Future students were keen on finding out more about UW at the Ontario Universities Fair in Toronto over the weekend. "Our booth was the busiest," boasts one UW person who was helping answer questions for the crowds. "People came to us before they went anywhere else."

UW's 'bold plan' is Campaign Waterloo

And it indicates that the name of the multi-year effort will be the simplest possible: Campaign Waterloo. That was also the label used for the 1992-1997 campaign that raised $86 million for UW.

The subtitle of the campaign -- no surprise here -- is "Building a talent trust". That phrase, brought forward last winter, is then broken into four categories: Attracting and rewarding talent (scholarships, fellowships and chairs); Enabling talent (learning technology, libraries and other resources); Making room for talent (buildings); Creating a culture where talent will flourish (social, recreational and artistic facilities).

The campaign is "a bold plan", says the black-and-gold brochure, which will be used by development staff over the next few months to interest potential big donors in the early phases of the campaign. It goes on:

The University of Waterloo, along with our affiliated colleges, is embarking on a bold initiative. We are launching a major fundraising campaign in order to enhance our ability to attract, develop, reward and empower talented teachers, researchers, staff, and students.

Remember when? The last Campaign Waterloo was launched in the spring of 1992, with the assistance of kids from the day care centre at Mutual Life, now Clarica.

We believe that Canada's ability to solve today's complex problems, to rise to future challenges, and to seize new opportunities depends on building a talent trust. And we believe that Waterloo has a leadership role to play in this ambitious venture. . . .

We are committed to improving in areas of existing quality and in what we do well. But we can't rely on government. In the past two decades, government spending on public universities in Canada has decreased by 30 percent per student. (During this same period, it rose by 20 per cent in the United States.) Significant partnership with the private sector will be necessary in order for us to accomplish our objectives.

The private-sector financial goal for our upcoming capital campaign is $260 million.

Advice for those traveling abroad

"I urge all International Project Directors, Exchange Coordinators, faculty, staff and students involved in any international activity to carefully monitor these events as they relate to the particular international project,academic program or location you may be involved with and assess risks accordingly.

"Personal safety of our faculty, staff and students abroad is a top priority. In particular, I strongly recommend that all UW personnel involved in international activity or travelling abroad consider the following :

• monitor the DFAIT Travel Advisory reports for your particular country/region;
• register at a Canadian government office abroad, particularly if your stay is three months or longer;
• acquire a copy of the DFAIT booklet "Bon Voyage Information for the Canadian Traveller 2001/2002". Copies are available from the International Programs Office;
• consider travel cancellation insurance;
• for US locations, monitor the Consular Affairs US Crisis web site. The Canadian Embassy in Washington and the 11 Canadian Consulates in the United States are maintaining emergency services on a 24-hour basis. Officials in those offices will provide information and assistance to Canadians as required;
• develop a Risk Management Plan if travelling to areas of potential danger. The International Programs Office can provide information in this regard.

Materials late to distant students

"By the time you read this," says the letter from Don Kasta, director of distance and continuing education, "most of the problems will have been sorted out. Only a handful of students, who enrolled late in courses with textbook problems, will be without everything they need for the term. Our office mailed out over 5,300 packages of course materials, and of these approximately 90 per cent arrived at their destination in time for the start of the term."

He said the problems came partly from the introduction of Quest, the new student information system which has also meant some early troubles for on-campus students, and "the integration of new software from Canada Post into the UW system".

The letter goes on: "In the case of the UW Bookstore, the bulk of their orders were shipped within the prescribed period. However, many of you did not receive your texts by the start of the course. In some cases, students didn't order their texts at the time they registered for their courses. For those who enrolled in courses late, there were further problems relating to the availability of texts. The Bookstore is in the process of re-ordering and trying to solve problems with books that are out of print."

Kasta promises that "We are working now to ensure that we have all the wrinkles out of the system for the Winter Term. . . . If you received your materials or texts late, we hope you will be able to catch up and meet the assignment deadlines. If you are going to be late with your assignment due to the delay in the arrival of your materials or texts, please submit the assignment as soon as possible and include a note of explanation to your instructor, referring to the date your materials or texts arrived. We have approached all the instructors and are asking them to accommodate late submissions.

