Director named for new training office

A director has been named for the new "organizational and human development" office that UW is creating, as announced during the summer.

Says a memo issued yesterday by Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services): "I am pleased to announce that Katrina DiGravio has accepted the new position of Director of Organizational and Human Development (OHD). Katrina will begin her new position October 23 and over the next few months will add additional professional training and development staff. The new office will be in Hagey Hall, occupying part of the Box Office of the Humanities Theatre.

"Katrina has been a member of the Human Resources department since 1980 and is currently one of the senior Staff Relations Coordinators. She has a Master Trainer certification from Achieve Global, is a member of the Leadership for Results Training team and teaches Human Resources Management 200 for the department of Psychology.

"Katrina is well known and respected within the UW Community and has been the primary University resource for training and development over the past five years. This new department will begin expanding the development and training opportunities for students, faculty and staff and will develop a succession planning program for UW — activities that are strongly supported by the Staff Relations Committee and the Sixth Decade Report.

"My thanks to the selection committee, Bruce Mitchell, Academic and Student Affairs, Neil Murray, Human Resources, Heather FitzGerald, Student Life Office, Michelle Zakrison. President, Federation of Students and Bob Hicks, IST. I know you all join me in wishing Katrina every success in her new role and in this exciting new endeavour."

Scott said earlier this year that "For some time, it has been clear that UW needs a far more comprehensive and dedicated development program than it has been able to offer with only the Staff Training and Development fund and half a trainer and half an assistant. There is a huge demand for more programs and more variety from our staff members."

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Free workshops offered to students

Several of UW's departments are offering training this fall that can help students punctuate their writing, manage their time, cut their stress levels, tackle midterm exams, answer interview questions, and even ace the Law School Admission Test.

That's not all at once, of course, but in one workshop or another from counselling services, career services, and the English Language Proficiency Program. The first such event of the term is being held today, a morning workshop on "Career Exploration and Decision Making" from the career services department. It'll be repeated on November 1.

Here's a summary of programs that have been announced:

• Counselling services workshops under such titles as "Re-Claiming Your Self", "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction", and "Assertive Communication", meeting in three to six weekly sessions; most programs start in late September or early October.

• Study skills programs from counselling services (note-taking, reading, exam studying), a four-session workshop starting the week of September 25 or October 24.

• Writing skills workshops sponsored jointly by counselling services and the ELPP, with single sessions in October or November on such topics as "articles/pronouns/prepositions", "mechanics and document design", "report writing", and "verbs and voice".

• Career development workshops in the Tatham Centre, many of them geared to the calendar of co-op job applications and interviews. Topics range from "Exploring Your Personality Type" to networking, "working effectively in another culture", business etiquette, interview skills, writing CVs and cover letters, and "Successfully Negotiating Job Offers". There are also specialized sessions on law school, teaching English abroad, and "starting your own business".

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As the world turns, so do the leaves

Friday's issue of Imprint included a letter from Mario Pushparatnam, president of UW's Tamil Students Association, co-signed by Federation of Students president Michelle Zakrison, in response to the late-summer arrests of one UW student and several ex-students in connection with alleged Tamil Tiger terrorism. "WATSA is shocked," says the letter, "and the Feds is even more shocked. Even though it is only accusations at this point and the truth would come to light following a fair and just trial, we at the WATSA and the Feds would like to establish that the actions which these men have been accused of do not represent the objectives set forth by the WATSA or the Feds. . . . WATSA is working in full cooperation with the Feds and UW administration to overcome the stigma created by the current situation."

Renjie Butalid, vice-president (administration and finance) of the Federation of Students, says he's creating a Business Review Committee to take a fresh look at the Feds' money-making subsidiaries, rather the way a committee reviewed the Feds' non-profit services last year. Phase I, this fall, will deal with Aussies convenience store and the Federation Hall pub; Phase II, in the winter, will assess the Bombshelter, the Used Book Store, and Scoops (ice cream) and Wasabi (sushi). He's looking for volunteer members of the review committee. At the same time, Feds president Michelle Zakrison says she's creating a committee "to research and propose a Universal Bus Pass system", giving students access to Grand River Transit, and a committee "to review the decision-making bodies and processes within the Federation of Students in order to maintain and improve accountability, effectiveness and efficiency".

Warrior Captain Jud Whiteside shot the low score in Waterloo golf history with a 6-under-par 66 at the Windsor Invitational on Friday at the Sutton Creek Golf Course. Says a report from the athletics department: “The Black and Gold golfers , in capturing the gold medal, also recorded a new team record of 285, or 3 under par. Contributing to the historic feat were Canadian Open competitor Vic Ciesielski with a 71, Jimmy Latta 73 , Mat Sargeant 75 and Arjun Walia. Second in the event was Davenport University of Detroit with a 304 total, followed by Guelph, Windsor and McMaster, all with 309 totals. Jud's score captured first place honours by an unheard of 5 strokes over teammate Vic Ciesielski. The Warrior golfers swept the top three individual medals with Jimmy Latta's 73. Next action for the Warrior golfers is at the Laurier Invitational on Thursday as they hope to defend last year's victory.”

The ultimate reward for doing good stuff — research, art, improvement of society — must be a MacArthur Fellowship, which comes unrequested and unexpected (that means there are no application forms) and provides $100,000 a year for five years to let you do whatever you think best. The annual fellowships "come without stipulations or reporting requirements", the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation adds. "The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors." This year's 25 new Fellows, announced yesterday, include one who's a UW graduate: Claire Tomlin, an aviation engineer and faculty member at Stanford University, who "focuses on developing methods for analyzing hybrid control systems and applying these results to practical problems". She earned her BASc in electrical engineering at Waterloo (1992), then did graduate work at Imperial College, London, and the University of California at Berkeley.

The UW school of architecture building has been chosen to receive an Award of Excellence in the City of Cambridge Urban Design Awards program. . . . A display ad in Friday's issue of Imprint draws attention to the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which "supports unorganized Teaching and Research Assistants in their efforts to gain collective bargaining rights". . . . Not that cooling is much of an issue in this weather, but plant operations sends a warning that the air conditioning will be turned off tomorrow on the second floor of South Campus Hall while some maintenance work is done. . . .

I wrote yesterday that "The staff association says it will offer a $500 bursary to a staff member or relative at both the undergraduate and graduate levels again this term, and both awards will be matched by the Education Credit Union to bring the total to $1,000." That's not quite right, says Barb Yantha, office manager for the staff association: "The Undergraduate Award funds are matched by the Education Credit Union so that the recipient receives $1,000. The Graduate Award is $500. For both of the awards the student must be a member of the Staff Association or be the spouse, child, grandchild or dependent of a Staff Association member."

CAR

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