July 10, 2003

Thursday July 10, 2003

Gift encourages young women to study computer science
Net pay higher next month
Things to note on Thursday

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Cut off from the outside world

The University of Waterloo connection to the Internet is unavailable this morning after a backhoe cut through some fibre cables yesterday afternoon. Martin Timmerman of IST says "our supplier is working to repair the problem," and hopes to see access restored by noon. Campus users still have access to internal webpages.

Gift encourages young women to study computer science -- by John Morris, UW media relations

Photo by Chris Hughes, UW graphics photo imaging
Seminar participant Morgan Bowser spoke at yesterday's event. The Prince Edward Island student has just finished grade 10.

UW's Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing now can encourage more school-age women to study computer science thanks to a $1 million gift from Imperial Oil Ltd.

Officially announced at a ceremony on campus yesterday, the gift will pay for the expansion of the newly named Imperial Oil Seminar in Computer Science for Young Women, as well as professional development seminars for computer science and mathematics teachers.

The Imperial Oil seminar seeks to address the steep decline in the number of women entering the field by introducing Grade 9 and 10 female students to computer science. At that age, students begin making choices about their future areas of study. Launched last year, the week-long seminar enrolled 40 female students and introduced them to programming and digital hardware. With the new funding, the seminar accommodated a total of 96 students this year at seminars held in May and during this week.

"At Imperial Oil, we are committed to building a diverse and healthy workforce," said Barbara Hejduk, president of the Imperial Oil Foundation. "By helping draw more women into the technology and science fields, we believe we are making the best possible investment in Canada's future."

"Imperial Oil has taken a positive approach to helping students and teachers," said Peter Crippin, director of the CEMC. "This approach is appreciated by all of us at the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computer Science."

Seed money for the inaugural seminar came from the J. W. Graham Information Technology Trust. The trust is named after the late professor Wes Graham, who made pioneering contributions to UW's computing environment and Canada's computer industry.

Net pay higher this month

There will be a bit more money in the bank for UW staff and faculty members, starting this month, says a memo issued by the associate provost (human resources and student services), Catharine Scott.

Where to see your payroll information online
She writes: "UW's life insurance and long-term disability (LTD) plans each have excess reserves. The existence of these reserves has prompted the Pension & Benefits Committee to make the following changes which will increase, temporarily, the net income of all employees.

"Re Life insurance, effective July 1, 2003, the University-paid portion of the premium will be paid from the excess reserve which will mean that the entire benefit is tax free to the employee (employees will continue to pay their share of the premium).

"This temporary relief is expected to last for six months, at which time the excess reserve will be depleted. Then, UW will revert to paying its share of the premium and the benefit will again be taxable to the employee. The tax status of benefits is reported on your pay advice.

"Also effective July 1, 2003, the excess reserve in the LTD plan will be used to lower the premium paid by employees from the current level of 0.75% of pay to 0.54% of pay. Because of the greater possibility of fluctuations in LTD experience, which in turn impacts premium (100% paid by employees to allow it to be tax-free), the Pension & Benefits Committee plans on using up the excess reserve gradually over a 10-year period. At the end of the 10-year period (or before, if experience takes a turn for the worse), the premium paid by employees will increase to whatever is required at that time (remember, the premium is based on experience)."

Things to note on Thursday

The department of French studies is seeking a second language monitor. Eligible candidates are native-speaking francophone students in full-time studies who are Canadian citizens or have Canadian landed immigrant status. The position will teach 10 hours a week in the first- and second-year language labs during the coming academic year. Salary is $2,000 per term. Applicants should forward an application, résumé and transcript as soon as possible to Fran Gris, French studies, ML 333.

Staff members in the procurement and contract services department are holding a drop-in open house today in honour of their colleague Mariane Grau, who is retiring after 28 years of service. Well-wishers are invited to join the fun between 3 and 5 p.m. at McGinniss Front Row at University Plaza.

Donations to the senate undergraduate scholarship fund in political science are being accepted in memory of professor John Wilson, who died May 2, 2003. Wilson served on the FAUW board of directors for many years and was FAUW president in 2000-2001. He retired in 2001 after a 37-year career at UW. For more information, contact the office of development, SCH.

Co-operative education job posting number 6 of the continuous interview phase expires at 8 p.m. today. Architecture students' job match results will be posted at 11 a.m. A meeting for architecture students without jobs will take place at 4 p.m. today in TC 2218.

And the registrar's office sends word that the student information system QUEST will be down tomorrow to allow for technical upgrades.

C&PA

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