May 3, 2002

Friday, May 3, 2002

Staff series reviews the workplace
Nominating committee for AHS dean
Here's what happened over the winter
Notes for today and the weekend

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

A day for those who don't feel the cold much

[Red and bronze cover]
Accountancy surveys 20 years
UW's school of accountancy is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the publication today of a 100-page history of the school by staff member Steve Jones. "We're about a year late," concedes Morley Lemon, director of the school, since the "accounting group", later to become a "school", was actually formed in 1981. But Jones's book goes back further, tracing roots of the program even before UW came into existence.
Faculty members will get their first look at the book at a meeting of the school this morning. Celebrations continue into the weekend, with a barbecue at the Student Life Centre at noon tomorrow, and a 6 p.m. reception and dinner dance in South Campus Hall at which faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the accountancy school will celebrate the vision and the challenge.

Staff series reviews the workplace

A new series of information sessions -- "Know Your Workplace" -- is being offered to faculty members and non-union staff starting later this month, the human resources department says.

Says a memo from HR: "Each of the four sessions has been arranged initially on two dates/times to maximize the possibility of attendance. Human Resources would appreciate chairs/department heads encouraging their staff to attend."

The sessions will be repeated at least annually, and HR notes that if more people sign up than there's room for, extra sessions "will be arranged as needed".

This spring, each session will first be offered over a noon-hour and then repeated at 9 a.m. a day or two later. All the sessions will be in Davis Centre room 1302. Here they are:

Sick Leave and Return to Work -- "a session that will help you understand the income protection provided by sick leave and long term disability insurance as well as UW's interest in early, safe returns to work including job accommodation. Representatives from Health Services and Safety will be involved as well." Noon on Tuesday, May 14; 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15.

Staff Recruitment/Promotion/Transfer -- "a session that will help you understand how this works at UW." Noon on Tuesday, May 21; 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 23.

Conflict Resolution -- "a session that will help you understand the avenues available at UW to resolve any conflicts that may arise from time to time with your manager or a colleague. Representatives from Counselling Services, the Employee Assistance Program and the Office of Ethical Behaviour and Human Rights will be involved as well." Noon on Tuesday, May 28; 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 30.

Salary Administration and Salary Increases -- "a session that will help you understand salary increases awarded for merit, promotion or reclassification." Noon on Tuesday, June 4; 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5.

Says HR: "Spaces are limited so you must register for the session(s) you are interested in attending. This can be done electronically on the Human Resources home page."

Nominating committee for AHS dean

A memo from provost Amit Chakma announces that the nominating committee for the position of dean of applied health sciences "is now in place and has held its first meeting". As described in Policy 45:

[Sharratt]
Mike Sharratt, dean of AHS since 1997
"The first charge to the nominating committee will be to solicit, with the prior knowledge of the incumbent, the opinion of faculty members and other persons affected with respect to the reappointment of the incumbent. This soliciting of opinion shall include a secret mail ballot of the regular faculty members of the Faculty. If the incumbent is found to be generally acceptable, the committee shall then determine the incumbent's willingness to accept reappointment. If the incumbent indicates willingness to accept, the committee shall recommend reappointment to the President without considering other candidates. Upon receiving the report of the nominating committee and the recommendation of the Senate, the President shall recommend an appointment to the Board of Governors."

Says a memo from the provost: "You are invited to provide your written comments / views concerning the reappointment of the Dean, or the Deanship in general, to any member of the Nominating Committee [identified below]; if you prefer, your submission may be directed to the Committee Secretary [c/o University Secretariat in Needles Hall]. Your comments will be held in confidence within the Committee and should be received not later than May 9.

"The ballot required will be distributed when the Committee completes the consultation described above."

Nominating committee members:

Amit Chakma, Chair [ext. 4766; achakma@uwaterloo.ca]
John Bullen, Secretary [ext. 2623; jbullen@uwaterloo.ca]
Betty Bax, staff member [ext. 2610; bax@uwaterloo.ca]
Arend Bonen, Kinesiology [ext. 5214; abonen@uwaterloo.ca]
Steve Brown, Statistics & Actuarial Science [ext. 5500; ksbrown@uwaterloo.ca]
Jeannette Byrne, Kinesiology graduate student [jmbyrne@uwaterloo.ca] Paul Eagles, member at large [ext. 2716; eagles @uwaterloo.ca]
Sue Fraser, staff member [ext. 2968; fraser@uwaterloo.ca]
Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, Health Studies & Gerontology [3098; lhgoetz@uwaterloo.ca]
Roger Mannell, Recreation & Leisure Studies [ext. 5404; mannell@uwaterloo.ca]
Jay Thomson, member at large [ext. 3049; jthomson@uwaterloo.ca]
Patricia Wainwright, member at large [ext. 3924; wainwrig@uwaterloo.ca]

Here's what happened over the winter

The winter term was a lively one, with much talk of enrolment and money, a successful undergraduate technology conference and a successful graduate research conference, and a couple of day's excitement about geese in the engineering quadrangle.

