Dromio and Dromio are Stephen Lotmer and Kristi Dukovic — oh, look, it's complicated, and it's funny; better just see the show. The drama department's production of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" opens tonight for a by-invitation VIP audience, with public performances November 11-13 and 18-20 in the Theatre of the Arts. "Whatever the errors of this comedy may be," the publicists say, "the play has always been very popular with audiences who have revelled in the characters' comical confusions and enjoyed Shakespeare's skilful untangling of the plot complications." (Ticket information: 519-888-4908.)

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Maclean's names Waterloo best, again

The annual Maclean’s magazine rankings of Canadian universities are out this morning — a day earlier than normally scheduled, because of Remembrance Day tomorrow — and they show Waterloo perched in its usual position: “best overall” university in Canada, and ranked “most innovative”, first for “leaders of tomorrow”, and second (behind McGill) for “quality”. That’s exactly how things stood last year, and in 2008, and in 2007. Waterloo can boast an even longer streak — now 19 years in a row — for best “reputation” among the country’s comprehensive universities, those with broad graduate and undergraduate programs but without medical schools. In the quantitative rankings for comprehensive institutions, based on indicators such as budget, student-faculty ratio and scholarships, Waterloo stands third behind Simon Fraser and Victoria, just as it did last year. Officials are scrutinizing the details this morning (they run on for pages) and we can expect analysis and comment to be ready in a day or two.

Now about Remembrance Day, here's a reminder of the memo issued the other day by provost Geoff McBoyle: "In 2005, UW initiated the practice of observing a minute’s silence at 11 o’clock on November 11, Remembrance Day. I would therefore ask that, if possible, whether you are alone, with a group, or in front of a class, you take time at 11 o’clock on November 11th to observe a minute’s silence, remembering and honouring the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace." There will be two ceremonies on campus tomorrow morning, both starting at about 10:45 — one organized by the chaplains and held in the Student Life Centre, the other organized by the Engineering Society and held in the Carl Pollock Hall foyer. The university will also be represented at the city of Waterloo ceremonies held tomorrow morning at the Cenotaph on Regina Street.

Also scheduled for tomorrow is the first event for Conrad Grebel University College’s newly-established Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace. It’s a colloquium, under the title “Fear and Hope: Religion’s Role in Conflict and Peace”, featuring Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. Nathan Funk of Grebel will moderate the discussion, which will be held at the Centre for International Governance Innovation at 57 Erb Street West. “We did not plan to hold our first event on November 11,” says Funk. “But we were happy when the opportunity arose. We believe an event like this serves the larger purposes of Remembrance Day, by calling us to reflect on issues that are a source of current concern and inviting conversation about how we can work together to make the peace we enjoy more real and lasting. And by organizing this as a colloquium in which diverse voices will be heard, we want to signal our intent for the Centre: we want it to provide a space for engagement across differences, for collaborative research, and for ongoing public dialogue.” Also taking part in the event will be Iyinoluwa Aboyeji of Imprint Publications, Jennifer Ball of Grebel’s peace and conflict studies program, and three other respondents.

Tonight, meanwhile, the Arts Student Union and the student History Society are presenting "the First Annual Remembrance Day Lectures", starting at 7:30 in Arts Lecture Hall room 113. Speakers are dean of arts Ken Coates, history professor Geoff Hayes, and Wilfrid Laurier University historian Terry Copp. They're to speak on "issues pertaining to Canada's involvement in both World War I and World War II".

In other matters . . . Opera Kitchener, which began in a small way two years ago, and gave three performances last year in the Humanities Theatre, is staying away from the university for its 2010-11 season. Its first production, Puccini's "La Bohème", will be staged once each at the River Run Centre in Guelph, First United Church in central Waterloo, and the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga (November 15, 21 and 26 respectively). According to the Music Times free newspaper, artistic director Emilio Fina says he'd like to come back to Humanities at some point, but "we had a few issues that we need to sort out first." The opera's season will continue with "Amahl and the Night Visitors" in December, at the St. Jacobs Playhouse, and Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in April at the same venues being used this month.

