Daily Bulletin

Football score McMaster 41, Waterloo 33, at University Stadium on Saturday afternoon. CIAU football across Canada

Notes on the first day of classes

There's a whole new field of study at UW this fall: Jewish studies, where the brand-new chairholder, James Diamond, has arrived. The chair will be celebrated (and Diamond will give a public lecture) on Tuesday evening, September 19. Meanwhile, he's beginning to teach JS 120A ("A Thematic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible") and JS 210 ("Mediaeval Jewish Thought: The Challenge of Reason"). And no, neither of those courses will be meeting on Mondays.

As the term gets under way, much is happening. Most students who are back on campus after completing a spring work term must attend a "Return to Campus" interview with a coordinator, says the co-op department. "Appointments will be posted on the bulletin board in Needles Hall, by alphabetical order, and will list date, time and room number for each scheduled student."

A book sale today and tomorrow in the Modern Languages building foyer promises "the best bargains you'll ever see. Current texts, background reading on a variety of academic subjects, paperbacks for light reading, classics for heavier reading, literary collectibles, ranging in price from 25 cents all the way to $10, will be on sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m." The sale is sponsored by the mature student services office, and proceeds go to mature student bursaries and scholarships.

"Welcome Week" for graduate students is beginning. Today it's information day at the Graduate House: "If you are new in town, drop by and get more information about life at the university and in Waterloo." Tomorrow at noontime: "meet your GSA executive and GSO administration", with free doughnuts and coffee.

Tours and information sessions are happening, now several times a day, in UW's various libraries. Today: tours at Dana Porter or the Davis Centre at 10:30, 11:30 and 2:30, and at the University Map and Design Library at 10:30 and 2:30; and an "information for graduate students" session in the Davis Centre Library at 1:30.

The libraries, by the way, are open this week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Dana Porter), 8 a.m. to midnight (Davis Centre), as the normal fall schedule begins -- almost. "We are closed this Saturday and Sunday," says Laurie Strome of the library staff. "After that, it is business as usual."

Again this fall the Kitchener Public Library is holding a series of Monday noon-hours talks by faculty members from the local universities. Today, at KPL's downtown branch, Peter Bernath of UW's department of chemistry speaks on "Arctic Ozone Declines: A Canadian Satellite to the Rescue".

The plant operations department sends word that the water will be shut off in the Commissary building (part of the General Services Complex) tomorrow from 8 to 11:30 a.m., as valves are moved in preparation for renovations there.

Students who will be graduating this year should make time for "a very important job information session" at 4:00 tomorrow or Wednesday in the Humanities Theatre. "Topics to be covered," says a note from the department of co-op education and career services, "are website registration, interviews and application process, employer information sessions, important dates and deadlines, career development seminars/workshops, and the Career Fair. This is a must for anyone graduating within 2000-01."

Here's an advance note that people from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council will be on campus on Thursday to provide information about NSERC's postgraduate scholarship and postdoctoral fellowship programs. Graduate students, undergraduate students, faculty and staff are all invited to attend an information session at 10 a.m. Thursday in Needles Hall room 3001, says Elaine Garner of the graduate studies office.

And a note from James Brice, manager of the University Club, says seats are still available for a "wine tasting of Japan and the far east" this Friday night. The price of $75 per person buys "an elegant five-course meal with wine pairing of each course presented by Select Wine Merchants". The Club can be reached at ext. 4088.

Selling point for UW is co-op

"Its main purpose is for field coordinators to have something they can leave behind when they visit," says Hunt about the eight-page brochure, pictured above.

He's guessing that the 40,000 copies that were printed will last for two or three years. "I'm calling it a foundation brochure," says Hunt, noting that other, more detailed publications are available once employers show possible interest in hiring UW students.

The brochure tells employers that Waterloo is a fine university, but "what really sets us apart is our co-op program. . . . We have the largest co-op program in the world, with over 10,000 students. And some 12,000 co-op partners around the world, in all sectors of the economy, have discovered the value in hiring from us." (Hunt says there are about 4,000 "pseudo-active" employers, with 2,800 of them hiring at least one co-op student in any given term.)

