BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Drupal iCal API//EN X-WR-CALNAME:Events items teaser X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Toronto BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Toronto X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Toronto BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569af07a DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260407T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260407T160000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/change-speed-why-people-ma ke-difference SUMMARY:Change at Speed: Why People Make the Difference CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Through real UW examples\, highlighting the Sustainable Transpo rtation\nteam\, this session will walk you through the journey of how chan ge was\nsuccessfully delivered by focusing on people: engaging them early\ ,\nenabling them with the right tools and clarity\, and supporting them\nt hroughout the process. Discover how the Sustainable Transportation\nteam a chieved more than 30 meaningful improvements in a single year\,\nwithout i ncreasing workload. Human commitment\, shared understanding\,\nand strong collaboration drove practical lessons learned. Come and\nexplore what work ed\, what didn’t\, and what surprised us - enabling\nyou to apply simila r approaches in your own work. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569b3382 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T144500 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T160000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/closing-keynote-francoise- mathieu-edge-compassion-key-tools SUMMARY:Closing Keynote - Françoise Mathieu - The Edge of Compassion: Key\ ntools to stay grounded CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:[alt=\"\"]\nWhy do some people thrive under pressure while othe rs struggle? Are\nthese skills learnable? \n\nThe landscape of our work h as shifted\, and many of us are navigating\nincreasingly complex systems w hile showing up for a community with\ndiverse and evolving needs. But how do we continue to offer our best\nto others while staying centered ourselv es? \n\nNew research offers promising insights into maintaining psycholog ical\nhealth and sustaining our well-being over the long term. This\nprese ntation will explore practical ways to recalibrate when the work\nfeels pa rticularly heavy and how to build a professional life that is\nboth impact ful and sustainable.  DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d29d0 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T103000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T113000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/morning-keynote-yan-markso n-power-perception-own-your-story SUMMARY:Morning Keynote - Yan Markson- The Power of Perception: Own Your St ory CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:[alt=\"\"]\nWhen you’re operating in a flow state\, it isn’ t luck or\ncoincidence. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.\n\nYan Markson offers a fresh\, engaging take on how a growth mindset and\nself-reinventi on can help you spot opportunities\, innovate\, and thrive\nin a fast-pace d world. Discover how changing your state of mind\nfundamentally changes y our “zone of possibilities.” DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d4d28 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260407T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260407T103000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/welcome-opening-keynote-ni kki-sanchez-wisdom-orcas SUMMARY:Welcome & Opening Keynote - Nikki Sanchez - The Wisdom of the Orcas :\nIndigenous Relational Intelligence as a Blueprint for Climate\nAdaptati on CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:[alt=\"\"]\nInspired by her bestselling anthology _Spirits of t he Coast: Orcas in\nScience\, Art and History_ and her collaborations with biologists\,\nhistorians\, Indigenous knowledge keepers\, poets\, artists \, and\ncommunities across generations\, Nikki shares a powerful insight: orcas\noffer a blueprint for reimagining our relationship with the planet. \n\nAs a wilderness guide for over a decade\, living and working alongside \norcas\, she gained clarity on how decolonization and climate solutions\n are inextricably linked. Drawing on their relational intelligence\, she\nr eveals how biodiversity\, Indigenous knowledge systems\, and\nregenerative approaches can help humanity not only adapt to\nenvironmental change\, bu t transform the way we live\, lead\, and belong\non Earth. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d712a DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/professional-and-academic- growth-time-uncertainty SUMMARY:Professional and Academic Growth in a Time of Uncertainty:\nConside rations for Pursuing a Graduate Degree While Working CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Individuals working in higher education across Canada are facin g a\nperiod of uncertainty and ambiguity. In response many are\ninvestigat ing new opportunities for personal and professional\ndevelopment. For thos e considering a return to the classroom\,\nquestions of accessibility\, pr eparedness and the challenges of\nmanaging competing priorities are paramo unt. Through a panel\ndiscussion\, we will explore the major consideration s relevant to\nbalancing work\, school\, and life’s diverse responsibili ties while\nnavigating graduate studies. This panel will include current g raduate\nstudents who are full-time UWaterloo staff\, an expert in graduat e\nstudent success\, and a faculty member with experience supporting\nstud ents who work full-time. Panelists will share findings from recent\nresear ch in addition to sharing candidly about their personal\nexperiences. This discussion will be of interest to those who are\nthinking about pursuing a graduate degree while