![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
Other notes today"An Overview of Eating Disorders", a session sponsored by the Employee Assistance Program, starts at 12 noon today in Davis Centre room 1302.All graphics copy centres will be closed today from noon to 2 p.m., thanks to a staff holiday lunch. (The main graphics facility will remain open.) And UW Graphics sends word that Carbon Copy, the copy centre in the new CEIT building, is closed this week, reopening on January 5. The nearest alternative is probably Davis Copy in the great hall of the Davis Centre. Winq, the online inquiry system used by staff and faculty, is out of operation today for an upgrade. It should be back in operation "by late Tuesday or early Wednesday", a memo says. Fraser Watts, a professor of architecture from 1972 to 1991, died December 10. He was director of the architecture school "during the tumultuous 70s", says the present director, Rick Haldenby. Visitation for Fraser Watts is today from 7 to 9 p.. at the Turner and Porter Funeral Home, 436 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto. |
Lights flickered, then went out, in one building after another around 3 p.m. Plant operations got the power restored about 4:20 -- just in time for the monthly meeting of UW's senate, held in Needles Hall, which officials were about to cancel.
Afternoon exams were in progress when the blackout hit, and with a 90-minute delay, some students didn't finish writing until early evening. Last night's 7 p.m. exams went ahead on schedule.
Water was about three feet (one metre) deep in the basement of the Tatham Centre after a pipe burst in the building's electrical room, said Dennis Huber, UW vice-president (administration and finance). He said the Waterloo fire department and Waterloo Hydro turned off power to the campus. It was restored once Tatham was cut off from the rest of the campus grid -- and only after safety checks, since live electrical equipment and deep water are considered a dangerous combination.
Power is still off today in the Tatham Centre itself, the home of the co-operative education and career services department, and temporary home of some of the registrar's staff while renovations are happening in the registrar's space in Needles Hall. Most staff who work in Tatham have been told to stay home for the day.
Yesterday's incident wasn't related to the foundation leaks that Tatham experienced earlier this year, Huber said.
The question originally put to the senate by provost Amit Chakma referred to "restricting admissions in all programs to students with a minimum 75" high school average -- and possibly hiking that figure to 80 later -- but senate wasn't asked to vote on those details.
Bob Kerton, the dean of arts, reminded senate that other criteria besides high school averages are considered when students apply to enter UW. And some speakers said they were uneasy with an absolute cutoff of 75. "Lower averages are part and parcel of the arts faculty," said sociology professor Rick Helmes-Hayes, noting that it's "impossible to get 100" in English or philosophy, while marks at the top of the 90s are routine in fields like mathematics.
The senate was shown figures on the number of students who were admitted to UW between 1991 and 1995 with various levels of high school marks, and how many of them graduated. In general, the higher the average, the more likely a student was to graduate. In 1995, a total of 166 students with averages lower than 75 were admitted, about two-thirds of them to arts. This year, the total number was about 300, Chakma told the senate meeting.
But if students like that are banned entirely, "It's going to shift the balance of the university" towards technical fields, said geography professor Len Guelke.
Despite some negative comments about specifics, most senators seemed to favour the principle of higher standards. They also voted in favour of two related steps suggested by Chakma and first discussed at last month's senate meeting:
UCSA presented its annual report to the UW senate last night, showing a total of 254 cheating cases in 2002-03 (up from 236 in 2001-02) and 54 plagiarism cases (the same as last year). There were also 16 cases of "misrepresentation" (such as students altering their co-op records), 5 cases of "harassment, discrimination, unethical behaviour", and 9 appeals of grades and regulations. UCSA shows no cases of "misuse of resources" this year.
"The conduct of the vast majority of UW students is exemplary," says the report, a point that previous years' reports have also made. "When considered in light of the total student population, very few disciplinary actions or instances of misconduct are reported."
Most of the cases were dealt with by associate deans, the report says. Five cases, involving a total of eight students, came to appeals committees at the faculty and university level. "In addition, UCSA dealt with one non-academic matter: graduate student appeal of suspension from Campus Recreation sports; the conclusion was that the penalty (one-term suspension) should be upheld."
A total of 26 cases involved "students with second, third, fourth offenses, or who were already on probation", the report says.
One student was expelled this year, as the result of an "altered transcript from another university at which he/she was never a student". There were 35 suspensions -- for one, two or three terms -- for such offences as a "work term report significantly copied from Internet", using notes in an exam, "unprofessional activity in work term placement", "excessive collaboration", impersonating another student in an exam, and "use of previous year's material".
UCSA repeats the urging it has given in previous reports, that every instructor in every course should explain to students "what constitutes an academic offense" and what "the standards of the discipline are" for such things as citing sources.
It also recommends that "all instructors be encouraged as strongly as possible always to report (if not necessarily refer) academic disciplinary infractions to the appropriate Associate Dean".
CAR