Keystone features library staffer

Recently celebrating his 15th anniversary as a staff member in UW’s library, Mark Spencer (pictured) “has always been committed to making his workplace better,” says a profile posted on the Keystone Campaign web site. He’s the latest in a series of Keystone supporters to be featured in that way.

“Over the years,” says the profile, “Mark has held various positions including library attendant, clerk, clerk-secretary, trainer, circulation supervisor, and now cataloguing and information service associate. In his current role, Mark contributes to records for books and journals for the Library’s online catalogue Trellis and spends time on the Davis Centre Library’s information desk answering reference questions.”

He says: “I enjoy my work immensely: the sleuthing and detailed work with the electronic records and interacting with the library patrons – students, faculty, staff, and information seekers from everywhere. I particularly enjoy the people at UW: the people I’ve worked and am working with; the people I’ve met along the way; and the relationships, friendships, and acquaintances I’ve formed here campus-wide.”

What makes you proud to work at UW? “I’m very proud of our Library and the direction it is taking within UW and within the Tri-University Group consortium (UW, WLU, and the University of Guelph) and the amazing range of resources we have available to us because of the consortium in general and UW in particular. It never ceases to amaze me how well-known and well-regarded UW is when I speak to people and mention where I work. I can’t help but feel good about that – every time.”

What motivated you to give to Waterloo? “My monthly donation is not huge but substantial for me. I could mention all the usual reasons to give: love of my job, tax relief, belief in the future of the school, or wanting to help UW and particularly UW’s Library become more leading edge – all good reasons and all important to me. But what tipped me over the top to give again (I had already contributed to the campaign) and to give substantially more, were three important changes to the interlocking campaigns.”

He elaborates: “I felt it was important to hit the $2.8 million target to get the Kresge Foundation’s $750,000 donation to the Library. I didn’t want to see UW miss out on that significant donation. The Kresge Challenge Grant is part of UW’s Keystone Campaign/Campaign Waterloo, so it must benefit the university as a whole. Most of the improvements, renovations, and increased access to electronic data and resources were planned, in my opinion, to respond more readily, more efficiently, and more effectively to the university’s needs. The Kresge Challenge Grant was included in the group of causes earmarked by the campaign for which UW will match funds donated, dollar for dollar!”

Is there anything special about your background that has been valuable to your work at UW? “My degree is in History with a large dose of English, so it’s no surprise I like to read, and that’s another reason why I enjoy where I work!”

What is your favourite spot to relax on campus? “My partner and I, since we both work at UW, take our breaks and lunches, when time permits, together in the courtyard or the garden at ES, the courtyard at ML, or the rock garden between MC, B1, and ESC. We also like to take walks around the ring road or across Laurel Creek around the university colleges.”

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Teaching: 'what he loves to do most'

From the Centre for Teaching Excellence — fourth in a series profiling the 2007 winners of the Distinguished Teacher Award.

Steve Furino (left), an associate professor in mathematics at St. Jerome’s University, has been teaching mathematics and computer science since his arrival in July 1989. He is also cross-appointed to the department of combinatorics and optimization at the University of Waterloo. He has taught Algebra, Linear Algebra, Principles of Computer Science, Coding Theory, Linear Programming, Network Flows and Design Theory for almost 20 years.

Steve Furino is keen and willing to try new teaching strategies in order to engage the students in his classes. During his weekly “History Friday” he spends some time incorporating the history of mathematics into his lectures. He talks about the people and places involved with the mathematics students are learning so that they can see that mathematics has been and remains a part of the world in which we live.

He recently assigned the preparation and instruction of a small part of each class to students so that they would be forced to learn the material thoroughly before the class. Photographs are taken of the first year class on the first day of term and the instructor learns the students’ names by the end of the first month of class

A colleague noted that “one need only to sit in Steve’s class for five minutes to realize that this instructor is doing what he loves to do most — teach.” His enthusiasm is contagious. Many students noted that he “makes learning math fun”. In 1997-98 he received the Outstanding Instructor of the Year designation, which is awarded by undergraduate students in the Faculty of Mathematics.

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Sabbatical leaves started July 1

Here’s another list of UW faculty members who began sabbatical leaves on July 1, with summaries of their plans as submitted to the UW board of governors, which has to give approval for all sabbaticals. The leaves are for six months (until December 31, 2007) unless otherwise noted.

Myra Fernandes, psychology: “First, I will focus on writing the remaining manuscripts (4 to 5 of these) stemming from projects in my lab conducted over the past 2 years. Second, I will design and implement 2 studies that make use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This will be completed at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto. Third, I will visit colleagues in western Canada and the United States to exchange ideas relating to current models of memory and cognitive decline associated with normal aging.”

Bae-Yeun Ha, physics and astronomy: “The purpose of the proposed sabbatical leave is to promote and carry out collaboration with some of the researchers at SNU (Seoul National University, Korea). If successful, this will enable the requestor to take advantage of the manpower and resources of SNU.”

Kathryn Hare, pure mathematics (12 months, to June 30, 2008): “My plan is to spend most of my sabbatical year working with my collaborator, Dr. T. Ramsay of University of Hawaii, studying thin sets in abelian and non-abelian compact groups. I also plan to visit with other experts in harmonic analysis who are located at universities around the Pacific Rim.”

Prabhakar Ragde, computer science: “I will be continuing existing research on parameterized complexity and fixed-parameter tractable algorithms, preparing journal papers for publication and looking at possible extensions of ongoing work.”

Naomi Nishimura, computer science: “I plan to work with current collaborators Dimitrios Thilikos, Stefan Szeider, and Prabhakar Ragde during the course of my leave. As I will be physically located in Waterloo for the six months, the collaborations will largely take place remotely. A good fraction of my time will be spent getting back up to speed on developments in my area, necessitated by the time loss due to three previous years of administrative appointments.”

Barbara Schmenk, Germanic and Slavic studies: “During my sabbatical I would like to conduct research at some of the most important institutes in Applied Linguistics/ Educational Psychology in Germany. This will allow me to get access to the most important documents and library collections in my field of study.”

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