"Have your say"

$Student walking past a wall of post-it notes with messages written on them.$

About the program

The Faculty of Mathematics is home to an incredible community of staff, faculty and students, each of whom have different values, beliefs, backgrounds, experiences, abilities, interests and lifestyles. In the Faculty of Mathematics, we recognize that supporting the health and well-being needs of our diverse community means providing many different health and well-being activities and resources that can positively contribute to an individual's own wellness journey.

"Have Your Say expresses the Faculty’s desire to hear from its members about what they need to continue their wellness journey."

Robert P. Bruce, Community Well-being & Engagement Officer, in Math News September 2021

This initiative provides the opportunity for you to Have your say in how the Faculty of Mathematics supports and enhances the health and well-being of all our students, staff, and faculty. Submit your thoughts and ideas for new activities, workshops, seminars and resources that the Faculty of Mathematics can offer or provide us with your feedback for how the Faculty of Mathematics can improve your health and well-being.

Submissions

All submissions are anonymized by the Community Well-being and Engagement Officer before being reviewed by members of the SHWbC or EHWbC.

Termly draws

Eligible submissions made by students, staff, and faculty from the Faculty of Mathematics will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a $50.00 gift card for the W Store. Draws will be held for each of the Fall, Winter and Spring terms and will include all eligible submissions that were received before the last day of classes for the term.

The Student Health and Well-being Committee will draw three student names from all the undergraduate and graduate submissions each term, and the Employee Health and Well-being Committee will draw three employee names from all the staff, faculty and postdoctoral fellow submissions each term, for a total of six winners.

Spring 2022 term draw winners:

Students:

Aayushi T.
Jonathan P.
Justin S.

Staff/Faculty:

Collen R.
Kirsten M.
Sue Ann C.

Next Draw: Monday 10 April 2023

What we've heard from our community

During the Fall 2021 term we invited members of our community to use Have your say as a forum to express comments, concerns, ideas, and feelings regarding the individual and collective health and well-being of our students, staff, and faculty. Many of the submissions that we received focused on building community, creating a sense of belonging, and developing or promoting wellness programming, services, and resources. We have used these submissions to guide the focus of our work throughout the Fall term and to inform our plans for the upcoming Winter and Spring terms. The following list details the actions we have taken in response to different submissions we have received from our students, staff, and faculty.

Expanding the current Living Wellness programming to include a greater focus on physical wellness.
- We will continue to highlight one dimension of wellness in each of the months of the upcoming Winter 2022 term, but we will also be expanding the monthly programming to include activities and events that are related to other dimensions of wellness (e.g., offering programming for physical wellness during the Winter term).
Developing a health and well-being awareness campaign.
- We are planning to release a multi-media wellness campaign focused on increasing our community’s awareness of the current wellness programming, services, and resources that exist.
- We will also be launching our Expressions of Wellness initiative to promote community building and well-being through an interactive art installation and a community webpage focused on sharing creative expressions of wellness.
- As part of our new Expressions of Wellness initiative that will be rolling out over the upcoming terms, as a means of encouraging our students, staff, and faculty to express themselves through a creative activity, we are now inviting you to submit an original song, dance, painting, drawing, sculpture, writing, or photograph to be a part of our initial launch! Submit a piece of original work to our Expressions of Wellness and help us inspire other students, staff, and faculty to take on a new creative activity that will positively contribute to their own health and well-being!
Providing a mentorship program for undergraduate students.
- We are exploring ways to offer the Student Connection (“Mentorship”) Program once again. This program, offered originally in the Winter 2021 term, paired first-year undergraduate students in the Faculty of Mathematics with an upper year student. The peer-to-peer relationship was focused on supporting first-year undergraduate students through common academic and social challenges associated with transitioning into an undergraduate program, establishing a social and academic support network, and building a sense of community and belonging within the Faculty of Mathematics.
Supporting our students, staff, and faculty through COVID-19.
- We are working to understand how current policies and guidelines may affect the student experience in the Winter 2022 term.
- We worked with campus partners (e.g., Health Services, Media Relations) to develop a Long COVID-19 awareness campaign and response for students in the Faculty of Mathematics. Visit Waterloo News to read the full article: Q and A with the Experts: Long COVID.

We would like to thank all the students, staff, and faculty who participated in Have your say for the thoughtfulness and care that they expressed in their submissions.