Muslims welcome the 'blessed month' of Ramadan

Daily Bulletin

Today's federal election Polls are open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. in southern Ontario, as voters across Canada elect a new House of Commons. Some web sites for election information and results: Elections Canada The Record (K-W) CBC Globe and Mail CNews Yahoo MuchMusic About Canada National Post By the way, I was wrong when I said in Friday's Bulletin that all of Kitchener is in either Kitchener Centre or Kitchener-Waterloo riding. In fact, parts of the city are in the Cambridge and Waterloo-Wellington ridings as well.

UW checks 'feasibility' of a campaign

Approvals are still needed, says James Downey, acting vice-president (university relations). "Until we've gone to the senate and the board [of governors] and said, here's what we're recommending, all of this is provisional."

But the planning goes ahead. Another step will come within the next few days, as the development office sends out a request for proposals from consulting firms to do a "feasibility study", a report on whether and how UW can hope to raise the multimillions it'll be asking for. The target amount of the campaign also hasn't been set.

Some of the money will undoubtedly come from corporations, especially through "matching fund" programs that invite support for research and specialized teaching activities. Some will come from students as a whole -- the Federation of Students leadership has been talking about the possibility of levying a new student fee to pay for expansion of athletic and social facilities. Some will come from staff and faculty members.

But the largest amount, Downey makes clear, will come from individuals outside the university, including alumni and other friends. "These days increasingly," he says, "it's individuals who determine the success -- or otherwise -- of campaigns."

Downey said the serious work right now is going into "case development", the preparation of a compelling statement of UW's needs.

"All of the deans, for their faculties, have submitted proposals," the vice-president said, and the wish lists and campaign "case" are being given an hour on the agenda each Wednesday at meetings of the executive council and deans' council. The goal: "to put together a package of priority proposals that are central to the mission of the university and that stand some chance of getting funded".

Downey said the proposals will include facilities (money to match last spring's SuperBuild government grants to UW, and possibly to put up some other buildings as well); scholarship funds to support undergraduate students (and attract the best ones to Waterloo) and, even more, to build up graduate study; research chairs in various fields, at a going rate of $2.5 million to provide salary and operating expenses; and technology, "as always at Waterloo", especially for teaching.

"All of these things," said the vice-president, "are intended to continue to build here a major 'talent trust' for Canada."

UW's last campaign, ending in 1997, raised $86 million.

How learning software is created

"Using paper mock-ups or storyboards is a step in the design process, to get ideas about how screens are laid out and how information will be presented," explains the instructor, Liwana Bringelson of the systems design engineering department and the LT3 centre.

"These students haven't seen this prototype before, so they can indicate to Lois where they don't understand, or that the information is confusing or misleading. Then Lois's group can take that feedback into consideration as they make changes toward building an on-line prototype."

Roger Suffling of the school of planning is the faculty member who posed the landscape ecology challenge. Other projects in the course deal with "mapping the earth", cardiac rehabilitation, and "portfolio theory". IS303A will be offered again in the winter term, says Bringelson, "and I am looking for faculty members who have a 1-to-3-hour piece of instruction where learning could be enhanced by supplementing current practices with a piece of learnware."

Committee reviews 69 faculty hirings

The 69 proposals reviewed included 58 men and 11 women (five in arts, two in engineering, two in math, one in applied health sciences and one in science). Of the total, 54 were for probationary positions that might lead to tenure; 9 were for tenured posts; and 6 were for definite-term appointments.

The workload is up from previous years: the committee reviewed 56 proposed appointments last year, 44 in 1997-98, and 59 in 1996-97. "The relatively large number of reviews in 1996-97 arose from the Special Early Retirement Program," says the report, "and, in the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000, from the information technology (ATOP) expansion."

More from the report:

Currently, 18 positions are advertised in University Affairs or the CAUT Bulletin (the same number of advertised positions as a year ago); but some are in Computer Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering -- departments which place generic ads, are looking to hire more than one person, and in which recruitment is ongoing.

Most departments/schools are now advertising via websites, electronic bulletin boards, listservs, etc., which are faster and less expensive than traditional modes.

As the end of term draws near

The pension and benefits committee is meeting this morning (8:30 a.m., Needles Hall room 3004) to hear reports from the half-dozen firms that are responsible for investing the pension fund.

Remainders from the "miniature art sale" held over the weekend in the fine arts department will be for sale today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the fine arts studios, East Campus Hall.

A general flu shot clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today (and again tomorrow) in the Student Life Centre; all staff, students and faculty are welcome to come and get their shots. (Bring your Ontario Health card or equivalent.)

Five UW researchers will give a demonstration tonight of "Virtual Reality Force Reflection Applications over the Internet". Explanation: "Presently in Internet applications, capabilities are limited exclusively to sight and sound. Researchers at the University of Waterloo are extending these capabilities to include the sense of touch. During this talk, recent developments in the modelling and control of force reflecting devices, particularly for use in Internet applications, will be described. A live demonstration will be shown in which attendees will be able to shake hands with our colleagues at Nortel Networks Headquarters in Ottawa over the Internet." The session starts at 5:30 in Davis Centre room 1304; everyone is welcome.

The tenth annual Planning Alumni Dinner is being held tonight at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Last-minute information should be available from Bruce Hall at The Planning Partnership, (416) 975-1556.

Looking ahead to Wednesday . . . UW ombudsperson Marianne Miller will give a repeat of last summer's noontime talk on "Renting to Students: What You Need to Know". The session is sponsored by the Employee Assistance Program, and will begin at 12 noon Wednesday in Davis Centre room 1302.

Also on Wednesday, the Federation of Students will hold its annual general meeting (7:30 p.m. in the great hall of the Student Life Centre).

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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