Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity information session coming up

The Tri-Agency Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Program welcomes applications for a new award, the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity: 2022 Inaugural Competition.

As the University of Waterloo can submit only one institutional application, the Office of Research is actively seeking faculty members with a research project that is bold and potentially game-changing for the research ecosystem while demonstrating leadership and commitment to equity. The award is valued at $100,000.

Potential nominees may be individuals or teams and will be required to submit a one-page expression of interest by April 29. 

Faculty members interested in learning more about this award, are invited to attend a virtual information session on Monday, April 11, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Please register to receive a link to the event on Teams.

Given the University’s commitment within the strategic plan to foster inclusivity, belonging, and a culture of involvement, the competition offers an opportunity to showcase game-changing ideas to support advancements for our communities in this pillar of the strategic plan.

The Waterloo Staff Conference starts tomorrow - here's what you don't want to miss

A message from Organizational and Human Development (OHD).

The chance to come together virtually with almost 1000 of your staff colleagues is just one of the reasons to tune into the Waterloo Staff Conference this year - we don’t want you to miss a thing.

“It is incredible to see the Staff Conference come together with such a high calibre of learning content,” says Melanie Will, Director of Organizational & Human Development. “What’s inspirational is the entire conference has been created by staff, for staff and once again demonstrates just how much we can learn from one another here at the University of Waterloo.”

Day 1: Wednesday, April 6:

President Vivek Goel will open conference followed by globally renowned advocate for people with disabilities – the entertaining and enlightening, Spencer West.  

There’s still time to register for Day 1 workshops like:

• Making an impact through what we buy
• Boosting change adoption through a change champion model
• Learning to write a personal land or territorial acknowledgement

Day 2: Thursday, April 7:

New York Times has named her “One of the most effective communicators on climate change” for a reason – and she’ll help us trade our worries for hope when it comes to climate change. Don’t miss Katharine Hayhoe as she closes the conference on Thursday.

There’s still time to register for Day 2 workshops like:

• How to Make Hybrid Work: The best of both worlds
• Enhancing co-op student hiring practices
• The Library: What’s in it for me?

Lunchtime drop-ins are a fantastic way to boost your learning: At noon on Wednesday, connect with the UW Staff Association and on Thursday, learn more about the Employee Career Advising program with Sue Fraser.

Have questions? Start here: Know Before You Go or check out The Top 10 Ways to Engage.

The OHD Resource website will be your go-to for conference content, like recordings from select sessions and Keynotes and our famous digital sketchnotes capturing the Keynotes in one really cool visual.

Log in with your WatIAm credentials to access content like this digital sketchnote from “Navigating the Lifelong Learning Market” with Michelle Wiese in February 2022.

Concept $5K winners named

Concept has announced the winners of the Winter 2022 $5k pitch competition.

The winners are:

Cauchy Analytics

A real-time, non-invasive, continuous monitoring system for cardiac hemodynamics in hospital intensive care units.

Moonlight Haptics

A wearable haptic device mimicking vision through the sense of touch to allow for independent and safe mobility for individuals with visual impairment, wherever they want, whenever they want.

Retinex

System for monitoring and controlling high temperature manufacturing processes such as metal 3D printing and welding.

Tulay

Tulay is a virtual insurance brokerage dedicated to helping international students understand health insurance in Canada and connecting them to the right insurance coverage that suits their unique needs.

Although the $5K grants have been named, the competition isn’t over yet because Concept wants the community to have their say. Head over to the finalist pitches on YouTube and give a like on the video pitch of your favourite team. "The team with the most video likes will be announced the People’s Champ and will receive $500," says a note from Concept. "Voting is open until April 11 and will be announced the next day on April 12."

Read the full story on Concept's blog 

Smokers know best: Study shows tobacco users want bold approaches to end smoking

A substantial number of Canadian smokers, vapers, and recent ex-smokers support innovative policies that could help drive further declines in overall smoking rates, according to a new report from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project at the University of Waterloo.

In 2017, Canada’s Tobacco Strategy adopted a target of less than five per cent tobacco use by 2035. That would mean cutting by more than half the current rate of smoking among Canadians, which in 2020 was about one in eight Canadians who smoked cigarettes regularly.

Of six potential regulatory measures put forward in the ITC study, 64 per cent of smokers said they supported lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them less addictive.  

“Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Canada. The study findings show that even smokers themselves are in favour of new ways of tackling the smoking epidemic,” said Geoffrey Fong, professor of psychology and public health sciences at Waterloo and Principal Investigator of the ITC Project. 

Roughly half of the 3,560 smokers polled support a requirement for tobacco retailers to sell alternative nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, as well as banning promotional discounting of cigarettes. Thirty per cent of smokers support a total ban on cigarettes in 10 years if alternative nicotine products are available, with 33 per cent in favour of print warnings directly on the cigarettes themselves. 

Support for these measures was generally higher among recent ex-smokers and among non-smokers who vape and or use heated tobacco products. 

New Zealand, one of the ITC Project’s 31 countries, recently launched a bold new action plan to cut smoking to less than five per cent by 2025. Reducing nicotine in smoked tobacco products and reducing the number of tobacco retailers are among several ground-breaking measures that are currently being considered in New Zealand. 

In partnership with leading researchers in New Zealand, the ITC Project will be evaluating New Zealand’s tobacco endgame approach. “To achieve the ambitious less than five per cent by 2035 goal, Canada will need to accelerate and strengthen their efforts to drive down smoking rates,” Fong said. “New Zealand’s proposed endgame policies may provide examples for Canada and other countries to consider.

About one in five Canadian deaths, or 18 per cent, are due to tobacco use, accounting for 51,700 deaths in 2019. 

The report Support for Cigarette and Vaping Policies in Canada is available on the ITC Project website at https://itcproject.org/projects/itc-canada-survey-findings/.

The report was funded by Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program. 

Board of Governors meets today and other notes

The University's Board of Governors meets today at 1:30 p.m. for a hybrid meeting that is taking place with governors in-person as well as on Microsoft Teams. Among the agenda items:

• A motion to approve amendments to the constitution of the Mathematics Endowment Fund;
• A motion to delegate the Board's authority to approve the University’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended 30 April 2022 to the Board Executive Committee;
• A motion to approve the University's 2022/23 Operating Budget, which was reviewed by the Senate last month; and
• A motion to approve the University's Responsible Investment Policy.

The Governors will also hear an update presentation on the University's Strategic Plan theme of Strengthening Sustainable and Diverse Communities. The Board will hear about specific initiatives underway that support this theme, including UWaterlooLife; the Wellness Collaborative; the Waterloo Student Experience & Engagement Framework (WatSEE); the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism Office (EDI-R); and the Indigenous Relations Office.

Today also marks the end of the winter term's lectures and classes. Students will get a chance to catch their collective breath with a couple of pre-exam study days before soldiering on into the examination period, which runs from Friday, April 8 to April 26. The full examination schedule is available online. Note that there are no exams scheduled from April 15 to 17.