Last day before the holidays

Today is the last working day of 2011. In a few hours the university will close for its longest holiday of the year, and apart from a few people providing round-the-clock essential services, the institution will drift off in silence like Warren Beatty in that snowbank at the end of McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Although with the weather we've been having, it may be more like Rutger Hauer on that rooftop at the end of Blade Runner. But I digress...

'Tis the season for campus holiday messages! The Centre for Extended Learning, Retail Services, Creative Services, and Renison University College send their warm wishes.

Today is payday for faculty, staff, graduate students and temporary employees on the monthly payroll. Employees can check their payroll information by logging on to myHRinfo. The next biweekly payroll will be deposited in bank accounts on December 30. The human resources web site now lists information about 2012 payroll deadlines and pay dates.

The majority of food services outlets have closed for the season, including the residence cafeterias. Open today are Tim Hortons at three locations — the Student Life Centre, Davis Centre and South Campus Hall — as well Pastry Plus in Needles Hall. All will close at 2:00 this afternoon and remain closed until the new year.

The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries are both open for intersession today, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The School of Architecture's Musagetes Library closes at 4:30 today and will reopen on January 3 at 9:00 a.m.

The Computing Help & Information Place (CHIP) in MC1052 will be open for regular hours today — 8:00 to 4:30 — and its services include Media Resources, Equipment Loans, Software Distribution, Exam Scanning, and Helpdesk Services. Central Stores will be providing normal scheduled service on Friday.

The Physical Activities Complex and the Columbia Icefield will be open today until 4:30 p.m.

Last-minute shoppers take heart! All Retail Services stores (Book Store, Waterloo Store, Write Stuff, E Smart, Campus Tech) and Media.doc outlets in the Davis Centre, Dana Porter, the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology (CEIT), and Math & Computer have special hours today - 8:30 to 4:30. The exception will be from 12:30 to 1:45, when all Retail Stores and Media.doc outlets will be closed for a staff Christmas lunch today from 12:30 to 1:45, with re-openings taking place after.

Custodial staff who usually work later in the evening will start today's shift at 4:00 p.m. and work until midnight. During the holiday break, grounds staff will be on call only to do winter maintenance of emergency routes on campus as requested by UW Police or the Central Plant.

Waterloo residences will close today at 10 p.m., except for Columbia Lake Village-North, where some residents live year-round. They will open again on Monday, January 2nd at 8:30 a.m. for the winter term move in.

Most university buildings will be closed December 24 through January 2, reopening on Tuesday, January 3. Buildings will be locked over the holidays, the police stress, and anybody who needs to get in will have to have made prior arrangements with the faculty or department responsible for the building.

Rick Zalagenas, director of maintenance and utilities, says building heat will be set back to night and weekend temperatures starting tonight, and most ventilation will be turned off. "The university is closed," he stresses, "and anyone who elects to be here should not be expecting normal services and temperatures." Zalagenas invites everybody's help with conservation, predicting "substantial" savings in utility costs — for example, ensuring all appliances, office equipment and unused fumehoods are turned off. "And please make very sure all windows are closed before you leave."

The GreenIT Advisory Group would also like to remind everyone to power off any non-essential computers, monitors, departmental printers or other electronics, as well as unplug them if possible, during the holidays.

'Tis also the season for laboratory shutdowns. The safety office has told managers of laboratories what precautions they should take before they lock the doors and head out for a holiday break. A web page dealing with the Christmas and New Year's shutdown warns that, among other things, labs have to be prepared for the power going off during the holidays: "Due to winter weather conditions utilities, especially electricity, may be affected. It is a general rule that all laboratory processes be designed to safely survive a service failure." Emergencies can be reported to ext. 33793 and concerns relating to hazardous materials spills to ext. 22222.

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On campus over these ten days

The university will be closed from December 24 to January 2. But what does closed mean, exactly?

All Retail Services stores will be closed for the holidays beginning Saturday, December 24. The libraries will be closed. The Physical Activities Complex and the Columbia Icefield will be closed December 24 to January 2. Offices will be closed — and that means phones won't be answered and e-mail will pile up, unless individuals choose to check their messages from home.

However, all parking lots will be open and free throughout the holidays, except for lot D under Needles Hall and the Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC) lot at the Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology (PAS) building. Gates to the lots around campus are being opened one by one in the course of this afternoon, says parking manager Sharon Rumpel, who also notes that there’s a bargain rate of $5 for the day in effect today at lot D and at the “visitor” portion of lot H near University Avenue. From now until the morning of January 3, there's no need to put money into any pay-and-display machines. Students who live in residence and are leaving their cars on campus over the break should register with Parking Services and will be told just where to put the car, for the sake of snowplow operations. Enforcement of parking rules on fire routes and in handicapped spaces will continue, the university police say.

