Cookies and other on-campus goodies

It's time again for chocolate on campus — the "Treat-a-gram" promotion in support of the Keystone Campaign, which leads up to Valentine's Day every year. The recipe is new this year, though, with last year's cupcakes giving way to "five scrumptious chocolate chip cookies", according to Emily Huxley of the university's development office. "Treat-a-grams are a great way to send a cheery message to colleagues and friends across campus," she says. "Not only are they made using a new and improved recipe, they are packaged in an environmentally friendly container. All proceeds from the $3 treat-a-grams help to support scholarships for Waterloo undergraduate and graduate students. Order forms can be downloaded from the Keystone webpage. The deadline for orders is noon on Monday, February 1, with delivery taking place on Thursday, February 11. Last year, a total of 1,777 treat-a-grams were delivered, raising over $3,500 for undergraduate and graduate scholarships."

Tomorrow brings a “Volunteer/Internship Fair” to the Student Life Centre (great hall, 11:00 to 2:30). UW’s career services office explains what it’s all about: “Come and visit with representatives from a variety of agencies to find out about volunteer opportunities. Agencies that work with children, health issues, seniors, arts and many more interest groups will be available to discuss volunteer opportunities. Also, talk with representatives about opportunities that may include administrative work, event planning/fundraising, marketing, boards and committees, special events and recreation, just to name a few. You may have the opportunity to be interviewed by some agencies. Volunteering is a good investment with big results.  Not only do you contribute to building a better community, but you also benefit by enhancing your career development; increasing your personal development; getting practical experience; honing your skills while unemployed; connecting with your community and network; strengthening your resumé.”

Said a memo to staff across campus on Friday: “Organizational  & Human Development is pleased to announce a new registration system for our workshops. The new registration system allows attendees to view spaces available in workshops, register online, and receive immediate registration notification via email. The new registration system uses MyHRinfo to register for courses through the Learning and Development module of the Self Service menu (where you view your payroll and benefit information). Simply visit the web site and select Course Registration for more information on the new registration process. Listings of our course offerings this term can also be found on OHD's website by clicking Staff under Courses and Programs.”

And more from the OHD offices in Hagey Hall: “In addition to OHD's popular returning courses, such Minute Taking and Defining Your Financial Future, OHD is offering two new courses in its Supervisory Success program: Performance Expectations, which looks at clarifying the process between managers and employees to strengthen working relationships, and Essential Coaching Skills, which explores a manager's role in employee mentoring development. As well,  OHD will be offering part two of the Business Communications Certificate.”

This Saturday will bring paper airplanes and family fun to the Physical Activities main gym — oh, and Warrior basketball too — as part of the 11th annual Fantastic Alumni, Faculty and Staff Day. Says a release from the athletics and recreational services department: “Waterloo alumni can bring their families to the PAC and cheer on the Warriors as they battle the McMaster Marauders in OUA basketball action. The women tip off at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m. Both games feature half-time entertainment. The half-time buzzer of the women's game signals the start of this year's Alumni vs. Staff Monster Hoops Showdown. During the break in the men’s game, attendees are invited to compete in the annual paper airplane toss for a chance to win great prizes, including a Nintendo DS and a laptop computer. This event is free for all Waterloo alumni, faculty and staff, and their families who have registered in advance.”

Also coming up on Saturday is a major event at Conrad Grebel University College, sponsored by the Peace Society there." The name of the event," writes member Karsten Cheng, "is 'Training for the Skill and Soul of Nonviolence'. It is a half-day non-violence workshop for university students. The dynamic workshop will include role-plays, interactive games, and personal reflection as we learn about and practice nonviolent ways of responding to violence and injustice. Sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee, Ontario, the workshop is free but requires registration to peacesociety@ gmail.com. We are really excited about the opportunity to introduce students about the power of non-violence peace making and how that can transform conflict from everyday life situations."

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Faculty hiring committee called 'wonderful'

The austerity rule that UW imposed in 2008-09 didn’t amount to a complete freeze on hiring faculty members, but it did cut down dramatically on the work of the University Appointments Review Committee, which looked at just 58 proposed faculty appointments during the year compared with 90 the year before.