For those who have been away from campus, here are some of the term's other highlights, as reported in the Daily Bulletin, January through April:

And while the library talked about information literacy, a survey found that engineering professors' favourite teaching technology is the chalkboard.

Panel looks at water contamination
Experts at the universities of Waterloo and Guelph will explore the physical causes of the tainted water that killed several people in Walkerton, Ontario, two years ago at a panel discussion today featuring three expert witnesses from the public inquiry into the scandal.
The panel will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Rod Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall room 105. The panel discussion was organized by Sarah Dorner, a PhD candidate in the water resources group of the civil engineering department.
The three experts are UW professor Robert Gillham, of earth sciences, Michael Goss, of land and resources studies at the University of Guelph, and UW's Peter Huck, of civil engineering.
The speakers will examine the roles of manure management, the hydrogeologic environment and drinking water treatment in the bacterial contamination of Walkerton's water supply.
Today's event is being held with support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Industrial Research Chair in Water Treatment. Huck, an international expert on water treatment, has been the chairholder since its launch in 1992 at UW.

Notes for today and the weekend

About 15 bicycles are to be sold at an auction starting at 12 noon today at the Student Life Centre. "If it's good weather, we'll be outside in the SLC courtyard," says a memo written before this morning's snow-flurry. "If it's not nice, we'll be in the SLC. Sales are by cash or cheque only and, if asked, you must produce some UW ID."

The Graduate Student Research Symposium in the department of recreation and leisure studies continues today in the Clarica Auditorium, Matthews Hall.

Also winding up today is "Problems with Liberalism: A Defence of Political and Moral Conservatism", a week-long series starring John Kekes of the State University of New York at Albany. In this afternoon's session -- 2 p.m., Humanities room 334 -- he'll be joined by two proponents of "different sorts of Liberalism", a note from the department of philosophy says.

Today's also the last day of an exhibition by two students completing their Master of Fine Arts degrees, Wojciech Olejnik and In-Sun Kim. The show has been in the East Campus Hall gallery for the past two weeks.

Mary Stanley in the library office is issuing a "last call" for authors and other creators on campus: "UW authors, artists and musicians who have had work published or exhibited in 2001 are invited to participate in the upcoming Friends of the Library Authors Event. If you would like your book or art included in this year's display, please contact Mary Stanley (mstanley@library) in the library office by Friday, May 3." Hey, that's today. The Authors Event -- with a talk by engineering graduate Christine Cheng -- is scheduled for noontime next Wednesday, May 8, in the Theatre of the Arts.

The library also sends a reminder that books borrowed on term loan over the past few months (before the beginning of April) are due on Wednesday, May 8. It's time to return or renew them.

Electronic "appointments" for fall term course enrolment on Quest should be listed starting today, the registrar's office says. Originally it was to be last Friday, but things got postponed. Actual appointments begin June 3, with "open enrolment" following as of July 2.

People arrive on campus today or tomorrow for several conferences based in the Ron Eydt Village conference centre. For example, UW is helping to host a conference sponsored by the Wilfrid Laurier University Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies -- about 100 participants are expected for that one. Also starting are a regional secondary school teachers' conference, and several Ontario Hockey Association camps and meetings.

A special public service will be held Sunday afternoon in Toronto, celebrating the life of the first female Anglican priest, Rev. Florence Li Tim-Oi, whose name will be given to a new reading room and archives at UW's Renison College, as announced in January Sunday's service will begin at 3 p.m. at at All Saints' Anglican Church, 1100 Denison Street in Markham. Archbishop Edward Scott, a former primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will preside, and Bishop Victoria Matthews, of Edmonton, will preach. After the service there will be a dinner at the Century Palace Chinese Restaurant on Ferrier Street in Markham. Tickets ($50 per person) can be reserved by calling 884-4404, ext. 657. the Greater Toronto Area, (905) 946-1637. Li Tim-Oi was the first female priest in the Anglican Communion, beginning her ordained ministry in 1944 in Hong Kong and spending the last decade of her life in Canada. In her memory, Renison is constructing the Florence Li Tim-Oi Memorial Reading Room and Archives. The centre will provide the college, a leader in the teaching of East Asian languages and cultures, with its first proper archival and rare books facility. As well, it will house Li Tim-Oi's personal papers and other materials related to her life and work.

And Sunday brings the annual Dandelion Festival to Waterloo Park -- sorry, that's all the information I have.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
May 3, 1995: Tony Urquhart of the fine arts department, recently named to the Order of Canada, speaks at noon in the Theatre of the Arts in the annual Friends of the Library lecture.