![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Holds the magazine issue high]](/images/2005/1206macleans.jpg)
Why is the president
beaming? Must be the "best overall" ranking UW received in
this year's
universities issue of Maclean's, magazine, brandished by David
Johnston at yesterday's end-of-term celebration of Waterloo "accomplishments".
Hundreds of students, faculty and staff heard speeches and ate cupcakes
at the event, held in the Student Life Centre; the lucky ones even caught
T-shirts that were flung into the crowd.
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![[Higgins]](/images/2005/1206higgins.jpg)
Higgins (right), who has been at the UW-federated institution as
a faculty member since 1982 and served as its dean before being named
president in 1999, began his second term as president of St. Jerome's
on July 1 of this year.
A professor of English and religious studies, and author on such topics as sainthood, the Jesuit order, and the mystic monk Thomas Merton, he's also noted as a media commentator, raconteur and orator. He was a finalist in the "Ontario's best lecturer" competition held this fall by TVOntario. Higgins will take over at St. Thomas on July 1, 2006.
His departure was announced at a meeting of the St. Jerome's board of governors on Thursday, yesterday's announcement said. Board chair Deborah Pecoskie issued a statement indicating that St. Jerome's will be "truly challenged by Dr. Higgins' departure, but acknowledges his long-standing commitment to Roman Catholic post-secondary education and to the wider community of Canadian Catholic Colleges and Universities. We sincerely thank Dr. Higgins for his longstanding and superb dedication to St. Jerome's University. His energy, creativity, profile and Catholic intellectual leadership have been enormous gifts to us, and we extend to him our heartfelt appreciation and blessing. We embark now on a process to identify a worthy successor to build upon his accomplishments and upon St. Jerome's strength as a Roman Catholic community of learning."
For his part, Higgins thanked the board and the St. Jerome's community for their support: "This has clearly been a very difficult decision for me. Only my conviction that St. Jerome's University enjoys excellent leadership at both the Board and administrative level and is on secure footing in terms of its finances, academic programs and Roman Catholic identity permitted me to consider leaving at this time."
His decision was motivated by his "passionate commitment to Roman Catholic higher education in Canada" and his desire "to strengthen the Catholic intellectual tradition and enhance the national network of Catholic institutions of learning."
At St. Thomas, the chancellor, Bishop Faber MacDonald, said that "With substantial achievements in scholarly, administrative and public spheres, Dr. Higgins is well suited to lead St. Thomas in the next stage of our development," according to a news release from Fredericton. "Dr. Higgins is a nationally distinguished scholar and teacher. He is fully steeped in the traditions of Catholic and liberal education with insight into the distinctive role of St. Thomas University."
St. Thomas describes itself as "a small, Catholic institution whose central liberal arts programme is complemented by professional programmes in education and social work". It is affiliated with the University of New Brunswick and shares UNB's main campus.
The current salary agreement between UW and the association runs until April 30, 2006. Metin Renksizbulut of the mechanical engineering department, the association's chief salary negotiator, is on the agenda to report to members this afternoon.
![[Big yellow cheque]](/images/2005/1206cancersoc.jpg)
$34,000:
That was the final amount raised by the Engineering Society to support
the Canadian Cancer Society. Representatives of both groups posed with a
giant cheque after the final orgy of head-shaving in the Student Life
Centre on Friday. That's Carmen Lam, vice-president (administration and
finance) of the Federation of Students, at far left, her head a bit lighter
than it had been a few minutes earlier.
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Other agenda items include the treasurer's report, word on negotiations for changes to Policy 14 on pregnancy and parental leave, a discussion of the newsletter's mandate, and committee reports, including one from the academic freedom and tenure committee.
"Activity has been much less this year than last," writes Frank Reynolds, chair of the AF&T committee, in the agenda material for today's meeting. However, several issues have concerned the committee, he writes, including "the treatment of tenure track members who are undergoing their probationary term review", halfway between being hired and getting tenure.
Also of concern are "the treatment of the disabled" and "the power imbalance between students and professors" with the possibility that a student can make baseless charges that lead to "a major problem" for a faculty member.
Reynolds also notes concern that "there is no mechanism available to appeal annual reviews. There were this year at least three reviews of which I am aware which have been clearly inappropriate. In none of these cases could a satisfactory resolution of the problem be reached."
![[Rose and candle]](/images/rosecandle.jpg)
Taking place today is WatITis, the annual one-day conference for people who work in IT -- information technology, or computing support -- at UW. Sessions, being held in Rod Coutts Hall, range from "Applying Usability to the UW Webspace" to "Debugging Parallel Programs on Distributed Systems" and "Living Next Door to the Anarchist -- Workstation Security". "It is an opportunity," organizers explain, "to see what others are doing on campus in information technology, to exchange ideas, and make new contacts."
