Daily Bulletin

Pension fund is still healthy

Excerpts from the report:

The market value of the Pension Plan assets at January 1, 1998, was $619 million and the actuarial value was $561 million. The actuarial value is based on a three-year average rate of return, so that the impact of a market gain or loss is spread over a three-year period. The $58 million difference between the market value and the actuarial value is due to large market gains in 1996 and 1997 which have not yet been fully recognized in the actuarial value. It provides a cushion against market declines such as we have experienced in the summer of 1998.

Measured from the actuarial value, the Plan had a funding excess of $40 million at January 1,1998. In addition, the Plan had reserve funds of $24 million to pay the future costs of plan improvements in 1985 and 1988.

The yield on the pension fund -- which is invested with several different fund managers -- was 12.65 per cent during 1997, the report says. In 1996 it was 20.11 per cent. The "geometric average" through 1997, from the beginning of the present pension plan in 1969, is 10.63 per cent per year. The pension and benefits committee was told a few weeks ago that from January through June 1998, the pension fund gained another 8 per cent in value -- but then it lost 12 per cent in the July and August downturn.

The report says the pension plan had 3,868 members on January 1, including 2,426 active staff and faculty, 93 on long-term disability, 13 "suspended members", 1,042 current pensioners and 294 deferred pensioners.

The ups and downs of stocks: the TSE 300 index over the past two years, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

P&B meeting cancelled

Meetings on 'flexible' plan

"The Flex feature allows Pension Plan members to make additional voluntary tax-deductible contributions without affecting their RRSP room. However, there are complexities and potential difficulties that members need to consider before deciding to contribute. Detailed information on the Flex Plan will be forwarded to all regular faculty and staff before the meeting."

The November 5 meetings will be held in Needles Hall room 3001, each lasting an hour in length. The first session will begin at 12:15, and it will be repeated at 3:15 and 6:00 p.m.

Staff role stressed in policies

They came from the staff relations committee and have been "reviewed and discussed" by the faculty relations committee as well, says a summary being presented to senate by provost Jim Kalbfleisch. "This resulted in further changes being proposed to ensure that regular faculty members continue to constitute a voting majority on such committees and to improve language clarity and consistency."

Under the proposed change to Policy 50, about the president of the university, the one staff member on the nominating committee that finds UW's new president will be "elected by and from the regular ongoing staff of the university". At present, that representative is named by the board of governors on the advice of the staff association and CUPE local 793.

When a vice-president (academic) and provost is being chosen, there will now be two staff members on the nominating committee, and they too will be elected campus-wide.

In the selection of department chairs, each nominating committee from now on must have "one staff member, elected by and from the regular staff of the department".

In the selection of faculty deans: "one staff member elected by and from the regular staff of the Faculty, and one appointed by the Staff Association, normally from the Faculty concerned." That's an increase from one staff member on dean selection committees at present.

In the selection of the dean of graduate studies or the vice-president (university research): one staff member chosen by the staff association, as at present, and one "elected by and from the regular staff" in the graduate studies office or the research office.

Tonight's senate meeting starts at 7:30 in Needles Hall room 3001. Also on the agenda: everything from the provost's report (doubtless touching on the possibility of high-tech enrolment expansion) to the final approval of degrees that are to be given at convocation ceremonies this Saturday.

Drama department announces 3 plays

Says the announcement: "Each of this year's three major productions is concerned with the sticky subject that makes the heart go pitter-patter. Directors William Chadwick and Lloy Coutts get things rolling in the Theatre of the Arts with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the play said to be the Bard's best comedy. This production runs from November 25 to 28.

"Then, for a more modern take on the subject, Sam Shepard's Fool For Love, opens January 27 for two consecutive Wednesday-to-Saturday runs in Studio 180 of Hagey Hall. Catherine Seeback directs this story of two battle-weary lovers meeting for a final conflict.

"Next, the work of Canadian playwright and novelist Ann-Marie MacDonald will be showcased as Denis Johnston directs Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet). This clever farce involves a Ph.D student's struggles with her overly-influential thesis supervisor and a fantastic journey into Shakespearean worlds. This production runs from March 24 to 27 in the Humanities Theatre."

The Humanities box office will have tickets as production dates get closer.

And other events and notes

• At 7:00, in the Paul Martin Centre, Queen's University professor Edwin Neave speaks on "The Future of Canada's Financial System".
• At 8:00, in the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, the South African ambassador to Canada, Billy Modise, will appear as the first speaker in a two-day colloquium on the International Criminal Court. He'll describe his country's search for peace and justice during the Nelson Mandela presidency and the years after apartheid.

Convocation is indeed this Saturday, in two sessions in the Physical Activities Complex: at 10 a.m. for degrees in applied health sciences and arts, at 2 p.m. for degrees in other fields.

The United Way campaign continues on campus, and organizers -- keen to reach and exceed that $135,000 target -- offer a reminder of how much a $2-a-week donation can provide in the course of a year. For example: 20 hot noon meals for shut-in seniors; Internet access for two handicapped people; six weekly classes for two handicapped horseback riders. Or if you can give $10 a week, you could be supporting eight therapy sessions for a hearing-impaired child, or 36 hours of community service training for five workplace volunteers, or employment information from the Social Planning Council for 208 people.

Sports results: I do know that the football Warriors tromped the York Yeomen, 17-9, and that the men's soccer team lost 2-0 to Brock; those are the only scores to have reached me so far this morning.

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
| Friday's Bulletin
Copyright © 1998 University of Waterloo