Monday, May 27, 2024

Celebrating the advancements of today and tomorrow: National AccessAbility Week and the Accessible Education Project

A message from the Disability Inclusion Team.

National AccessAbility Week, led by the Government of Canada, runs from May 26 to June 1 to celebrate Canadians with disabilities and to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility and inclusion within our communities. This year, the Disability Inclusion Team is excited to participate in National AccessAbility Week and will be celebrating e a different University initiative each day of the week that demonstrates a commitment to advancing accessibility and disability inclusion at Waterloo. To kick off this celebration, today, we are featuring the Accessible Education Teaching Innovation Incubator Project.

The Accessible Education Project (AEP) is developing and evaluating teaching and learning policies, practices, and tools to reimagine inclusive education for tomorrow. Kyle Scholz, Interim Managing Director of the Teaching Innovation Incubator, describes the project’s design as “striving to going beyond legislative compliance” to design better education for accessible and inclusive learning.

The AEP is structured into three collaborative teams of staff and faculty focused on innovation in Policy and Guidelines, Instructional Programs and Practices, and Learning Tools and Materials. The project fosters this collaboration to ensure outcomes are pragmatic and user-centric. Scholz emphasizes the importance of the project being “co-owned…so that those who will use it are there to design it.”

The team acknowledges the long journey ahead and the need for a commitment to continuous improvement in accessible education. We cannot advance accessible and inclusive education without celebrating ongoing work and ensuring support for those asked to make changes to their own practices.

Faculty and staff can learn more about the project and ways to implement recommendations at Accessible Education.

National AccessAbility Week is May 26 to June 1s, 2024 and is just one opportunity to share initiatives that advance accessibility and disability inclusion. Share your initiative at Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Initiatives.

Sustainability Action Fund open for spring term applications until June 21

A previous Sustainability Action Fund project: the pollinator garden at Conrad Grebel University College. This project supported the planting of an 850 square foot garden consisting of plants native to Ontario’s tallgrass prairies. The project engaged over 70 campus community members and serves as a community-building feature.

Have a project idea to advance sustainability on campus? The Sustainability Action Fund is now accepting applications for projects that will work towards Waterloo’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Projects can include infrastructure improvements, activities or campaigns to increase awareness of sustainability issues, or programming to support sustainable choices.

Applicants can request between $2,000 and $25,000 in funding this term, and can be led by staff, students, or faculty members.

Some examples of past projects that have successfully received funding include:

• Student climate conference;
• Tools and materials for campus repair workshops;
• Pollinator garden at Conrad Grebel;
• Biology growth chamber retrofits;
• Electric landscaping equipment pilot.

Applications will now be accepted on an ongoing basis and will be reviewed as part of two intake rounds. The deadline for spring 2024 intake is Friday, June 21 at 5:00 p.m. Full details and instructions are available on the Sustainability Action Fund webpage.

New course explores climate change from interdisciplinary perspectives

A message from the Teaching Innovation Incubator.

A new course, ARTS 390: The Wicked Problem of Climate Change is available for upper-year undergraduate students (3A and higher) in Fall 2024 and will introduce students to innovative ways of learning – primarily through the integration of a flipped-classroom approach and cross-disciplinary perspectives on the topic of climate change.

This course approaches the wicked problem of climate change from diverse disciplinary perspectives (i.e., applied sciences, health sciences, engineering) to investigate the various dimensions of this global challenge. Topics addressed may include the history of climate change and its scientific underpinnings, approaches to governance, climate change communication, and impacts on the natural environment, human health, society, culture, technology, and economies, among others. The course prepares students to analyze the wicked problem of climate change from an interdisciplinary perspective, to evaluate and critique diverse perspectives on the issue, and to devise potential solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change. 

Does this sound of interest? Learn more about the course and it’s team of instructors by visiting the Wicked Problem of Climate Change website.

SEE Canada Grant deadline extended to June 15

A message from Human Resources.

We are pleased to announce that we are extending the deadline for applications for the Staff Enhancement Experience (SEE) Canada grant program to June 15. Thank you to those who have enquired about the timeline and the possibility of an extension. We understand that the first of the term can be a busy time for many in our University community and hope this extended deadline provides you more time to complete your proposal.

If you are unfamiliar with the program, the grant is aimed at supporting the professional development of our regular full-time staff members by offering a unique opportunity by supporting national travel for staff to engage in idea exchange and learning experiences with counterparts from various Canadian universities, colleges, research institutions, or industry partners.

The 2024 Waterloo Staff Conference featured a special session on this development opportunity, “Expand your professional horizons with funded travel experiences through the Staff Enhancement Experience (SEE) Canada Grant,” which highlighted the achievements of a several successful grant recipients and their learning experiences at other institutions across Canada. If you missed this presentation, you can now access the recorded session to learn more about this grant (your WatIAM credentials are required).

If you are interested in investing in your professional development through a work-travel experience, please consider applying for this amazing career opportunity! Detailed application information and forms are available on the SEE Canada Grant webpage. Proposals must be submitted by June 15.

For any inquiries regarding the grant, please contact us at seecanada@uwaterloo.ca.