A major exception to the 10-day campus closing is the Student Life Centre. Scott Pearson, assistant manager of the SLC, writes that the building will be open throughout the holiday as always. The Turnkey Desk (519-888-4434) "will be staffed 24 hours a day with friendly turnkeys to provide assistance to those who stay on campus," says Pearson. "Hot coffee is always available, as well as some snacks and other beverages. Food Bank hampers are also available at the desk."

GO Transit and Greyhound will continue to service campus throughout the shutdown, although some days the schedules will operate on holiday scheduling. Full ticketing and travel information is available at the Turnkey Desk. Pearson also says that "on New Year's Eve all transportation on GO Transit is free system-wide after 7:00 p.m. No tickets are required."

The Airporter will make its usual stops at the Student Life Centre.

Some of the businesses in the SLC will shut down entirely throughout the break including the Apple II Hair Salon, Life Touch Photography, Campus Tech, Tim Hortons, Brubakers, The Bombshelter and Federation Xpress.

CIBC will have its basement branch open on Saturday December 24, and December 28 to 31. The branch will be closed on December 26, 27 and January 2. Both of the banking machines will be operational throughout the break.

The Student Health Pharmacy will be open for regular hours from Wednesday December 28 Friday, December 30. Campus Dentist and SOS Physiotherapy are planning to open one day during the shutdown, and clients should contact them directly for appointments.

"Co-operative Education and the Centre for Career Action will be closed during the break and re-open on January 3," says Olaf Naese of the co-op department. "For co-op students still needing January-April 2012 employment, JobMine postings will resume in the first week of January."

"If you notice an outage of the campus network or any major IST-maintained computing facility, you can leave a voice message with the CHIP help desk at 519-888-4357 or submit a request online," writes Peggy Day. "Voicemail and Request items will be checked daily."

The Waterloo Stratford Campus and the School of Pharmacy in downtown Kitchener are both following the main campus's shutdown schedule. Peter Douglas, director of the Waterloo UAE Campus writes, "We are closed from December 25 - January 1. The campus opens on January 2 and classes start on January 3."

The School of Architecture's administrative office will be closed at 4:00 p.m. on December 23 and will reopen January 3 at 9:00 a.m. The main building in Cambridge will be closed to both the public and students on Christmas Day, according to a memo from Architecture. "Students are allowed to use their offices/studios during the university closure (other than December 25th) however, School facilities will be in closure mode i.e. building heating, etc. will be minimum. The public will have limited access to the café and gallery." Speaking of which, the Melville Café will be open December 24 from 8:30 - 4:00, closed Christmas Day, and open from 8:30-4:00 from December 26 to January 1. The Design at Riverside Gallery will be closed from December 24-26, open from noon to 4:00 December 27-30, and on December 31 from 10:00 - 4:00 p.m. It will be closed January 1 and 2, and regular hours will resume on January 3.

Health services will close as of  4:30 p.m. today and remain closed, like other departments, until January 3. Students with medical problems over the holidays are encouraged to first call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for medical advice. There will be a physician on call for health services who can be reached by following the telephone instructions on the health services line, 519-888-4096.

Companies and services in the north campus Research and Technology Park will set their own holiday schedules.

The ongoing renovation and construction projects will continue over the break, including work in the Davis Centre office wing.

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Looking ahead to January

Tuesday, January 3 will be the first working day of the Winter 2012 term. Offices, athletics facilities, libraries, food services and retail outlets will reopen and classes will begin.

The campus will show some signs of life prior to January 3. For example, the winter term residence move-in will start Monday, January 2 at 8:30 a.m. Co-operative work terms begin Monday, January 2.

The Book Store, Waterloo Store, and Write Stuff will have extended hours in the first week of the term and will be open Monday, January 2 from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m., and Tuesday, January 3 to Thursday, January 5 from 9:00 - 7:00 p.m. On Friday, they will be open from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday, January 7, they will be open 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Campus Tech in the Student Life Centre will be open Monday from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. E Smart and the Media.doc locations will be open January 3 at 9:00 a.m.

Feds Used Books will be open January 2 from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.

The Registrar's Office is circulating the following message: "As of 8:00 am, January 3rd, 2012 your winter 2012 courses that use the online course system will run in Waterloo LEARN (replacing UW-ACE). Go to learn.uwaterloo.ca to log into Waterloo LEARN. Use your Quest/WatIAM user name and password (just as you used for UW-ACE)." Most courses will not be active in LEARN until January 3.

For both new and returning students, Ontario Student Assistance Program funding will be released by the student awards and financial aid office starting January 3.

Unofficial marks for the fall term will start appearing on Quest today. Instructors can submit final grades through the usual electronic procedure all through the holidays. Registrar's office staff will process these submissions, and e-mail notifications will be sent to instructors. The "fully graded date" for fall term undergraduate courses — when official marks are available on Quest — will be January 23.

Open online class enrollment ends January 9, and open class enrollment ends January 16.

The Daily Bulletin will return Tuesday, January 3. Any emergency announcements before that date will be made through a headline on the university's home page. See you in 2012!

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