Finding new jobs is a constant concern for the co-op education and career services department, and phone calls to UW alumni are helping. By arrangement with the development and alumni affairs office, students hired by CECS have been calling selected alumni asking for openings and referrals. More than 400 opportunities -- co-op, part-time, summer, graduate and alumni jobs -- have been turned up, says Michael Hunt of CECS. The photo shows Bruce Lumsden, director of CECS, checking out the "call centre" in South Campus Hall.

Programs 'try to do too much'

"Review teams note that many undergraduate programs are trying to do 'too much' in regard to number of subfields or themes being covered and number of courses being taught," says Bruce Mitchell, associate vice-president (academic), in a report to the UW senate about the program review process.

He writes: "A frequent recommendation is for programs to sharpen their focus and reduce course offerings."

The report to senate will include summaries of the program reviews that have been done recently for accountancy, computer science, Germanic and Slavic, physics, and political science. Earlier this year, reports were submitted for architecture, health studies and gerontology, music, and planning. (Next in line: Canadian studies, fine arts, geography, legal studies and criminology, and sociology.)

Says Mitchell's summary: "Many programs do not have a strategic plan outlining their objectives and aspirations, making it difficult to establish the appropriateness of their curricula. It is also difficult to determine to what level of excellence (regional, national, international) the programs aspire. . . .

"Review teams have expressed concern about the overall cost of offering a cooperative program when enrolments are modest. 'Costs' relate to offering an adequate mix of courses in the spring term, and ensuring work term reports are evaluated in a meaningful way. It may be that some programs should re-assess whether they should offer a cooperative education degree, or one with multiple streams."

Other notes: "Some concern has been expressed that too many students are not being taught by full-time faculty. . . . Students often are not engaged systematically in the governance of undergraduate programs. There is scope to provide more opportunity for students to participate in their management, especially with regard to curriculum development and hiring faculty."

DoubleClick means double work terms -- publicity for UW's co-op program from the Recruiter newsletter, from an article by Ellen Schappert

Back from a DoubleClick work term, students got together with Andrew McLandress of the company for a photo op.

Rick Williamson, FloNetwork's director of research and development, liked his last employer's partnership with Waterloo's co-op program so much that he introduced it here, too. FloNetwork hired eight UW student employees in January 2001. Significantly, all of them plan to return for a second work term in the fall, this time under DoubleClick's banner.

"It was a huge success -- they were great!" enthuses Andrew McLandress of DoubleClick. Decked out in trendy glasses, short blond hair fashionably tousled, ubiquitous cell phone in tow, McLandress is the epitome of the cool computer geek.

He explains why DoubleClick values Waterloo co-op students and passes on pointers on how to maintain co-op student loyalty.

"We do the best we can to match the students' objectives with our objectives. In the interview, we always ask, 'What are you interested in doing?' We try very hard to put students on projects they'll enjoy. That's something we try to do with all our people, so if someone wants to develop a certain skill set, or learn a certain language, for example, and there's a project available and the positions are open on that project, we'll put the two together.

"We treat co-op students the same way we treat long-term employees. They are members of the team, 100%. They enjoy the successes and wallow in the failures just like anyone else, which I think they end up really benefiting from.

"We constantly remind our co-ops that they're not here by mistake. It's our choice: we could have hired full-time employees."

And what keeps these students coming back for more? Here are some comments from DoubleClick's co-op crew.

"The project I participated in had me regularly volunteering significant overtime because the challenge was invigorating and the results rewarding. Without doubt, though, the main reason I'm returning is the friends I've made. With social party time to boot, it was no surprise I want to return to those people."

"The projects were challenging, and there was a wide variety to choose from. The people were really nice. We weren't treated like co-ops. We were treated like Flo employees. We had a lot of responsibility, and the projects we were working on were actually being used! The pay is great! And I really enjoyed going to work. I looked forward to it! That was a definite sign. FloNetwork made going to work fun!"

