Monday, April 11, 2016

Join us in Celebrating National Volunteer Week with #UWCommunity

by Marilyn Thompson

The University of Waterloo community has good reason to celebrate during National Volunteer Week. Throughout the year, Waterloo’s 5,497 full and part-time employees volunteer their time, contribute to the success of organized volunteer initiatives, and reinforce the positive impact that volunteerism makes in our community.

We are all familiar with some of the ways that staff and faculty volunteer on campus – by devoting time and energy to the United Way, Keystone, and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation campaigns (hundreds of employees and countless hours), by coordinating campus-wide food drives and related events, and by participating in the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation’s Random Act of Kindness Day (more than 7,000 acts of kindness in 2014). Yet these large-scale initiatives form only part of the picture. Anecdotally, we also know that many Waterloo employees actively volunteer in the broader community – as coaches, event planners, committee and association members, animal foster care providers – just to name a handful.

What everyone may not realize is that, strategically-speaking, volunteerism also forms a vital piece of our workplace puzzle. We know that employees want to work for socially responsible and community-minded organizations. By supporting volunteerism, Waterloo fosters an engaged workforce that is essential for enabling the University to meet its strategic plan goals and, in particular, the objectives under the Robust Employer-Employee Relationship and Sound Value System strategic themes.

In the past year, the University of Waterloo has been recognized for its inclusivity efforts and employee engagement. These accomplishments are impressive. They also speak to the strong foundation of values and engagement upon which we can build our voluntarism impact. In coming months, Human Resources and Community Relations will be exploring the question of how to strengthen volunteerism on campus. We will be looking to develop metrics and collect data on our current volunteer initiatives, develop ways to recognize and celebrate Waterloo’s volunteers, and investigate how we might offer additional support for employees wishing to volunteer in the community. If you have interest in volunteerism at Waterloo, we would welcome your feedback.

From April 10 to 16, 2016, we invite you to join in the conversation by celebrating and recognizing individuals, groups, committees and clubs at Waterloo who actively make a difference through volunteering. Share your photos, comments, or words of thanks on Twitter and Instagram using #UWCommunity and #NVW2016.

Volunteers create a world-class move-in experience

by Meghan Miceli. This story is part of the #UWCommunity National Volunteer Week 2016 series, profiling volunteer-driven University of Waterloo initiatives that help make a difference in our community.

Each Labour Day weekend, Housing and Residences at the University of Waterloo organizes Family Welcome: a volunteer-driven program designed to welcome incoming undergraduate students to their new home and celebrate the start of their post-secondary career with their families. Running for the past five years, the Family Welcome event aims to establish a strong sense of community in our students. It also provides a unique opportunity for University of Waterloo students, faculty, staff, alumni and executive leaders to volunteer their time and engage directly with new students and their families.

“For many students, move-in day is one of the first interactions students and their families have with the University of Waterloo, and it’s an opportunity for us to create a positive first impression of Housing and Residences, as well as the University as a whole,” says fall 2015 Family Welcome coordinator, Ben McDonald.

Dean of UWaterloo’s Faculty of Arts, Douglas Peers, has volunteered at the Family Welcome for the last several years. “It’s a great weekend. What really impresses the new students and their parents is the number of current student volunteers there to help with the move in. It’s the human touch that the student volunteers bring, that truly makes the weekend special.”

By giving back on move-in weekend, members of the University of Waterloo help to foster a strong sense of community from day one for new undergraduate students. Whether they are lending a hand with move-in items, building key relationships, or helping newcomers navigate campus, volunteers are an essential part of creating a world-class experience at Waterloo.

The Family Welcome events will be posted on LEADS in August – we hope you can join us!

South Side Marketplace is now open in SCH

An announcement from Food Services.

Food Services’ newest location – South Side Marketplace is officially open to the public. With a wide variety of new offerings including hot local fare, customizable flatbreads, house-made soups, build-your-own ramen or pho bowl, sushi and Paramount Lebanese Cuisine, it will, no doubt, become a quick favourite. 

South Side Marketplace is located in South Campus Hall, next to Velocity Start. The partnership between Velocity and Food Services formed last summer when Velocity was looking for space on campus and Food Services wanted to update their location. What came from this is a wonderful space to get the meal you haven’t been able to find on campus and enjoy it in one of the best areas on campus!

It is currently open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the plan to extend the hours of Brewed Awakening for those in Velocity Start in the near future.

Be sure to come by and check out the campus’s newest hot spot! For more information visit the Food Services website.