Thursday, December 17, 2020

A thank-you from the United Way Campaign

A message from the United Way Campaign committee.

Our 2020 United Way campaign has wrapped up and we wanted to send a sincere thank you to everyone who helped make this year a success. We’ve developed a video to say thanks to everyone who has contributed – and our President, Feridun Hamdullahpur, has made an appearance where he reveals the grand total of our campaign. Check it out below.

Whether you donated through e-pledge, supported a department fundraiser, or helped spread the word about the United Way, you helped us make this year memorable and impactful. 

Despite the campaign going virtual and being in a pandemic, together we’ve raised an amount we can truly be proud of.! With your support, United Way Waterloo Region Communities will be able to help more families through difficult times – whether that be to provide mental health services, housing, crisis support, voluntary support, or access to food. You have helped to build a stronger Waterloo region.

Thank you!

Safety Office issues safe laboratory shutdown guidelines

The Safety Office has circulated its annual memo regarding safe holiday laboratory shutdown procedures. 

"Please note for the holiday shutdown that due to winter weather conditions, utilities (especially electricity) may be affected," says the memo from Director of Safety Kate Windsor. "It is a general rule that all laboratory processes be designed to safely survive a service failure. During the holiday shutdown this is particularly important and the following precautions are recommended."

Added to that annual concern, of course, are COVID-related issues. "Campus-wide COVID-19 public health cleaning precautions WILL NOT be maintained while the University is closed, and temperature/ventilation will be lowered," Windsor's memo continues. "Only research and lab maintenance that has received special approval by a Faculty Dean will be serviced as per a planned schedule."

The Safety Office recommends the follow preparations for campus laboratories:

• Suspend lab operations by Thursday, December 23, at 4:00 pm, resuming no earlier than Monday, January 4, 2021.
• Shut down all processes vulnerable to failure of utilities.
• Remove hazardous waste from the lab. Last day for main campus hazardous waste pickup and drop off at the Environmental Safety Facility is Friday, December 18. For more information call x35755.
• Store hazardous materials properly and in containment areas and ensure that containers are closed or sealed.
• Shut off compressed gases and gas supply lines to equipment.
• Turn off and unplug, where possible, electrical equipment such as hot plates, computers and, if not containing hazardous materials, fume hoods and environmental chambers. This prevents damage to equipment due to power surges while reducing energy waste.
• Ensure lab contact information is updated with names, phone numbers and addresses in a location accessible to emergency response personnel (e.g. inside of door), and provide emergency contact information to UW Police via email (uwpolice@uwaterloo.ca). If applicable, include documentation on contents of sensitive freezers and refrigerators in the lab.
• Anyone approved to work in a lab during shutdown must have supervisor and departmental approval and adhere to the Working Alone Guidelines posted on the Safety Office website. Building access keys and named authorized persons must be arranged to be left with UW Police to be signed out only to those people that have   specifically been authorized.

If you have any questions about preparing your lab for shutdown contact the Safety Office at x35755.

In the event that you have a lab incident, the Safety Office asks that you:

• Report failures of equipment or physical plant to Plant Operations at x33793.
• If the lab or building has been without power, allow the lab exhaust systems to operate for at least 2 hours before entry to lab or building.
• Contact the Safety Office or UW Spill Team through UW Police at 519-888-4911 or x22222 if you have concerns relating to hazardous materials spills.

The value of your data

Asif Khan (BA ’97) is an expert in data. He’s made a career and company out of the ways our data is collected, stored and used.

When small businesses began collecting information for contact tracing, many of them turned to pen and paper. That didn’t seem very reliable or secure to Asif’s team at GroundLevel Insights.

To help those businesses, they created a QR-based service called CANATRACE, which provides a faster and more secure way to collect personal information from patrons. The service is completely bilingual and free.

Want to learn more about data mining? Watch the latest webcast from Waterloo Alumni, where Asif offers valuable insights about how our data can be used in positive ways — to provide you with better service, or to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Academic Advisor Conference issues call for proposals

A message from the Academic Advisor Conference organizers.

While the 2020 Academic Advisor Conference was not planned as an online event, organizers and presenters rolled with the abrupt pivot to online everything and produced a great collection of presentations and resources that can still be accessed on the 2020 Conference website.

With the success of our first online Advisor Conference, the Academic Advising Community of Practice Professional Development Working Group is putting the call out for presentation proposals for the Seventh Annual Advisor Conference: The Challenge of Change which will once again be held virtually.

If you have valuable info to share with advisors or if you’re an advisor doing something innovative in this new world of advising online, consider submitting to present. Proposals should be a stimulating and/or interactive learning experience focusing on advising best practices, information sharing, or new initiatives.

Conference dates will be April 15 and 16, 2021 and the deadline for proposals is Friday, January 15, 2021.