Leaders to tackle packed agenda at retreat

The university’s top administrators will do “a lot of brainstorming” when they get away from campus this week for the annual executive retreat, says provost Geoff McBoyle (left).

Altogether 25 people will be away Wednesday through Friday, assembling at the Oakwood Resort in Grand Bend on the shore of Lake Huron. (The annual retreat has been known as “K Bay” for decades, but the university has parted ways with Barrie’s Kempenfelt Bay resort and a new nickname is clearly called for.)

McBoyle said that in addition to the current members of Executive Council, the participants will include two deans-to-be (Douglas Peers of arts and André Roy of environment); Tim Jackson, director of the Accelerator Centre, who will shortly become interim vice-president (external relations); and associate vice-president (communications and public affairs) Ellen Réthoré.

The agenda is “packed”, he said, describing discussions scheduled for Wednesday evening, all day Thursday, and Friday morning. The central theme: the university’s Sixth Decade plan, now four years old and in need of being “reframed and refreshed”.

The plan, McBoyle said, can best be described as “an aspirational plan”, with possibly as many as a hundred ambitious goals for the university, but “no details of how it was going to be implemented”, where the money would come from or who was going to take the lead on most of the efforts. It did specify that there should be a “mid-decade review”, he added, and although 2011 is a year early, it’s a good time to do that since Waterloo has just acquired a new president “and he wants to put his stamp on the university”.

So this week’s retreat will try to set some priorities — “rather than 100 priorities, a select group of priorities that we can all buy into” — and define the first steps and who’s going to take them. McBoyle said the group will look at issues under a few broad headings: undergraduate programs; graduate programs (and the well-known ambition to double graduate enrolment); world-class research centres; the “student success” initiative; the need to “diversify” income, mostly through fund-raising. It’s pretty much the same agenda that McBoyle and the new president, Feridun Hamdullahpur, described in their “town hall meeting” for faculty and staff members last month.

“Lastly,” the provost said, “we’re going to look at the issues of succession planning,” as the university is in line for a large number of retirements by faculty and staff members, and it’s not clear that enough is being done by way of professional development to get new people ready for senior positions.

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Magnet for Talent brochure attracts attention

The “first-ever” annual report-style brochure from the Faculty of Science is out in the world, announces Joanna Magee, science communications officer, with pride. It’s called A Magnet for Talent (there's the front cover, right), and you can see highlights from the report online if you can’t get hold of one of the 1,200 hard copies that went out mostly to alumni.

“With so many wonderful success stories coming out of Science, we felt the time was appropriate to formally convey some of our accomplishments with our alumni, friends, students, faculty, staff and community partners,” Magee writes. “This report will be primarily targeted at alumni and will help us to continue to make greater efforts in keeping our key stakeholders updated on our activities. … A Magnet for Talent features engaging stories about our faculty, students and alumni from our departments, professional schools and a few affiliated research institutes."

Stories about, for example, biology professor Trevor Charles (left), who is creating ultra-tiny bio-machines. “We are researching new methods of bacterial chromosome engineering in which biological parts can be combined in different ways and applied to real problems,” he says. “The goal is to engineer a biological system that’s going to function in the way that you designed it for diverse applications in agricultural, medical, and industrial biotechnology.” Other people profiled in the brochure include quantum information researcher David Cory, award-winning teacher Vivian Dayeh, much-honoured chemist Janusz Pawliszyn, “laser jock” Donna Strickland, alumna Yeti Agnew, and others.

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On legacies, diplomas, lenses, used books

“Rewarding career” inspires accounting prof to give back

Held each May, Leave a Legacy Month celebrates individuals who have made a planned gift and encourages others to join them in supporting registered charities of their choice.  Dave Vert (right), a faculty member in accounting, is one of those individuals.  (Here is a video in which he shares his thoughts on giving with a student interviewer.)

This professor is leaving a legacy at Waterloo by establishing an endowment in his will to support the School of Accounting and Finance’s priorities and help students reach their goals.  He sees his gift as a way of giving back and realizes that even a modest gift can go a long way.

As a member of the Laurel Society, he is helping Waterloo develop into a world-class university and is among the more than 400 individuals who took the time to contact Waterloo’s planned giving staff to learn more about available resources and benefits (including tax benefits). Anyone who has included the University of Waterloo in their estate, or who plans to do so, is encouraged to get in touch.

New look for Waterloo diploma?

On Monday, the Registrar’s Office sent out an email message to 25,983 grad and undergrad students, inviting them to express their opinion of a revamped Waterloo diploma design – not one but four versions. The new survey follows up on one done in March in which people were asked “to pick five words or phrases that best described the current diploma (right) and a hypothetical diploma,” writes registrar Ken Lavigne.

So, what emerged from that? “The following are the top five characteristics that people believe Waterloo’s diplomas should reflect: High Quality, Instils Pride, Elegant, Powerful, and Distinctive. Based on these words and guided by the good advice from students, faculty, and staff, four diploma designs have been proposed…. Your input will make a valuable contribution to the success of this important initiative.”

A link to the online survey is included in the email. It's short, taking only a few minutes to complete. The Registrar’s Office is asking for people to respond by next Monday, May 23. (A separate but similar email message is to go out to faculty and staff.) A recommendation on the design will go to Senate soon. The first diplomas in the new design, if one is chosen, will be handed out at Convocation in June 2012.

Research study: myopia, children, and contact lenses

The Centre for Contact Lens Research is looking for children aged 8-10 to participate in a contact lens study that involves six visits to the CCLR over three months and daily wear of contact lenses.

Why is such a study needed? Myopia (near-sightedness) is a condition that emerges during childhood. Research has demonstrated that children adapt well to contact lens wear. The purpose of this CIBA VISION-funded study is to investigate how well contact lenses work for children who have never worn them before.

Two of the lenses are commercially available in Canada. The third lens has been authorized by Health Canada for use in this study. Lens instruction is provided. In appreciation for their time, the child and their parent or guardian will each receive $120 upon study completion.

This study has received ethics clearance through the Office Research Ethics, University of Waterloo. To register for the study, contact the Centre for Contact Lens Research at 519-888-4742 or email research@optometry.uwaterloo.ca.

News from the FedS Used Bookstore

And it’s good news for students selling their books. “The Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo has released a new policy which allows students more time and leniency when picking up cheques from the Feds Used Bookstore,” announces Kirsty Budd in a Federation of Students news release.

The new policy, in effect immediately, allows one free reprint per cheque. “Cheques that are between six and twelve months old can be reprinted if Feds has the original cheque and stale-dated cheques that are between six and twelve months can be reissued if Feds has the original.” Anything older will not be reissued.

Prashant Patel, FedS VP Admin and Finance, is quoted as saying, “We understand that Waterloo students are in a specialized situation as they may be out of the city for months at a time for a co-op term. There’s also the possibility with a heavy workload they may have simply forgotten they had a cheque waiting.” The earlier policy had students being charged $35 for a cheque reprint after six months, a cost that FedS administration will now absorb. “Changing this policy was priority for me and I’m glad I could tackle it within the first few weeks of being in office,” said Patel.

CPA staff

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