![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Friday, November 21, 2003
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Eye contact and happy laughs]](/images/2003/1121campaign.gif)
Campaign Waterloo
director Linda Kieswetter laughs it up with engineering alumnus Rod
Coutts -- whose gift paid for the
2001
expansion of the Engineering Lecture Hall -- at a meeting
of the "campaign cabinet" in Toronto on Wednesday. Volunteers from UW
alumni and other friends are helping plan the $260 million campaign,
which is to be officially launched next spring.
|
"Several reviews may be done before an appointment is made," says the report, submitted to the November meeting of the university senate. "Reviews may lead to offers which are refused (UARC is aware of 14)." And some of the 90 proposals may have led to offers that haven't been accepted or refused yet.
Faculty hiring is most intense in mathematics, the UARC report shows: 27 proposals were considered there, and 21 professors were finally hired. There were 19 proposals from arts (17 hires), 17 from engineering (11 hires), 16 from science (9 hires), 6 from applied health sciences (4 hires), and 5 from environmental studies (5 hires).
The report says the 90 proposals included 66 men and 24 women, while the 67 faculty who were hired, from November 2002 to October 2003, included 50 men and 17 women. Positions ranged from tenured professors to lecturers on definite-term contracts.
It's the busiest year in quite a while, the report says -- there were 71 proposals in 2001-02. A major reason for high volume this year, according to UARC chair Flora Ng of the chemical engineering department, was the "ATOP" expansion in the faculties of engineering and mathematics.
UW's Policy 76 on hiring requires most proposals to be reviewed by UARC. Department chairs have to fill out a form that asks for various information, including how the job was advertised.
"Most departments/schools," says the UARC report, "are now also advertising via websites, electronic bulletin boards, listserves, etc., that are faster and less expensive than traditional printed means. UARC has compiled a list of such sites, many of which target certain audiences, women in particular."
Library open around the clockThe Davis Centre library will be open 24 hours a day (except Sundays 2 to 8 a.m.) from this Sunday morning through the end of fall term exams. Extended hours during exam season are usual in the libraries, but 24-hour operation hasn't been in place since, I think, 1974.Extended hours at the Dana Porter Library are more limited: daily 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., this Sunday through December 19. |
Faculty and staff who are members of the UW Pension Plan recently received
information about the
Flexible
Pension Plan,
a feature which was added in 1998 and is announced in the fall of each year
to help members save for early retirement in a tax-effective way. The
document points out that maximizing their RRSP contributions before
contributing to the flexible plan is advised. However, members are
encouraged to consult private financial advice with respect to their own
RRSP's and the flexible plan. They are reminded that the deadline for
contributing to this plan is December 12, and any questions should be
directed to Wanda Speek (wspeek@uwaterloo.ca) at ext. 3573.
Canada Customs and Revenue Agency have approved an increase to the
Registered Retirement Savings Plan limit for 2003 to $14,500, and further
increases will occur in 2004 and 2005 to $15,500 and $16,500
respectively. Since the maximum contribution to RRSP's is 18 per cent
of income
(the previous limit was $13,500 or 18 per cent of $75,000), this change only
affects those who earned between $75,000 and $95,000 in 2002. Complete
information about contribution limits will be provided in Human Resources
News early in 2004, and last year's information can be found
on
the web.
Finally, there will be a
"Knowing
Your Workplace" session on the UW
pension plan on Wednesday, December 3, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
in Davis Centre room 1302. This will be a repeat of last year's session --
members are encouraged to bring their latest pension statement, which they
should have received this past June.
The bequest is the front-page story in the fall issue of Insights, distributed to UW graduates and friends who might be interested in leaving the university money in their wills, or helping its work through other kinds of planned gifts such as life insurance policies.
The article focuses on Kevin Krauel, a staff member in UW's systems design engineering department, and his wife, Jayne Holmes. Together they have announced a bequest to UW to establish an "Award recipients," says the newsletter, "will be students and staff members working together on projects which will have a significant impact on our country and society."
"We see the University of Waterloo as a great institution that has importance in the world," says Krauel. "The awards will be directed through the systems design engineering department, and projects might involve sustainability, remediation of pollution, solving world hunger, reducing the load of our limited water resource, or conflict resolution as some examples."
