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Ice ice baby: University closed until noon today
Turns out Old Man Winter still has some spring in his step. Due to some slick, slushy, and soaking conditions, the University of Waterloo is closed today until 12:00 p.m. Morning exams have been rescheduled to later in the month and afternoon examinations will continue as regularly scheduled.
Plant Operations is working (and has been working since 3:00 a.m.) to clear campus walkways, roadways, and parking lots.
The half-day closing includes the University's satellite campuses in Kitchener, Cambridge, and Stratford.
The Early Childhood Education Centre operated by the Psychology department is also closed today. In addition, the Bright Starts Early Learning Centre on the University's north campus is closed, reopening on Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 a.m.
The University of Waterloo Optometry Clinic including the Health Sciences Optometry Clinic will be closed Monday and will reopen on Tuesday, April 17.
Food Services locations will open with the University at noon today, though residence eateries remain open this morning.
The Federation of Students' offices and businesses are closed for the day for the most part, including the Bomber and Feds Used Books. International News is closed for the morning and part of the afternoon, but should be open by 4:00 p.m. and will resume its 24/7 operating hours.
The Turnkey Desk will be holding down the fort in the Student Life Centre, rain or shine (and there won't be much shine today).
The slow-moving ice storm cast quite a chill over southern Ontario this weekend, causing power outages, disrupting transportation, and generally leaving a mess of mixed precipitation in its wake as it made its way eastward.
While Waterloo appeared to have been spared the worst of the damage—40,000 people were without power across the province on Sunday—administrators took the precaution of cancelling afternoon exams on Saturday, April 14 and closing the University Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday - a rare April campus closing, given that the last time the University had to do this during the cruellest month was 15 years ago.
Even rarer? A back-to-back closing of the University's campus. To my knowledge, that's never happened.
The conditions in the aftermath of the storm as the freezing rain turned to regular rain were such that University administrators made the call to keep campus closed until noon on Monday.
Exams that were supposed to take place on Saturday, April 14 have been rescheduled to Sunday, April 22.
Exams scheduled for the morning of April 16 have been rescheduled until Wednesday, April 25.
In both cases, the rescheduled exams will take place at the time of day and location for which they were originally scheduled - only the date of the exams have changed.
Students are being asked to check LEARN for more information.
Information about weather-related campus closings can be found on the University's weather statement page.
Decisions about closing campus are made in accordance with the University's weather closing guidelines.
WatITis conference issues call for papers
The 16th annual WatITis (Waterloo Information Technology and Information Systems) conference has issued an initial call for papers.
The conference will take place on Tuesday, December 4 in the Science Teaching Complex.
"We invite you to actively participate as a speaker or panel presenter for one or more of our sessions during our 16th annual WatITis conference," says a note from the conference organizers. "This conference is made for you, by you!"
Topics
Topics include, but are not limited to, Teaching, Research, Institutional Support, New Projects, Initiatives, Developments or General Interest for uWaterloo staff, in the area of IT. We also invite you to submit your ideas for session topics of interest to other IT professionals.
20 or 45 Minute Talks Welcome!
Due to the success of the shorter talks last year, both 20 and 45 minutes presentations will be offered and we invite you to submit proposals in either format.
Submission Deadline
Interested participants should submit a brief synopsis of their topic or ideas for presentations and/or panels to the program committee Sharepoint, watitis2018@sharepoint.nexus.uwaterloo.ca by May 16, 2018.
"When submitting your proposals, remember to identify which session format you are interested in," say the conference organizers. "You may be asked to attend a brief speakers meeting prior to the conference to discuss presentation materials, expectations and logistics."
If required, a second call for papers will be announced by June 11.
Who to Contact
For more information, please contact conference co-chairs Dana Mohapl (d2mohapl@uwaterloo.ca) or Jennifer Matheson (jenn.matheson@uwaterloo.ca), or please visit the WatITis website.
Exploring the future of autonomous vehicles and responsible innovation
How will autonomous vehicles affect the future?
Register for the next session of Research Talks to attend Driving the future of autonomous vehicles and responsible innovation.
The panel presentation on Tuesday, May 1 for Waterloo faculty, staff, and students will feature Waterloo researchers and external speakers:
- Heather Douglas (Arts): Responsible innovation
- Sebastian Fischmeister (Engineering): Safety and security of real-time software and autonomous driving
- Ted Graham (General Motors): The future of transportation
- George Takach (McCarthy Tétrault): Legal aspects of technology
Light refreshments will be provided but feel free to bring your lunch. Research Talks is a regular series hosted by the Office of Research and supported by the Research Support Fund to celebrate and provide an opportunity for the Waterloo community to learn about world-class research at Waterloo.
National Volunteer Week begins and other notes
Sunday, April 15 marked the start of National Volunteer Week, a week to celebrate the acts of all volunteers on and off campus who support the University and the community.
Students, faculty and staff volunteer thousands of hours every year in support of a wide range of initiatives. Whether they are helping create a world-class move-in experience for new students with Housing and Residences, acting as global ambassadors as alumni volunteers with Alumni Relations, to baking cupcakes and delivering cake pops to raise funds as part of the United Way and Keystone Campaigns, the impact of Waterloo volunteers is significant. And these on-campus activities only scratches the surface, as Waterloo community members volunteer their time, talent, and treasure to myriad causes and organizations off campus as well. From food drives to random acts of kindness, from coaching a sports team to fostering pet animals, from getting involved in a community group or at your place of worship, it adds up.
Volunteers are essential for communities to grow, innovate, and enhance creativity. Our students, faculty and staff improve and strengthen our community by dedicating their time and talent, helping to make our community a great place to live.
Looking to get involved in volunteering on campus? Check the University’s LEADS volunteer job board or the Federation of Students’ Volunteer Centre for opportunities to make a difference.
Plant Operations is reporting that there will be a utility shutdown in Carl Pollock Hall on Wednesday, April 18 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the second floor. Heating, ventilation, and A/C will be offline due to construction.