Daily Bulletin

Monday, June 16, 1997

Social work degree proposed

The proposal, as submitted by Renison and approved by the senate undergraduate council, "has strong support from potential employers in the Waterloo Region". The program, designed to train "generalist social workers" who can provide services "to a broad range of situations and groups", will be designed as a continuation of the current Social Development Studies BA program at the college.

An undergraduate degree with specific course requirements, practical experience and "personal suitability" will be the prerequisites for entry to the Honours BSW program, which will run for three academic terms including course work and a practicum.

"Many of the regional (social service) agency directors are strong advocates for this BSW and have indicated their willingness to provide the required placements," the proposal says.

The implementation of the BSW program comes in response to "a movement in Canada to recognize the Honours BSW degree as the required entry qualification for careers in social work". Ontario is expected to join the rest of the provinces in enacting legislation governing the practice of social work at a recognized level of competence. This "will require university level education at the Honours BSW level as the minimum entry level for certification".

Also on senate's agenda

• The new draft of Policy 73, on "intellectual property rights", as revised after campus-wide discussion last year.
• A report on the senate scholarship fund, which brought in $93,026 from staff and faculty in 1996-97, down from $128,026 the previous year. (That amount is dwarfed by the $3.2 million that came in one-time givings, from on and off campus, for the Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund, and that will be matched by the Ontario government.)
• A proposed "career development practitioner option" for undergraduates interested in going into career counselling.
• Proposed establishment of a Waterloo Biotelemetry Institute, doing research in wildlife monitoring.

Libraries show off their warehouse

The Annex was bought last summer, after several years of work by the consortium to find a suitable "secure storage facility". Stacks at the Annex will be closed to library users, but "Plans call for staff who will provide on-site recall services for those using the study facilities," a library bulletin says, and books can also be retried within 24 hours for use at any of the three campuses.

Federation gains a VP

Says Bellabarba: "The decision to make this position into a fully elected Vice-President, or to re-shuffle duties among the current Vice-Presidential positions to incorporate the Student Issues portfolio directly into an executive position, is one that will be discussed over the summer and early fall. Council is reviewing the current executive responsibilities, and a final report will be brought forward for approval at the Federation's Annual General Meeting in October."

He added: "This position is one that will go far towards heightening awareness of non-academic issues on campus."

The final days of spring

The voice mail system and the 888-4567 "automated attendant" at UW's switchboard will be out of operation for about four hours this evening, starting at 8 p.m., for a software upgrade.

The faculty association, specifically is Status of Women and Inclusivity Committee, is asking, "Is the Faculty Association working for you, or does it frustrate you? Could the Association revise its priorities and methods so as to work better for you and other female faculty?" To address the matter, it has scheduled an open meeting tomorrow with association president Fred McCourt. It runs from 3 to 5 p.m. upstairs at the Graduate House. "We hope," says committee chair Prabhakar Ragde, "that the informal setting will encourage a thorough and fruitful discussion of the current situation and ways in which it can be changed for the better. The agenda will be set by you."

The Midnight Sun solar car team is off today for Indianapolis, where it will go through "the scrutineering process" before the start of Sunrayce '97 on Thursday. "At the regional qualifying event we placed third," says team member Greg Bridgett, "giving us a starting position of fourth off the pole. We're hoping to do really well. The whole team is quite exhausted from working so hard on the car in the last few days, but the excitement of racing UW's best solar car keeps us going."

Getting the details right

And another thing. The triathlon that didn't happen on Saturday, as reported in Friday's Bulletin, was to have included eight laps of the ring road on a bicycle (said to be 20 kilometres) and two laps on foot (said to be 3.1 kilometres). Someone quickly asked why the route is longer on wheels than for runners. Brian Cartlidge of the athletics department kindly explains that "The 3.1 is a typo that wasn't picked up in the proofreading. It is supposed to be 5k for the run and 20k for the bike -- the ring road is approximately 2.5k per time around. This is and has been debated in some newsgroups and depends on whose car or bike computer you use, whether you go clockwise or counterclockwise and whether you are on the road or the sidewalk."

CAR

June 16, 1966: Carl Pollock becomes chairman of the board of governors, succeeding Ira G. Needles, who becomes UW's chancellor.

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca -- (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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