![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Five with a range of expressions]](/images/2005/0201kate.jpg)
Kate herself and four of her friends (if that's what they are) figure in a short play written and directed by UW drama student Elizabeth Barry. At centre is Erin Dwyer, surrounded by Soraya Marinho, Jesse Ariss, Sabina Mederevic, and Brad Cook. "Kate Herself" hits the stage in Studio 180 of the Humanities building starting tomorrow night as part of the "UpStart" festival of short plays. |
A news release explains the name for this second annual festival: "In 1592, Robert Greene called William Shakespeare an upstart crow. Today Shakespeare is widely regarded as the most important writer to have ever written a play. We think that Shakespeare could use a little company, so we've launched a festival in search of talented new upstarts."
The plays have been "conceived, written, and performed by some of the most talented young artists to have ever performed on a University of Waterloo stage; moreover, this is performance that's pushing the limits of how we define a night out at the theatre," it says. "The themes and story lines are hip and topical; they reflect the passions and concerns of anyone who thinks carefully about the world and their place in it."
They also touch on sex more than a little. One show has "lust" in the title and, according to descriptions on the drama department web site, includes "a scene that has physical abuse in it". Another "may contain mature subject matter". A third play is "about maturing; about discovery; about sex".
These are the eight shows on the playbill:
| POSITIONS AVAILABLE |
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On this week's list from the human resources department:
Longer descriptions are available on the HR web site. |
Those are the weeks between a report from the Bob Rae review of Ontario post-secondary education, expected shortly, and the budget that will be presented by provincial treasurer Greg Sorbara in late March or early April.
UW president David Johnston said he had been in a group that met Sorbara in a pre-budget "consultation" meeting in Kitchener on Friday. Johnston said he liked what he was hearing about education spending: "My sense is, there is a real understanding that there has been an under-investment." The province spends around $3 billion a year on higher education now, Johnston said, and needs to increase that by perhaps $800 million to get Ontario funding up to the Canadian average.
That's the sort of thing that he and other leaders are hoping Rae will recommend in the final report of his one-person project as an "advisor" to the province. A former New Democratic premier, Rae has been hinting that student financial aid and improved links between colleges and universities are high on his agenda, but that he also knows the government needs to be spending much more.
UW's brief to the Rae review said Ontario needs to "increase the province's investment in universities to the national average over the next three years, and to the top 10 per cent of publicly funded universities in North America over the following five years."
Although the report isn't public yet, "we expect we will be pleased with many of the recommendations," Johnston said yesterday. Of course the next question is whether the province will accept Rae's recommendations and act on them, and particularly whether there will be action right now, as UW faces a financially tough year.
"I expect that there will be a down payment in the March budget," Johnston replied. He suggested that priorities for the government may well be student aid and some steps to straighten out provincial funding for research, but he said there could be movement on operating funds too. The new fiscal year for universities begins May 1.
The time between the Rae report and the Sorbara budget will be "a critical period", said vice-president (university relations) Laura Talbot-Allan, who was also at the pre-budget consultation with the finance minister on Friday. She agreed with Johnston that friends of the university, as well as officials, will be doing what they can to make the case with Sorbara, premier Dalton McGuinty and their colleagues.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Job fair sponsored by UW and other institutions,
10:00 to 3:30, RIM Park, Waterloo. Free buses every half hour
from ring road in front of Humanities building.
Details online.
