Thursday, October 19, 2023

The Provost's Advisory Committee on Building a Resilient University of Waterloo

A message from James W.E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic and Provost.

The University of Waterloo continuously demonstrates our tight integration with society through our core mission commitments to Academics and Research, and our key differentiators of work-integrated learning, innovation, application, and entrepreneurship. These integral partnerships are why we have a deep understanding of the evolving needs of society, and are committed to meeting those needs through our teaching, learning, research, and service.  

As a leading institution, we understand the critical role universities play as essential and sustainable structures in society. As such, Waterloo recognizes the importance of keeping pace with our community’s expectations, ensuring that modernization and integration of systems across the University are happening with efficiency. 

In order to successfully address the organizational, planning, and operational features needed to help us realize our strategic goals and our Waterloo at 100 vision, in May 2022, I commissioned the Provost’s Advisory Committee (PAC) on Building a Resilient University of Waterloo.

This Committee has completed its work and created a report that provides six key enablers, along with a Resiliency Framework, that will guide our operations. This Resiliency Framework will help us work together to create “One University” — a theme that resonates throughout the report. 

The Resiliency Framework pulls together the various multifunctional elements of operations at our institution, illustrating how many of the projects that are currently underway intersect across the six key enablers that are outlined in the report. This Framework will also serve as the axis for future initiatives, helping accelerate and streamline implementation through an integrated planning approach.  

Future projects and announcements will be placed within the Resiliency Framework, and will be highlighted on the Provost's Advisory Committee on Building a Resilient University of Waterloo webpage. This will ensure that the community has insights into the strategic connections of our work, with ongoing access to a repository of institutional initiatives. Please refer to the PAC report, and my response to the report, for details on the Committee’s recommendations on how to create a resilient, sustainable, co-ordinated, and empowered University.   

I would like to thank the Committee for their diligent commitment to this work and to all the leaders who were consulted in the development of the report. It is a tremendously galvanizing step toward creating a resilient University of Waterloo. 

Waterloo celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By Christine Zaza, Ph.D., Workplace Accessibility Specialist, Disability Inclusion Team.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month raises awareness about disability inclusion and recognizing the contribution of disabled workers.

An associate professor at Renison University College, Dr. Christine Logel is internationally renowned for her research on belonging. She is also one of approximately 22 per cent of Canadians over fifteen who live with a disability. Dr. Logel’s has a chronic health problem which involves neurological and sensory symptoms that lead to fatigue and dizziness. As she explains, “One way to describe it is as chronic migraines, but instead of being painful, they make me dizzy like I’m on a merry-go-round on a boat in choppy water. And it’s exacerbated by stress, which requires management because I also have an anxiety disorder.”

Flexible work arrangements and other workplace accommodations contribute to a disabled person’s ability to be part of the workforce. At Renison, Dr. Logel’s accommodations include sitting on a tall chair when lecturing, taking frequent breaks, wearing sunglasses or dimming the lights during meetings, and lying down in a dark quiet room to rest. Some of these accommodations are hard to come by when she works in other settings: “I've spent a lot of time at various universities around North America lying on the floor in a laboratory. I bring a travel pillow.” 

For Logel, disability inclusion in the workplace means being able to fully engage and participate with everything that is available to her colleagues, and knowing that her co-workers are receptive, accepting, and open to whatever accommodations enable her to participate.

Call to action:

• University of Waterloo employees who need individual accommodations should contact Occupational Health.
• For information on Waterloo’s accommodations for employees, visit Disability Accommodations Guidelines

For many disabled workers, disclosing a disability at work can be risky; however, in Logel’s experience, disclosure has helped to reduce barriers caused by the invisibility of her disability. It has also helped to build connection and awareness.

“When I disclose, often people open up with their own stories or show that they recognize that in Ontario this is a human right to be accommodated. And they are supportive with that.”

The world’s largest minority

Disability is considered the world’s largest minority, and its membership is increasing. As Logel explains, “Disability isn’t all or nothing. Most people aren't either disabled in every way, or not disabled in every way.” She explains further:

“There's going to be times in everybody's life where they're disabled, if not because of injury or personal health issues, then because of aging and the natural changes that happen there. So disability is something that will affect all of us personally, at some point.”

Referring to the rise in disability – especially invisible disability – in our student population, Logel advocates for inclusive design and accommodations in the classroom. She has seen first-hand that flexibility and other inclusive design measures benefit people with and without disabilities.

