Working out the last details of orientation

Orientation for new Waterloo students next week will rely on some 1,200 student volunteers, carrying out social and academic program organized by the FOCs, or members of the Federation Orientation Committee, pictured here in one of their few moments not on the run.

The FOCs will hold their final planning meetings tonight and again tomorrow night, before orientation starts during the long weekend, says Gabrielle Finnie, the “first-year experience” coordinator in the university’s student life office. Orientation is managed as a joint effort between the SLO and the Federation of Students.

“It’s going really well,” Finnie said yesterday, adding that the key activity right now is “counting” as orientation kits are assembled for some 6,400 new students. The multipurpose room in the Student Life Centre is heaped, she said, with 6,400 pens, 6,400 mugs, 6,400 coupons for various businesses, “and 6,400 of a bunch of different things,” to which “each faculty adds their specific things,” including clipboards, water-bottles and goggles. The whole works will be handed out as students arrive for orientation on Sunday or Monday.

Counting first-year students is a complicated exercise, and Finnie noted that the 6,400 figure includes some hundreds of students who are new to Waterloo — arriving as transfers or through exchange programs —  but aren’t in first year. On the other hand, the registrar’s office has to count hundreds of students still officially in first year who have been on campus before and won’t need orienting.

The latest estimate of admissions, provided by the office of institutional analysis and planning, shows 5,508 “new admits” who have confirmed that they’re coming to Waterloo in September. Projections are that the figure will shake down to 5,194 by the official enrolment count date of November 1.

That number includes 407 in applied health sciences, 1,220 in arts, 1,174 in engineering, 114 in software engineering, 460 in environment, 932 in mathematics, 18 in computing and financial management, and 869 in science. That’s not counting 223 students in the math and English language preparatory program, 5 in the arts preparatory program, and 67 at the Dubai campus.

“We are expecting to be 237 above last fall’s November 1 count,” writes Mary Soulis of IAP. “Domestic students are at 110% of target and international high-fee paying students are at 95% of target.”

The majority of first-year students will be living in residence, where arrivals have been staggered between Sunday and Monday, which is the Labour Day holiday. Orientation activities will start at 6:00 Monday with an opening ceremony on the Village I green, including words of greeting from provost Feridun Hamdullahpur, Finnie said. A series of get-to-know-you activities called PlayFair will follow.

Tuesday is largely an academic day, Finnie said. Students will meet their deans and other members of their faculties and departments. The day finishes with movies and live performers at various locations across campus. Wednesday and Thursday offer a mix of planned events and free time when students can finalize schedules, buy textbooks, set up computer accounts and pick up financial documents. As well, students in engineering, architecture, software engineering and math will write their English Language Proficiency Examination.

She said all students will be encouraged to attend At Your Service, a two-day service fair running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday in the Student Life Centre. Faculties and departments will also offer program-specific information sessions.

Thursday's big event is Monte Carlo Night, starting at 8 p.m. in the Student Life Centre and Physical Activities Complex. The dressup event features dancing, gourmet snacks, board games, trivia competition, movies, celebrity photos, acrobats and more.

On Friday, experts from across campus will offer tips for academic success during JumpStart at the Arts Lecture Hall. They’ll host workshops on such topics as university-level research, grammar tips, computing services and career planning. Also on Friday, a special lecture series sponsored by the deans presents top professors from each faculty who will give a talk on a topic they are most interested in.

Saturday brings Black and Gold Day at Warrior Field on the north campus, with spirited activities leading up to a pair of rugby games (the Warrior women vs. Guelph, then the Warrior men vs. Royal Military College). In the evening the traditional toga party is scheduled for the  Matthews Hall green, with alternative events elsewhere on campus including games, comedy, and a talent show.

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What profs are doing on their sabbaticals

A number of faculty members won’t be in the classroom this fall term because they’re on sabbatical leave. Here’s a list, to be added to several that appeared during the summer, of individuals whose sabbaticals began July 1, 2010. In each case, the leave is for six months. Information is as presented to the university’s board of governors, which has to give approval for each sabbatical.

Johnny Wong, computer science: “I plan to stay at the University of Waterloo to work on research problems in the area of automated resource management in cloud computing. I also plan to visit the IBM Toronto Lab Centre for Advanced Studies occasionally to discuss research issues related to this area.”

Thorsten Dieckmann, chemistry: “The primary goal of this sabbatical is to learn new techniques in RNA in vitro selection in Dr. Peter Unrau’s laboratory at Simon Fraser University. During the second half of the sabbatical these new techniques will be taught to Dr. Dieckmann’s students and applied to expand the research program.”

Lynne Taylor, history: “I will use this half-sabbatical to complete a book manuscript, tentatively titled In the Children’s Best Interests: Unaccompanied Children in Germany, 1945-1952, and to attend a conference on Children & War, to be held in Salzburg, Austria, in September 2010.”

Stéphanie Lluis, economics: “I expect to remain based at the University of Waterloo during the requested leave. My focus during this period will be my research. In particular, I plan to finish my ongoing projects concerning the Canadian employment insurance pilots recently established, the relationship between absenteeism and the weather, and the mobility of USPTO patent examiners. I expect to attend the Society of Labor Economists (SOLE) annual conference in London in the summer.”

Harriet Lyons, anthropology: “Sabbatical leave to begin ethnographic research in Greece, improve facility in Modern Greek and refine project on return migration to Greece for subsequent application for external research funding.”

Christine Purdon, psychology: “Spend leave in Chambaery, France, working with Dr. Martine Bouvard at the Université de Savoie. Dr. Bouvard is one of Europe’s leading experts in my area, which concerns the development and persistence of anxiety disorders, particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Dr. Bouvard and I have planned two collaborative studies. I also plan to spend time with Dr. Pierre Phillipot and Dr. Dirk Hermans at University of Louvain and University of Leuven, respectively, in Belgium. In conducting the research with both French and English populations, this work will also allow me to expand collaborations with colleagues in Quebec upon my return. I also plan to write a book on the development and persistence of anxiety for Guilford Press.”

Sarah Turner, Germanic and Slavic studies: “Research for monograph Orality in Russian Literature, to be conducted in Russia and the United Kingdom.”

Carolyn Hansson, mechanical and mechatronics engineering: “I will concentrate on supervising my graduate students and on my research on the durability of reinforced and post-tensioned concrete. I will also complete papers from several MASc theses and write an invited chapter for a book on the durability of materials and visit colleagues in Switzerland, UK, USA and Denmark to exchange ideas and results on our work.”

CAR

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