UW identity exercise moves forward

by Kelley Teahen, associate director, marketing and communications, Communications and Public Affairs

Progress continues on the UW Identity exercise being led by Meg Beckel, vice-president, external relations (left). By late June, a consulting firm from Toronto, Ove Design & Communications, had completed research about Waterloo, its current identity, and how it presents itself to the world, through 70 interviews, an online student survey, a document review, campus tours, third-party research review, and a scan of other universities.

Ove’s team has distilled its findings into a preliminary report outlining a possible “identity strategy” direction for the University of Waterloo. That report was presented to the UW Identity Task Force in late June, and members of the task force are now sharing this information with their constituent groups across campus to more broadly consult on the ideas presented by Ove.

“At this point, we’ve been presented with a direction, and I’m very interested in finding out how widely that direction resonates through the campus community,” says Beckel. The research indicated there was wide support for an “umbrella,” or overarching Waterloo message, that could then have under it more-specific focuses for various faculties, units and institutes. “We now just have to agree on what that message is.”

The task force members doing these presentations are Allan Bell (Library), Al Binns (UW Police), Elaine Brown (Housing), Steve Brown (Faculty of Mathematics), Mario Coniglio (Faculty of Science), Tobi Day-Hamilton (Faculty of Arts), Gwen Graper (Registrar’s Office), Martha Foulds (Faculty of Engineering), Sue Fraser (Applied Health Sciences), Mark Seasons (Faculty of Environment), Christine Goucher (UW Graphics), Lisa Grogan (ODAA), Fred Martin (Conrad Grebel University College), Del Savio Pereira (Federation of Students), Tina Roberts (Undergraduate Recruitment), Kelley Teahen (Communications and Public Affairs) and Sean Van Koughnett (UW Graphics).

The findings from all these presentations will be brought together at a mid-August meeting of the task force. A draft positioning statement and other supporting materials will then be created and moved forward to the university’s Executive Council for consideration and be brought out for even wider consultation across campus.

Once there is consensus, these materials will then form the basis for the expression of that message, or brand, including examining the university’s visual identity. “Agreeing on the focus for an identity or brand is not about a tagline or a new logo,” Beckel says. “It will then become the filter that influences everything we do, from how we offer our student services to how we conduct fundraising.”

Back to top

Last farm market today; more this fall

Today is the last chance for students, staff and faculty to buy fresh locally grown produce at the UW Farm Market – for a while, at least. The last summer market takes place this morning, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the lower level of the Student Life Centre.

It was a successful summer for the market, says Lee Elkas, food services director. “It exceeded our expectations. We had seven markets this summer compared to four in 2007. We were thrilled at the population who attended, especially since there are fewer students on campus in the summer.”

One measure of success is increased sales. “On average, each market brought in $1,500, which is up 15 per cent compared to last summer,” Elkas says.

The farm markets started in 2006, a joint venture between UW students, who run the markets, and food services, who handle the business end. The idea is to help students reduce their ecological footprint, offer them a conveniently close source of fresh, nutritious food at reasonable cost, and return a fair profit to local farmers.

Elkas estimates that about 75 per cent of what buyers pay at the UW farm market goes to the farmers, compared to less than 20 per cent of the money spent in grocery supermarkets. The Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative takes 10 per cent; UW food services spends about 15 per cent of the price on transporting produce from Elmira, advertising and signage, packaging (providing bags and small baskets for the produce, which arrives in bulk), staff time, and the cost of renting space in the Student Life Centre.

This year some new items, such as purple and cheddar cauliflower, cantaloupe, fresh basil, garlic, local fruit spreads with no added sugar, and organic honey were added to the existing spread of local produce, honey and preserves, and fresh bread from the UW Village Bakery. “We also introduced some higher-priced items, like raspberries,” Elkas says. The berries sold well, he adds. “In fact, we pretty much sold out of everything every week.” Another new feature, designed to cut back on the use of packaging: this year the market offered Ontario-made canvas bags for sale and bio-degradable shopping bags.

Elkas promises more market dates in the fall, weekly from early September to the week before Thanksgiving, in the same location. The fall markets may include some produce grown by the Waterloo Community Garden on the north campus as well as from the established sources.

Back to top

Familiar faces in new places, and other notes

The fine arts department has a new chair as of July 1: Bruce Taylor (above), a faculty member since 1993 and a specialist in ceramics, begins a three-year term in that role. He takes over from current chair Jane Buyers. • John Goyder (below right) of the sociology department is the new associate dean for computing in UW’s faculty of arts, a position he took over July 1 from Robert Park of anthropology. • John Yeow of UW’s systems design engineering department has been named to receive an Engineering Medal (Young Engineers Category) in this year’s awards from Professional Engineers Ontario to be awarded at a gala event in Toronto November 15. • The recent golf tournament held at Conestoga Golf and Country Club by companies and employees in UW’s Research and Technology Park raised, at last count, a total of $12,558 for the Tenants Fund, which goes to support the K-W Community Foundation.

Yesterday's article on the Canada Day event statistics brought a smile to Matt Erickson, director of the Conflict Management and Human Rights Office. "In particular your statistics on the number of port-a-potties," he writes. "In 1986 I was chair of this event, and completely underestimated the huge growth in numbers for the Columbia Lake fireworks from the previous year (which was the first). I recall helplessly watching the huge line-ups forming behind the two (not 34) port-a-potties as an estimated 15 to 20,000 people came to see the show. . . . There were more than a few frantic people looking for the person that only ordered two "thunder shacks."
CPA staff

Back to top