![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, July 28, 2005
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Canadian flag; balloons in UW colours]](/images/2005/0728midsun.jpg)
Midnight Sun VIII,
the student-built solar car that has travelled from Texas to Alberta
representing UW, crosses the finish line of the
North American
Solar Challenge yesterday at the Olympic Oval on the University of
Calgary campus. UW's entry finished fifth in the NASC, which was won by
the University of Michigan.
Midnight
Sun crew members will likely be
sending a fuller report on the last day of the 2,500-mile (4,000-km)
race after they've had a bit of a rest -- and partied with UW alumni
in the Calgary area tonight at
a
barbecue at Heritage Park. The photo is by Jim Jordan, a 1988
math graduate who was among the 5,000 spectators at the finish line.
|
ECH is still closed today, but is expected to reopen tomorrow when plant operations electricians have completed repair work. "There was an electrical fault in a piece of equipment," explains Rick Zalagenas of plant ops, "which resulted in damage to the main building distribution panel. A new panel is being assembled, and installation will proceed throughout the day." ECH dates from 1959, so parts for repairs can be a problem. (Originally an industrial plant, the building was acquired by UW in 1984 and remodeled.)
Meanwhile, routine work in the finance office and the procurement and contract services department ("purchasing") have been interrupted. Jane Manson, director of finance, said a major activity on Wednesdays is cheque-writing to pay UW's bills, and that's been delayed.
Most staff members in those areas were sent home yesterday and are staying away again today, although a few are working from other campus locations. Payroll is processed in the human resources department in another building, not in the finance office, so tomorrow's payday for staff and faculty members is not affected.
At the back of ECH is central stores with the university's shipping and receiving docks, heavily dependent on power to operate lifts, doors and other equipment, as well as the electronic tracking system. Stores staff made sure perishable shipments were on their way before closing for the day at about noon yesterday, and there was no mail delivery or pickup on campus yesterday afternoon.
But they're now back on the job, working partly at the ECH loading dock -- the only dock on campus where transport trucks can easily pull in -- and partly at the plant operations dock in the General Services courtyard. Stores manager Stan "Butch" Shantz interrupted his vacation yesterday to organize temporary arrangements, and deliveries will be close to normal today.
Elsewhere in ECH are the fine arts department -- not very active during the spring term -- and the Carousel Dance Centre, which has its SummerDance program in operation this week, as well as a musical theatre workshop scheduled for today. The athletics department came to the rescue, arranging for dance activities to be relocated to studios in the Physical Activities Complex.
![[Dixon]](http://www.graphics.uwaterloo.ca/photo/archivesimages/20010105.jpg)
The nominating committee for the position of dean of science has
set August 12 -- two weeks away -- as its deadline for comments
"concerning the reappointment of George Dixon or the deanship in
general". Dixon (right), who became dean in 2001, will reach the
end of his first term June 30, 2006.
A memo from UW provost Amit Chakma formally tells faculty, students and staff in science that "the Nominating Committee, constituted under the terms of Policy 45, is now in place and has held its first meeting."
Comments can be directed to the secretary of the committee -- Trenny Canning of the university secretariat (tcanning@uwaterloo.ca) -- or to any member of the committee. "However you respond," says the provost's memo, "your comments will be held in confidence within the Committee. The ballot required will be distributed when the Committee completes the consultation."
Besides Chakma, who chairs the committee, members are Jim Barker of the earth sciences department; Melanie Campbell of physics; Jean Duhamel of chemistry; Lyndon Jones of optometry; Kirsten Muller of biology; Guenter Scholtz of physics; Gail Cuthbert Brandt, associate vice-president (academic); Andrea Carthew, staff member in optometry; Christine Tauer-Martin, staff member in counselling services; Ryan Hutchins, undergraduate student in earth sciences; and Craig Robertson, graduate student in chemistry.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
Work outside Canada: Meeting for students with fall term
co-op jobs in the US -- CDS International sponsorship,
9:30; AIPT and other sponsorship, 4:30; jobs
in other countries, 2:30 -- all in Tatham Centre room 2218.
Lavender farm tour organized by UW Recreation Committee, 4:30, details online. Centre for International Governance Innovation presents Kalypso Nicolaidis, University of Oxford, "After the No: Is Europe Falling Apart and Should We Care?" 5:30, 57 Erb Street West, free tickets e-mail rsvp@cigionline.org. 'Spiritual Quest of an Engineer', by Hira Ahuja, former UW faculty member, now engineering consultant, sponsored by Spiritual Heritage Education Network, 7:30, CEIT room 1015. Last day of classes for the spring term tomorrow; exams run August 2-13. |
The centre recently conducted a one-day learning institute, called Finding and Evaluating Research Evidence, for Ontario ministry of education policy researchers. "It was an amazing day that gave CCKM the chance to discuss research review practices with an exceptionally talented, skilled and dedicated group of policy advisers and analysts," Bloom said. "CCKM demonstrated some of the tools and techniques we create and use to bring research to bear on issues of public interest. In turn, we learned about the impressive range of backgrounds, knowledge and perspectives that our public service workers bring to policy development in the ministry."
She went on: "We saw how CCKM tools and strategies might fit their research needs. We met teachers, school principals, social workers, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and the ministry's own professional library scientist. Some policy researchers had backgrounds in statistics, nursing, health sciences, natural sciences and engineering."
The centre, founded by Bloom and colleagues from across Canada, is dedicated to building better linkages between research and decision-making. For example, CCKM recognizes that policy-makers and practitioners have pressures of time and resources unlike those of university researchers. CCKM makes it easier to find, evaluate and use research knowledge by creating tools and research communities and by building capacity for this work. With CCKM resources, reviews of evidence are conducted in a shorter time with precision and transparency.
The CCKM Question Scan Protocol, for example, helps stakeholders determine the feasibility and costs of finding and evaluating studies to inform a question of practical importance. To increase capacity for applying research to policy and practice, CCKM offers state-of-the-art online learning and collaboration through its password protected e-Communities.
CCKM created an e-Community for the ministry institute participants that brought learning resources, discussion boards, institute announcements, post-institute materials and continued collaboration.
In addition to helping others find and evaluate research results, CCKM produces Reviews of Evidence using systematic procedures designed to fit social science research, including that relating to health studies. There are also other knowledge mobilisation products, such as program catalogues that give practitioners a one-stop survey of existing community programs, their location, characteristics, clients and costs.
To do this work, CCKM hires undergraduate and graduate students from Waterloo and universities across Canada. Seven UW students are working at CCKM this summer.
"CCKM is a virtual centre," Bloom said. "We strategically use both electronic resources and face-to-face communication to effectively create and train teams of 'knowledge mobilisers' for current work and for the future. They are 'researchers without borders' who can get the job done while maintaining a nonpartisan and collaborative perspective as they identify and report research findings to decision-makers."
CAR