![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Big grins and white hats]](/images/2003/1001staff.gif)
Appreciated
in a big way are Chris Henderson of procurement services (left), the
president of the staff association, and Avril McVicar of distance
education, the president-elect. They were helping whoop it up yesterday
at the staff appreciation lunch held in Federation Hall.
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"The University of Waterloo takes pride," an introduction says, "in its long-standing commitment to a diverse learning culture accessible to all members of the campus and community visitors. The announcement of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and subsequent requirements for accessibility planning, provided the University of Waterloo with an opportunity to identify practices that were effective and areas that could be further developed to promote equitable access for a diverse community."
The 30-page document goes on to mention everything from elevators to sports equipment, from counselling to accessible web pages.
"Our current practice," the introduction says, "reflects a collaborative approach to accommodating the diverse needs of those studying, teaching, working and visiting the University of Waterloo. This approach was established not only to ensure that the University was in compliance with its legal obligations but also to promote campus-wide initiatives that address accessibility.
"Accessibility planning not only benefits persons with disabilities but promotes the inclusion of all learning and teaching styles and creates an environment that transcends traditional boundaries and barriers experienced by those with learning differences, mobility needs and others. . . .
"The University endeavors to ensure the environment is accessible to all campus and community members regarding the physical design of our classrooms, access to learning facilities and communal spaces, access to information and curriculum in our classrooms, laboratories, and via on-line and Distance learning. (This mission was approved and is supported by the Executive Council of the University of Waterloo , August 2003.)"
The plan was written by Rose Padacz, director of the office for persons with disabilities, "in consultation with" people across campus. Its full text can be read on the office's web site.
Much of the document is taken up with noting what UW has already done. For example:
It also says there are problems with web sites -- "difficult for persons with fine motor skills deficits and for persons with low vision" -- and accessible design standards are being developed.
"The Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Human Resources, Health Services and Plant Operations will act to prioritize submissions regarding barrier identification pertaining to access to facilities, programs or services. Representatives from these departments will work in consultation with other campus departments, academic units, faculty, staff, student associations and community groups to establish remedies for identified barriers and collaborative solutions when appropriate. The dignity and self-respect of persons with disabilities and their right to reasonable accommodations will be upheld throughout this process. . . .
"An Accessibility Audit of campus facilities and communal areas will be conducted during the 2004-05 academic year to form the basis for future plans and to address progress."
This week's job listingsHere are the jobs listed in this week's Positions Available list from the human resources department:
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As a memo from the student services office explains, the President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism "were established in 1997 to recognize the significant contributions of students in volunteer work both within the University and the community at-large. The awards honour the extra-curricular contributions of students in a variety of service areas, some of which may not be highly visible but nonetheless important to the community.
"A Committee will normally select ten recipients for awards of $250 each."
The funding and prestige of the awards comes from the President's Circle, an association of more than 1,000 people who are high-level donors to UW. "In the last fiscal year," the memo notes, "Circle donors contributed close to $6 million for scholarships, equipment, library resources, academic and research programs and other priorities of the University. It is through their generous support that the President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism have been established to recognize the significant volunteer contributions made by students to UW and the local community."
Nominations for the annual awards can come from other students, staff, or faculty of the university, or member of the community at-large. "As well, because volunteer work often has a low profile, students are very much encouraged to apply for the award. Nominators are encouraged to work with the student to ensure that the information submitted to the Committee is complete."
Each award winner must be "a registered full-time, part-time, or non-degree undergraduate or graduate student, or on a co-op work term" and must have "completed three terms of volunteer service (roughly 12 months, not necessarily consecutive), or is currently in his/her third term of service either within the university community or with the surrounding community. Nominations or application may be made during or at any time after the third term of volunteer involvement. . . . Volunteer service may be with one or more organizations."
Nomination forms and the other necessary documentation are available at various offices (including the Federation of Students in the Student Life Centre) or online. The deadline for nominations and applications is October 24, with references and supporting information due a week later.
The two-hour course is aimed at students. "If your workstation has a virus you need to clean it," the IST web site notes. "Not only will a compromised workstation not work properly, perhaps not at all, but it could also be used to spread viruses. In this seminar you will learn how to scan your computer for viruses, how to clean viruses, and how to ensure your computer is protected in the future."
Also offered for students during September: Introduction to Unix, Learning More Unix, Laptop Support on Campus, Introduction to Excel.
The following courses are part of the Skills for the Academic e-Workplace program, and are offered to faculty, grad students, and staff with instructional responsibilities: Scientific Computing Using Mathcad, Scientific Computing Using Maple, Statistical Analysis Using SAS, Introduction to Access, Visual Basic for Excel, Technical Animations Using Flash, Introduction to Parallel Programming, Parallel Programming Using SMP, Technical Drawing Using Visio, Keeping Current Digitally -- Multidisciplinary.
Information about the courses, along with a registration form, can be found on the IST web site.
![[Poster: viaduct by night]](/images/2003/1001veil.gif)
Architecture
professor Dereck Revington will give this year's Faculty of
Environmental Studies Lecture tomorrow night at 7:30 in the Theatre of
the Arts. He'll talk about his design for the
"luminous
veil" barrier
on Toronto's Don Viaduct.
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Today's career services seminars deal with "Interview Skills: The Basics" (3:30) and "Preparing for Questions" (4:30). Tomorrow's topics are "Business Etiquette and Professionalism" (2:30) and then, starting at 3:30, the first of two three-hour sessions on "Taking Care of Business", described as "A Primer on the Nature and Practice of Consulting". Most of these sessions are free, but there's a $25-a-day fee for the course on consulting -- details are available from the career services office in the Tatham Centre.
Today also brings the grand opening of the new CampusTechShop, which was created when the Computer Store moved out of the Math and Computer building over the summer and merged with TechWorx to become one store in the lower level of the Student Life Centre. Susy Kustra, who's now doing marketing for the retail services department, says the event "includes a grand prize draw for an Apple iPod, and hourly prize draws for a Lexmark all-in-one printer, a DVD player, etc."
At noon hour (12:30, in the chapel of Conrad Grebel University College) the music department's series of Wednesday concerts continues with flamenco guitar, played by Peter Mathers.
A "town hall" meeting for UW web creators will be held at 2:30 in Davis Centre room 1304, says Jesse Rodgers of communications and public affairs. "The topic will be Web Accessibility, XHTML, CSS, Dreamweaver MX 2004, and the UW web standards."
The women's rugby Warriors will host Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks at 4:00 today, at Columbia Field across from Village I.
The department of anthropology offers a Distinguished Guest Lecture at 4:45 in PAS (Psychology) room 2083. The speaker is Frank Tester of the University of British Columbia. His topic: "Footprints Everywhere: Culture, Health and Housing Policy in the Eastern Arctic, 1955-1966".
There's a special event tonight sponsored by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, which is not part of UW but definitely on, er, the perimeter. Fay Dowker of Imperial College, London, will speak on "The Science of Time", at 7 p.m. at the Waterloo Recreation Complex on Father David Bauer Drive. Tickets (free) are available at the Rec Complex box office, and there may be some at the door.
An open forum on web survey software is scheduled for tomorrow, from 9:30 to noon, in Math and Computer room 2009. Information is available from Jack Cooper of information systems and technology, jack@ist.
Finally, back to the topic of "accessibility": there are some UW people involved in a one-day forum on "Designing for Inclusion", to be held tomorrow in Kitchener. Information: 741-2229.
CAR