New employee safety orientation 10 a.m. Davis Centre room 1304. Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Research presents Kevin Leonard, University of Toronto, "What is the Value Proposition of IT in Healthcare?" 12 noon, Davis Centre room 1302. Diana Fitzgerald Bryden reads from her second book of poetry, 4 p.m., St. Jerome's University room 3014. Computational mathematics students pizza welcome event 4:00, Davis Centre room 3150. 'Legal Issues in the Start-Up Venture' workshop sponsored by Launchpad $50K Venture Competition 5 p.m., Paul Martin Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University. Warrior volleyball vs. York, women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m., PAC main gym. Mexico: Country presentation sponsored by Society of International Students, 6 p.m., Rod Coutts Hall room 308. Treat-a-gram orders in support of the Keystone Campaign (chocolate chip cookie on a stick $3, for delivery February 9-10) must be received by noon Thursday. Winfield Fretz, founding president of Conrad Grebel University College, memorial service Thursday 12:30, Grebel chapel. Artist panel discussion and reception: Shannon Griffiths and Guntar Kravis, about their exhibition "Fair Cruelty", opening in the East Campus Hall gallery; Thursday 1:30 to 3:30 and 4 to 6 in the gallery. Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System 90-minute training session for employees and graduate students, Thursday 2 p.m., Davis Centre room 1304. Arriscraft architecture lecture: Raj Patel, acoustics consultant, "Spatial Sound, Perception and Architecture", Thursday 7 p.m., Architecture lecture hall. FASS 2005 Thursday and Saturday 8 p.m., Friday 7 and 10 p.m., Humanities Theatre. Keystone Campaign celebration break for night shift staff, Thursday, February 10 at 10 p.m., South Campus Hall. Ontario Engineering Competition for students from across the province will be held at UW February 11-13. |
Later in yesterday's board meeting, provost Amit Chakma gave a brief update on plans for UW's 2005-06 budget, listing government grants and (provincially controlled) tuition fees as two of the biggest unknowns.
As things stand right now, he expects UW's operating income to go up by about $17 million from this year (to $313 million) and spending to go up by $25 to $28 million (because of salary increases, pension premiums, higher costs and the need for "new investments"). That leaves a shortfall of $8 million or more that will need to be handled through spending cuts unless there are new sources of revenue. "We are hoping that the Rae commission will bring some good news," said Chakma.
In addition, "DTA liaisons" have been named in several of the faculties and colleges, "to serve as a focal point and advisor for nominations", says Verna Keller of the teaching office. "As a first point of contact for potential nominations, the liaisons will provide a more visible and accessible information source for students and faculty." The appointment of the DTA liaisons was a recommendation of a recent review of the DTA program by a working group of the Teaching Excellence Council.
The review also recommended some "clarifications" to the DTA guidelines, Keller said, "to insure that nominations meet the expectations of the Selection Committee". She writes: "Nominations may be made by any member of the university community. In particular, nominations by Deans or chairs receive equal consideration as nominations by students. However, all nominations must include at least five current or former students amongst the required nominators.
"The most important criterion for a DTA is a continued record of exemplary impact on student learning at UW. A nomination can make this case by documenting impact on past and present students, including alumni.
"The Selection Committee may choose to retain some nominations for consideration in future years, and to inform nominators of this decision. Additional information could also be submitted in future DTA competitions.
"Information from current and past course evaluations is particularly significant for the Selection Committee deliberations."
There's no "nomination form" for Distinguished Teacher Awards. Nominations should come, says the teaching resource web site, in "a typed or legible handwritten letter. . . . In order for an instructor to be considered for the Distinguished Teacher Award, his/her nomination file must include ten or more signatures, of which at least five should be from present or former students." Background information can range from letters written by colleagues, to "descriptions of teaching innovations".
Four DTAs are generally given each year, "in recognition of continued record of excellence in teaching at the University of Waterloo". The award, the official criteria say, "is open to all those who teach students at the University of Waterloo and is not limited just to those holding faculty appointments.
"The Selection Committee will look for intellectual vigour and communication skills in the interpretation and presentation of subject matter. The teacher's human quality and concern for and sensitivity to the needs of students is an obvious criterion. the Selection Committee will look for a clear indication that the nominee has favourable and lasting influence on students. Evidence of successful innovation in teaching would support a nomination, but it is also clear that excellence in teaching does not necessarily require innovation."
CAR