Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The (not so) secret garden

This is an excerpt of an article originally posted on the Faculty of Arts news site.

With all of the construction on campus, the Arts-Environment garden remains a lush, green sanctuary amongst the concrete and glass. It is one of the best-kept secrets in Arts but work-study student Aneetta Raviraj is doing her best to change that.

"I love planting - it's something I used to do a lot with my dad so this job was the perfect fit." Before her placement, Aneetta didn't know about the garden, but she now spends a lot of her time here identifying plants, removing weeds, watering flowers, and performing general care and maintenance.

Aneetta is hoping to spread the word about the garden through social media (the garden has its own Twitter account!) and other promotional channels on campus. "The team behind the garden really wants to keep native plants on campus and show off this beautiful space. I'm also happy to see a lot of butterflies and bees - we're really helping to prolong the lives of pollinators in the area."

The public garden project was spearheaded in 2010 by two graduate students in Environment, alongside faculty and staff from both faculties, with the goal of creating a peaceful green space for anyone on campus to enjoy. Both faculties were committed to the beautification of campus and using the most natural means to do so.

Arts recently hosted its annual faculty and staff BBQ in the garden, which was a huge success! "It's great to have a green space like this on campus - a place to study, have lunch, and just enjoy nature" says Aneetta.

Read the rest of the article (and view more photos) at the Faculty of Arts news page. Or better yet, go and visit the garden!

WatITis conference issues call for papers

The 14^th annual Waterloo Information Technology and Information Systems (WatITis) conference is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 in the Science Teaching Complex.

The conference organizers are encouraging members of the University community to actively participate in WatITis as a speaker or panelist for one or more of the conference sessions. Topics include, but are not limited to, IT trends and excellence, collaboration, innovation, and student services.

"Due to interest expressed in last year’s attendee survey to see more rapid fire presentations, we invite you to submit 10 or 20 minute talks, in addition to the regular 45 minute presentations," says a note from the conference organizing committee. "Please send a brief synopsis of your topic or ideas for presentations and/or panels to our program committee chair Adam Savage (asavage@uwaterloo.ca) by September 16^th, 2016. If required, a date for final submissions will be announced by October 3^rd."

When submitting abstracts, be sure to identify which session type you are interested in. Interested parties should be aware that you may be required to attend a brief speakers meeting prior to the conference to discuss presentation materials, expectations and logistics.

For more information please contact conference co chairs Adam Savage or Jennifer Matheson at jenn.matheson@uwaterloo.ca.

There's still time to get "Fees Arranged" for the fall

The due date for undergraduate and graduate students to submit their payment or Promissory Note to become Fees Arranged for Fall term without a late fee is Wednesday, August 24.

To view their bill for Fall 2016, students can log in to Quest, go to Student Center, and then click Finances>Account Inquiry.  

There are two ways to become Fees Arranged:

• Payment in full - bank payment, Western Union Global Pay for Students or a certified cheque, money order or bank draft originating from a Canadian or US bank.
• Promissory Note - if students want to deduct approved financial aid (including funding from Waterloo) and only pay the remaining balance, they must submit the Promissory Note by following the step-by-step instructions. 

New this fall, students can use their Aeroplan miles or TD Travel Rewards points to pay tuition, and submit the Promissory Note on a mobile device.

Students who are not Fees Arranged by October 31 will be unenrolled and lose access to assignments, exams and course material on LEARN.

Anyone with questions can contact Student Financial services by email at sfs@uwaterloo.ca or find helpful information on the Student Financial Services website.