Says the brochure:

When you hire a Waterloo student you know you're choosing from among the best. . . . All our students, not just those enrolled in IT-related programs, are computer literate. . . . Our students have great attitudes. . . . They come prepared to make a real contribution to your company. . . . Our students span a comprehensive range of over 100 disciplines. . . . Take a moment to share your unique employment needs with one of our experienced, helpful field coordinators.

In a PowerPoint presentation to his colleagues at the beginning of last term, Hunt described a marketing challenge that lies ahead for the department of co-operative education and career services. UW and the department are "competing well, but marketing poorly", he told them -- and competition is getting stiffer, and UW faces an "unprecedented expansion" in the next few years.

The number of co-op students is already growing because of the ATOP enrolment expansion that began in 1998; it's expected to boom when the "double cohort" of high school graduates hits in 2003; and demographics make it clear that more young people will be banging at universities' doors in the next decade.

"So we're growing," says Hunt, "currently at a time when the economy's going fairly well. But some time over the next ten years, the economy's not going to be so hot." And where will co-op be then, and how does UW avoid "the kind of trouble we've been in in the past"?

Marketing is a big part of the answer, says Hunt, who's seeking to persuade employers that Waterloo is "an experienced, trusted, relevant partner who helps clients succeed by providing quality, custom staffing solutions and excellent client service . . . the largest, most comprehensive source of high quality co-op talent".

The new brochure is just the first step in a plan that involves publications, Web information, e-mail communication, personal contact, employer recognition, and most of all, good service: "If customers don't receive the quality of service they expect from us, we won't succeed in attracting and keeping them."

PD day for co-op and career staff

The CECS department's training and development committee says it's hoping for a similar box office hit today, as CECS holds its once-a-term professional development day.

Featured in today's PD activities: a "Getting to Know You" presentation from the career services section of CECS, along with sessions on time management, "WordSmithing", and "True Colours", and lunch at the Mongolian Grill.

While most CECS staff will be in Needles Hall for today's PD day, 13 coordinators are going elsewhere, to the first session of a sales training program.

Villagers save space with desktops -- by Avvey Peters

The store is running a pilot project in cooperation with the housing department called ResTech. For $80 per month, students can rent a Hewlett-Packard e-vectra machine -- a new desktop computer that's about one-fifth the size of a regular "tower" desktop.

The manager of the computer store, Marty Sokoloskie, says the smaller machines are a good space-saver for residence rooms. (At left, he poses showing the difference between the e-vectra and a typical full-sized computer.) "We did about 80 or 100 leases last year in residence," he explains, "But when you put the large machine and monitor on the student's desk, there's no room left!"

ResTech grew out of discussions among Hewlett-Packard, UW, Queen's University and Dalhousie. All three institutions are trying out the program with 40 machines this year. The idea is that students moving into residence can lease a computer from the campus computer store for the duration of their stay in residence. And the best part is -- it's already set up when they arrive.

Sokoloskie says once the computer store is through this September's rush time, staff will start gearing up for a wider-scale version of ResTech for next fall. He says the expanded concept for ResTech is to outfit an entire quad with the machines. "The computer will be in the room when [students] arrive, just like their telephone," he says, "The computer will be part of the furniture."

Sokoloskie says ResTech also gives students the option of having a computer with general software applications and access to the Internet, without having to buy right away. "Some of the faculties on campus encourage their students not to buy in the first year," he explains, adding that it can be an advantage for students to wait until they have a good feel for what kind of a system and what software they'll really need.

Some highlights of the spring term

• Oiling the billion-dollar campus
• 'To bring classrooms closer together'
• 'Pockets of unhappiness' among staff
• North campus plans fall through
• Bachelor of Software Engineering
• Nobody will ever get an F again
• Helicopter team faces forest fire
• First-year seminars in arts
• Six-year ergonomics project reports
• Ten years of a green university
• Parking lot will get new trees
• Half a million gallons a day
• Engineers look at student debt levels
• UW coach heads Olympic team
• Trans Canada Trail crosses UW

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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