Alumni 'refer' future students to UW

As thousands of young people list UW programs on their computerized applications for university admission over the next few days, some of them are choosing Waterloo for a special reason: matchmaking between student and university by a UW graduate.

It’s the first year for the “Refer a Student” program, jointly sponsored by UW’s alumni affairs office and office of marketing and undergraduate recruitment. The two are cooperating, says recruitment director Tina Roberts, “to create a program that gives UW alumni the chance to refer outstanding prospective undergraduate or graduate students to UW. At the same time, alumni have the opportunity to stay connected by being an ambassador for UW.”

The refer-a-student plan was launched at the time of Homecoming in September, and features an alumni magazine advertisement (left) picturing a young — very young — future student. Alumni are pointed to a web site where they can pass information to UW about a potential student, and also have the option of sending the student a message.

Roberts gives some background: “In March 2005, an Alumni Recruitment Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of Faculty/School recruitment and alumni specialists together with members from Alumni Affairs; Graduate Studies; the Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology; and Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment. Our committee was given the responsibility of creating a plan to engage enthusiastic, successful alumni in the recruitment of high-quality students to UW. Our 'Refer a student' initiative is just one of about a dozen strategies that we plan to implement over the next few years. The committee also included 6 alumni who advised us on the development of the plan and have been providing feedback.”

She says that in addition to the magazine, ad, “Banners and magnets are being developed, and the news about 'Refer a student' will also be shared at various alumni functions. We believe that alumni can play an important role in recruiting talented students to UW because they know first-hand the impact that the UW experience can have on someone's life.”

In the first month of the program, about 180 referrals were received, says Jaymis Goertz of the recruitment office. They’ve been streaming in since then, he adds, although figures aren’t available yet, not only because it takes time to count them, but because privacy rules mean the data must be handled very carefully.

January 10 is the overall deadline for Ontario high school students to apply for September admission to UW, although some programs closed earlier while others will continue to accept applications as long as space remains available. The general deadline for applications from outside the universe of Ontario secondary schools is March 31.

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Student seats open on senate

a memo from the university secretariat

Nominations are requested for the following undergraduate student seats on the UW Senate:

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2009.

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2009.

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Mathematics, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2009.

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Science, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2008.

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2008.

One student elected by/from the full-time or part-time undergraduate students at large, term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2009.

Nomination forms are available online. At least five nominators are required in each case. Completed nomination forms should be submitted to the Chief Returning Officer, Secretariat, Needles Hall 3060, no later than 3:30 p.m., Friday, January 19, 2007. Elections, if necessary, will coincide with the annual Federation of Students' elections (February 13-15).

Student senators completing their terms of office as of April 30, 2007, are Claire Bazley (AHS), Adam Schubert (ENG), Eric Logan (MATH), Ciprian Mihalcea (at-large) (all are eligible for re-election).

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Notes on the first day of classes

Good to see the twinkle and gleam of the doughnuts this morning at Tim Horton's in the Modern Languages building, which is back in operation as the winter term starts. So are other food services outlets across campus. And as everybody buckles down to work for the winter term, here's a comforting note: reading week is scheduled for February 19-23. (Those who don't get reading week off can at least look forward to the April 6-8 Easter weekend, which falls during the study days before winter term exams.)

The UW police are still looking for the passers-by who must have seen an incident on campus one morning just before Christmas: "At approximately 8:55 a.m. on Monday, December 18, a cyclist and a van collided near the entrance to Parking Lot D. The cyclist received minor injuries while the driver of the van was uninjured. Police Services are requesting assistance from anyone witnessing this collision, specifically an unknown male and female who stopped and provided first aid to the injured party. Anyone with information is requested to contact Staff Sergeant Wayne Shortt at ext. 3-6966 or email hwshortt@uwaterloo.ca."

Columbia Lake Village is holding a couple of focus groups next week, collecting insights from certain groups of residents about life in CLV. "Your input will be used to better market our community to potential residents," the CLV newsletter says. Two sessions are scheduled: on January 8 for residents in the "north community", and on January 11 for graduate students living in the "south community". Both sessions are scheduled for 5 p.m. "To register, please e-mail Mike Iley, marketing coordinator," says the newsletter — he's at miley@uwaterloo.ca. Space is limited.

Results of the December 7 English Language Proficiency Exam are now available, the writing centre says. • The first 50 customers at TechWorx in South Campus Hall on the first Thursday of each month (that's tomorrow) are being promised "a free surprise item with any purchase". • A memo from IST says the standard configurations for UW computers listed on the Dell-UW web site have been updated to include the new Dell product line, the Optiplex 745.

You may not know a great deal about International Standard Book Numbers unless you're intimately involved with a library or bookstore — but if you are, then oh boy. Kathryn King of UW's retail services tells what's happening now: "The current 10 digit ISBNs are becoming scarce, and the move to 13 digit ISBNs becomes official on January 1, 2007. The UW BookStore began testing for the changeover in August 2006, and has been using 13 digit ISBNs for some time now. The changeover is primarily due to a lack of 10 digit ISBNs, although the new 13 digit ISBNs will also mirror the existing EAN or bar code that appears on the back of a book, which will simplify data entry. The change adds three digits in front of the current ISBN, either 978 or 979 to identify the product as a book. The BookStore’s current textbook search system, BookLook, will only accept 13 digit ISBNs. However, the changeover will have little to no impact on students searching for their textbooks. Students can run a search on BookLook using the book’s title and author, course code, or by searching for a keyword."

Seven winners of draw prizes among Keystone Campaign donors were announced just before the holiday, as the monthly incentive program continues. Winners' names are listed on the Keystone web site; prizes this month include gift certificates from the Keg restaurant, the Princess Cinemas and the University Club.

CAR

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