UARC reported on its year’s work at the January meeting of the university senate. Because its work comes before the university actually offers a potential professor a job, the committee can’t say how many of the 58 people it reviewed actually ended up coming to Waterloo as faculty members.

“Our role is to protect the process,” the committee’s chair, geography and environmental management professor Ellsworth LeDrew, told senate. According to Policy 76, the committee is to make sure that each faculty appointment has been properly handled and “that there was a thorough search for candidates, especially candidates of the underrepresented gender”.

One faculty representative said at the senate meeting, held January 18, that the work of UARC is “really wonderful and constructive” from the point of view of department chairs, the administrators who do most of the paperwork on choosing and hiring faculty members.

However, LeDrew there can be tension — “a lot of pushback” — when deans or department chairs don’t provide all the documentation the committee thinks it needs in order to judge an appointment. Faculty hiring “is often highly competitive”, the policy states, and UARC is expected to work fast, usually clearing an appointment within a week of receiving the information. This year it added a couple of extra members to help spread out the workload, he said.

A possible problem area, he told senate, is “special case” appointments. Says the committee’s written report for the year: “UARC continues to be challenged by special circumstance hires, such as hires conditional upon award of externally funded chairs. These may not follow the normal guidelines for hiring. UARC discussed these issues with the provost and the president of the Faculty Association last year. . . . We try to accommodate the specific issues while being mindful of the mandate of UARC.”

The statistical part of the report shows that the 58 potential hires considered during 2008-09 included 37 men and 21 women. It says 15 of the proposed hires were for tenured positions, 39 for probationary positions (those that would eventually lead to tenure), and 4 for definite term appointments.

Breakdown of the 58 proposed hires by faculty: 4 in applied health sciences, 25 in arts, 12 in engineering, 7 in environment, 3 in mathematics and 7 in science.

The committee also reports that 34 of the 58 were Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, while 24 were foreign. Twelve were proposed for positions as full professor, 8 as associate professor, 37 as assistant professor (the usual rank for beginning faculty), and 1 as a lecturer.

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Ready to learn of the power of love?

a release from the UW media relations office

An internationally acclaimed social innovator, once praised by South Africa's Nelson Mandela, will give a public lecture later this month and launch his latest book on how to effectively deal with pressing problems in society.

Adam Kahane, author of Power & Love: A Theory & Practice of Social Change, will deliver this year's Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation on Wednesday at the Centre for International Governance Innovation on Erb Street. The event, which begins at 7 p.m., is presented by Social Innovation Generation at UW; the Region of Waterloo; CIGI; Capacity Waterloo Region; and Musagetes.

The annual lecture highlights world-class thinkers with new ideas on how to achieve significant, durable social change for increasingly complex social problems. "Kahane will discuss power, our desire to achieve our own purposes, and love, our desire to heal the whole, as complementary drives that are both required to effect sustainable social innovation and change," said Frances Westley, who holds the J.W. McConnell Chair in Social Innovation.

In the lecture, Kahane will draw on his extensive experience with designing and leading complex multi-stakeholder change processes to offer practical guidance for effectively balancing power and love, two usually polarized drives.

Kahane, a facilitator and partner with Reos Partners, is well-known for a distinct approach to scenario thinking and development, which played a key role in moving South Africa from apartheid to democracy in the 1990s. He is also an associate fellow of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School.

His earlier book, Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities, earned high praise from Mandela. The former South African president called it: "A breakthrough book that addresses the central challenges of our time — finding a way to work together to solve the problems we have created."

Tickets for the lecture cost $25, and include admission, a copy of Kahane's latest book and a reception. Registration and more information on the lecture are on the SIG web site.

Social Innovation Generation is a collaborative partnership involving the Montréal-based J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, UW, MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and PLAN Institute in Vancouver, designed to foster a culture of continuous social innovation in the country. The SiG project is focused specifically on social innovations that have durability, impact and scale. SIG focuses on profound change processes and encourages effective methods to address persistent complex social problems on a national scale.

CAR

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