Strike at York University (management viewpoint)

Daily Bulletin

Pension fund has lots of money

The report -- from the pension and benefits committee -- says liabilities of the plan, as of January 1, 2000, were $570.1 million. Another $34.4 million had been set aside in reserves to pay for recent improvements in pension levels. That adds up to $604.5 million.

But the market value of the pension fund, also as of January 1, was $692.1 million, and the more conservative "actuarial value" of the plan was $644.8 million. So at least $40 million, and probably close to $90 million, was there as a cushion, which would be needed if the value of the plan's investments started to slip.

TSE 300 average of stock prices, 1996-99 and 2000. Source: GlobeInvestor.Com

The surplus continues even though both UW and its employees have been paying pension premiums at a reduced rate since May 1997. Originally the premiums were cut to 50 per cent of the normal level; in 1998 they were lowered again to 25 per cent of the normal level.

About $120 million of the fund is invested in real-return bonds, while the rest is managed by four fund management companies and mostly invested in stocks, the report shows. During 1999, the investments ("based on market value") grew by 10.76 per cent.

As of January 1, there were 1,058 people receiving pensions from the UW plan. There were 2,676 "active members" (faculty and staff paying premiums into the pension plan), 79 members on long-term disability leave, 9 "suspended members" and 296 "deferred pensioners".

Wanted, a VP (university relations)

The University of Waterloo is one of Canada's leading universities, providing graduate and undergraduate degree programs to 22,000 full- and part-time students through its six Faculties -- Applied Health Sciences, Arts, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, and Science. Established in 1957, UW offers programs through co-operative education year-round, as well as in the more traditional regular program of study. The University is located in Kitchener-Waterloo, an attractive community of 270,000 in south-western Ontario. Further information on the University of Waterloo can be found on its website at www.uwaterloo.ca. The Vice-President, University Relations is responsible for the strategic development and coordination of initiatives to generate external support for the University, including the design and implementation of fundraising strategies, the on-going development of alumni services, and positive public relations with the local community, corporate partners, all levels of government, and the international community. The Vice-President, University Relations reports to the President, is part of the senior administrative team, and has executive management responsibility for the Offices of Development and Alumni Affairs, and Information and Public Affairs. The successful candidate for this key position will have highly developed interpersonal and communication skills; a commitment to and understanding of contemporary university issues; experience in developing effective partnerships with governments, the local community, the corporate sector, and volunteer organizations; and proven ability to motivate and provide broad-based leadership. A demonstrated success in fund-raising and the ability to manage the University's forthcoming campaign are essential. The appointment is expected to begin as soon as mutually agreeable. Please submit nominations, applications, or expressions of interest, in confidence to the address shown below. Janet Wright & Associates Inc. 21 Bedford Road, Suite 300 Toronto ON M5R 2J9 FAX: (416) 923-8311 jwassoc@total.net

Universities not accountable, says WLU prof

The surveys, which have been conducted annually since 1988, look at information from roughly 40 universities and grade each on a "modified accountability disclosure" index. Universities get points based on the depth, clarity and quality of the information provided in 26 categories, from mission statements performance targets to detailed financial statements and research summaries.

In 1999, says a WLU news release announcing the latest results, most Canadian universities scored between 20 and 40, with Queen's University ranking first at 54.3. "In New Zealand, where accountability reports have essentially been legislated into practice, universities score in the 90s on the index. Universities in Australia average in the '70s and institutions in the United Kingdom also perform slightly better than Canada."

"In the past, Canadian universities have pretty much done whatever they wanted to do, but the public is demanding more accountability now," says Laurier accounting professor Morton Nelson, who isn't surprised by the survey results. "I think universities in general are doing a good job, but, to a large extent the general public has no idea what we do. Except in the annual Maclean's rankings, this information just isn't being made readily available."

Nelson, who conducts the annual surveys with fellow Laurier professors James Fisher and William Banks, points to government. funding models based on performance indicators and to demands by students to know what they are getting for their money as evidence of the need for greater accountability. He is looking for universities to produce detailed but concise annual reports that make information easily accessible to students, faculty, staff, donors, the government and the public.

Nelson reported on his findings to the fall general meeting of the Council of Finance Officers, Universities of Ontario. Acknowledging a "significant improvement" in recent years, Nelson suggested that simply sending more information in response to the survey is an important first step to increasing overall accountability.

"Universities are already collecting this kind of information for Maclean's magazine and for a variety of smaller projects," says Nelson. "Now it's a matter of each university bringing all of the information together in one place and making it publicly available." The university accountability surveys have been funded by the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario for the past five years.

Scribbles in the date book

The toy fair sponsored by the Hildegard Marsden day care centre continues today (and tomorrow) from 8:30 to 4:45 in Davis Centre room 1301.

In pretty much the last event of the United Way campaign, the chemistry and earth sciences departments will hold a pancake lunch today with proceeds going to the cause. Pancakes will be for sale from 11:30 to 1:30 in the Chemistry-ESC link.

