As UW hits 50, Johnston looks to 100

“What an amazing year this has been!” said UW president David Johnston at yesterday’s wrapup party for the university’s 50th anniversary. “We have far surpassed our fundraising campaign’s original goal, we have greatly expanded our graduate student population, begun a significant partnership with WLU and CIGI in the realm of international affairs, renovated, expanded or began construction on several academic buildings, graduated more than 5,000 students, and welcomed more than 165 new faculty and staff to our ranks.

“This institution has had fifty amazing years, but 2007 has been the icing on the cake.”

He's pictured at left with Beth Alemany of the retail services department, just after drawing her name as winner of the final round in the 50th anniversary raffle. Some other excerpts from the text for Johnston’s remarks at the event in the Columbia Icefield yesterday:

“Throughout UW’s fiftieth year, we have had the opportunity to celebrate how our community has worked tirelessly for half a century to make UW what it is today. We know that we remain at the forefront of the kind of education we pioneered a half century ago — co-operative education. We know that we are Canada’s innovation university. We know that we are the best comprehensive university overall by reputation.

“We know that we are the national leader in technology transfer from the classroom to the marketplace. We know that we helped brand the city of Waterloo to the world as it was named the Top Intelligent Community for 2007. And most importantly we know that we would not be where we are today without the successes of our students, staff, faculty and alumni.

“We can’t properly celebrate the past without keeping one eye on the future, and I’d like to share with you some of our plans for the university’s sixth decade, the threshold of which we stand at today.

“We plan to expand the quality and intensity of our research by increasing research revenue to 50% of our operating budget from 30%. We will embrace the world by expanding UW’s presence around the globe. We will ensure at least 12 of our programs are considered among the best in North America by 2017.

“We will have at least 20 research centres or institutes recognized as being among the best in the country. We will stand in the top five in Canada when measuring the research activity of our scholars against other universities.

“We will continue to elevate excellence in teaching by enhancing and recognizing progress at every level, by supporting the development of innovative curricula, and creating 20 UW Teaching Innovation Fellowships.

“We will work to ensure that UW is a great a place to work as it is to study by encouraging professional development opportunities, making our compensation packages more competitive, improving management training, and better recognizing the contribution of non-academic staff to the UW educational process.

“We will support, nurture and engage our alumni and we will grow our giving to $100 million a year. That’s our plan to the year 2017. How are we going to get there? The answer is, ‘together.’

“Today, as we prepare to seal up our time capsule, we should look with a longer lens at the future, fifty years from now in the year 2057.

“At 100, the University of Waterloo will still be Canada’s Innovation University, strong in disciplines and fields that today are probably still in the realm of science fiction. At 100, we will have cemented our reputation as a truly global institution. Our six faculties and affiliated colleges will be recognized worldwide for their unique strengths, and we will be preparing our students to be citizens of the world. At 100, we will be known for connecting people and information to produce integrated knowledge.

“And at 100, the University of Waterloo will still be taking the theme of our 50th anniversary, captured by the words of George Bernard Shaw, to heart: ‘Some people see things as they are and wonder why. We dream of things that ought to be and ask why not.’ “Let’s all keep asking, why not?”

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A message to 2057, and other notes

The anniversary time capsule that was sealed at yesterday's party (photo at left) was designed by Frank Esch of the plant operations department, and made by Ray Scheerer, Ron Coulter and Jerry Livingstone of plant ops, with a laser engraving of the UW logo by Artal's. It's crafted from the wood of a northern red oak tree that formerly stood on the green behind the Graduate House, near the Dana Porter Library, and was about 35 years old when it was felled. (Other logs from the same tree have been put to use on barbecue nights at the firepit beside Laurel Creek.) Into the time capsule, to be opened at UW's centennial, went such items as a 50th anniversary flag and pin, current campus maps and handbooks, the "Seizing Opportunities" sixth decade plan, and recent UW publications.

Playing a special role in yesterday's event were six flag-bearers (right), representing successive eras in UW's history: long-time athletics director Carl Totzke, who was at Waterloo starting in the 1950s; Robert Kerton, economics professor and former dean of arts, who arrived in the 1960s; Stephen McColl of health studies and gerontology, for the 1970s; Anna Lubiw of computer science, for the 1980s; Lynn Ravait of food services, for the 1990s; and Nan Gao of the president's office, for the current decade. The anniversary event yesterday also featured the university's Mace, which is rarely seen except at convocation ceremonies, brought forward by UW registrar Ken Lavigne.