working\, those who are\ncurrently balancing work and school\, and those who support these\nstudents (such as faculty and st aff). DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d7d92 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/plot-twist-your-book-might -be-written-ai-insights-and SUMMARY:Plot Twist! Your Book Might Be Written by AI: Insights and Strategi es\nfor AI-Generated Resources CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Electronic and print resources are becoming overpopulated with an\nabundance of AI created or partially created by AI ebooks. These books \ncould be the resources you are using for research or the newest romcom\n book you just downloaded\, bought or borrowed. Knowing the difference\nbet ween human authors and AI authors is becoming. Additionally\,\ndisclosure of AI generation being used is not always up front. While\nit is not neces sarily a bad thing to interact with AI generated\nresources\, users should be aware of how their resources were created\nand what to be cautious of in the process. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d8a6e DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/lets-talk-about-death-and- dying SUMMARY:Let's Talk About Death and Dying CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:It’s time to have a conversation about one of life’s few\ni nevitabilities. Come hear from three panelists who work in the death\nindu stry. A funeral director from a local funeral home will speak\nabout the i mportance of pre-planning and the role that a funeral\ndirector can play w hen a family is grieving. Karry Sawatsky\, a\nregistered Death Doula\, wil l explain the kinds of services you could\nexpect from someone with her sk ills. Tamara Maciel from the University\nof Waterloo will share some infor mation about the School of Anatomy\nand the whole-body bequeathal program. Eric Celentano will provide\nsome myth-busting facts about organ donation in Ontario. Each panelist\nwill provide a brief introduction and overview of their areas of\nexpertise\, and then we will allow for an open questio n period. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569d95cd DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/learning-ai-together-pract ical-workshop-scenarios-and SUMMARY:Learning AI Together: A Practical Workshop on Scenarios and Framewo rks CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Join us to learn about scenarios and sample prompts for common tasks\,\nincluding an overview of common prompt engineering frameworks to try.\nExamples include summarizing long e-mails or reports\, creating meet ing\nsummaries\, drafting executive summaries\, and even letting AI help y ou\nlearn about AI! This session is a brief presentation followed by time\ nand space to try things out with assistance from the three workshop\ncoor dinators. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569da1d4 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/support-partnership-rethin king-how-we-work-communities SUMMARY:From Support to Partnership: Rethinking How We Work with Communitie s CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Institutions often aim to “support” communities\, yet\nwell -intentioned efforts can unintentionally reinforce power\nimbalances by as suming that institutions know what communities need\nbest. This session in vites participants to rethink that approach.\nGrounded in equity-informed and community-engaged practice\, this\nworkshop explores how empowering co mmunities can strengthen trust\,\nimprove impact\, and reduce institutiona l blind spots. Participants\nwill examine common assumptions embedded in i nstitutional systems\,\nreflect on how stories about expertise and legitim acy are constructed\,\nand consider practical ways to shift from a service -delivery mindset\ntoward one rooted in shared power and community self-de termination.\nDrawing on real-world examples from campus and community-bas ed work\,\nthe session offers concrete strategies for working with communi ties\nrather than for them\, while still meeting institutional\nresponsibi lities around accountability and stewardship. This session\nis designed to be reflective\, accessible\, and practical. It does not\nrequire prior ex pertise in equity or community engagement and is\nrelevant to staff across roles and units. The focus is not on\nprescribing one right model\, but o n inviting critical reflection and\noffering adaptable principles that par ticipants can apply within their\nown areas of influence. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69fd5569dac48 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260408T140000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/staff-conference/events/data-informed-student-cent ered-turning-student-stories SUMMARY:Data-Informed\, Student-Centered: Turning Student Stories into Acti on CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:This interactive workshop will explore how UWaterloo staff can use\nstudent stories to inform various levels of decision making. The\nint ended audience of this session is anyone looking to elevate their\nwork by ensuring their decisions are data-informed\, regardless of\nbudget\, capa city and resources. Using real examples from the Waterloo\nUndergraduate S tudent Association (WUSA) the facilitators will\ndemonstrate the different layers of student consultation from\nlow-effort\, low budget methods such as boothing and intercepts\, to\nhigh-effort\, high budget methods such a s our Representative Survey\nPlatform. Participants will learn how to choo se consultation methods\nbased on project goals\, timelines\, capacity and organizational\npriorities. By the end of the session\, participants will have a\nstronger understanding of the data needed to support student-cent ered\ndecisions and how to apply it in practice. DTSTAMP:20260508T031553Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR