Have a cold one. Waterloo Residences held a Residence Reunion in the Student Life Centre courtyard last Thursday, with performances from the UW Breakers, a chance  to win a crunchy chicken wrap from Mudie’s, and — to cool everyone down on a hot day — free slushies and real snow. Stephanie Lem (left), Hiba Chaudhry, and Anna Li, members of the residences Right Fit Team, were on hand to promote winter 2012 term residence, for which applications are now available.

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President invites input on priorities

The third of four quarterly reports from President Feridun Hamdullahpur went out to the campus community on Wednesday, July 13. Among other matters, he listed the priorities for 2011-2012 outlined by Executive Council in May, and presented to the Board of Governors by Geoff McBoyle, vice-president, academic and provost, on June 14:

• Improving communication with various stakeholders on campus and off
• Continuing to identify and obtain additional sources of new income
• Using best practices, identify leaders, both faculty and staff, and arrange for mentoring and enhancement of their leadership skills
• Hiring new faculty and staff complement using best practices
• Developing the Student Success Office including activities related to first-year transition and students-at-risk
• Starting a process of reducing the high student/faculty ratio
• Attracting international students, both undergraduate and graduate, but from a broader geographical base
• Developing a means of refreshing co-op
• Streamlining course and degree offerings and standardizing procedures in both undergraduate and graduate programs
• Developing measurements of research impact, developing a suitable data base, and communicating the results to various stakeholders

Four items have been singled out for “immediate attention”: developing the Student Success Office, starting the process of lowering the student/faculty ratio, improving stakeholder communications, and developing measurements of research impact.

“I welcome and in fact invite your feedback on the priorities as listed, and on areas we may have overlooked in our discussions,” Hamdullahpur (left) told the campus community. “Provost McBoyle has called a meeting of chairs and directors of academic departments to discuss all 10 priorities, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to hearing from you about the elements of our plan and, more importantly, the methods we choose to achieve our ambitious goals.”

“For my part, I will focus on…”

He then set out his own list of priorities: Increasing and diversifying income, focusing on student success, increasing research intensity, and “reviewing and refocusing the Sixth Decade Plan.”

Concerning research and academics, he said: “We are finalizing two such initiatives: the Southern Ontario Water Consortium and the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Trials. As the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities adopts institutional differentiation as a funding model, we want the University of Waterloo firmly positioned in the research-intensive category.

“Our growing satellite campuses will also receive increased attention this year, with business plans, academic and research programs, and enrolment projections finalized for our campuses in Stratford, Dubai, and Huntsville. Why take this approach? These three campuses, over the past year and a half, have created significant levels of visibility together with new academic and financial opportunities. Unless we follow through on our commitments to these new initiatives, we face similar levels of reputational and financial risk.

And on the Sixth Decade Plan: “We will evaluate its component parts and reassemble it with a concrete strategy to put the Sixth Decade Plan into action with appropriate accountability and measurement structures. Again, your input is vital to the plan’s success.”

Hamdullahpur included a link to his PowerPoint presentation to the Board of Governors on June 14.

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Student creativity on show this week

VeloCity student teams show new enterprises
On July 20, 11 promising workspace and residence teams at VeloCity, the university’s acclaimed “dormcubator,” will present their new businesses to the public.

“Having recently received a million-dollar donation from VeloCity alumnus Ted Livingston,” says VeloCity’s Emily Barnes, “it will be interesting to see whether or not VeloCity’s new participants have stepped up to the plate. Be sure to visit the Student Life Centre Great Hall on July 20, noon to 3 p.m., to see what they have to offer.”

Among the new initiatives are Feedband: a device to tell you whether your exercise is effective; Willet: a platform for small online payments allowing users to create a virtual tab; and CodeCookie: an interactive online tutorial that teaches programming. More here.

Gateway contest winner unveils plan for SCH

The winner of the i3 Challenge is being announced on Wednesday, July 20, and the winning proposal will be unveiled. Launched in October 2010, this contest challenged students to redesign the Waterloo south campus gateway, the area around South Campus Hall (pictured) and the entrance road that links to Seagram Drive and crosses University Avenue. 

The top three teams will attend the event, with team members on hand to discuss their ideas and designs. The top 10 proposals will be displayed. More than 200 students from across campus have taken part in the i3 Challenge, which was sponsored in part by Waterloo Region.

The event is being held in the Festival Room in South Campus Hall, 3 to 5 p.m. (right after the VeloCity event, so people won't have to choose which to attend). Space is limited; register at http://i3challenge.eventbrite.com. Find more information in this Media Relations news release.

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Day care coming; Colin Campbell

A project that’s been discussed and looked forward to for years is another step closer to bricks-and-mortar reality. A day care centre to replace the three independent centres operating on campus – Paintin’ Place in UW Place, and Hildegard Marsden and Klemmer, both north of the Columbia Icefield — could be in place next year, if all goes well.

In May, the university Senate’s Building and Properties Committee approved a budget of $3.6 million for the project. The Walter Fedy Partnership has been retained as architects/engineers. According to the committee’s report, the new day care would accommodate about 150 children in a single-storey 18,000-square-foot building located north-east of the Optometry building on the north campus. Funding will come from the university ($1.6 million) and the faculty and staff associations ($600,000 total), and from rent paid by the newly consolidated day care to the university.

Dennis Huber, the university’s vice-president, administration and finance, said that if site services are in the ground before the snow flies, it’s possible that the building could be completed in 2012.

Colin Campbell passes
Word has come that Colin Campbell (right) died on July 14. He was a longtime staff member at Waterloo, first in IST and later in engineering, where he was assistant director of the Waterloo Cases in Design Engineering Group. He is survived by his wife, Janice Campbell, the department secretary in chemistry, and two sons. An obituary is online with information about visitation times today and tomorrow, and a funeral tomorrow.

CPA staff

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