Tuesday, April 12, 2022

A health and safety update for the spring term

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor, James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic & Provost, and Kate Windsor, Director of Safety.

As you know, we extended our proof of vaccination and face covering requirements until the end of the winter term. We have previously announced that public health conditions permitting, we are preparing to relax some of our requirements at the start of the spring term on May 1.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the evolution of the virus and the course of disease activity are difficult to predict.

Monitoring changes in public health

It is our hope that we will be able to avoid a full return to remote learning and working. Thus, we continue to monitor a variety of indicators - including campus data, case counts and test positivity rates, local hospitalization and wastewater data, and others – and consulting public health guidance. If the public health situation warrants, it may become necessary to bring back requirements for mask wearing or proof of vaccination at short notice.

If we do identify a need to return to these requirements, we expect that we will do this in stages. We will consider a return to mandatory face coverings first and the requirement to be fully vaccinated in order to come to our campuses as a next step.

Messaging to the public from health authorities throughout the pandemic has been consistent: vaccination offers the best protection against the worst effects of COVID-19 and its variants and is the most important way to protect public health.  For this reason, we continue to strongly recommend that you have a full course of vaccination, including third or fourth doses when you are eligible. You should also ensure that you have access to your proof of vaccination and QR code if you have been vaccinated in a region that provides one.

We will provide information on how to keep your vaccination records up to date with the University before May 1 to help minimize any disruption to work and learning if we need to bring back a proof of vaccination requirement.

Continuing health and safety measures

Uncertainty around the pandemic also means we will continue to maintain a range of infection prevention and control measures for the safety of employees, students and visitors from May 1 onwards. More information is available online on the COVID-19 Information website. Some important highlights of these measures include:

Face coverings and vaccination requirements in classrooms and offices

While we currently will not require you to wear face coverings while on our campuses after May 1, 2022, we encourage employees, students and visitors to wear a face covering in congested areas, at large events and anywhere and at any time they choose for their own personal reasons. Please also be respectful of the choices of others under these circumstances.

If you have health and safety concerns specifically about your workspace, instructional space, or class/colleague behaviour, your first step should be to discuss them with your department head or chair, who may consult teams that have influence over operations or the conduct that is causing concern. Supervisors and instructors are not able to independently set “local” mask or vaccination proof requirements for their lab, class or other activities.

More information for instructors is available on the COVID-19 information website and through faculty associate deans. 

Self-assessment, illness and absence reporting

You must not attend campus if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or you are required to isolate. To help you decide if you should isolate, you can use the provincial self-assessment tool. Protocols for employees and students are available online.

Physical Distancing

Physical distancing or capacity limits are not required under current public health guidance. However, physical distancing continues to be an effective method of reducing risk of transmission and we recommend you continue to maintain a physical distance from others when and where possible.

Cleaning and Disinfection

We will continue with enhanced cleaning protocols for high contact touch points.  Environmental Services staff will clean these common high touch contact points in line with the current recommendations of public health authorities. Employees are responsible for cleaning personal equipment including workstations, keyboards or phones – your unit can order appropriate supplies to help you with this. Supervisors must implement protocols for the cleaning of shared tools, office or lab equipment, and vehicles.

Safety Plans

Throughout the pandemic, we have utilized safety plans for various scenarios including event planning. Safety plans are no longer required, however if an event or activity is planned that may result in a higher risk of COVID-19 transmission, additional precautions such as reduced capacities may be considered to reduce risk.

Thank you again for everything you are all doing to keep one another safe. Please follow the links embedded above for more information, and send any questions you may have to coronavirus@uwaterloo.ca.

University of Strathclyde, Waterloo collaborate on joint transatlantic funding call

A message from Waterloo International.

The University of Strathclyde and University of Waterloo are thrilled to announce the five awards for the Strathclyde/Waterloo Joint Transatlantic Funding Call, which is led by Waterloo International. There were 35 complete applications submitted by both researchers and professional services staff, bringing together over 100 colleagues in the process.

