Double degree CS-business plan will link Waterloo and Laurier

UW’s Senate has given approval to a “double degree” plan linking computer science studies at UW with business studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, on the same model as an existing plan that can give students a Waterloo degree in math and a Laurier business degree. The program will begin admitting students in 2010.

Here are sections from the documentation presented to Senate to explain the proposed BCS-BAA program:

“This double degree academic plan is administered jointly by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. It is a restricted-enrolment plan with admission normally limited to Year One in a fall (September-to-December) term.

“The proposed plan complements the existing BBA/BMath Double Degree plan, which has been jointly administered by the two universities since September 2000. It provides potential double degree students the opportunity to major in Business Administration and Computer Science as an additional option to the other mathematics disciplines, and provides UW’s Cheriton School of Computer Science the opportunity to participate in a plan that has been successful in attracting outstanding students.

“Students who successfully complete this plan will be eligible to attend both universities' convocation ceremonies and be awarded a UW Honours BCS degree and a WLU Honours BBA degree at the respective convocations. Students may register for this plan at either university. The academic component is the same, regardless of where students are formally registered, but students participate in the co-op process at their home institution. Thus, the degree attached to each student's registered university is a co-op degree, with the other university's degree being a regular one.

“Students enrolled in and graduating from this plan will have been exposed to extensive education and training in both Computer Science and Business Administration. They will be prepared to become tomorrow's business leaders in a commercial world that is increasingly dependent on innovative applications of computing technology or successful entrepreneurs in the computing technology sector.

Requirements of the plan

“This academic plan requires a minimum of nine full-time academic study terms and successful completion of a minimum of 52 one-term courses (26 units). These 52 courses (26 units) must include 24 (12 units) specified courses taken at UW and 24 (12 units) specified courses at WLU. The remaining four (two units) elective courses may be taken at either university.

“For UW-registered students, the co-op process involves four (or five at a student's discretion) co-op work terms intermixed with study terms. The first of these work terms occurs during the May-to-August period between the second and third study terms.

“All double degree plan students, regardless of their home university affiliation, are required to satisfy all term-by-term progression requirements of both UW's Faculty of Mathematics and WLU's School of Business and Economics to remain eligible to continue in the plan, and to meet all graduation requirements of both institutions to be eligible for the two degrees. More specifically, students must ensure that their course selection each term, their academic performance level, and their academic conduct in general, comply with all the policies, procedures, regulations and requirements of both universities.”

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Campus briefs: high-achieving students, profs, programs

Science student will swim Lake Ontario for MS
At about 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sarah Sine (far left) and her friend and swim partner Jaime Doucet (left) will leave the shore at Niagara-on-the-Lake to begin a 52-km relay swim across Lake Ontario. Their object: to raise funds and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis, a condition that affects Doucet’s father and Sine’s mother and aunt. Through the night, with swim coach and pacers in tow, they will take turns swimming, planning to come ashore at Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto about 10 o’clock next morning.

Sine, who lives in Mannheim, starts second-year science at Waterloo in the fall. She is a member of the Warriors swim team. The girls’ website states that they hope to raise $50,000, and “all funds raised will be donated equally to our local Waterloo District MS Chapter and to the research effort of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.” You may donate online.

Young engineering whiz wows NASA
Incoming student Eric Yam (left) is just 17, but he already has a four-page resumé that includes international speaking engagements and numerous academic, competition and community awards.

Among other achievements, he is the first Canadian to win the NASA Space Settlement Contest, which asks students from around the world to design an orbiting space settlement for humans. He tied a team from India for top spot with his entry, “Asten.” Shaped like a giant spinning cylinder, "it's composed of a number of modular and mass-producible inflatable modules identical to NASA's transhab program," he explains.

A grad of Toronto's Northern Secondary School, Yam will start Waterloo's mechatronics engineering program in September. The full story is in the Faculty of Engineering’s Eng-e-news, July 8.

Peter Douglas is new UAE campus director
A memo from Bruce Mitchell, interim vice-president, academic and provost, announces that Peter Douglas (right), a professor of chemical engineering, will be campus director for the UW UAE Campus for a year, starting September 1. Douglas is currently associate dean, graduate studies and international agreements, and associate dean, computing for the Faculty of Engineering.

“Professor Douglas’ rich knowledge of the University of Waterloo and his extensive experience and connections across campus will serve him well as he leads our efforts in Dubai during this very important year. Stationed in Dubai, Professor Douglas will also bring a great deal of previous international experience to this position.”

He succeeds Magdy Salama, professor and University Research Chair in electrical and computer engineering, as UAE director. “Magdy Salama has accomplished a tremendous amount by preparing the campus in Dubai to host the first cohort of students this fall. He has been instrumental in strengthening relationships with our partners, establishing infrastructure, setting up the required operating structures, facilitating interaction between UW and our partners in all essential service areas, and promoting this innovative new campus and educational opportunity to all our key audiences.”

School of Pharmacy has provisional accreditation
Jake Thiessen, Hallman director of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, sends word that the school has been granted provisional accreditation status by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs. “This is the next important step in our progress toward full accreditation, which can only be granted once the first class of students completes the program,” Thiessen says.

In its report, the council commented: “The CCAPP board commends the university, Hallman Director Thiessen and his faculty and staff for the excellent work to date to develop the new School of Pharmacy. It was particularly impressed with the care that has been taken to design a contemporary, patient-centred curriculum; the introduction of admissions criteria to ensure academically strong and committed students are invited to enter the professional program; efforts that have been made by the school to develop positive links with the pharmacy profession in Kitchener-Waterloo Region; and with the construction of your wonderful new building for student teaching, graduate programs and research, and patient care collaboration with other health science disciplines. The board concluded that Waterloo has made remarkable progress in a relatively short period of time.”

CPA staff

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