Tuesday, February 2, 2016

New process makes applying for ethics clearance easier

A message from the Office of Research.

An innovative co-ordinated ethics review process has been developed to streamline the application process for researchers collaborating with Wilfrid Laurier University, Western University, Conestoga College, or the Tri-Hospital Research Ethics Board (i.e., Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Grand River Hospital, and St. Mary's General Hospital).

These new arrangements make the ethics review process easier and more efficient. Previously, a researcher collaborating on a project with another institution would need to submit a research ethics application to each organization. Now, Waterloo faculty, staff, and students applying for human-participant ethics clearance with these institutions need to submit only one application. Each of the ethics review boards work together to simultaneously review the application and provide co-ordinated comments.

Researchers are already seeing a quicker application process. Kelly Grindrod, assistant professor in the School of Pharmacy whose research examines the potential for technologies to improve medication use, has experienced turnaround for ethics clearance applications as long as six months when conducting multi-site research.

“From my perspective, the new process of a co-ordinated review between Waterloo and each of these four institutions has been very helpful," says Professor Grindrod. "It will make working with these organizations much easier allowing for shorter turnaround to receive ethics clearance for my studies.”

If you have any questions about the coordinated review process, please contact Julie Joza, Senior Manager, Office of Research Ethics.

A distinguished speaker in her own right, Angela is the Vice-President of Human Resources & Equity from the University of Toronto. As well, Angela is Secretary General of the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada (SWAAC), an organization dedicated towards the promotion of female leadership in Canadian universities, colleges and technical institutes.

Doors open for the event at 12:30 p.m. and the program will run from 1:00 p.m to 3:30 p.m. in Federation Hall, rooms A and B. Light refreshment will be provided for those in attendance.

Register today for 2016's first Faculty Seminar Series.

CTE names new senior instructional developer

The Centre for Teaching Excellence is pleased to announce that Veronica Brown has assumed the newly created role of Senior Instructional Developer, Curriculum & Quality Enhancement, as of February 1. In this position, Veronica provides oversight and facilitative support for departmental and Faculty-wide curriculum planning initiatives. She also guides the Centre’s assessment plan for understanding the impact and quality of our work. Since joining CTE in 2010, Veronica has worked with more than 40 departments on various curriculum initiatives, ranging from the development of new programs to formal program review and accreditation. She is a member of the School of Accounting and Finance’s Outcomes-Based Assessment Committee, the Outcomes Assessment Group in the Faculty of Engineering, and recently participated as a panel member in HEQCO’s learning outcomes assessment series.

Board of Governors meets and other notes

Associate Provost, Resources Beth Jewkes snapped this early-morning image of the Lazaridis Centre, Biology and the Science Teaching Complex, proving that campus looks nice even if it's not clear which season it is.

The University's Board of Governors meets today at 1:30 p.m. in NH 3407. Among the agenda items:

• A call for honorary degree nominations;
• Sabbaticals and administrative appointments;
• Notes from the recent Board retreat;
• An update on the 2015/2016 Operating Budget and planning for 2016/2017;
• An update on undergraduate admissions;
• Approval of recommended tuition fee increases for 2016/2017;
• Approval of incidental fees for 2016/2017;
• Approval of housing and residence fees for 2016/2017; and
• Approval of approve the revised staff to board election guidelines.

The Board will also hear accountability status reports on the Consolidated Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Reviews, Undergraduate Recruitment and Admissions, and Research Policies and Practices.

Ginny Dybenko will deliver a presentation on the Stratford Campus. Dybenko is the executive director of the Stratford satellite.

The next lecture in the Arriscraft Lecture Series will take place on Thursday, February 4 at 6:00 p.m. in the School of Architecture's main lecture hall. The lecturer is Martin Bressani, architect and architectural historian who is a professor and director of McGill University's School of Architecture. Bressani's talk is entitled "Prosthetic Fantasies in the First Machine Age."

Bressani holds an architecture degree from McGill University, a Masters degree in the History and Theory of architecture from M.I.T, and a PhD in Art History from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). He has held visiting professorships at M.I.T, Cornell University, and Syracuse University and was a fellow at the Study Centre of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in 2003. He is widely published and has contributed essays and articles to scholarly journals.

Today is World Wetlands Day, which marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2 1971. In celebration, the Ecohydrology Research Group has organized a reception and poster session featuring research on wetlands as well as a distinguished public lecture entitled "Reclaiming, using, and protecting wetlands: how the Dutch created The Netherlands" by Professor Jos Verhoeven from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

The poster session will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the atrium of the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology (EIT). The lecture takes place at 7:00 p.m. in EIT 1015. It is sold out, but will be livestreamed.

Human Resources is reporting that the following retirees have died recently:

• Richard L. Thomas died January 10. He began his career at Waterloo in September 1992 as the Director of the Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research. Thomas was previously director of the Great Lakes Institute at the University of Windsor; director of the Great Lakes Regional Office of the International Joint Commission in Windsor, and spent several years as a senior scientist and research administrator with Environment Canada. Richard retired in October 1996. He was predeceased by his spouse, Barbara Jean.
• Larry Helfand died January 25. Larry began his employment at the University in January 1978 as a Science Cataloguer in the Library. He retired in April 2005 in the position of Librarian, Cataloguing.