"On behalf of the Distance Education Office and the UW Bookstore, please accept our apology for any inconvenience we have caused."

Work on United Way campaign starts

Last year's campaign chairs are back in harness this year: Winston Cherry of the department of statistics and actuarial science, and Chandrika Anjaria of information systems and technology. In addition, Anjaria said, UW has helped to arrange a "loan representative" to the central United Way campaign: Trevor Boyes, who was formerly UW's registrar and now serves through the Retirees' Association.

Much of the on-campus campaign is carried out by coordinators and representatives from all the university's departments. They'll get a briefing (and lunch) from 11:45 to 1:00 today in Needles Hall room 3001. "We truly appreciate their hard work," says Anjaria, noting that this year's representatives will include many of the people who served last year and "did an excellent job" for the United Way.

Last year's campaign brought in $167,312, well past the $142,000 goal that was set for the campus. The UW campaign is part of the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area, which supports such agencies as Regional Addiction and Family Counselling, Woolwich Community Services, the Ontario March of Dimes, the local Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Extend-a-Family Association and the Canadian Hearing Society.

Honour roll athletes dine tonight UW's president will be host of a reception this afternoon for a record number of all-rounders -- the students on the President's Athletic Academic Honour Roll. The reception is scheduled for 4:30 in South Campus Hall. The honour is for Warrior athletes who earned high marks -- an average of 80 or better -- during the terms when they were competing on interuniversity teams. "This year's celebration marks the accomplishments of the past academic year," says the director of athletics, Judy McCrae. "There are 143 student-athletes who we are very proud of. In the previous years, there were 123 and 124 candidates." In other words, she said, more than one out of four student athletes are achieving academic triumph as well as sports success. The athletics department supports 31 competitive teams in Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sports. (OUA was the Ontario Universities Athletic Association until a couple of years ago; CIS was the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union until just a few weeks back.)

Entries for your date book

The University of Waterloo Professional Association of Students (WATPAS) welcomes Marion E. Raycheba, President of Choice Words International, who will be speaking about Professional Etiquette in the Workplace. Marion has been deemed an "etiquette guru" by the Toronto Star and will undoubtedly be an excellent speaker. This event will be extremely beneficial in preparing students for their co-op placements.

Likewise, don't be tardy for your appointment with Quest, if you're scheduled to be enrolling in classes for the winter term. Appointments, each two days long, are the period during which a particular student can designate course choices using Quest; appointment times start today. ("Open enrolment", independent of appointment times, starts October 9.)

Speaking at the Kitchener Public Library today will be Susan Shaw of UW's department of recreation and leisure studies. Topic: "The Challenge and Benefits of Family Leisure". Her talk starts at 12 noon at KPL's main branch, as part of the library's series of Monday lectures.

Auditions for the drama department production of "Twelfth Night" continue today at 3:45 in Humanities room 180. Advance information is available from the department at ext. 5808.

Scheduled for tomorrow is the first fall term workshop from the teaching resources and continuing education office: "From Presenting to Lecturing". A notice of the workshop observes that students and researchers are used to presenting their knowledge and ideas before a group, but lecturing is a whole different thing. "You will learn about the differences between telling and teaching. You will also be given some useful tips to help you make the transition." Tomorrow's workshop starts at 12 noon in Arts Lecture room 113; advance registration is on the web.

Tomorrow also brings a "kickoff session" for this year's Putnam mathematics competition, which might just end in glory with an international first place for Waterloo's team. The Putnam exam is scheduled for December 1; tomorrow's event is a briefing, with pizza involved, and starts at 6:30 p.m. in Math and Computer room 5136.

More than 220 employers are expected to show up Wednesday for the "giant career fair" -- that's what a news release is calling it -- at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. The all-day fair is co-sponsored by UW and other nearby postsecondary institutions, and there will be a bus shuttle from campus. I'll be saying more about this event tomorrow.

On Thursday, "mature students" -- those beyond the typical student age -- are gathering for lunch at the Mongolian Grill restaurant, just east of campus. The mature student services office, phone ext. 2429, is accepting reservations.

CAR