Feels like summer, but it's fall

Here's news from the co-op and career services department:

In September, CECS launched a new version of its Student Access system. Access is the on-line tool that students (including those who will be graduating) can use to look at posted jobs and check out their interview status and schedule. Co-op students can also view other information such as their ranking form which is produced at the end of the initial interview period.

The new version of Access is web-based and makes use of PeopleSoft 8 application tools. The first test of this version came with the start of co-op job postings on September 19. Since then close to 4,000 students and grads have logged on and used Access. The number of simultaneous users peaked at 464 -- the most there have ever been. The old version of Access handled many fewer simultaneous users.

Despite some minor start-up problems and a few bugs that had to be worked out, the number of student complaints about Access have been minimal so far.

And I imagine there will be a new surge of use on the system as employer interviews for winter term co-op jobs begin today.

The "Go High-Tech, Stay Local" job fair continues today, introducing students to some of the local companies where they might consider working. "Positions are available," an announcement says, "in the areas of engineering, computer science, technical training, quality assurance, technical support, technical writing, sales and marketing. Individuals visiting the career fair can learn about what companies look for in an employee, immediate and future job opportunities, careers with travel and Waterloo region's respected high-tech community." The event is being held in Federation Hall, today from 1 to 7 p.m. It's sponsored by Canada's Technology Triangle.

The "iWomen University Tour" hits campus today, with a "career showcase" from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Life Centre. Besides displays and information booths about women's careers, there will be two presentations featuring, a flyer says, "some of Canada's leading women". At 11:30 it's "Creative Careers"; at 1:30, "Women in Leadership".

A surplus sale of UW furnishings and other items will run from 11:30 to 1:30 today at central stores in East Campus Hall.

A noontime concert at Conrad Grebel University College presents Willem Moolenbeek and Boyd McDonald, "classical sax with piano". The music starts at 12:30 in Grebel's chapel; admission is free.

Darkness will come early tonight in Rod Coutts Hall, otherwise known as the Engineering Lecture Hall. Hydro power will be shut off at 5:30 p.m. (until about 8:30) so contractors can connect and test the building's new power supply.

The Warrior swim teams have a match against Guelph starting at 5:30 this afternoon in the Physical Activities Complex pool. Spectators are welcome.

Previously announced for today, but not happening, is the annual Environmental Studies Research Lecture, to be given by geography professor Ellsworth LeDrew. His talk on climate change research will be rescheduled.

Personal safety audits are planned for tonight, starting about 6:30, at various spots on campus, particularly around new buildings and construction sites. "Faculty, staff and students are invited to be part of the teams of volunteers," says UW safety director Kevin Stewart, noting that the starting point will be the Environmental Studies I courtyard. "The personal safety audit teams will each have an area of the campus to review the physical environment and personal safety services." For more information, he can be reached at ext. 5814.

Campus visits by representatives of teacher education colleges start tomorrow. Speakers from four institutions will be in the multipurpose room of the Student Life Centre: the University of Toronto at 10:30, Lakehead at 11:30, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at 1:30, and Ottawa at 2:30. A second round of visitors is due October 11. "Can't attend? Don't worry!" adds a note from the co-op and career services department. "Videos of all sessions will be available in the Career Resource Centre the week of October 22."

About those cats and dogs

I had a couple of frantic requests for a solution, and one is provided by Ian VanderBurgh of the faculty of mathematics, organizer of the "Small c Competition" from which the question came. He writes:

Let x be the percentage of the cats and dogs in the town that are actually cats.
Then the percentage of actual dogs is 100 - x.
10% of all dogs think that they are cats, and 90% of all cats think they are cats, so the percentage of animals overall that think they are cats is (10/100)*(100 - x) + (90/100)*x = 20.
Solving this equation for x, we obtain that x = 12.5. Therefore, the percentage of the animals that actually are cats is 12.5%.

Final note: what's worse than raining cats and dogs?

Hailing taxis.

CAR