Daily Bulletin

Monday, January 19, 1998

University of Waterloo • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Fewer appeals and discipline cases

A total of 93 students were involved in cheating cases, grade appeals, grievances and other such proceedings in 1996-97, down from 107 in 1995-96 and 132 the year before that, says a report that's being tabled today.

It comes from the University Committee on Student Appeals, which dealt with only half a dozen cases itself during the year. Most proceedings under the UW policies on student grievances and academic discipline are handled by associate deans, with appeals going first to appeals committees within the six faculties. In the past year faculty committees dealt with six appeals, the report says:

Two of the FCSA decisions (undergrad) were appealed to UCSA. Two hearings were held at the UCSA level -- one undergrad (four-term suspension for plagiarism reduced to one term), and one grad (one-term suspension for misrepresentation upheld). Another hearing (misrepresentation) was scheduled, but the undergrad appellant failed to appear. A case (ruling on a final exam) is in progress.

The report says 81 of last year's cases involved undergraduates, and 12 involved graduate students. Categories of cases included cheating (42), plagiarism (19), misrepresentation (6), harassment or intimidation (7), misuse of resources (6), and mischief (0 this year). There were 13 grade appeals.

Edited versions of the committee's reports on individual cases, with the names removed, are on file with the university secretariat and will be made available through its web site, the report says, "on the basis that information about cases may serve as a deterrent to potential offenders".

The senate meets tonight

In the jungle, the mighty jungle . . . oh, sorry. In Needles Hall room 3001 the UW senate -- the university's top governing body -- will hold its monthly meeting starting at 7:30 p.m. That report from the student appeals committee is on its agenda, along with these other items:

The proposed new Policy 75 on the official files of faculty members.
A proposal to stop offering the MA program in gerontology; instead, the department of health studies and gerontology would offer only an MSc and a PhD to its graduate students.
A proposed "collaborative program in statistics and computing" at the master's degree level, to be offered by the statistics and actuarial science and computer science departments.
A request from "GWC2" to have a longer name: it wants to be the Guelph-Waterloo Centre for Graduate Work in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
A report from the scholarships and student aid committee, including information on entrance scholarships awarded in 1997.
A report from Peter Woolstencroft, UW's "academic colleague" representative to the Council of Ontario Universities, who is far from happy with new, looser "guidelines" from COU about the dates when universities are allowed to admit students each year.
A report from the university librarian.

And so on. In confidential session, senate will deal with an item identified in the agenda as "Naming of Building" -- any guesses?

Your chance to join the senate

If you'd like to be part of the exciting process of which tonight's meeting is an example, here's your opportunity. A call for nominations has gone out for a total of 20 seats on the UW senate, not counting the five undergraduate seats that were announced earlier.

This week's call for nominations is for representatives of graduate students and faculty members, as follows:

Two graduate students (full-time or part-time) to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 2000.
One graduate student to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 1999.
Seven faculty members at large, to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 2001.
One faculty member from each of AHS, arts, engineering, environmental studies, mathematics, science, St. Jerome's College, and Conrad Grebel College, to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 2001.
One faculty member at large, to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 1999.
One faculty member from mathematics, to serve May 1, 1998, through April 30, 2000.

The full call for nominations is available from the university secretariat and will be published in Wednesday's Gazette. Nominations are due by February 4.

Two notes about pensions

The pension and benefits committee is meeting this morning in Needles Hall to continue its endless grind of work on pension fund investments, the sick leave policy, and other matters. Minutes from the last P&B meeting, held December 15, indicate that the committee has come to a conclusion about what changes it's going to propose for the UW pension plan. A campus-wide memo, followed by open meetings to discuss the proposals, can be expected shortly.

Pension legislation in Ontario gives certain employees, who are not normally eligible, the option to join the University of Waterloo pension plan. To be eligible you must have worked continuously for the University of Waterloo during 1996 and 1997 and also you must have earned $12,530 or more in 1997, and $12,390 or more in 1996 or worked more than 700 hours for the University of Waterloo in both 1996 and 1997. Pension plan participation normally requires employee contributions at the rate of 4.875% of base earnings up to $36,900 and 6.5% of any base earnings exceeding $36,900 (the 1998 Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings for Canada Pension). However, currently required contributions are at 50% of those percentage amounts (i.e. 2.4375% and 3.25% respectively). If you wish to join the pension plan, and feel that you qualify or have any questions concerning your eligibility, you can contact Wanda Speek at ext. 3573.

Tell me what's a-happenin'

Karin Neumann, working on her honours thesis in health studies, is looking for smokers to take part in a focus group today. There's a reward: "Just fill out a questionnaire, give a bit of verbal feedback about the questions, and get some free coffee and timbits." Smokers of any age are welcome, and should show up at 11:30 a.m. in Davis Centre room 1568. There's no need to preregister, but anyone with questions about the project can reach Neumann at kneumann@ahsmail.

The Kitchener Public Library is running its usual Monday noon-hour series of lectures this winter, with many of the speakers coming from UW or Wilfrid Laurier University. Today's speaker (12 noon, at the KPL main branch on Queen Street) is Harriet Lyons of UW's anthropology department, on "Adoptive Parents: Invisible Outlaws".

The career development seminars run by the co-op and career folks in Needles Hall continue this week. Tomorrow: "Interview Skills", 10:30 a.m. in Needles Hall room 1020; "The Work Finding Package", 1:30 p.m. in Engineering Lecture room 101. Wednesday: "Self-Assessment, The Key to Success", at 9:30, "Consider Your Options: Occupational Research", at 10:30, and "Information Interviews", at 11:30, all in Needles Hall room 1020; "The Work Finding Package", at 1:30, in Davis Centre room 1351. More information about all these programs is available at the career resource centre.

A memorial service for Peter Swann, late of Renison College's East Asian studies program (and before that, of the Seagram Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum), will be held Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. in the chapel of Renison College. A light lunch will follow. All are invited.

CAR

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