A diverse panel carefully weighed the applications based on a framework that considers the following for each application:

• Demonstrated existing or recent collaboration between the two universities related to the key project themes;
• Key elements of the project;
• Primary outputs envisaged from the project;
• How the project will create impact; and
• How it will be sustainable.

Ten awards of up to CAD $20,000/£12,000 have been awarded in pairs, with Strathclyde and Waterloo each providing their side of the joint collaborative teams an award.

This fund has bridged the Atlantic Ocean to bring international colleagues together and deliver impact for our local and global communities. At Waterloo, our Strategic Plan strives to provide direction in developing talent for a complex future; advancing research for global impact; and strengthening sustainable and diverse communities. The funded projects build upon these objectives and those of our partner’s strategic aims.

The projects also compliment the Global Impact Report released earlier this month by the University of Waterloo. The report highlights major milestones that have been reached at the university and divides prominent work into key categories, four of which match up well with the projects of the Strathclyde / Waterloo Joint Transatlantic Funding Call funding call:

• Human-technology interaction;
• Advancing health innovation;
• Sustainable futures;
• Social and economic prosperity.

Please refer to the table below for details and join us in congratulating the successful project leaders.

Waterloo International encourages continued collaborative activities with the University of Strathclyde. Other programs that are available to assist collaborative research relationships include the International Research Partnerships Grants (IRPG) – which lists Strathclyde as a Strategic Partner – offered through Waterloo’s Office of Research, or Strathclyde’s Global Engagements Funding.

If you are interested in building a relationship with your colleagues at Strathclyde, please connect with Eric Jardin, International Relations Manager (Europe) at ejardin@uwaterloo.ca for Waterloo, and Tom Foot, International Strategic Partnerships Coordinator at thomas.foot@strath.ac.uk for Strathclyde, either would be happy to assist you.

Map the System finalists address issues of excess and scarcity

This article was originally published on the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement's website.

On Thursday, April 7, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement hosted the University of Waterloo’s Map the System campus finals for the fourth time, welcoming undergraduate and graduate students from all faculties to explore some of the world’s most pressing issues using systems-thinking methodologies. More than 60 students from 23 teams entered the competition this year, addressing social or environmental issues through the wider contexts in which they arise.

From the many impactful written submissions received this year, six standout examples were selected to showcase their research in the University of Waterloo’s 2022 campus final. Topics analyzed included Ontario’s nursing shortage; Multi-residential food waste systems in Southern Ontario; Climate resilience in Ecuador’s Amazon; Food and nutrition security in Dominica; Housing Affordability in Northern British Columbia; and Greenhouse gas emissions from Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in Ontario’s residential building sector.

Following the virtual judging session, Centre for Peace Advancement Director, Paul Heidebrecht, reflected that “in the midst of a challenging semester we were really impressed with the extent of engagement from students in multiple faculties.” All of this year’s participants deserve a round of applause for the dedication and hard work that brought them to this stage.

"Campus finals is the culmination of a big process, but also the beginning of a larger opportunity for those students who go on in the competition," says Paul Heidebrecht.

After much deliberation, judges Christine Moffatt, Jacob Crane, Laura Schnurr, and Muhammed Ahsanur Rahim revealed the University of Waterloo’s top three teams for 2022:

Third place finalists Monika Mikhail, Cassandra Sherlock, and Melanie Issett received $500 donated by the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) for their investigation into greenhouse gas emissions from HVAC systems in Ontario residences.

Students Aisha Sada, Duncan Chalmers, Elham Mohammadi, Madina Kane, and Nazek Quteishat won $1,000 donated by Owl Practice for their analysis of the many factors that caused and continue to sustain food insecurity on the Caribbean Island of Dominica.

Finally, Waterloo’s first-place presentation addressed the lack of affordable housing available for families in Northern British Columbia. In addition to taking home $2,000 donated by Kindred Credit Union, Calyssa Burke, Yawei (Selina) Han, Alex Petric, Janet Song Cornett-Ching, and Ayesha Zerin Tasnim will be moving on in the competition to compete against other universities at the Map the System Canadian finals in May.

Read the rest of the article on the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement's website.