Grad studies to get interim dean

The provost has announced an interim appointment that will keep somebody in charge of the graduate studies office — and UW's crash program to expand grad enrolment — after Ranjana Bird, the current dean of graduate studies, leaves this fall.

Arriving as interim dean, as of October 1, will be J. Alan George (left), no stranger to administration, since he has variously served as provost, dean of mathematics, and interim vice-president (university research), as well as associate provost (information systems and technology), his current position. As of June 30 this year he had been a member of UW's executive council for a total of 20 years, surpassing Doug Wright's record of 19 years and 5 months as dean of engineering in the 1960s and president in the 1980s.

"As you know," says a memo from provost Amit Chakma, "Dean Ranjana Bird will be leaving UW to assume the position of Vice President, Research at the University of Windsor, effective October 1st, 2007. Considering our ongoing efforts in graduate enrollment expansion, it is important to have a senior colleague in charge of Graduate Studies to provide continuity until Dean Bird’s successor is appointed. I am therefore very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Alan George as Interim Dean of Graduate Studies, effective October 1, 2007, for a term of up to one year. . . .

"I am personally grateful to Alan for his long standing commitment and dedication to UW and his willingness to serve as Interim Dean, Graduate Studies, along with the continuation of his IST responsibilities. President Johnston and I look forward to working with him, and we are confident that he will have your full cooperation and support."

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Summary of UW maintenance program

a report from the plant operations department to the June meeting of UW’s board of governors

Plant Operations employs approximately 130 staff (excluding custodial and grounds staff) to operate and maintain its buildings and utility systems. These staff are managed in four functional areas: the Buildings, Mechanical and Electrical sections which respond to routine service calls and perform preventive maintenance tasks, and Central Plant which operates the district heating and cooling systems, oversees the operation of free standing buildings and monitors the building automation systems.

Service requests are received by the department through a number of methods: there is a primary maintenance contact number which can qualify calls received and radio dispatch staff during normal working hours. After hours, this same number transfers to the Central Plant, which provides 24-hour emergency response either directly or by calling in appropriate personnel. Small renovation projects initiated by campus clients are received as work requests and forwarded to the appropriate section for completion. There are also projects either directly undertaken by in-house staff or administered through staff to implement major equipment upgrades/replacement, energy conservation projects, etc.

To assist in the administration of routine work, a computerized maintenance management system is utilized (Datastream 7i). This Web hosted system tracks 23,000 individual assets, which represent either an entire building or an individual subsystem, together with their individual components. This system is used as the basis for a comprehensive preventive/predictive maintenance program and facilitates detailed analysis on asset reliability. The results of vibration testing, oil analysis, thermo graphic scans, insulation resistance and physical checks of equipment are logged and analyzed utilizing this system to prolong the life of existing equipment and identify areas where improvements can be achieved.

There are on average approximately 12,000 calls received each year (35/day) which could be classified as breakdown maintenance — items such as water leaks, power loss, environmental comfort complaints, etc. This represents approximately 50% of total maintenance efforts, with the preventive/predictive tasks accounting for another 20%. The balance of work performed is either for repetitive operating tasks (i.e., monitoring the control room in Central Plant) or to complete renovation or efficiency projects.

Current energy efficiency projects include lighting retrofits in DC, E2, ES1 and CPH to high efficiency electronic ballasts and T8 lamps. Additional lighting projects in centrally controlled classrooms and common spaces are being evaluated for implementation in our ongoing conservation program. The design work for installation of heat recovery for the PAC pool ventilation system is nearing completion and installation is scheduled for the late summer. New energy conservation incentive programs have recently been announced and potential projects are being evaluated so that the highest paybacks can be achieved.

The physical plant groups at Ontario universities annually undertake system-wide benchmarking exercises which include (a) Facilities Condition Index (FCI) to measure the level of deferred maintenance, and (b) the OAPPA Energy Survey. UW's FCI (deferred maintenance/current replacement value) is the lowest in the system at 0.03 versus a system-wide average of 0.09. For the past 10 years, UW has consistently been one of the three lowest energy users (GJ/m2) among Ontario universities.

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And a few other summer notes

A memo from the human resources department notes that federal tax rules and the TD1 deduction form have been "revised, effective July 1, 2007, to include a new non-refundable tax credit for children under 18 years of age at the end of the year. In addition, the spouse or common-law partner amount and the amount for an eligible dependant have increased from a maximum of $7,581 to a maximum of $8,929. The amount will be reduced by the partner or eligible dependant's net income for 2007. If these circumstances apply to you, and wish to revise your federal TD1, you can access the revised form online. The form can be completed and returned to Human Resources, GSC. For July monthly payroll the form must be returned by Tuesday, July 17."

The university secretariat says that ballots about the possible reappointment of the dean of engineering, whose current term ends next June 30, were distributed late last week to faculty and staff members in engineering. • "There's a growing interest and need for daycare and babysitters" in the Columbia Lake Village North townhouse complex, says the CLV newsletter, inviting students in CLV South to add their names to a babysitter list. • Some 20 students in the science faculty's "China 2-plus-2" program are arriving in Columbia Lake Village this week and will be there through the end of the summer.

Says the engineering faculty's e-newsletter: "Yusof Ganji, an electrical and computer engineering doctoral student, has been awarded the SPIE Optmechatronics 2006 Best Paper Award for his paper titled 'Catheter kinematics and control to enhance cardiac ablation'. The paper was co-authored by Farrokh Janabi-Sharifi. SPIE, an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light, will present the awards in October in Lausanne, Switzerland."

The human resources department reports a double retirement of UW staff, effective on July 1. Kathryn Blom retires from the post of medical technician in the psychology department, where she's been working since October 1966. Gerard Blom retires as mechanical technician in the same department, having been a staff member since July 1967.

Virginia Mixer, who retired from UW June 1, 1979, died on July 13. She was a staff member in the library from September 1961 — first in Dana Porter and subsequently as head of the circulation department in what was then the Engineering, Mathematics and Science library, located on the fourth floor of the Math and Computer building. She was the widow of Rev. Chester Mixer of Kitchener's St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, and is survived by their daughter and two sons. "In lieu of flowers," the family suggests, "donations to St. John the Evangelist and Amnesty International would be appreciated."

CAR

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