Deans and VPs form two task forces

a memo issued by UW provost Amit Chakma

Information technology (IT) services at UW are quite highly decentralized. In addition to the central IT department (IST), there are significant computing units in the Faculties and in the Library, and there are also staff members whose primary responsibility is IT support in numerous other units on campus. Similarly, Marketing & Communication (M&C) services are provided within the Registrar’s Office, Communication & Public Affairs, Development & Alumni Affairs, Office of Research, the Faculties, Business Operations and numerous other units.

There are advantages to decentralization. Staff members who are regularly or permanently resident within a unit can provide timely response to local service requests and are aware of requirements unique to that unit.

There are disadvantages as well. Decentralization can lead to unnecessary duplication of services and less than optimal use of resources. It can also make it difficult to establish overall institutional directions, standards and best practices.

As always, but particularly in these times of fiscal constraint, we have a responsibility to ensure that we make the best possible use of our resources. Accordingly, through this memorandum I am announcing the creation of two Task Forces as described below.

• An Information Technology Task Force whose mandate is to identify the collection of UW essential and broadly utilized IT services; determine the most efficient and effective way(s) in which those services can be provided; recommend changes to address 2) above. The members of the Task Force are Ken Coates, Tom Coleman, Alan George, Dennis Huber and Geoff McBoyle (Chair).

• A Marketing & Communications Task Force, whose mandate is to identify the marketing and communications needs of UW; determine the most efficient and effective way to meet those needs; identify the skills and experience needed to meet those needs; recommend changes needed to address 2) and 3) above. The members of the Task Force are Meg Beckel (Chair), Terry McMahon, Leo Rothenburg, Peggy Jarvie and Deep Saini.

The Task Forces will be consulting with individuals and groups on campus during the next several months, and are expected to have preliminary reports for Executive Council review by February of 2009. I am grateful to the members of the Task Forces for agreeing to serve.

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Day of horror expected at Renison

a news release from Baylor University Press

Church graveyards . . . priests struggling with demonic forces . . . the crucifix as a shield. Why do horror films so often rely on some element of religion to help tell a scary story? And what is it that we, the audience, fear? Author Douglas E. Cowan addresses these questions in his new book Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen, published in October 2008 by Baylor University Press.

A book launch event, sponsored by the Religious Studies Student Society, is scheduled for today at 2:00 in the Renison University College great hall.

Sacred Terror reveals how religion and religious images play an integral role in the success of horror flicks. When there are so many other scary things around, why is religion so often used? Cowan argues that horror films are opportune vehicles for externalizing the fears that lie inside our religious selves; what scares us reveals important aspects of who we are, both as individuals and as a society. Six basic themes of fear are explored in Sacred Terror: fear of evil; of the flesh; of sacred places; of change in the sacred order; of the supernatural gone out of control; of death, dying badly, or not remaining dead; of fanaticism; and of the power — and the powerlessness — of religion.

Sacred Terror "is groundbreaking work that will appeal to readers of film studies and religion studies as well as horror film fans. “Up to now, horror films have been largely neglected or denigrated by scholars of religion and film. [This is] a book that is both entertaining and important,” said John Lyden, professor and chair of religion at Dana College. “Proving that the genre of horror film belongs firmly in the interest of religious studies, Douglas Cowan offers an ample map of where any interested scholar might turn to revisit this ancient form of storytelling,” said S. Brent Plate, associate professor of religion and the visual arts at Texas Christian University.

Cowan received his PhD from the University of Calgary and is associate professor of religious studies and social development studies at Renison University College. The author or editor of nine books, his most recent publications include Cults and New Religions: A Brief History (2007), Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (2005), and Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (2004).

Established in 1897, Baylor University Press serves the academic community by publishing works that integrate faith and understanding. The Press features publications in the areas of religion and public life, Judaism and Christianity, Christianity and literature, religion and higher education, religion and rhetoric, and philosophy of religion.

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Honorary degree for Johnston, and more

UW president David Johnston is on "a distinguished list of four Canadians" who will receive honorary degrees from McMaster University during its fall convocation ceremonies this Friday in the Great Hall of Hamilton Place. Johnston will be given his Doctor of Laws degree, and will speak briefly, during the 9:30 a.m. ceremony for the graduating classes of the DeGroote School of Business, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Arts and Science Program. Also receiving an honorary degree that morning is Janice Gross Stein, director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. Ceremonies for Engineering, Science and Health Sciences will take place the same day at 2:30 p.m., when David Brillinger, a professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an environmental activist and advocate for the Inuit, will receive honorary degrees. "David Johnston is a good friend, a man I admire and respect very much," says Peter George, president of McMaster. "He is undoubtedly the best hockey player among Canadian university presidents, past and present, and his love story with Canadian higher education and public service is exemplary and a model to us all. We are proud to welcome him into the McMaster family."

Speaking of David Johnston, this time in tandem with provost Amit Chakma, a webcast is now available online for those who missed the November 5 "town hall" meeting, or were there but want to savour it all again. The event, held in the Humanities Theatre, drew an audience of 610 staff and faculty members, the Theatre Centre reports — rather more than the "nearly 500" that I estimated in the Daily Bulletin next morning. The afternoon's focus was on economic conditions and their effect on UW, including the current "postponement" of hiring and discretionary spending. Those who arrived at the meeting before supplies ran out received a handout of background information that had also been presented by Johnston at the October 28 meeting of the UW board of governors.

And also online, as of yesterday at noontime, is the "UW in the UAE" document that was distributed at Monday's senate meeting, as background for its discussion of the planned Waterloo campus in the United Arab Emirates. "We believe," says one of its introductory paragraphs, "that the UAE is an excellent location to establish a presence within our limited resources: it is increasingly and demonstrably committed to higher education, our partners represent the highest levels of political authority, and we have built a sound business case with minimal financial and reputational risk. This initiative will enable us to exercise global leadership while advancing the guiding principles that distinguish UW as adopted in the Sixth Decade Plan."

The second issue ("fall 2008") of The Boar magazine, published by the Arts Student Union, has appeared, with articles on topics ranging from gender roles to Anne Boleyn. There's also a thought-provoking letter from editor Ashley Csanady, who writes in part, "I always felt flaky for my inability to pin down a major. That changed when I had a conversation with the Dean of Arts, Ken Coates, about his undergraduate experience. He told me that he officially changed his major four times and unofficially seven. He explained the beauty of studying the arts is that it provides students with the ability to move fluidly between interests, floating until they find a discipline's perspective that suits their unique personality, aptitudes, and aspirations. This message has been ringing in my ears ever since."

International Education Week continues, with a display about international study opportunities all week at Renison University College library, and many events specific events. Today alone brings ‘Guess Where It’s From’: currencies and objects from around the world, 11:30 to 1:00, Renison cafeteria; exchange students and exchange coordinators reception, 12:00 to 1:30, Needles Hall room 1101; Engineers Without Borders overseas programs information session 3:00 to 5:00, also NH room 1101; exchange program information session aimed at first-year and second-year math students, 4:00, Math and Computer room 5158; Heather Stager speaking on her experiences as an intern with Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency, 4:30, NH 1101. Thursday events are noted in the "When and where" column at right.

The Engineering Society will hold its fiercely-fought Genius Bowl trivia competition this evening in, I think, POETS Pub in Carl Pollock Hall. • The fall book sale at the UW bookstore, South Campus Hall, continues through Thursday. • And the eagerly awaited craft, toy and bake sale sponsored early each winter by the Hildegard Marsden Nursery opens today; it'll run Wednesday through Friday 9:00 to 5:00 in the Davis Centre lounge.

CAR

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