Daily
Bulletin

'Stewardship' tops campaign plans

"We have no right to go out and ask these people for gifts if we're not developing that relationship, that partnership," said Linda Kieswetter, the campaign director. She presented campaign plans and background information to the board along with Laura Talbot-Allan, UW's vice-president (university relations).

Other campaign notes Bob Harding, chair of UW's board of governors and chief executive of Brascan Ltd., will serve as campaign chair. Vice-chairs will include Purdy Crawford of Imasco Ltd. and Mike Lazaridis of Research In Motion. Tentative goal is $250 million for UW and $12 million for the church colleges. About $135 million is expected from major individual givers, and $90 million from corporations, with most of the rest coming from "annual fund" gifts of less than $25,000. The Ketchum feasibility study warned that UW "may be resting on its laurels" and needs to tell the public what it's achieved lately. The campaign case needs to describe "tangible benefits which will result from new funding" and to express "a more pronounced sense of urgency", it said.

The key word is "stewardship", said Talbot-Allan -- "stewardship, and cultivation, and image, and lastly, looking at the resources."

She told the board that "everyone will hustle" so the campaign will succeed. But resources are sparse: the total annual budget for the "university relations" departments, development and alumni affairs and information and public affairs, is about $3 million right now, Talbot-Allan said, and "we've taken the same three and a half per cent cut that everybody has." With temporary funding, the available budget will rise to about $4.5 million a year as the campaign gets rolling, but a university aiming to run a $250 million campaign would "normally" be spending nearly twice that much.

Everybody across campus, starting with the deans but not ending there, has a role to play, the vice-president said. "It's a development culture that we need across the university."

She and Kieswetter reported on a "feasibility study" of the campaign done by the consulting firm of Ketchum Canada. Its report found great admiration for UW among potential donors, but pointed out the problem of on-campus resources for running a campaign, and stressed the need for working on relationships with alumni, companies and other friends of UW.

After all, said Talbot-Allan, the campaign isn't just about immediate funds -- although they're needed -- but about "building a bigger base of support" in the years to come.

Ketchum also found "some degree of uncertainty regarding the economy", she said, and that's an important factor in drawing big gifts for the university. The tentative date for publicly launching the campaign is the fall of 2002, but that could be postponed if UW's leaders aren't confident by then that everything is ready.

Meanwhile, some private asking, especially for big "pace-setter" gifts, can get started. And, said Talbot-Allan, "we're going to do a special campaign with the faculty, staff and retirees" in the summer of 2002. Other early targets in the campaign -- before the end of this year -- will be individual members of the board of governors and UW's senior administration.

Choosing a dean of ES A nominating committee for the position of dean of environmental studies "has now been fully constituted", says a memo from UW president David Johnston. Geoff McBoyle, dean of ES since 1997, will come to the end of his first term in office in June 2002. "After careful thought," says Johnston's memo, "the decision has been made to delay holding the first meeting of the Committee until the incoming Vice-President, Academic & Provost takes office on August 1, 2001. This short-term delay will avoid having to change Chairs in the midst of the Committee's work and deliberation." Nominating committees for deans are always chaired by the provost.

Canada Day party is scheduled

Sunday, July 1, marks the day for the 17th annual UW Canada Day celebrations, an event jointly hosted by UW and the Federation of Students. A team of 30 student volunteers, headed by event manager and student Amy Davidson, are preparing for the annual crowds of people who come to the event to enjoy free children's games and activities, an arts and crafts fair, UW museums, live music from local bands, and the popular fireworks display. Fireworks draw up to 50,000 people to the north campus each Canada Day.

This year's events start at 2:00 on the Columbia Lake fields. On stage will be Matt Osbourne, Vent 508, Hair of the Dog, children's entertainer Erik Traplin, Craig Cardiff (a UW graduate), Traces Steel Drum Band, The Sofa Kings (also UW grads), and The Motor Booty Affair.

New this year is a puppet show, sponsored by the Independent Living Centre, as well as live performances by the FASS theatre group and Theatre on the Edge. Always popular with the kids are the engineering waterslide, the math parachute game, and face painting. "Come early, enjoy all of the daytime activities and stay for fireworks," says Heide.

