Daily Bulletin

Staff association speaks on benefits

In the letter, staff association president Walter McCutchan acknowledges "that the University is facing difficult times . . . that the cost of the benefits package is rising." However," he adds, "we are not prepared to support drastic alterations to the benefits plan we currently have. Some small adjustments may be unavoidable, but we cannot endorse cuts."

In early June, provost Jim Kalbfleisch told the board of governors that health plan premiums are up 32.8 per cent this year, on top of the 20 per cent increase last year, and suggested that cost controls need to be adopted. With an eye to changes before the current fiscal year is over, the agreements with the benefits providers -- Great West Life and ManuLife Financial -- have been renewed for only eight months.

Responding to comments in the minutes of a pension and benefits committee meeting in May, McCutchan rejects the assertion that the purpose of the benefits program is to provide coverage for "catastrophic" costs. He suggested the statement conflicts with one of the university's own brochures -- provided to new employees -- which says the UW "benefits program "provides extensive protection for you and your family".

Furthermore, he says, "appropriate benefits are required by the University's Bylaw respecting the Pension and Benefits Committee (which) states it is the responsibility of the Committee to keep the benefits plan 'current with respect to other universities and major employers'." As well, says McCutchan, "an appealing compensation package . . . is necessary for the University to attract and maintain the quality staff and faculty necessary to preserve our reputation for excellence", and to ensure that employees are "happy, healthy, well motivated and compensated fairly".

The association is asking its representatives on the pension and benefits committee "to consider the following as they participate in the discussions of the Committee":

• The university should be encouraged to "investigate creative alternatives to rising costs" such as a drug formulary.
• The university should conduct a comparison of benefits plans at other universities and major employers.
• Before any changes to the "paramedical" coverage, a cost-benefit analysis should be conducted, since "treatments such as massage therapy may have very real benefits and may actually reduce costs to the plan by alleviating problems before they become more serious health issues."
• "We do not accept the proposed change to the plan to remove out-of-country medical protection" because of benefits to both retirees and current employees.

The staff association plans to hold an open forum this summer to hear opinions on the issue from its members, and is "in the process of setting up a joint meeting with Benefits representatives from all Employee Groups (Union, Faculty, and Staff) to develop a position that reflects the needs of all employees at the University."

The pension and benefits committee had previously announced plans to invite staff and faculty members to open meetings early this fall, with the hope of introducing changes to the benefit plans January 1, 2001.

Johnston chairs national committee

The announcement came from federal industry minister John Manley and Saskatchewan education minister Glenn Hagel, on behalf of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

"Universities and colleges are key players in building a more innovative economy and society," said Manley in a news release. "They promote productivity by advancing the development of knowledge and skills, especially in local economies. Online learning holds enormous potential for individuals and communities to flourish in the globalized learning society of the new millennium."

"Properly designed and delivered, online learning benefits both young and mature students," said Hagel. "Online learning allows anytime, anyplace and any-pace delivery. Online learning can be applied on its own, or it can enrich traditional face-to-face learning on campus. All post-secondary educational institutions, as well as all governments, should be able to help students take advantage of the opportunities online learning offers."

That's the sort of thing Johnston has been saying for years, particularly as chair of the Information Highway Advisory Council, whose work in the late 1990s led to the creation of the "Connecting Canadians" initiative and the "Smart Communities" program. He chaired a task force on learning technologies for the Council of Ontario Universities which issued its report in April.

"Online learning is going to transform post-secondary education in the next decade," Johnston says in yesterday's news release. "Our committee will help position Canadian universities and colleges to meet severe competition in their local markets from foreign public and private training enterprises."

Said the news release from Industry Canada: "The committee's work will help Canada's post-secondary education institutions and governments identify the best ways to serve the Canadian public in the delivery of online learning. With membership including senior representatives from Canada's university, college, and business communities, the committee will examine the issues, impediments and incentives involving online learning in Canada. . . .

"The committee's work is of particular relevance to the CMEC, whose recent efforts at strengthening the postsecondary education sector have included the publication of the 1999 Report on Public Expectations of Postsecondary Education in Canada, which was prepared by a consortium of CMEC members. Quebec and the Yukon Territory are not members of the consortium, but have opted for observer status."

