Colleagues,
April is always a busy month, filled with exams, marking, grade submissions, and at the unit level—budget planning. In the Dean’s Office, we have also been focused on finalizing our Case for Support, and identifying our fundraising priorities for the next year. Before we head into the new term and fiscal year, here are a few items worth noting:
- Senate approved the new degree hood for our Bachelor of Public Health. The hood will be the traditional Oxford Bachelor shape, and include a teal border and white soutache braid. In other University-level administrative news, there have been several announcements recently regarding changes to senior leadership:
- Interim CIO, Bruce Campbell, will take on the role on a permanent basis starting May 1.
- Ian Rowlands began a one year term as Interim Associate Vice-President, International.
- Jeff Casello will begin as Associate Provost, Graduate Studies as of July 1, 2016.
- I would like to extend my congratulations to Scott Leatherdale and Dave Hammond, who both received a CIHR Trailblazer Award last week. The awards recognize substantial impacts on the field of population health and its use in policy and/or practice in Canada and/or internationally. The terms of reference for this award indicate that there was only to be one award to recognize an early to mid career investigator from across Canada. That the committee decided to adjust those terms to allow for two awards are a testament to the strength of both Scott and David. Congratulations are also extended to Clark Dickerson, who is the recipient of a NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement. The supplement provides substantial resources to researchers who have a superior research program that is highly rated in terms of originality and innovation during review of the Discovery Grant applications, and who show strong potential to become international leaders within their field. This is the first time an AHS faculty member has received this award. Finally, kudos to Bryan Grimwood on receiving an Ontario Early Researcher Award. These highly competitive awards recognize promising new researchers within 10 years of receiving their doctoral degree, and are designated to build the research team by funding HQP.
- Congratulations to AHS Three Minute Thesis (3MT) winner Merryn Maynardand runner up Sonja Senthanar, both of School of Public Health and Health Systems. Participants delivered impressive presentations, summarizing their research in three minutes. See a sampling on our 3MT playlist.
- A reminder that on May 6, AHS graduate students will host the Symposium On Aging Research (SOAR). This event is an opportunity for graduate studentsto network across disciplines on the topic of aging research. A tentative schedule is available online for interested attendees.
- On May 19, the University of Waterloo Network for Aging Research (NAR) welcomes Donna Lero, professor of family relations and applied nutrition at the University of Guelph, for the presentation: Caregiving for aging parents and other family members - opportunities and unmet challenges.
- You may have noticed a film crew around BMH and LHN over the last week. This activity is tied to the production of the Applied Health Sciences Impact Report, and the creation of seven videos focused on different research theme areas. Thank you to anyone who was inconvenienced during this process and to those who participated in the filming project itself. The videos, along with the report, will be released in July.
- Contractors working on the AHS expansion report that data cabling installation is complete on the first and second floors, light fixtures are being installed in all areas, and tiling has begun in the washrooms. AV work began on Monday, which includes installing the projector lifts in the lecture hall.
Forming of raised landscape area
Elevator installation nearing completion
A final reminder that this Saturday, April 30 we will have a complete building electrical and hot water shut down as connections are made from the main campus to the AHS expansion building. Access to all areas of BMH, LHS and LHN will not be permitted beginning Friday evening at 5 p.m. until Sunday morning. Thank you for your patience as we make significant headway in the construction process.
Wishing you all a wonderful month ahead,
Jim
James W.E. Rush, PhD
Professor and Dean
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences