40,000 spectators were treated to a fabulous fireworks display Monday night at the 29th annual Canada Day Celebration.

Of course, the fireworks show was the grand finale after several hours' worth of good food and good times at Columbia Lake. There were many highlights - from face-painting to food trucks, from speed-eating sensation Takeru Kobayashi devouring 85 Timbits in two minutes to roof-raising performances by Hollerado and Spirit of the West, and that's just scratching the surface.

Also, a sign of the times - over at the Game Asylum video game trailer, the traditional MarioKart game was booted due to the demand for more Minecraft screens. Sorry, Mario.

The event was a well-oiled machine that went off successfully thanks to the efforts of 55 student volunteers, who I hope are taking a well-deserved break along with the members of the university's Public Affairs team. Thanks also to the event's sponsors.

Photographs of the event are available on the Canada Day website.

Photograph by Light Imaging.

 

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CECA gives update on systems and JobMine

by Amy Woroch, Business Analyst, Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA).

The contract between the University of Waterloo and Orbis Communications (selected vendor for the delivery of CECA’s Core Administrative System) was officially signed at a recent meeting of the project’s steering committee (pictured above from left to right are Dianne Bader, Dave Wallace, Peggy Jarvie, Devin Grady, Dave Kibble, Bruce Mitchell, and Tim Barnett).  The project covers the replacement of JobMine and CECA’s Enhanced Interview Services which includes how we support students and employers on interview days at the Tatham Centre. The Core Administration System is not limited solely to a JobMine replacement; the solution will provide the integration of various standalone applications that support co-op, career, and our core employment process.

In Fall 2012, the RFP and vendor selection processes took place, bringing Orbis on board as the selected vendor. Orbis earned strong support from all participants for its knowledge of co-operative education and career practices in Canada.  Contract negotiations took place in Winter 2013. A lot of work was required to arrive at the signing stage.  This work consisted of a high-level review of our business processes with Orbis through a series of sessions across the department to review specific roles, processes, and functions. The University of Waterloo has created a unique partnership with Orbis, that we’re embracing as an opportunity to learn from each other to develop the best solution possible.

A recent project milestone reached is the implementation timeline. The project team believes it is a realistic plan and has outlined the critical path, appropriate contingencies, and key milestones. The plan is based on a multi-phased implementation with increasing functionality and number of users, to build confidence and to mitigate the risk of a large scale implementation.

Three releases are planned (Spring 2014, Fall 2014, and Winter 2015):

• A demonstration version will be available (Fall 2013)
• The first co-op pilot group (Spring 2014)
• A second co-op pilot group, with additional functionality (Fall 2014)
• The full implementation (Winter 2015)

Check CECA’s Systems Strategy website to see the full implementation timeline.

Are you wondering what the new system name will be? It’s WaterlooWorks, the name chosen for the new system that will replace JobMine. Students were polled on the new name and responses varied; some liked the name, and others didn’t. The main purpose of the name is to easily and obviously identify to employers what the system is for, and that they are recruiting the University of Waterloo's students. WaterlooWorks focuses on the university and on the function the system provides. It will also support communications and marketing surrounding the benefits of hiring Waterloo students and graduates. This fits well with the University’s branding. You’ll start to see the name being used in reference to the new system over the next while.  There will be no logo, just a word mark—WATERLOOWORKS—that will tie into our HIRE WATERLOO marketing.

How are we engaging students? Students continue to be kept up-to-date through CECA’s Systems Strategy website and consulted as appropriate through our online poll questions.  Over 2,000 unique users have visited the site since it was launched last fall, with a cumulative total of 1,100 students responding to our poll questions to date.  The questions are on specific RFP deliverables for which we want feedback. The responses help us prioritize system customizations. We have a Systems Strategy Student Panel in place that we leverage when needing feedback. In addition, we meet with Co-op Student Council every term. The council is comprised of FEDS’ VP of Education, along with the six student VPs of Education from each faculty. We also meet with their associated student societies as appropriate. The Student Panel and the VPs of Education also help us push out communication updates. In addition, we update other student committees and councils such as the Student Technology Advisory Council and FEDS Council.

For more information on the project, please visit CECA’s Systems Strategy website

 

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Registration open for Orientation 2013

 

Is it that time of year already? The Student Success Office is looking ahead to the fall, as registration for Waterloo Orientation is now open for future first-year students who will be joining the university for the Fall 2013 term.

Orientation Week will run from September 1 to September 7.

 

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