After the new recruits, the veteran.

At yesterday's Waterloo Regional Police Badge Ceremony, the presentation of badges to 13 new constables was followed by a special presentation to Al Mackenzie (centre), director of UW's Campus Police. Waterloo Regional Police Chief Matt Torigian (right) and UW President David Johnston jointly presented Mackenzie with a framed plaque; Torigian called upon the assembly to "reflect on an outstanding community safety career that has spanned more than three decades. . . A model of excellence in leadership who has served his community with integrity, pride, and a strong sense of duty." Mackenzie plans to retire at the end of 2008. (Photo by Andrew Mills)

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Digging the dirt on campus

People working or studying on the main UW campus will have noticed that a large part of the open space north of Biology 2 is now bounded by fences. The most direct route between buildings at the centre of campus and the Student Life Centre has been blocked off, as construction gets seriously under way on the new Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC).

The blockage is necessary because of plans to connect Biology 2 to the southwest corner of Math & Computer through the new building by an overhead walkway, explains Dennis Huber, vice-president, administration and finance. The Quantum-Nano Centre is slated for completion in 2010/11.

Meanwhile, the amount of traffic on the Ring Road has increased, with trucks going in and out of the QNC site as well as other construction sites. With heavy pedestrian traffic expected in the fall, and factoring in the hill and curve in that part of the Ring Road, it's important for safety reasons to avoid congestion as much as possible, Huber says. It's not helpful when people park or stop in front of the Student Life Centre. "We will be monitoring the traffic there and enforcing no-stopping, no-parking rules."

And where will all the dirt from the excavation go? The topsoil is being stored near the Bauer Warehouse and will eventually be re-used. The fill lower down has been tested by geotechnical engineers to make sure there are no problems with contamination, and trucked to a location near the intersection of Hagey Boulevard and Bearinger Road, where it will be used to help level a steep gradient. Making one trip serve two purposes is economical. It saves on fuel emissions — and also money, since trucking accounts for most of the cost of fill, Huber explains.

Update on other construction projects:

• Psychology Anthropology Sociology addition. The finishing touches are now being applied. Move-in should take place as planned in the weeks of August 12 and 19.
• School of Accounting and Finance addition. A two-phase move-in plan is in place, says Jim Barnett, the school's director. Faculty and staff are expected to move into the building in September, with students in classrooms by January 2009.
• School of Pharmacy, Kitchener campus. (Pictured above) It's hoped most of the first building will be ready for faculty and staff occupancy by October (the fourth floor is slated for later completion). Fall is an "away" term for the first cohort of pharmacy undergrads, who will be out on co-op jobs. The building should be ready for classes when they return in January.
• School of Optometry addition should be completed before spring 2009. (An article on the Optometry expansion will appear in a future Daily Bulletin.)
• Engineering 5 is off to a good start, with columns already up to the second floor.

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Staff retirements this summer

A number of UW staff members officially retired this summer, the human resources department reports. Here are some of their names — with the caveat that the official retirement date isn’t always the same as the date when somebody finishes work, because of accumulated vacation days and other factors.

Retired as of July 1:
• John Bullen, associate secretary of the university, who started at UW in January 1978.
• Bruce Uttley, senior technologist in information systems and technology (most recently in charge of the telephone system), May 1970.
• Viktor Lufer, supervisor of technical services in IST, February 1992.
• Vladimir Hnulik, custodian in plant operations, October 1989.
• Jane Lang, instructor and financial officer in the department of earth and environmental sciences, January 1978.
• Anne Harris, executive officer in the faculty of arts, November 1978.

And retired as of August 1:
• Betty Beaver (right), secretary-receptionist for the Engineering Society, September 1990.
• Michael Henry, custodian in plant operations, July 1979.
• Maureen Cizman, receptionist for the optometry clinic, January 1972.
• Penny Pudifin, senior manager of records and communications in the graduate studies office, February 1983.
• Patrick Etmanskie, custodian in plant operations, December 1998.

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UW People: then, now, and always

Jesse Rodgers, president of the UW Staff Association, sends word that the UWSA has hired an executive manager. Gail Spencer (left) will start in the post on September 1. "She has been at UW (contract, part-time, full-time) since 1992 and comes to us from the Centre for Teaching Excellence," Rodgers says. "Gail recently joined the Dispute Resolution Pool and volunteers with the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office, facilitating student groups as part of their diversity workshops." Among other duties, the executive manager will take on the role of staff advocate as described under the newly revised Policy 36 (Dispute Resolution), for UWSA members who request that an advocate be present. She will also help develop new and improved services for association members. Rodgers adds: "In September the UWSA executive will hold some town hall meetings to introduce Gail and get people thinking about the election."

Amos Lakos, a former UW Library staff member, has been awarded one of the first Library Assessment Career Achievement Awards from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The award was presented at the 2008 Library Assessment Conference held August 4 –7 in Seattle, to honour "three pioneers in the field: Amos Lakos, Shelley Phipps, and Duane Webster," says the ARL press release. "Amos Lakos and Shelley Phipps led the groundbreaking effort to articulate the critical role that organizational culture plays in library performance and assessment. Working together for the past decade—Lakos at the University of Waterloo Library and later UCLA Library and Phipps at the University of Arizona Library—they defined and promoted a 'culture of assessment' within libraries, which ultimately expanded the concepts and practices of performance measurement beyond metrics. . . . The now-universal acknowledgement that a culture of assessment is integral to effective, sustainable, and practical library assessment is due largely to the contributions of Lakos and Phipps." The full press release is online. Amos Lakos worked in UW Library from October 1977 to July 2002. Over the years he served as liaison librarian for a variety of subjects, including political science, economics, accountancy, and foreign government documents.

Somehow, previous Daily Bulletin articles listing faculty retirements completely missed the early retirement of Robert J. Williams (right), political science. He began in the department in 1971 and retired January 1, 2007. He was well known as an expert on politics and electoral processes and was often called upon as a media commentator during elections. Hardly less busy now, he reports that he was hired as the consultant to revise Kitchener's ward system for the 2010 municipal election. "I am also presently engaged by the Town of Milton for the same purpose. My volunteer life includes the board of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, the City of Waterloo's Advisory Committee on Culture, and the KW Symphony Volunteer Committee. I am also still involved with the Municipal Cultural Planning Partnership — an activity linked to the Centre for Cultural Management at UW."

CPA staff

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