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
English Language Proficiency Examination strategy sessions
10:00 or 11:30 in Davis Centre room 1350, 1:30 or 3:00 in
PAS room 2083. ELPE will be offered Wednesday 5 or 7 p.m.,
Physical Activities Complex. Bring WatCard.
First-year review session organized by Economics Society, mini-lectures by upper-year students followed by question sessions: Economics 101, 1:00 to 3:00, Econ 102, 3:00 to 5:00, CEIT room 1015. Teaching workshop: "Understanding the Learner", 1:00 to 4:00, details online. Maple Day with demonstrations of Maple software, 1:30 to 3:00, Math and Computer room 5158. Electronic grade submission demonstration 2:30, Rod Coutts Hall room 112. Action on Violence Against Women: remembrance event at Cambridge Centre for the Arts, 6:30, bus sponsored by Graduate Student Association leaves South Campus Hall 5:30, reserve seats at Graduate House. Christmas at the Davis Centre: annual concert by music department choirs, with public carol-sing, Wednesday 12 noon, Davis great hall. Technology workshop: "Engaging Students with Online Activities", Wednesday 12 noon, Flex Lab, Dana Porter Library, registration online. Conrad Grebel University College Sawatsky Visiting Scholar Lecture: Ron Mathies, Mennonite Central Committee, "Responding to the Tsunami and Civil War Crises", Wednesday 7 p.m., Grebel great hall. Perimeter Institute presents Miriam Shuchman, author, "The Drug Trial: You Be the Judge", Wednesday 7 p.m., free tickets 883-4480. Roy Hinsperger, plant operations department, retirement reception December 14, 3:30 to 5:30, Davis Centre lounge, RSVP ext. 6822. |
With the winter term racing at us, thousands of co-op students are preparing to head out to new jobs, including some who are going outside Canada. Several information sessions for that group are scheduled today and tomorrow in the Tatham Centre. Details are on the co-op department's web site. Also of interest: for students who haven't been employed before, or haven't needed the paperwork, Human Resources and Development Canada will have staff on site tomorrow in TC to issue Social Insurance Numbers.
About 320 high school students, dressed in their best, are on campus today for the annual Federal-Provincial Conference Simulation. Sponsored by the political science department and the local History Heads Association, the simulation has been an annual event at UW for more than 30 years. This year, delegations from 15 regional schools will participate. The role of Canada's prime minister will be handled by Jordan Schmidt of Elmira District Secondary School. Other students will serve as federal ministers, provincial leaders, other constituencies and the media. The delegations will model First Ministers meetings and committees on finance, health care, immigration, agriculture, natural resources, and economic development. Working sessions will be held in several rooms in the Arts Lecture Hall, Hagey Hall and the Modern Languages building today and tomorrow. The concluding plenary session will be held in the Theatre of the Arts on Wednesday starting at 1:30.
![[Best]](/images/2005/1206cbest.jpg)
The plant operations department says the east (stairway) entrance to
Needles Hall will be closed today and tomorrow for repair work. . . .
Chris Best (right), star tackle for the football Warriors, was
named an All-Canadian by Canadian Interuniversity Sport as the
season ended. . . .
Renison College is inviting alumni and their families to a "Christmas
Lantern Light Tour" on Friday night at Doon Heritage Crossroads (tickets
884-4404 ext.657). . . .
Andrea Chappell writes from information systems and technology: "IST has on hand a cross section of the Dell laptops. We invite you to visit Math and Computer room 2009 from 10:30 to noon on Wednesday to see and try these systems. They include the small lightweight D410 (12.1" screen), the middle sized D610 (14.1" screen), and the largest screen system, the D810 (15.4" screen). We're interested in feedback on general laptop feature preferences, as well as on Dells. We may recommend a laptop system for the Academic Support department areas (for those who require laptops), and selecting a preferred system may result in a better price which would also be available to all campus departments. In addition to the laptops we will have demo units of the the Dell Optiplex GX620 desktop and ultra small form factor, with 17" and 19" LCD panels. These are the systems selected for a recent 'desktop computer rollover' project in the Academic Support departments." She's at ext. 3779 to provide more information.
Water will be turned off in Carl Pollock Hall all day tomorrow (8:00 to 4:00), the plant operations department warns. . . . The UW Shop in South Campus Hall has a 20 per cent off sale on "holiday gifts" this week and next. . . . The Federation of Students has announced that nominations for the election of its 2006-07 executive will open January 3, with voting scheduled for mid-February as usual. . . .
CAR