And she notes that volunteers are needed on June 30 and July 1 and 2 to help make the event happen and clean up afterwards. Areas needing volunteers include children's activities, food tent, information tent, and security. Volunteers receive a Canada Day T-shirt, food vouchers, and chances to win prizes. Interested people can e-mail canadaday@feds, sign up on the Canada Day web site, or call ext. 3276.

One other note: the Canada Day celebrations provides a fundraising opportunity for non-profit organizations. Candle and glowstick sellers are needed from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. on July 1. "We supply all the merchandise and supplies needed," organizers say. "It's an easy way to raise money for your organization." Contact Elizabeth Baltazar, the sales coordinator, at 884-8203.

Winner of Graham medal is announced

While he's at Waterloo, Stepien will give a seminar under the title "Go Mobile, Get Wireless: The m-Business Revolution", at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 15.

Stepien is the seventh recipient of the Graham Medal, awarded annually to a UW mathematics graduate who embodies the qualities shown by the late computer science professor Wes Graham. Known as the "father of computing at Waterloo", Graham created the infrastructure that has made Waterloo's name known worldwide in connection with computer science. Graham led teams who created the software that established UW's reputation in computing, and he established the model used in creating many of UW's spin-off computer companies.

As president of iAnywhere Solutions, Stepien is focused on establishing the company as the premier provider of mobile and wireless e-Business, or "m-Business", technology, products and services. Under his leadership, iAnywhere Solutions, which incorporates Sybase's Mobile and Embedded Computing division, has grown to have a 61 per cent share of the market. Earlier, he led Sybase's efforts in establishing the SQL Anywhere Studio as the industry-leading mobile database.

Before coming to Sybase, Stepien was at Powersoft Corp. as vice-president of marketing for its Watcom subsidiary, which grew out of Wes Graham's software development work in the 1960s. He joined Watcom in the early stages of the company's database business and built the database marketing organization before Watcom's acquisition by Powersoft.

Stepien began his career at UW, where he was engaged in software research and development at the university's Computer Systems Group, headed by Graham. He also held an adjunct faculty appointment in the computer science department. He earned his BMath (1981) and MMath (1988) from Waterloo.

Other notes and events today

It's the final day of the Green Commuter Challenge, and now we'll wait to hear how many people from UW (and across Kitchener-Waterloo) chose to walk or bike, or whatever, and leave the car at home.

Training in WHMIS, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, is being offered again by UW's safety office. It's the usual one-hour session, including a video and a brief quiz. Says a memo: "All university employees, volunteers, part-time employees and graduate students who have not previously attended a University of Waterloo WHMIS session are required to attend." Sessions will be offered today at 10 a.m., June 14 at 2 p.m., and June 22 and 10 a.m., all in Davis Centre room 1304.

The "trade shows" sponsored by purchasing services continue today, and I think the dates I quoted yesterday, which came from a memo sent by that department, were a little skewed. Anyway, today from 10 to 3, in Davis Centre room 1301, people have an opportunity to meet representatives of the firm that does UW's customs clearance. Tomorrow, same place and same time, people from stationery supplier Basics will be on hand to meet UW staff.

The career development seminar series continues, with sessions today on letter writing (10:30) and résumé writing (11:30), and two sessions tomorrow on interview skills. The career resource centre on the first floor of Needles Hall has more information.

Retired civil engineering professor Jerzy Pindera will speak tonight about his experiences in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin during the Second World War. The talk is sponsored by the department of history, and starts at 7:30 in Humanities room 373.

Dance Adventure, one of several local dance schools that rent the Humanities Theatre for end-of-term performances, has a show there tonight at 7:30, and again Friday night at 7:30.

Electrical power will be turned off in Carl Pollock Hall tomorrow from 5:00 to 7:30 a.m., as the wiring for the building's new addition is connected. "Computer equipment should be shut down in an orderly fashion," the plant operations department advises.

And . . . here's an invitation from the local Volunteer Action Centre: "The K-W Multicultural Festival is a 34-year-old tradition. Taking place the weekend before Canada Day, this festival is a celebration of Canada's birthday and the diversity of our community. Food, dancing, crafts, costumes and much more are all a part of this event, which takes place Saturday June 23, and Sunday, June 24, in Victoria Park. There are several volunteer positions to choose from, so pick the one that suits you best: parking attendant, main stage helper, clean-up, information booth, kids' area or general helper." For more information, the VAC can be reached at 742-8610.

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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