"Who Is This Man Francis?" asks Delbert Russell of UW's French department. "This man" is Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century saint associated with animals, poverty, and the challenging "Prayer of St. Francis". He "continues to be a riveting and controversial figure", says Russell, who will talk about him today, addressing "the earliest attempts to explain his life" and the possibility of "medieval political correctness". The talk, in the "Arts Talks Back" series, will start at 3:30 in Humanities room 334.

The Mathematics Society will hold its annual general meeting at 5:00 this evening in Math and Computer room 3001. All undergraduate math students are eligible to attend and vote.

The Entrepreneurs Association sponsors a talk today by Tim Jackson, chief financial officer of PixStream, on the topic of "Acquiring Start-up Capital". The event starts at 5:30 in Davis Centre room 1302.

"Despite years of safe-sex campaigns," writes Alex Cassar of the Students for Life group, "the problem of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies has gotten worse, not better. For example, HPV is now prevalent in epidemic numbers, with one in five women between the ages of 20 and 24 now carrying this highly contagious virus. This is just one of many issues that will be discussed by Dr. Jodie Wang in her lecture entitled 'The Myth of Safe Sex'." Wang will speak tonight at 7:00 in Arts Lecture Hall room 208, and all are welcome.

The Wilfrid Laurier University bookstore will host "an interactive presentation" of the new book Trudeau Albums at 7:30 tonight. "This presentation is well worth seeing just because of its historical significance," says organizer Kathryn Wardropper, "but the imagery is also fantastic."

Tomorrow morning brings another event in the tourism lecture series, as Robert Healey of Duke University speaks on "Food as Tourist Merchandise" (9:30 a.m., Environmental Studies I room 350).

. . . And I see traffic signs indicating that the school of planning's Pragma Council is meeting today, but I have no details.

EngSoc executive The Engineering Society yesterday chose its executive for the coming two terms, reports returning officer Ryan Bayne. The results: Allister Mason will serve as president; Niki Czerniak, vice-president (external); Kristina Hotz, VP (education); Stephanie Ho, VP (finance); Janna Hickson, VP (internal).

The talk of the campus

The last-ever draw in the Dollars for Scholars Raffle was held yesterday. The winners: David Foulds and Glynis Evans, brother and sister-in-law to Martha Foulds in the engineering alumni office, who bought the ticket as a Christmas present for them last year. The winner of the October draw, Lynda Connolly of the environment and resource studies department, made the November draw at noontime yesterday.

Results are in, pretty much, from Monday's municipal elections. Tom Galloway, director of custodial and grounds services in UW's plant operations department, was successful in his bid for election to Waterloo Regional council, and in fact topped the polls among Kitchener candidates. He was previously a Kitchener city councillor. But Stephen Markan of UW's information systems and technology department fell short in his effort to be elected to Waterloo city council. Waterloo Region chair Ken Seiling and Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr were easily re-elected, and will be back on UW's board of governors as municipal representatives. They'll be joined there by Lynne Woolstencroft, elected to be mayor of Waterloo.

Here's a reminder: class schedules for the winter term are available now. For off-campus students they've been mailed; for undergraduate students now on campus, they're waiting to be picked up. In most cases the place to find them is the registrar's office in Needles Hall -- the Bulletin had details last week about the exceptions.

Also in the Bulletin the other day, I mentioned notecards produced by UW's graphics department and sold to support the United Way. I've been asked to mention that the cards (packages of a dozen for $10) are available for sale not only at graphics locations all over campus, but in the UW Shop and bookstore in South Campus Hall.

Great-West Life, the company that handles the "supplementary" health insurance plan for UW faculty and staff, sent out word the other day that it has changed the company it employs to provide "travel assistance". Coverage doesn't change; what's changed is the 800 number to call if someone is in remote parts and needs to find medical help or prove medical insurance. Wallet cards were sent out showing the new company's name, Global Medical Assistance (MEDEX), and numbers at which it can be reached, starting with (800) 527-0218.

An invitation from the Volunteer Action Centre: "Share your culinary genius with the Independent Living Centre, Waterloo Region. Friendly volunteers who are comfortable in the kitchen are needed to assist adults with disabilities with meal preparation. Great training and support are provided for this position which will take two hours a week during the supper hour." For more information, the VAC can be reached at 742-8610.

On a national level, the Canada Council is looking for nominations for three big annual prizes: the Molson Prizes ($50,000 tax-free, one prize in the arts and one in the humanities and social sciences); the Killam Prizes ($100,000, one each in natural sciences, health sciences and engineering); and the John G. Diefenbaker Award (for a German visitor to Canada). The Council's web site has more information.

And . . . a few people were (rightly) puzzled by my statement in yesterday's Bulletin that Toronto Tamil novelist Shyam Selvadurai had grown up in "Columbia". What I was trying to write was "Colombo", the capital of Sri Lanka, a city that's very dear to me, but whose name I apparently can't spell.

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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