Payroll pension pinch pending

Staff and faculty members are paying more into the UW pension plan as the result of a premium increase, approved last year, that took effect July 1. For those who are paid monthly — the great majority of UW employees — the larger deductions will be evident for the first time as payday arrives on Friday, July 25.

A campus-wide e-mail from the human resources department yesterday reminded faculty and staff that the change was coming. Details are on the HR web site.

The change is the second half of a two-step increase in pension premiums that was proposed in the spring of 2007 and approved by the university’s board of governors a year ago. At that time, the board's pension and benefits committee declared that the plan needed higher contributions "to maintain its viability”.

Said the committee last year: “Employee contributions have not increased since 1977, while the University’s contributions have continued to increase." At that time employees were paying 4.55 per cent of their earnings, up to the "YMPE" (yearly maximum pensionable earnings) figure set by the Canada Pension Plan, into the UW plan.

The rate was increased to 4.80 per cent as of July 2007, and approval was given to hike it to 5.05 per cent as of this month. The current YMPE set by the government is $44,900. For earnings from YMPE up to twice that level, the previous rate of 6.50 per cent went up to 7.175 per cent in 2007-08 and is now rising to 7.85 per cent. And for earnings above 2xYMPE ($87,400) the rate rises from 7.85 per cent to 9.20 per cent as of July 1.

UW, as the employer, has to match all the employee contributions dollar-for-dollar and put additional money into the pension fund when it’s needed. For the past year the university has been contributing $1.55 for every $1 paid by employees, a figure that is expected to drop to $1.37 now that the July 1 changes have taken effect. It’s estimated that this year employees will put $15.8 million into the pension fund and the university will add $21.7 million.

The committee said last year that the new premiums would keep the pension plan healthy, paying out pensions to retired staff and faculty on the traditional "defined benefit" basis. The pension formula involves final average salary and the number of years an individual has been working at UW and contributing to the pension plan.

The committee reported earlier this summer that the pension fund’s assets had passed $900 million and are greater than its liabilities — the amount needed to meet pension obligations to more than 5,000 past and present employees — according to two different actuarial calculations.

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Geological engineering program defends title

Engineering Geology and Geohazards professor Steve Evans brings us the following piece of good news: for the second year in succession a student from the Geological Engineering Program at the University of Waterloo has won First Prize in the Canadian Geotechnical Society's national competition for the best final year design project report.

The 2008 winner is Amy Adams who won the prize with a report entitled "Seismic hazard and stability analysis of the Blue Sky dam". The report was prepared in collaboration with BC Hydro, where Amy had spent a co-op work term in 2007, as part of the final year design project course co-ordinated by Dr. Andre Unger.

Amy's work was supervised by Professor Evans who also supervised the work of 2007 winner, Bryan Tatone. Amy will receive the prize at the 2008 Canadian Geotechnical Conference in Edmonton in September. According to Evans, "the award is a further indication of the continuing strength of Waterloo's Geological Engineering Programme."

Says Barry Warner, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences, "We are very proud of our Geological Engineering Program, and such kinds of recognition, make us even more proud of our students...two years in a row no less."

Geological Engineering is an interdisciplinary program involving the faculties of Engineering and Science. It is co-chaired by Professors Andre Unger and Steve Evans of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

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Notes on a Thursday

Several departments, including these two, are sporting new chairs this month, and not the furniture kind.

The department of pure mathematics has a new chair. As of July 1, Ross Willard (right) takes on that role, succeeding Frank Zorzitto. The new department chair in geography and environmental management, as of July 1, is Peter Deadman (left), a specialist in such fields as wetland vegetation and hydrology. He takes over the chair’s position from Paul Parker, who has moved on to be an associate dean in the Faculty of Environment.

There’s a new feature on president David Johnston’s website. Copies of the environmental scan presentations he makes to Senate every month are now available for download. These presentations provide an overview of education-related trends, events and other happenings at the local, provincial, national and international level that are of particular interest to the UW community. His most recent presentation is currently available and more will be added as time allows, and the list of PowerPoint files will be updated after each Senate meeting, which usually takes place on the third Tuesday of every month, with a break during the summer. Copies of the president's speaking notes for major events as well as select writings are also available on the site.

Students take note: Warrior Weekends are still going strong, with events on Friday July 11th and Saturday the 12th. On Friday participants will be making tie-dye handkerchiefs in conjunction with the One Waterloo diversity campaign, and at 9:00PM a massive bingo tournament will take place with the grand prize, an iPod Shuffle, up for grabs. At 11:00PM, there will be a screening of the movie 21. On Saturday there will be a bonfire along with a massive manhunt game, and I've been assured that the bonfire will not be taking place inside the SLC Great Hall. There will be free hot dogs, smores and pop, all free with your Watcard. For more information check out the Warrior Weekends website.

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