We missed a major anniversary last week, I discovered just too late. It was December 3, 1958, fifty years ago last Wednesday, that Ontario premier Leslie Frost officially opened the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Building — to be known as "Engineering I" for most of UW's history, and renamed the "Doug Wright Engineering Building" in 1998. By any title, it's the university's oldest academic building, erected in a matter of months after the "Waterloo College Associate Faculties" bought its new campus in January 1958. Frost, a strong supporter of Waterloo, had already received a petition asking the Ontario government for full status as a university; the University of Waterloo Act would be passed in the spring of 1959.

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Award for three graduate supervisors

Three faculty members have been selected to receive the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision for this year, says a memo from the dean of graduate studies, Alan George.

They are Robin Cohen of the School of Computer Science; Alison Pedlar, recently retired from the Recreation and Leisure Studies department; and Steve Spencer of the Department of Psychology.

“The Graduate Studies Office, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association, established this Award to recognize exemplary faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in graduate student supervision,” George’s memo notes. The selection is made by a committee consisting of the graduate dean or a designate; the president of the GSA or a designate; a faculty member nominated by the Faculty Association; and the associate deans (graduate studies and research) of the six faculties, or their designates.

“Recipients,” George notes, “will be recognized at an annual Graduate Studies Award Reception in January.” His office released these citations for the three 2008 winners, drawn largely from testimonials by their past and present graduate students:

Robin Cohen: “Several nomination letters advised that Dr. Cohen is a very effective supervisor, with patience and knowledge, putting just the right amount of pressure on students to ensure that they do well in their programs. Dr. Cohen suggests that students talk with other professors to find out about their areas of research and also encourages her students to take courses that would further their knowledge in a particular research area. She is always available to meet with her students, takes notes at their meetings for continuity, and is always very encouraging. She makes international students feel comfortable in their new surroundings. When her students attend conferences, she organizes meetings between professors from other universities and her students.

“Dr. Cohen is a very caring person who wants her students to succeed. She helps them complete scholarship applications, and organizes career meetings between her students and people at the large IT companies. A number of her students have won awards including the Alumni Gold Medal and the Governor General Gold Medal. Five of her former PhD students are either currently employed in Canadian universities including Waterloo or are leading research groups in laboratories.

“Over the years she has co-authored more than eighty journal or conference papers with her students.”

Alison Pedlar “is known for her community work in recreation and leisure. People consistently would comment on leaving her sessions feeling heard, valued, inspired and energized by her passion and commitment to improving the quality of life of all members of the community. She instilled these feelings in her students and organized opportunities for them to do their research work in the same communities. Over the last fifteen years she led research projects focused on improving the quality of life of people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and women who are incarcerated in our Federal prisons. She instilled in her students how to disseminate their research by reports, presentations and input from community members and organizations.

“Dr. Pedlar was always available for her students. She never opposed ideas but would ask insightful questions that encouraged critical thinking. She was always quick at giving feedback and she did it in a very humanitarian way that encouraged students to excel. She helped her students apply for scholarships and to publicize their research. Many of her former students are now teaching and have expressed their gratitude for her being a tremendous role model.”

Steven Spencer “attracts absolutely stellar, well-rounded, brilliant students. One student did a SSHRC postdoc at Stanford, was hired as an Assistant Professor at UCLA and is now at UBC as a tenured professor. Four of his other students are either postdocs or faculty.

“Dr. Spencer has been recognized for helping prospective students and students who he is currently supervising. Steve embodies everything that a graduate student would want in a supervisor; he is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his research, he is well respected in his field, he is an excellent teacher, he is a great mentor, he is extremely approachable, and he is very committed to all of his students. He seems to know exactly what each student requires in terms of supervision. One student he supervised was interested in a cultural area and Professor Spencer, although knowing that it would take more of his time to supervise this student, agreed to do it. He treats all of his colleagues (from undergrads to celebrity professors) with the same respect and recognition.”

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CS prof leaves for BC, and other notes

Jay Black of UW’s school of computer science will leave Waterloo at the end of the year to take a senior administrative job at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. SFU has named him to be its Chief Information Officer, effective January 5. Black (left) held a similar job at UW as associate provost (information systems and technology) from 1996 to 2003. He’s a specialist in “ubiquitous computing” and distributed systems, and has been serving as associate director of the CS school. Black and his wife Catherine, a faculty member in French at Wilfrid Laurier University, will be guests of honour at a farewell reception on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Davis Centre lounge. “Please join us,” says Tamer Özsu, director of the CS school, “to wish them the best, sign the guest book, add a vignette, and celebrate Jay’s many accomplishments at the University of Waterloo.”

Sharon Rumpel, UW’s manager of parking services, has made an announcement that will come as good news to campus visitors, at least temporarily. It’s about parking lot C, across University Avenue from the main campus entrance, which “was taken away as a visitor lot during mid-September” because of demand for space from student permit holders. The result: many visitors had to park way down Seagram Drive near the UW Place residence complex. Lot C is being returned to visitor use during daytime hours on a pay-and-display basis ($3 in coins on entering the lot). “We expect this to continue through to the end of term,” says Rumpel, “and will advise the status of this lot next term once we see what the space allocation is like.”

The finance committee of UW’s senate will meet this afternoon (4:00, Needles Hall room 3004) to hear an update about the current year’s operating budget and talk about the “context” in which administrators will put together a budget for the 2009-10 year. Background information distributed with the agenda includes the budget approved by UW’s board of governors last spring. In it, provost Amit Chakma is expecting a deficit of just a hair less than $3 million for UW’s operations in 2008-09, with income of $403.5 million and expenses of $406.5 million. Beyond that, however, the “context” is dominated by the national and international economic crunch, including the deficit plans and “restraint measures” announced by the Ontario government, which provides the biggest single share of UW’s funding.

A few days ago I mentioned a couple of pre-Christmas charitable activities that are under way on campus, and asked for news about others. Several e-mail messages arrived as a result, and I quote:
• Jennifer Crane, distance and continuing education: "I have placed a box in our office’s lunch room that is collecting toys for the Santa’s Anonymous program. Waterloo Ringette is participating in this again this year and we have called it Alison’s Dream in memory of a very young Ringette player. This is near and dear to my heart as I coached this little girl last year and I am part of Alison’s Team. Last year we helped gather more than 300 gifts."
• Chris Mills, health studies and gerontology: "Once again you will notice a box during December, to collect the makings for Christmas stockings to be delivered to homeless shelters — simple pairs of warm socks, stuffed with the sorts of things a homeless person might use or enjoy, and that are small enough to fit in a stocking. The shelters are very supportive of the idea and each pair brings a little comfort to someone who probably has lost contact with loved ones. This year there will actually be two collection points in AHS, one outside my door (BMH 2310) and one outside LHN 2734. You may leave pre-stuffed stockings (please indicate whether for male or female, adult/youth/child) or the makings."
• Debbie Pallas, faculty of arts: "The Dean of Arts Office and the Arts Advancement Team are collecting Canadian Tire money to purchase Christmas toys for underprivileged children."
• Katherine MacLean, English Language Proficiency Program: "I am collecting new teddy bears to be donated to the Waterloo Region Sexual Assault Treatment Centre. Each bear will be loved and hugged by a child who has suffered sexual assault trauma. If you would like to donate a new bear, please drop it off by December 17 at DC 3611."

CAR

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