Thursday, March 12, 2020

Online Teaching and Design Award winners named

A message from the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL).

The Centre for Extended Learning is proud to announce the 2019 Online Teaching and Design Award Winners.

Introductory Psychology, PSYCH 101 has been awarded the Online Course Design Award. The author of PSYCH 101 is Paul Wehr, a lecturer in the Psychology Department, who has a passion for undergraduate instruction and support. PSYCH 101 ONLINE is a highly engaging course that uses a variety of strategies to help students learn course material efficiently, andto engage and motivate them.

Colleen McMillan is this year’s winner of Waterloo’s Online Instructor Award. She is the instructor for Social Work Practice In Mental Health – SWK 609R S2019. Colleen aims to teach every student as if they are the only student in the class by “fostering a respectful relationship with each student; what they hope to achieve during the term, their unique interests and relationship to the content, and how they envision using the content in their career”.

Students invited to contribute to endowment funds

The Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) Students’ Council has opened voluntary student contributions to the two major campus-wide undergraduate endowment funds: the Student Life Endowment Fund (SLEF) and the Enterprise, Opportunity, and Innovation Endowment Fund (EOI). This decision gives students the option of donating to these funds — the only two endowment funds on campus dedicated exclusively to student needs and initiatives.

Students will now see these voluntary fees on their tuition statements:

• EOI Fund fee of $5 termly, beginning Spring 2020
• SLEF fee of $25 termly, beginning Fall 2020

All endowment fund fees are voluntary and are considered charitable contributions.

The Student Life Endowment Fund exists to help students fund projects that benefit their experience at the University of Waterloo. Since the spring of 1992, undergrads contributed to the fund through a compulsory fee, which was initiated as part of the "Coordinated Plan to Improve the Quality of Student Life at UW." That fee was discontinued for some time, but has now been reintroduced by Students’ Council — this time as a voluntary fee, to increase the principal balance of the fund to $3-4M. Each year, the interest on the fund is used to support various projects on campus. By reintroducing the fee, WUSA has the opportubity to double the amount of support for student groups over the next 10 years.

The Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation Endowment Fund exists to assist with the costs of student projects, student-led entrepreneurship and start-up ventures, to facilitate attendance at conferences, professional or academic development opportunities, and to assist with costs of unique one-time projects that provide lasting benefit to students across all Waterloo campuses.

The fund was created by WUSA in 2002 from the sale of Clarica shares that were held as part of the student supplementary health plan. This led to an initial balance of $500,000. Since then, the fund has awarded $25k each year to student projects, start-ups, and opportunities for students' professional and academic development. As the amount of applications to the fund has skyrocketed in recent years, the current expendable balance is not enough to support demand. In an effort to provide more funding (available to students upfront while growing the principal balance), Students’ Council approved the introduction of a new voluntary fee for the endowment fund.

More detailed information about the funds, what types of projects they've supported, and how to apply (or opt out) is available on the WUSA website.

Video celebrates women in engineering

This article was originally published on the Waterloo Engineering news site.

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, a video was created featuring some of the remarkable Waterloo Engineering women who are changing the world through their innovation and determination to break barriers.

You Belong Here is the theme of the piece that highlights the incredible life-enhancing work women students and faculty members are advancing right across the Faculty.   

Global Game Night and other notes

To celebrate Global Engineering Week, a systems design engineering class (SYDE 261) is inviting members of the campus community to try out the games they’ve designed to educate players about global issues. "Playing these exciting games will teach you about environmental, social, and economic impacts of a wide variety of topics," says a note from the game night organizers. "Each team has designed a game that addresses a global issue that the Engineer of the Future may face in their career. You will learn lots and be able to provide user feedback for the students."

The event will be happening in the E7 event space on Thursday, March 12 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., so drop in and get your game on.

The University Club will be celebrating March Madness next week from March 16 to 20 with a special lunch menu served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. "Beat the madness with some pub favourites to keep you tuned up for the big game and warmed up from the inside out," says a note from the Club.

The 2020 MakerExpo, scheduled for May 30 and 31, has initiated a call for exhibitors. "There is no Expo without Exhibitors — artists, hobbyists, individuals, schools, businesses and other organizations join us every year to show off all the awesome stuff they’re working on!" says a note from the expo organizers. The final deadline for exhibitors is Friday, March 20. The event takes place at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex.

Women in Computer Science is running a Sexism Response Workshop next Thursday, March 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in MC 5501. "This event is open to everyone in the University of Waterloo community," says a note from workshop organizers. "Free food will be provided." You can register for the workshop on Eventbrite and on Facebook. This workshop is being sponsored by Wish.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "myth vs. fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace:

Myth:

Organic vegetables and fruits are more nutritious.

Fact:

While many studies have examined this premise, research results are mixed and have shown that organic foods may have more, less or about the same nutrients as non-organic foods.

Both organic and non-organic produce is nutritious. Many factors affect a vegetable or fruit’s nutritional value: how it is grown, stored, shipped, processed and cooked. Buying minimally processed food grown closer to home and in season generally means vegetables and fruits are more nutritious, not to mention flavourful. Produce that travels a long way from the farm to your table will lose some nutrients. Storing produce properly and eating it raw or cooked with a minimal amount of water can help to improve retention of some nutrients. Frozen vegetables and fruit, whether organic or not, are also nutritious options.

More research needs to be done before it can be said conclusively that organically grown foods are measurably more nutritious. If you are looking for ways to make your diet healthier, simply eat more veggies and fruits, either organic or conventionally grown. Among other benefits, a diet rich in these foods is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers, may improve digestion and blood sugar and may help to keep you in a healthy weight range. Whether you choose organic foods, which are almost always more costly, is a personal choice and may not be an affordable or practical goal for many. Whatever choice you make, choose generous servings and before using, rinse produce thoroughly under running water. Remove the outside leaves of veggies like lettuce, kale or cabbage and save for compost and scrub thick skinned foods like potatoes, apples and carrots.