“Inclusive design and accommodations can have exponentially positive effects because they really can let people thrive in a way that they might not have been able to before. Sometimes we don’t even know what we’re capable of until we get the situation set up the way we need it. Empirically, we have data that shows how positive experiences build like a snowball.”

To learn more about creating a culture of disability inclusion in your workplace, visit the Ontario Disability Employment Network.

Waterloo releases response to Ontario's blue-ribbon panel on post-secondary education

By Graeme Stewart.

With the release of the final report of the province’s Blue-Ribbon Panel on Postsecondary Education expected in the coming weeks, the University of Waterloo is posting its official submission.

Financial sustainability is one of the most significant challenges facing Ontario’s universities today. Since 2007, the value of per-student operating funding has declined by 21 per cent in inflation-adjusted dollars. The 10 per cent reduction and freeze of tuition fees, now in its fifth year, has removed $1.86 billion in revenue from the sector. While the University of Waterloo is in good financial shape, our long-term financial outlook is challenging if current policies continue. Financial pressures will make it difficult for the University to grow in-demand, employer-aligned programming for critical and emerging sectors of the economy and to remain internationally competitive.

A significant problem facing policymakers in Ontario is Canada’s relatively poor productivity performance. According to OECD data, Canada’s current labour productivity is only 74 per cent that of the United States (down from 82 per cent in 2000) and lags well behind the G7 average. Work by UWaterloo economist Joel Blit, among others, illustrates a perplexing problem: as a nation, we perform well on the production of scientific research and of a highly skilled workforce, but this performance does not translate into increased patents, technology adoption by domestic firms, innovation, and job creation. If uncorrected, this disconnect has serious implications for our future competitiveness, economic vitality, and quality of life as a province.

The University of Waterloo has been actively engaged in the development of the Council of Ontario Universities’ (COU) submission to the Blue-Ribbon Panel, and we fully support the recommendations contained within that document. Likewise, we have helped develop a joint position with the other research-intensive universities that address unique financial needs in these large institutions. We are in full alignment with that document’s guiding principles – preserving the autonomy of institutions while reducing red tape; ensuring greater flexibility to grow high-demand and innovative programming; and a flexible approach to tuition fees and funding that recognizes differentiation – in size, role, and aspirations – among institutions.

Through our co-operative education, entrepreneurship programs and industry partnerships, the University of Waterloo is already helping to close the productivity gap by educating highly skilled talent and helping Ontario’s firms develop innovative products, processes, and services. Our specific recommendations are intended to build our strengths in this area:

• Allow the University to grow enrolment in strategic and in-demand programs.
• Provide funding for industry partnership and technology transfer programs.
• Provide dedicated, long-term funding to support work-integrated learning like co-op.
• A financing program to support the construction of housing for domestic and international students.

The University will join its peer institutions across Ontario in responding to the Blue-Ribbon Panel Report when it is finally released.

Waterloo’s submission is available on the University’s Accountability website.

Roll 'em: GRADflix competition now underway

A message from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs is thrilled to be hosting GRADflix once again where graduate students are invited to create short 60 second creative videos about their research for the world to see. This year's competition has officially launched. GRADflix allows students to foster their creativity and communication skills and offers a variety of cash prizes that are awarded at our in-person GRADflix showcase event in February 2024 at Federation Hall. All Waterloo community members are welcome to attend this showcase.

Important dates:

• October 23: Training session: Register now
• November 10: Last day to fill out our intention to compete form (to register for the competition)
• November 15: Drop in support session 1
• December 4: Drop in support session 2
• January 9, 2024: Last day to submit your video
• February 6, 2024: GRADflix Showcase at Federation Hall

Check out our GRADflix webpage for more information and to see what past participants have to say. 

Celebrating Arabic poetry in Canada and other notes

Renison University College will be co-hosting "Soulful Recitations: Celebrating Arabic Poetry in Canada" at a special event at Federation Hall on Thursday, October 26 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The event features guest poet Karen Houle with Classical Arabic Music by Maple Arts musicians.

The Legal and Immigration Services (LIS) silent auction for the United Way ends on Friday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m., so make sure your bids are in before the gavel makes its final bang. New items have been added to the auction to sweeten the deal, including—get this—a day off with pay! Check out the full list on the auction website or use the QR code to navigate your way there.