November 6, 2002

Wednesday, November 6, 2002

Workshop should inspire new profs
Staff positions available this week
Cycling plan discussed tomorrow
Chair is launched; other events

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

[Collection of mugs]
Mugs, glassware, clocks, portfolios and other "gift" items are on sale at 20 per cent off today through Friday at the UW Shop in South Campus Hall -- an opportunity to get UW-branded items at discount prices for the gift-giving season that lies ahead.

Workshop should inspire new profs

Some of UW's newer professors will hear from star teachers during a "lunch and learn" session today in the Flex lab in the Dana Porter Library.

The event is part of a by-invitation series organized by Bruce Mitchell, the associate vice-president (academic), and Tom Carey, associate vice-president (learning resources and innovation). Verna Keller of the teaching resource office says today's lunch is the second workshop: "The first one was on research and this one is on teaching. There is another one in February 2003 on promotion and tenure.

"The program is ongoing. As new faculty arrive on campus, they are invited to the workshops. Each new faculty member will be invited to one full year of programming."

Today's event shows off three winners of teaching awards, giving their spin on "New Ideas in High Quality Classroom Teaching":

Steve Engels of computer science "will illustrate some techniques for stimulating students' interest, recall, and understanding of course material through audience participation and demonstrations".
Jean Andrey of geography "will discuss how she designs and uses fill-in course notes in an introductory applied statistics course, and will outline advantages and disadvantages of such notes from both an instructor and student point of view".
Grant Russell of accountancy "will discuss how he uses teaching technologies to engage students in large classes, show samples from his course for 800 students, and share both his successes and failures".

Donna Ellis of the teaching resources office will moderate.

Participants were asked to register last week. The invitation promises "a chance to find out how these inspiring teachers use these techniques to help maximize their students' learning. Seize the chance to network with other new faculty members as well."

Staff positions available this week

Three positions are listed on the weekly circular from UW's human resources department showing staff jobs for which applications are being accepted.

Here are the opportunities included in today's list:

Network administrator, Federation of Students, USG 8.
Technical typist/secretary, chemical engineering, USG 4.
Electronic technologist, civil engineering, USG 8.
Undergraduate services coordinator, mathematics undergraduate office, USG 4.
Information systems specialist, IST (applications technology), USG 9-10.
Engineering Non-OSS admissions and recruitment specialist, office of the registrar, USG 7-8.

Longer descriptions are available on the HR web site. As always: "The University welcomes and encourages applications from the designated employment equity groups: visible minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and aboriginal people. For more information call ext. 2524."

[Bikes at Davis Centre]

Cycling plan discussed tomorrow

A proposed "cycling master plan" for Waterloo Region will be shown off in the Student Life Centre tomorrow, thanks to regional staff and a student group that's part of the UW Sustainability Project.

"This is a great opportunity to offer the Region some feedback regarding an issue that affects us all very much," says Avi Caplan of UW's Alternate Transportation Group.

JoAnn Woodhall, who is "transportation demand management planner" for the Region, says work is under way on updating the existing cycling master plan, which includes proposed and existing cycling routes (roads with cycling lanes, multi-use pathways, and so on) throughout the region.

Says Woodhall: "The purpose of the project is to provide enhanced direction, and where appropriate confirm existing policies/programs, for the promotion, design, funding and strategic implementation of adequate cycling facilities in the Region.

"The goal has been identified to double the number of trips made by bicycle in the Region by 2016. To do this, we believe there needs to be more cycling facilities, greater encouragement to bike, and a further breaking down of the some of the barriers to cycling. We are in the third phase of the project and are once again looking for public input -- this time on the draft proposed network and policies/programs."

She'll be presenting the project tomorrow in the great hall of the SLC. A presentation at 3:30, followed by questions and discussions, will be repeated at 6 p.m., and things will wrap up at 8:30.

Chair is launched; other events

Looks like UW is getting another research chair. "An announcement will be made" today, says an advisory from UW's news bureau,

about the establishment of the Agfa Research Chair in Health Informatics at the University of Waterloo. Prof. Dominic Covvey is the chairholder for the research. The aim is to respond to the critical need for better use of information technology in all facets of the health system. The chair is a cornerstone in a major UW research program that will link experts from numerous disciplines to investigate, develop, apply, refine and evaluate health informatics solutions to fundamental problems faced by the Canadian health care system. Taking part will be Steven Nakashige, chief executive officer, Agfa HealthCare Informatics, John Glass, general manager, Agfa HealthCare, and David Johnston, UW president.

The event is set for 12 noon in the Davis Centre lounge.

Also today: I understand it's "Take Our Kids to Work Day", aimed mostly at grade 9 students, although it's not clear to me who organizes this annual effort. Heather MacKenzie in the UW visitors' centre says that if there are grade 9 students on campus today, she'd be delighted to take them on a special campus tour starting at 1:30 (from the visitors' centre in South Campus Hall).

Career development workshops today include "Interview Skills: The Basics" at 3:30 and "Preparing for Questions" at 4:30. The career information centre in Needles Hall has the details and a sign-up sheet.

Members of the UW retirees association are of to Niagara-on-the-Lake by bus today, to see "Hay Fever" at the Shaw Festival. . . . The weekly gay and lesbian discussion group, set for 7 p.m. in Humanities room 373, deals with "Straight Friends and Gay Friends: Finding a Balance". . . . Electrical power in Chemistry II building will be shut off from 6:00 to 8:00 tomorrow morning, so computer users there should turn off their machines before they leave tonight. . . .

Edgy hypnotist Tony Lee performs tonight at Federation Hall ("back by popular demand after three sold-out shows"). Tickets, if any remain, are available in the Federation of Students office.

The safety office is announcing its periodic offering of Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) training -- a one-hour video and quiz. The session will be offered Thursday at 10 a.m., Friday at 2 p.m., and next Wednesday at 10 a.m., all in Davis Centre room 1304. And the ritual words: "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."

Advance note: one of the most respected film directors from the former East Germany, Frank Beyer, will be a guest of UW's Germanic and Slavic department this Friday. Banned for a time in the late 1960s, Beyer became internationally known for his 1974 film "Jacob der Lugner" ("Jacob the Liar"). On Friday at 2:30 he will read from his autobiography, and at 6:00 he will introduce a showing of the film. More information about Beyer and the visit is available on the web.

The United Way campaign on campus was scheduled to end October 31, but money is still coming in and still definitely needed. As of last night, a total of $141,079 had been received, which is within 6 per cent of this year's campaign goal, $150,000. Anybody whose pledge form has gone awol, but who would now like to make a gift to the campaign to aid the fifty-some local agencies it supports, should call ext. 3840 to make the arrangements.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
November 6, 1979: President Burt Matthews announces that he will end his term a year early, "not later than July of 1981".