alleged respondent;
• Extension of jurisdiction of the policy to events occurring outside of the University’s campuses;
• Formalization of the necessity for there to be two individuals at the Sexual Violence Response Coordinator level such that support offered to complainants and respondents are done by separate people; and
• Increased clarity, particularly in the procedures, as to processes, the resources available to any person affected by sexual violence, and to frame expectations for complainants and respondents as to options and potential outcomes.

Those who receive a disclosure on campus should contact Amanda Cook, Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Response or Meaghan Ross, Sexual Violence Response Coordinator for support and guidance (the identity of the person making the disclosure does not need to be shared).

The Sexual Violence Prevention & Response team are planning education and awareness activities for the fall and winter terms regarding Policy 42.  If you are interested in receiving more information about education opportunities, please contact jpazzano@uwaterloo.ca

Any questions about the new policy can be directed to amanda.cook@uwaterloo.ca or the Secretariat Office. 

Waterloo makes its mark in 2019 ARWU ranking

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, is an annual ranking of the world’s top 500 universities. Results are based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data. Universities are scored on indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and their per capita academic performance.

The 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities was released on August 15^th and the University of Waterloo placed in the 151-200 band globally and in the 6-9 band nationally. The placement is similar to 2018, but up from 2016 and 2017 where Waterloo landed in the 201-300 band globally and 7-13 band internationally. Waterloo’s score has improved this year within the Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals criteria because Professor Donna Strickland won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.

This year, for the first time, the top 1,000 universities in the world have been ranked and published.

Electrical shutdown closes Student Life Centre this weekend and other notes

A rare shutdown and closure of the Student Life Centre will be taking place this weekend as part of an electrical utility shutdown on the North Loop of the ring road on Sunday, August 18. The Student Life Centre will close at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 17 and reopen at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 18. All SLC operations, including the Turnkey Desk, will be closed during this time period.

SLC closures are as rare as hen's teeth under a blue moon, or however the saying goes, and Turnkey Desk closures are nearly unheard of - they claim to have operated almost continuously since 1968. In the 1970s, Federation of Students President Andrew Telegdi got in hot water for a scheme to close the SLC (then known as the Campus Centre) and charge tickets for entry during Oktoberfest.

The August 18 electrical power shutdown will run from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and affect a number of buildings on campus, including:

• Central Services Building;
• General Services Complex;
• Commissary;
• Mathematics and Computer;
• Physical Activities Complex;
• Village 1;
• Tutors' Houses;
• Health Services;
• Ron Eydt Village;
• University Club;
• Chemistry 2;
• Burt Matthews Hall;
• Optometry;
• Fed Hall;
• Davis Centre;
• Mackenzie King Village;
• Energy Research Centre;
• Quantum-Nano Centre; and
• Mathematics 3.

Plant Operations notes that all computer equipment should be properly shut down prior to the power outage. For further information or assistance, contact the IST Service Desk at ext. 84357.

The Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE) is currently recruiting non-contact lens wearers with dry eye and non-dry eye, to participate in a study that measures the outmost layer of tears. The study will take place here at the University of Waterloo. Participants will receive up to $20 for a one time hour long visit. For more information regarding this study visit corestudies.ca/pointer. 

To register to be part of CORE’s participant database and be the first to know about new studies, profiles can be created at corestudies.ca.

Beginning Monday August 19, construction work will begin at the intersection of William Tutte Way and Ring Road for the Transit Terminal, which involves widening the intersection to allow GRT buses to make the turn onto the terminal road that runs to Phillip Street. The west side of the intersection will be worked on first, with the construction to widen the intersection taking approximately one week. Signs will be set up to notify pedestrians and drivers of the construction, and a flagperson will be on hand to direct traffic.