Renison College today opens its new Academic Centre. The building, fruit of contributions to the "Working Together Building our Future Campaign", links the college's existing wings to form an enclosed quadrangle and provide a new main entrance, facing the road that leads down from Westmount Road. The left (east) portion of the new building is Renison's library, and at right is the multimedia lab. Opening celebrations start at 11:00 this morning at the college.

Back to top

Book introduces 128 new profs

UW's second New Faculty Report, just produced by the Communications and Public Affairs office, introduces "the newest 128 members of our faculty", provost Amit Chakma says in an introductory letter, adding that in the years to come these newcomers, "not I, will have the power to make the dream come true."

The report gives short bios, focused on each academic’s research, for individuals hired in the past two years to become faculty members at UW. They fill posts ranging from lecturer to dean.

Says Chakma in his introduction: “I want to make sure we are hiring the top people available. As provost, I review and approve each new-faculty file and ask those questions about quality: have we done our homework? As you read the profiles of our hires from the past two years in the pages ahead, I hope you will agree with me when I say: we have.”

The kind of academic being recruited to join Waterloo’s faculty is shifting, he points out. “At Waterloo, in the past 50 years, we’ve evolved into a very strong undergraduate institution. If we just decided to stay with that, then we’d be looking at recruiting individuals to join our faculty who are strong teachers. Now that we’re equally determined to increase our graduate education and research capacity while maintaining our strength in undergraduate education — goals presented in the Sixth Decade Plan set for approval in fall 2006 — we now need to find individuals who will be very good teachers, who will maintain the edge and quality we have in undergraduate education, but who will also be equally at home in graduate teaching and scholarship.

"At many top-ranking research institutions, undergraduate teaching takes a back seat. At Waterloo, that is not the case, and will not be the case in the future. It becomes even more of a challenge, then, to find individuals who can do both: they must be top scholars and, at the same time, top teachers.”

He adds that the key words are quality (always) and "focus", the ability of an individual to contribute to a "cluster" or area of strength that UW is developing. "One such obvious cluster is on global governance, to which the departments of history, economics and political science have responded. We are also moving forward with new research clusters in the fields of quantum computing, nanotechnology, and pharmacy. We already have critical mass in many areas, such as water and energy, across many departments. . . .

"To attract the best, we have become more flexible in our hiring practices and strive to be competitive with top Canadian universities, in terms of compensation, research grants, and opportunity."

Every faculty member is being sent a copy of the report, and each faculty and college will be receiving a quantity of reports for staff use and reference. If an area has not received the report by September 22, a note to Linda Howe at ljhowe@uwaterloo.ca will bring copies on request.

Editor Kelley Teahen says she and her colleagues here in CPA would like to extend their gratitude "to all the communication professionals and administrative assistants who helped us track down the 128 faculty members during the spring/summer term. Without such co-operation, a report like this would be much more difficult to produce."

Back to top

Major events of the fall term

Publicity is building for a once-in-a-campus's-lifetime event to be held Saturday night, September 23. It's titled "Dig It: Requiem for a Green", and it'll be held on the open space north of the Biology complex and west of the rock garden, which next year is to become the site of UW's planned Quantum-Nano Centre. "Say farewell to the B2 green with great UW bands and DJs," organizers are saying, promising free admission, food, and a liquor-licensed area for those over the legal age. Timing of the event next week: from 2 p.m. to "late".

The following week, as the fall term gets into full swing, will bring the annual East Asian Festival at Renison College. Watch for more information about this 12th annual celebration, September 29 and 30, which promises "the art, music, flavours, and festivities of East Asia", including kabuki theatre, traditional presentations on Culture Day, and the customary cocktail reception and silent auction.

September 30 is Homecoming day — an earlier date than in past years, with a view to bringing alumni and friends of the university to campus in a better kind of weather than late November might bring. Keynote speaker for the day is ambassador Stephen Lewis, but for some of the target audience, Blue of "Blue's Clues" will be a bigger attraction (yes, Homecoming is very much a family occasion). Also planned are sports events, campus tours, the 21st annual fun run sponsored by applied health sciences, and Warrior Weekend activities in the Student Life Centre. Again, details will be along over the days ahead.

Also on September 30 is "Canada's largest entrepreneurship event", the Impact conference organized by a UW-based student group. Then the department of drama and speech convocation presents its annual Silversides Theatre Artists Series event on October 4, this year featuring playwright and mathematician John Mighton, who'll speak at noontime in the UW bookstore. Later in October, fall Convocation is scheduled to be held in two ceremonies on Saturday the 21st. And the drama department's first fall production, "The Importance of Being Earnest", hits the stage November 15-18. In short, a busy term is very much under way.

Back to top

Other notes on an overcast morn

As Wednesday's shootings at Dawson College in Montréal continue to lead the national and international news, some people are looking for explanations and other for comfort. Tom Ruttan, director of UW's counselling services, sends a note about his department's "response to the horrific event at Dawson College. Our Service has made extra appointments available to students, staff and faculty who may have been affected by the tragedy. The best number to call is ext. 3-2655 to make an appointment, or they can stop by our office on the second floor of Needles Hall." He adds: "If you are concerned about someone else, it's always a good idea to let us know how we may be able to contact them."

And the faculty of arts has announced a noontime session Monday about "Violence in our schools: Comments on the Dawson College tragedy". From 12:00 to 1:00 Monday in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages building, "arts profs will provide their insight and take your questions. Everyone is welcome."

Work by three artists — Simon Glass, Ed Pien and Thelma Rosner — is opening tonight in the UW art gallery in East Campus Hall, in a show titled "Split-Level Paradise". Pictured is a detail from Pien's work "The Garden of Earthly Delights". The show, curated for Carol Podedworny, who headed UW's gallery until her departure for McMaster University earlier this year, will continue in the gallery through October 19. The opening reception runs from 7:00 to 9:00 this evening. Entrance to the gallery is on the east side of ECH, adjacent to parking lot B.

The 13th annual Downey Tennisfest, bearing the name of UW president emeritus James Downey (a nationally known tennis figure himself), is scheduled for Sunday, October 1, and the registration deadline is approaching. "Faculty, staff, students, alumni, retirees and friends" are invited, says Shirley Fenton of UW's Computer Systems Group, a member of the organizing committee. Each participant will get two hours of play ("friendly doubles") during the afternoon event at the Waterloo Tennis Club, and then everybody gathers for dinner at 6:00. Best of all, "you may become one of a select group who will win the Buckley Trophy for humour on the court." Registration and information: ext. 8-4074.

Students' council, the governing body of the Federation of Students, is scheduled to meet Sunday at 12:30 in the multipurpose room of the Student Life Centre. . . . Amy Endert, residence life coordinator in Columbia Lake Village, is urgently looking for an English as a Second Language tutor to work there one evening shift a week (e-mail alendert@uwaterloo.ca). . . . The Federation of Students used book store, usually closed on weekends, will be open tomorrow from 10 to 5 as students finish acquiring their fall term books. . . .

Finally, a reminder that voting in the election of a staff representative to UW's board of governors is continuing, but will close on Monday.

CAR

Back to top