Wednesday, May 20, 2020

President hosts virtual town hall today

The President’s Virtual Town Hall will be taking place today from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. over livestream. The effects on our campus community have been paramount over the past two months and the Town Hall is an opportunity for an open discussion on all that has happened at the University of Waterloo and a vision for moving forward.

Those who pre-registered for the event had the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time and should have received a link to the livestream in their inbox yesterday. For those looking to view the live stream can do so through the following link: https://bit.ly/3dLrL9N

The Town Hall will feature a brief talk by the President Hamdullahpur and a live Q&A session filled with questions that were both submitted by registrants and through the live Q&A platform.

More than 1,200 students, faculty, staff, and members of the wider community have signed up to attend today's meeting. The event will be recorded and uploaded to the President's Town Hall website following today's event.

Coming soon: campus phishing simulations

A message from Information Systems & Technology (IST).

Phishing attacks have consistently been the most prevalent cybersecurity threat faced by the University of Waterloo. These attacks typically take the form of a malicious email pretending to be from a credible source or organization related to the University. Attackers can use information they receive from targeted individuals to: 

• Steal money and modify banking information;
• Perform identity theft; and 
• Launch further attacks from compromised accounts. 

While the University employs technology to help guard against these threats, user awareness is a critical element in defending against phishing attacks.  

Phishing simulations are a leading practice that allow organizations to measure the effectiveness of security awareness efforts and to re-enforce awareness of the threat, without harming the person or University resource. This past Fall, IST initiated phishing simulation campaigns with a group of 11 academic support departments. This month, IST will expand this activity to all faculty, staff, and students. 

What to expect 

If you have a University of Waterloo email account, you may receive a simulated phishing email up to three times per term. Should you follow the link in the email and enter any information on the website, you will be directed to a campus phishing simulation page hosted on IST’s Cyber Awareness website. Resources about phishing attacks will be available to you there. 

Any and all data (e.g. passwords) entered by individuals who participate in this simulation will not be recorded and will not be disclosed by IST to anyone. 

What to do when you suspect a phish 

If you believe a phishing email has landed in your inbox, real or simulated, please forward the message as an attachment to soc@uwaterloo.ca. 

Learn more 

For more information about how to protect yourself and the University from cyberthreats, please visit IST’s Cyber Awareness website. 

Alumnus takes the wheel with drive-thru medicine

This article was originally published on the School of Pharmacy's website.

Dani Thomas (Rx2018) stands a good distance from a car in the parking lot of Two Rivers Family Health Team in Cambridge. The person inside has their window rolled down and Dani’s wearing a mask, asking them questions. It’s mid-May and still snowing.

The person in the car is one of family health team’s patients on warfarin, a blood thinning medication that requires regular and careful monitoring by a pharmacist. Dani, a pharmacist on the team, jots down notes from the discussion and takes a drop of blood from the patient’s finger to test their levels. 

This drive-thru method is a new way to administer medicine and check-in on patients while many health offices remain closed for walk-in appointments.

“COVID-19 has had a huge impact on my normal day-to-day at work,” she says. “I previously supported the team’s memory clinic and saw patients by appointment, doing thorough medication reviews and suggesting adjustments in therapy when they would be helpful.”

Because of the shift to prioritize essential services, Dani no longer sees patients in the office, and the memory clinic is temporarily suspended. Physicians continue to take appointments over the phone, and the team supports them as best they can. For medically necessary services, like the warfarin clinics, Dani’s helped develop new processes like the drive-in clinic they hold in the business’s parking lot. The first few weeks were rough because of the unseasonably cold start to spring, but she’s grateful that the weather’s starting to warm up.

“It’s been a struggle knowing I can’t always provide the most comprehensive care in these circumstances where I can’t see patients for in-depth reviews. After the social isolation policies ease, we’re also going to experience a swell with all our patients who had non-essential appointments that were pushed back.”

At the family health team, Dani is one of many different health professionals that work together to support their roster of patients. The inherently collaborative nature the team has been an asset as they shifted to prioritize the most essential of medical services. Because some services Dani used to provide are no longer prioritized, she’s pivoted to help out patients indirectly through tasks like reviewing opioid use, ensuring medications are dosed appropriately and more.

“It has truly been a team effort managing COVID-19,” she reflects. “Every single discipline in our team has been vital and we’ve really come together to help our patients. The changes in workflow took some adjusting to on my part, but it’s becoming familiar now. It’s also been inspiring to see how the community has united at this time – people dropping off supplies and little things like ear-savers to help us with wearing masks, showing thanks to their frontline workers.”

Remembering Professor Park Reilly

By Carol Truemner. This article originally appeared on Waterloo Stories.

Park Reilly, a long-time Waterloo chemical engineering professor, died earlier this month, just 12 days shy of turning 100.

Reilly, who joined the University of Waterloo in 1967, was a respected scholar engaged in research and teaching on the application of statistics in engineering.

He held cross appointments in engineering's management sciences department and math's statistics and actuarial sciences department.

Reilly came to Waterloo after a 20-year career in the chemical industry. His industrial experience provided him with an extensive range of practical examples and illustrations of his course materials.

In 1986, he was the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Teacher Award. The letters of support for the honour from his undergraduate, graduate and former students and faculty colleagues demonstrated that his appeal as a teacher went far beyond credibility and expertise.

He was described as “a dedicated, enthusiastic, and immensely effective teacher who spares no effort to help his students in their learning.”

One student wrote that his greatest asset in the classroom “was his willingness and desire to work with the students, rather than just present the information and leave it at that.”

Reilly and his wife Veva established the Chemical Engineering Medal, also known as the Park Reilly Medal, for doctoral graduates. The medal recognizes “skill in research as measured by analysis of an engineering problem, planning an efficient solution of the problem and achieving the solution with superior insight into the science and/or engineering involved.”

Park Reilly with Pearl Suillivan, former dean of Waterloo Engineering. 

An annual popular chemical engineering event named for the Reillys is the Park and Veva Reilly Distinguished Seminar held in Engineering 6.

Maintained ties after retirement

Reilly formally retired in 1988, but continued teaching and consulting with industry. He took on graduate students well into his 90s.

Last year, Reilly attended the Faculty's Reunion weekend in June. Peter Golem, a Waterloo Engineering alumnus, caught up with his former professor he hadn’t seen in 50 years.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo Stories.

I just can't get enough of these Good Buddies of the University

"My good buddy, Rosie, keeps me company in my basement "office", writes Donna Ellis, director of the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE). "She seems glad to have her family at home, mostly to let her in and out all day long!"

"Maybe I could learn from her about increasing my activity levels now that I'm not walking to and from meetings. But she just lies in front of the weights - not so encouraging!"

"I love seeing the photos of our University community and how many of us have fur-babies at home to keep us company," writes Patty Mah of the School of Accounting and Finance. "My kitty, Mazee, is no different. Mazee keeps me company throughout the day and often toggles between looking over my shoulders to critique my work and sleeping in front of my monitor when she feels that my productivity and quality of work is satisfactory."

"Shadow reviewing the latest @uwdailybulletin for important updates," tweets Amanda Connolly, manager, marketing & campus engagement in the Registrar's Office.

"Arthur (left) and Dart (right) love to bark during Team meetings," tweets Christina Pope, graduate studies marketing and recruitment specialist in the Faculty of Environment.