![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Kerton]](/images/2003/0917kerton.gif)
"Professor Kerton's reappointment enjoys widespread support within the Faculty of Arts and throughout the University," says the memo from president David Johnston, "and I am delighted he is willing to continue as Dean."
The reappointment was recommended by a nominating committee in the usual way, and approved by UW's senate in closed session on Monday and by the board of governors executive committee yesterday.
Kerton, a professor of economics, became dean July 1, 1999, for a five-year term. His second term will be for two years -- not the three years that's the most common reappointment period for deans -- and will take him to June 30, 2006.
A series of information sessions about graduate scholarships is continuing with a session aimed at arts and applied health sciences (3:30, Humanities room 373). . . . The Imaginus poster sale continues in the Student Life Centre. . . . The Computer Science Club will hold its elections for the fall term today at 4:30 in the "comfy lounge" of the Math and Computer building, and would-be members can sign up ahead of time in the CSC office, MC room 3036, for $2 a term. . . .
An information session about graduate studies in mathematics, aimed at third- and fourth-year students, is scheduled for 4:30 in Davis Centre room 1350. The meeting will include an overview of graduate studies and information about specific fields in math. And the magic words are included: "Refreshments will be served."
The Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group will hold a "new members day" from 5:00 to 8:00 today in the fishbowl lounge in the Davis Centre. "We are," says WARG organizer Brent Tweddle, "looking for new members from all faculties who are interested in working on Waterloo's entry to the International Robotics Competition." That can include anything from the electrical sensor system to media relations and artificial intelligence, he says. "Students can involve themselves regardless of how much or how little time they are willing to commit."
Career development workshops on "letter writing" and "resumé writing" are scheduled today -- details and registration are on the career services web site.
The Graduate Student Association will hold a general meeting at 5:30 in Davis Centre room 1302. Main purpose of the meeting is to fill two vacancies on the GSA executive, for a vice-president (operations) and a VP (student affairs). All graduate students are entitled to attend the meeting and vote, or to send a proxy.
Also at 5:30, the French Club will hold its first meeting of the term, in Modern Languages room 354. Everyone is welcome.
The monthly meeting of the Kitchener-Waterloo Perl Mongers, "for enthusiasts of the Perl programming language", starts at 7 p.m. in Carl Pollock Hall room 4335. . . . Nancy-Lou Patterson, retired from UW's department of fine arts, will speak on "A Stone Carver's Sampling of Southern Ontario" at 7 p.m. at the Kitchener Public Library downtown. . . . The baseball Warriors will play Wilfrid Laurier University at 7 p.m. at Bechtel Park in east Waterloo. . . . The drama department's play "Tuesdays and Sundays" has another 7 p.m. performance tonight in Kitchener's Victoria Park. . . .
A "coffee break" in support of the Alzheimer Society of Kitchener-Waterloo will run all morning tomorrow in the fireplace lounge in the Lyle Hallman Institute, Matthews Hall. "A coffee and homemade goodie" are promised, any time from 8:15 to 12:30. The event is sponsored by UW's Alzheimer Research and Education Project as part of the society's annual coffee-break fund-raiser.
Tomorrow at 12 noon, the teaching resources and continuing education office sponsors a session on "Tutorials and Teaching: Purposes, Roles and Strategies". It's aimed mostly at graduate teaching assistants, but open to anybody who teaches. Registration is through the TRACE office at ext. 3132.
There will be a kickoff meeting tomorrow night for students interested in writing the annual Putnam Mathematics Competition this winter. "If you love math problems," says Christopher Small, the statistics professor who coaches UW's entrants, "why not come out and register?" Tomorrow's information meeting -- with pizza -- will start at 6 p.m. in Math and Computer room 5158.
![[Roe]](/images/2002/1202roe.gif)
Peter Roe (left), one of UW's early engineering professors, will
become an "Honorary Member of the University" at fall convocation next
month. He was identified as "UW's longest-serving faculty member"
at the time of
his
retirement last fall.
The same distinction will be presented to Annick and Roland LeCorre, volunteer hosts of the Trent-Waterloo-Toronto exchange program at the Université de Nantes, France.
Peter Silveston, a faculty member in chemical engineering from 1963 to his retirement in 1997, will be given the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
Five honorary degrees will be presented at the October 25 convocation ceremonies, according to a news release from UW's media relations office. The awards are headlined by Pamela Wallin, television personality and now Canada's consul-general in New York, who served as a member of UW's board of governors in 2000-02.
Wallin will give the address at the morning convocation session, for graduates in applied health sciences and arts. The afternoon session, for graduates from the other faculties, will hear a talk by Maria Klawe, formerly of the University of British Columbia and now dean of engineering and applied science at Princeton University.
Other recipients of honorary degrees next month:
Some of UW's teaching award winners and other skilled teachers will be invited to take part in a Teaching Excellence Council, UW's senate was told on Monday night. Tom Carey, associate vice-president (learning resources and innovation), said the council would likely meet about twice a term, and would "provide some advice to myself and the teaching resources and continuing education office". Carey noted that expertise is widely scattered -- "the kinds of excellence across the university are so diverse" -- and he'll be asking deans to suggest teachers who might have something to contribute to the new group.
Since it's Wednesday, a new positions available list is out from the human resources department. Just a few open staff jobs are listed this week:
An announcement from the UW library and its partner libraries at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph indicates some changes in borrowing rules as of September 1. In particular, the maximum "reserve fine and recall fine", previously $24, has been raised to $30. The processing fee to cover the cost of replacing a lost library item has also been increased from the figure that has been used for "approximately 30 years".
A new service is being offered in UW's residences, says Pamela Charbonneau of the residence life office: "Starting today, a Tutoring in Residence Program begins. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the faculty of math and the department of housing and residences to provide tutoring in algebra and calculus, within the residences. A Tutoring Centre has been created in the Multipurpose Room of Mackenzie King Village and is open for students to drop in and get help from math faculty tutors, Monday-Thursday 7 to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 2 to 8 p.m. If this initiative is a success, hopefully we can expand into other subjects where students are looking for extra help -- close to home."
And . . . the United Way campaign will be getting under way shortly across Kitchener-Waterloo, and on campus as well. Co-chairs of the campaign this year will be Winston Cherry of the statistics and actuarial science department (a United Way veteran) and Pat Cunningham of the faculty of mathematics (taking over from Sharon Lamont as staff co-chair). "We look forward," says Cunningham, "to sharing with the faculty, staff and retirees the important role the United Way and its agencies play in the community."
CAR