The committee will report back to the ministers in November. Besides Johnston, its members are university and college presidents and corporate leaders from across Canada, including John Wetmore, president of IBM Canada, who is a member of UW's board of governors.

Shads just can't get enough -- by Barbara Hallett

When it comes to biotechnology, the Shads are insatiable.

The biotechnology workshop is one of a series of opportunities for some 48 participants in the Shad Valley program at UW this month to sample a range of topics -- from the physics of sport to public speaking, from digital design or global climate change to "art intensive" last week, and robotics, phonology, biotelemetry, stained glass and more, this week. (Maclean's magazine has a story this week about the Shad program.)

For the dozen senior high school students in the biotechnology workshop -- which ran for four mornings in a Biology I lab -- the experience provided a chance to try their hand at restriction mapping, that is, cutting DNA with restriction enzymes and separating the fragments on an electrophoretic gel.

And while the hands-on experience was exciting for the participants, Diehl-Jones used the experiment to encourage the students make creative connections. "What I hope to inspire in these kids," he says, "is not simply an understanding of how to do molecular biology -- really, if you can read a cookbook, you can do most of the techniques I was demonstrating -- but rather, I try to give them an appreciation of the power of molecular biotechnology."

And more: "How does recombinant DNA technology affect their lives? How might it affect them in the future? I also try to stroke their intellectual curiosity; what, for example might a student who is primarily interested in engineering or math see in terms of applications and crossovers? A point I make in these sessions is that great achievements can be made by people who combine what may be seen as disparate passions and interests."

The Shad Valley program, run each summer at 10 universities -- nine in Canada and one in Scotland -- offers a veritable smorgasbord of such learning options in an effort to nurture "innovative leaders" of the future. Today, teams of Shads will present their major design projects, this year focusing on crime prevention. The presentations, will include working prototypes, as well as business information for potential investors.

An open house next Thursday, July 27, will showcase the design project prototypes, as well as posters and models from workshops during the month. The public is invited from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Great Hall, Conrad Grebel College.

Dragon boats and other attractions

Waterloo Region Dragon Boat Festival

The Distributed Systems Group, based in the department of computer science, presents a talk this morning by Andrew Gunstensen of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He'll speak at 11 a.m. on "Distributed Calculation Services for Risk Management". Gunstensen's talk was originally scheduled for late June, to accompany an announcement of funding from Morgan Stanley for research headed by UW's Tim Brecht.

Violinist Melanie Grenier and pianist Donna Mak will play "Music with Heart" starting at 8:00 tonight at the Conrad Grebel College chapel. Tickets are $10; the concert is a benefit to support the regional cardiac centre at St. Mary's Hospital.

On the other side of campus, the music will be reggae at the Graduate House tonight. "Mango Tango" plays on the patio. "Everyone is welcome," writes Graduate Student Association manager Rose Vogt. The party starts at 9:00.

Yesterday's Bulletin had a note about a "Taste of Canada" dinner and wine-tasting party at the University Club, which I said would be happening "Friday". That sounds like the event is today; in fact, it's a week from today, July 28. Reservations, at $75 per person, can be made with the Club office at ext. 4088.

And . . . Boxes are now ready in several places across campus for people to drop off their photo-finishing work, says Colette Nevin of the UW graphics department. Pixel Pub., on the ground floor of the Student Life Centre, is the headquarters for photo processing, she says, and "now Pixel Pub. will be offering convenient across-campus drop off locations for your rolls of film. Films will be collected at 3:00 p.m. daily and will be processed and ready to mail to department addresses or available for pick-up at Pixel Pub. by 4:00 p.m. the following business day. Customers paying through Flexfield Accounts can pick up orders or have them returned through the campus mail." Drop boxes are available at Graphics Express, Dana Porter Library; in Engineering II; near the self-serve copiers in Village I; in Ron Eydt Village, opposite the information desk; in the Davis Centre, opposite the bank machine; and at Pixel Pub. itself. "Also," says Nevin, "Main Graphics has a drop off location just inside the front door (during business hours only). Order Envelopes and instructions are in the pocket on the front of each box. A laminated price list is placed on the side of each box." Questions? Call Pixel Pub. at ext. 5997.

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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