Information systems and technology and the office of organizational and human development (now there’s a couple of mouthfuls!) have announced that registration is now open for the second series of fall term workshops in the Skills for the Electronic Workplace program. “In addition to SEW’s popular core programming for electronic workplace applications,” a memo says, “highlights of these late fall courses include multiple Introduction to Exchange Calendar courses, which replaces BookIt by December 13. The course demonstrates how to manage your calendar in Microsoft Exchange using the Outlook Web Application. In addition, several Resource Administration in Exchange Calendar courses will demonstrate managing resources in Exchange Calendar. As well, an Effective Web Content Planning course will be offered, which will explore what you can do now to prepare for migration into both the new university web design and into Drupal (the Waterloo Content Management System). For full course descriptions, please view the latest brochure. Registration for these workshops takes place through myHRinfo.”

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First-year plans include 'early intervention'

Efforts to improve the “transition” for new students in 2011 will not — repeat, not — mean a change to the length and timing of next September’s orientation week, says Sean Van Koughnett, director of the recently created student success office.

He said one of the obstacles to introducing change is a fear among some students that “the administration” will shorten or reschedule orientation, a move that was seriously considered, but eventually abandoned, for 2010.

“Transition” involves much more than just orientation week, Van Koughnett said, and it makes sense to keep the familiar schedule, although some new activities may be introduced during the week. The goal, according to a statement that was posted online this week: “a comprehensive transition program that prepares them for both the academic rigour and social demands of university life”.

A “New Student Transition Project” has been under way for the past several months, headed by Heather Westmorland, director of the student life office, and Ron McCarville, associate dean (undergraduate studies) in applied health sciences. The two of them gave briefings at the latest meetings of the university senate and the board of governors, and their report lies behind the new online summary.

What the duo has done, says the web site, is “a comprehensive review of new student transition research, of best practices at other institutions, and of current practices and needs at the University of Waterloo.” What they’ve presented so far has four main points:

• A pre-arrival program (“may include on-campus visits, specialized orientation programs and online modules”) at a time when “many students are eager to gather university resources and information about their programs of study. Once students have accepted their respective offers at Waterloo, summer bridge programs will launch their first-year experience.”
• A “student-centred parent initiative” that “will attempt to raise parents’ awareness about their new role as a partner in supporting student success. The initiative will aim to provide parents with an understanding of the demands placed on new students and equip them with knowledge of campus resources so that they can support students as required.”
• A plan for “early intervention” when students encounter academic difficulties: “Specific interventions may include ‘success coaching’ and/or education on topics such as study skills, time management, dealing with exam anxiety, etc.”
• “A strategic and coordinated communication strategy will move away from the current ‘just in case’ communication strategy and strive to create a ‘just enough’, ‘just in time’ philosophy where students will receive smaller, more targeted messages as needed.”

“We’re about 25 to 30 years behind where we should be,” Westmorland said as she briefed the senate about the project on October 18. Some of the discussion turned to the concept of “community”, which several speakers said helps students persevere and succeed in university. Queen’s University, for example, has a “fantastic” sense of community, one student senator said, suggesting that Waterloo might have much to learn.

The same point was raised when the board of governors heard about the “transition” project on November 2. What does Queen’s do that Waterloo doesn’t do, one board member asked, and provost Geoff McBoyle shot back: “Faculty members are involved in first year.”

Westmorland and McCarville say that one effect of a good transition program should be to reduce the number of students who leave the university after, or even during, first year — although Van Koughnett notes that “there’s much more” to success than just keeping the attrition rate down.

Dropout rates got some attention in the board of governors discussion, as the meeting was told that Waterloo’s retention rate has fallen in the last few years from the mid-90s (where some universities, such as Queen’s, still find themselves) to the high 80s. “We have one specific program where our retention rate is absolutely horrible,” said president Feridun Hamdullahpur. He said he’s setting a short-term goal of reducing Waterloo’s overall dropout rate by one percentage point a year for the next few years.

CAR

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