In other matters . . . a memo from Jane Manson, UW's director of finance, reminds departments that the Goods and Services Tax is going down to 5 per cent from its current 6 per cent, effective January 1. (UW gets a government rebate for part of what it spends on GST, meaning that in 2008 "the net GST cost to University departments" will be 1.65 per cent, down from 1.98 per cent, Manson says.) The memo, distributed to executive assistants and department heads, sets out the "transitional rules for transactions that straddle the January 1 implementation date", such as something that's billed in December and paid in January. As for vending machines, "since GST is considered to be collected at the time money is removed from the machine, money removed on or after January 1 will be deemed to include GST at the 5% rate."

The Staff Association Nominating Committee has invited applications for members of the Dispute Resolution Pool that will be set up under the revised Policy 36 (“Dispute Resolution for University Support Staff”) when it gets final approval. The pool, a memo explains, “is a body of 12 individuals who will be chosen as members of a Tribunal when a staff member takes an issue through the formal stage. A Tribunal will consist of any three members from the Dispute Resolution Pool chosen by the Secretariat from a rotating list. Members of the Pool will undergo annual training on facilitation skills, Tribunal process, policy interpretation and the rules of natural justice.” The pool will consist of 12 staff members appointed by the president of the university, from six nominations submitted by the Staff Association and six by the provost. The association is looking to fill its six nominations — two for terms running until the spring of 2009, two until 2010 and two until 2011. “To be eligible for this committee,” says the memo, “you must be available for full-day training on February 12 and 13.” Anyone interested should send word by January 4 to Sue Fraser (fraser@uwaterloo.ca), chair of the association’s nominating committee, with “your contact information; years of service at UW; why you would like to serve; previous committee or tribunal experience; any other relevant abilities, information or experience you would like the Nominating Committee to be aware.”

More than 1,000 people have already signed up for a Facebook group that's organizing a "Waterloo vs. Laurier Snowball War" sometime in early January. • Winners were drawn Monday in a raffle for three gift baskets, organized by the finance office and procurement and contract services; the lucky folks were Sophie Koufes of finance, Maria Longo of the international programs office, and Piroshka Szabo of the office for persons with disabilities. • The Bombshelter pub in the Student Life Centre is open from 9 to 2 today, 9 to 5 tomorrow, then closed until January 7.

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Mathematicians talk of virus vectors

from the UW media relations office

Ontario public health officials and researchers from three North American universities will meet Friday to explore how mathematics and computer science can help predict and respond to a pandemic or bioterrorism. Officials from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care and from the Hospital for Sick Children will join researchers from Cornell University, the University of British Columbia and UW for a symposium entitled "Pandemic Preparedness: Strategies and Tools", tomorrow morning at the MaRS Collaboration Centre in Toronto.

The forum, organized by UW's faculty of mathematics, will examine how mathematics and new technologies are generating mathematical models, statistical estimations and computing and simulation tools for prediction and response. These tools can help develop the best intervention strategies for responding to a pandemic or bioterror.

"There have been tremendous advances in the understanding mathematics can offer since the last pandemics, and more recent outbreaks of SARS and avian influenza have shown that modelling and other predictive tools can greatly reduce the impact of a health crisis," says Tom Coleman, dean of the faculty of mathematics. "This forum will explore tools and strategies for minimizing illness and death — whether from a natural occurrence or deliberate attack."

Tiffany Jay, director of emergency management for the Ontario health ministry, will open the forum with a review of the issues and challenges of pandemic planning. Later in the morning, David Nicholas of the Hospital for Sick Children will share what SARS revealed about the psychosocial impacts of a health crisis on children.

Two professors from Cornell will demonstrate how mathematical modelling applies directly to health issues. Over the last seven years, Cornell has been at the forefront of the emerging field of public health research at the operational level, with major modelling projects in bioterrorism and disaster response, pandemic influenza planning and HIV/AIDS treatment scale-up. And researchers from UBC will demonstrate how new modelling techniques can be used to address pandemic influenza preparedness and discuss preparedness plans for the natural or deliberate release of infectious agents during major events as the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympic Games of 2010.

Influenza pandemics killed more than 40 million people in the 20th century, and experts agree the next one is overdue. Recent reminders of the likelihood and impact of a health crisis, natural or otherwise, have prompted responders to plan for ways of reducing illnesses and deaths.

CAR

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