Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Clearing the air around cannabis on campus

With the roll-out of federal legislation that comes into effect today, cannabis consumption has become legal across Canada.

The University's response to the changing consumption landscape is anything but half-baked. A working group has been looking into the issue of cannabis on campus and based on their recommendations the University has updated Policy 29, Smoking to reflect the new federal and provincial regulations.

The Secretariat has posted a detailed Q&A and backgrounder on its website about the University's approach to cannabis legalization. Among the highlights:

"Upon legalization of recreational cannabis in Ontario on October 17, 2018, the University of Waterloo will follow provincial and federal direction, focus on the health and safety of the University community, and take a harm reduction and education approach."

Policy 29 will continue to allow for smoking of tobacco in campus property, except for residences, but the smoking of marijuana on campus is prohibited.

"The University prohibits smoking of cannabis (including vaping) on University property," says the guideline document. "The only exception is for the purposes of medicinal use which may occur only with appropriate documentation provided to the University."

Possession, however, is no longer a crime. "For individuals 19 years of age and over, up to 30 grams of cannabis product can be stored in a sealed container."

That's stored, not planted.

"Growing or cultivating cannabis plants on campus is not permitted," the approach document continues. "Smoking cannabis (including, but not limited to vaping) is not permitted in all residence buildings. Plants and equipment intended to grow and cultivate plants within residence is not permitted." The prohibition on residence building usage is backed up by Ontario's new consumption rules.

Additionally, the University will not accept the delivery of cannabis to any building on campus, just as its does not currently accept delivery of alcohol. Nor will the University permit advertisements, posters, and other general promotion of recreational cannabis products on campus.

In terms of edible cannabis products, the University will continue to follow the legislative updates of the Ontario government and await its guidance as to the direction they will take.

The guideline document indicates that employees must continue to be fit for work at all times, and so "working under the influence of cannabis will not be tolerated." Consuming recreational cannabis in the workplace, either as an employee or as a co-op student, is illegal.

"An employee who appears to be under the influence will be sent home via taxi and scheduled to meet with their supervisor and Human Resources the following day." 

The Student Success Office has produced a "Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Cannabis at UWaterloo" news item with valuable information for students as well as faculty and staff, including:

• Using cannabis and driving is illegal and dangerous. There is zero tolerance for young (under 21), novice and commercial drivers to have any cannabis if driving a motor vehicle.
• No person may sell or provide cannabis to any person under the age of 18.
• Cannabis impairment during classes, lectures, labs, field trips, or other related academic programs will be addressed as a student conduct matter, under Policy 71 – Student Discipline.

Anyone with questions about the particulars of the pot policy should contact University Secretary Karen Jack at extension 33183.

There are also resources at hand for those seeking information about cannabis and health:

• Campus Wellness – harm reduction information
• School of Pharmacy - resources and educational videos
• Government of Canada – Cannabis Evidence Brief
• YouTube – Effects of early cannabis use

Student Mental Health Forum on October 24

The Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH) will be delivering a progress report on the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH) recommendations at a Student Mental Health Forum on Wednesday, October 24 at 2:00 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

The Student Mental Health Forum is being held as part of Thrive Week, a week-long series of events focused on building positive mental health for University of Waterloo students, faculty and staff.

Speaking will be President Feridun Hamdullahpur, Vice-President, Academic & Provost Jim Rush, Director of Campus Wellness Walter Mittelstaedt, and Committee on Student Mental Health Chair Professor John Hirdes, as well as COSM student representatives Ayana Kawe and Naima Samuel.

Attendees at the forum will have the opportunity to hear about institutional actions that have already been taken towards implementation, and the committee’s next steps over the next two years. At an open house style session following the forum, CoSMH representatives will be available to share more about mental health initiatives currently underway across campus.

The University community is invited to come engage with CoSMH representatives and bring their questions and feedback.

The doors open at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24 at the Humanities Theatre, with the discussion getting underway at 2:00 p.m. The open house begins at 3:00 p.m. in the nearby Don Craig Atrium in the School of Accounting and Finance.

Please register to attend the student mental health forum.

Volunteers needed for Trick Or Eat this Halloween

A message from the Federation of Students.

This Halloween, Feds Student Food Bank will once again be hosting Trick-or-Eat and we need your help!

Trick-or-Eat is a community event that focuses on students, staff and faculty going into the community on Halloween night and collecting food donations for both the Feds Student Food Bank and Waterloo Regional Food Bank. Trick-or-Eat is Feds Student Food Bank’s biggest event of the year – however, as always, we need a helping hand in ensuring the event is successful.

We require two different types of volunteer groups to make this event a success: event volunteers and participants. In particular, if staff or faculty are looking for a fun night of volunteering in the community, we are in need of volunteer drivers that will help shuttle participants from the University to the community and back, as well as drivers who will pick up food from participants during the evening and return the items to campus. We provide the vehicles! All gas is covered as well as the cost of the rental vehicle. Drivers must be 21 or older, have a full G License and be willing to participate from approximately 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

We also need navigators to help assist the drivers to locate the pick-up points through texts from the participants and to provide directions.

We provide a gift card and our eternal gratitude for your participation as either a navigator or driver! Interesting in volunteering? You can sign up now!

For any further questions, please contact Brendan Lowther, Services Manager at the Federation of Students.

Jedi vs. Sith at Senate and other notes

There was a disturbance in the Force at Monday's Senate meeting as the University's six deans sought to bring balance to the bureaucracy, dressing up as iconic characters from Star Wars in support of the United way. They arrived at Senate to the foreboding tune of the Imperial March, but their message was one of peace.

This is the third year that the deans have cosplayed as characters from much-loved fictional worlds, from Oz to the Hundred Acre Wood, adding a galaxy far, far away to their repertoire:

• Paul Stolee, interim Dean of Applied Health Sciences – Obi Wan Kenobi;
• Doug Peers, Dean of Arts as Yoda;
• Pearl Sullivan, Dean of Engineering as Darth Vader (who no doubt would have identified the Death Star's critical design flaw ahead of time);
• Jean Andrey, Dean of Environment as Princess Leia (right at home as a member of the Galactic Senate);
• Stephen Watt, Dean of Mathematics as Luke Skywalker; and
• Bob Lemieux, Dean of Science, as an Imperial Guard (inexplicably wielding a lightsaber instead of the Royal Guard's standard-issue force pike, but I'll allow it).

The deans were dressed this way in support of the United Way campaign and paraded around campus to show their support and encourage campus-wide participation in the campaign. The 2018 campus campaign's goal is $270,000 and the campaign volunteers need help from the campus community to reach that goal. Donations can be made via e-Pledge. Remember, when it comes to donating, Jedi Master Yoda said it best: "do or do not. There is no try." 

More photos of the Decanal March will be posted on the Campaign's Facebook album

The promotion of the Further Education Fair in yesterday’s Daily Bulletin included a registration link to a past event. Please note, students are not required to register for the Further Education Fair. Visit the event page for more information on the Fair.

The next IT seminar will take place Friday, October 19 from 9:00-9:45 a.m. in East Campus 5 1111. Jennifer Matheson will provide an overview of DeliverPoint and the benefits of the tool when administering system permissions. Visit the IST website for more details.

Employers on campus next week hosting employer information sessions include CGI, CAA Club Group, Sandvine Corporation, MemSQL, Databricks, Okta, Twitter, Cockroach Labs, Top Hat Monocle, Isaac Operations Limited, Lime, Tangerine Bank, Isaac Operations Limited, and Alibaba Group. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.