Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Celebrate International Education Week from November 18 to 22

A message from Waterloo International.

International Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to recognize and promote the value of international education, experiences and collaboration.  It celebrates outbound experiences, internationalization at home, and sustained international connections between Waterloo and the world. This year, the University of Waterloo will celebrate IEW from November 18 to 22, showcasing international education through a variety of events and activities. Please mark your calendars and join Waterloo International in celebrating International Education Week. 

Are you interested in hosting an event for International Education Week? We encourage you to bring together like-minded colleagues to develop an activity or an event. Student groups, academic support units, departments, faculties, and affiliated and federated institutions of Waterloo planning to host an international education-themed event are invited to fill in the IEW event submission form.

As planning continues to unfold, and as we start to post events in celebration of international education, please continue to check the Waterloo International – International Education Week webpage for more information and for the lineup of events. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Waterloo International.

Environment professor is Waterloo lead on $2.5M SSHRC project

This is an excerpt of an article originally featured on the Faculty of Environment news site.

Katie Plaisance, professor, and chair of the Department of Knowledge Integration (KI), Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, is Waterloo’s lead for a $2.5 million Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The grant, which involves 15 academic institutions, eight regional United Way networks, and 18 other community partners across six provinces, supports a groundbreaking 6-year collaborative research project titled “Experiential Learning Toolkits to Increase Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) Capacity for Research and Innovation in the Social Sector.” 

This ambitious research project is led by Dr. Sandra Lapointe, professor of Philosophy at McMaster University, with Plaisance leading the University of Waterloo’s involvement. Plaisance is also co-lead for the Talent & Skills Consulting Team tasked with developing, piloting, and assessing the effectiveness of four practica-training modules that are key project components.

The University of Waterloo’s Dr. Rob Gorbet, associate professor in KI, and Dr. Sean Geobey, associate professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) are also contributing to the research project. Plaisance hired Dr. Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed, who recently earned her PhD at Waterloo under Geobey’s supervision, as a postdoctoral scholar for the project. Ahmed has extensive experience in social innovation and decolonial approaches to education.  

The project aims to empower graduate students to address societal challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, poverty, and housing. To do so, it seeks to increase the capacity for research and innovation in the social sector by providing SSHA students with foundational skills training and community-based experiential learning opportunities. Students in SSHA are typically trained for careers in academia. However, as job opportunities in academia become increasingly limited, there is a growing disconnect between the skills students acquire and the demands of the job market. Moreover, non-profit, government, industry, and other sectors need the knowledge and skills that SSHA students are acquiring. The project will train 124 SSHA students at various levels, highlighting the crucial role of SSHA education in driving social innovation and amplifying the impact of SSHA knowledge on society.  

Read the full story on the Faculty of Environment website

On-campus citizenship ceremony will take place on October 18

A message from the Faculty of Health.

Taking an oath of citizenship at a citizenship ceremony is the final step on the journey to becoming a Canadian citizen. This step confers rights to the new citizens, such as voting, and acknowledges the responsibilities of citizenship.

If you’ve ever been interested in experiencing such a ceremony, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with the Faculty of Health invite you to take part as a guest on October 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the Health Expansion building (EXP 1689). Approximately 50 new citizens will be sworn in. A small reception will be held afterward for them, their families, dignitaries and visitors. Registration is not necessary.

If you have questions, please contact Nadia Linares.

Employee Equity Census is now open

The annual update of the Employee Equity Census is now open until October 31. Your participation is this census is important to the ongoing efforts to confidentially collect socio-demographic data that helps the University to better understand the UWaterloo community and drive meaningful equity initiatives across the institution.  

The form will be available through Workday and takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. All employees have the opportunity to complete, review and update their responses by October 31, 2024 if necessary. 

The collected data will be anonymized and used to inform decision-making on university programs and initiatives that align with our ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for everyone. The data has already played a pivotal role in shaping the University’s planning. It has contributed to transformative projects such as the Cluster Hiring initiative, Tuition waiver for eligible Indigenous students, and the development of religious and spiritual spaces. This data is essential to further enhance access to programs and career pathways for under-represented groups. 

The first questionnaire was launched in June 2021 to almost 50,000 students, faculty, and staff. The current data collection activity can be completed by employees in Workday; check your @uwaterloo.ca email for instructions on how to complete or update the form. 
 
For more information, visit the Equity Data Strategy website. If you have any questions, contact  analysis@uwaterloo.ca.