![[Big smiles on deck]](/images/2003/1107bequest.gif)
Kevin Krauel and Jayne Holmes on their boat |
Krauel received a Bachelor of Math degree from UW in 1978, and after 13 years in industry, returned to UW as a full-time staff member. "My first position was as a research associate. I helped graduate students and supervisors with their research which focused more on electronics and mechatronics design, than the software design I was primarily doing in industry, and I found this work very gratifying," he says. Now, as a lab director in engineering, he still enjoys his exposure to students who often seek his advice and support.
He says: "The university gave me a good start and credibility. Since I've started working here, Jayne and I have met fantastic people and developed meaningful relationships so the University is a big part of our lives." And his wife adds: "People are there for the genuine interest of learning and the open exchange of ideas. They are focused on their studies, but also tend to be well-rounded." Having worked in banking administration in the Kitchener-Waterloo area for over 25 years, she attributes many changes in the community to UW including a variety of multicultural restaurants and growing industry. "The well-respected research offshoots of UW have enhanced this area."
Says the newsletter: "Jayne and Kevin enjoy spending time with each other, friends, and family, and their great passion is sailing. Usually private people, they hope that by telling their story, they'll encourage others to consider leaving a bequest in their will."
The UW network also has a lower-volume connection to the worldwide Internet through FibreTech -- and, by coincidence, IST has announced that there may be interruptions to that connection between midnight and 5 a.m. on Sunday, as the company is doing some system upgrades.
"Denude", an exhibition of work by five fourth-year fine arts students in the East Campus Hall gallery, is nearing the end of its short life; the show closes Sunday. So I barely have time to note that -- because inaccurate information was provided -- the name of one of the artists was mangled when I wrote about the show in Monday's Daily Bulletin. She is Y. Shirley Guo.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
Toy fair in support of Hildegard Marsden Day Nursery,
last day, 8:30 to 4:45, Davis Centre lounge.
Jane Doe, victim of "Balcony Rapist" in Toronto in 1986, talks about her experience and new book, 12:30, Siegfried Hall, St. Jerome's University. Mathematics talk by UW graduate Richard Hoshino, "On Fractional Ramsey Numbers", sponsored by Pure Math, Applied Math and Combinatorics and Optimization Club, 4 p.m., Math and Computer room 2034. St. Jerome's University Trivia Challenge, 7:30 p.m., community centre, details 884-8111 ext. 255. Graduate school information day at Fields Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Toronto, Saturday 12:30 to 4 p.m. Kumon Learning Centre awards event, Sunday 2 p.m., Humanities Theatre. Three Countries, One Language -- "Drei Länder, eine Sprache", music of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, sponsored by Germanic and Slavic department, Sunday 3 p.m., Theatre of the Arts, tickets $15. Federation of Students Holiday Season Celebration, by invitation, Sunday evening, Federation Hall. Hans Knepper, plant operations, retirement reception, Wednesday, November 26, 4 p.m., South Campus Hall, RSVP ext. 6822. |
Sports this weekend: The men's hockey team has two home games, tonight at 7:30 against Ryerson and Sunday at 2:00 against Toronto, both at the Columbia Icefield. Otherwise it's all out of town. The basketball teams, both men and women, are at Lakehead for two games over the weekend. The women's hockey team has games at Windsor tomorrow and Sunday. The men's volleyball Warriors are at Toronto tomorrow afternoon, and the women's volleyball team is in a weekend-long tournament at Sherbrooke.
"Leave the Pack Behind" is "a major health promotion campaign to reduce smoking rates among post-secondary students and increase smoking awareness," a flyer tells us. The agency is looking to hire some students as "peer support" and communication staff, about five hours a week; application deadline is today at 4:00. Resumés go to jbgiesle@ahsmail, or can be dropped off at health services.
The elevator in Engineering II will be out of
service Monday through Wednesday for a safety upgrade.
And . . . the east entrance of the Biology I building is closed, because
it won't close. To clarify: something's the matter with the doors, so the
plant operations department has blocked off the entrance -- the one under
the overpass. "Please use other entrances," suggests Peter Fulcher of
plant ops, noting that there are north and south doors as well as a
connection to Biology II. He says the work will likely last through Tuesday.
CAR