Cloud email survey results released

by Natasha Jennings, Information Systems & Technology (IST)

During the month of June, the ‘Student email in the cloud’ survey received 104 responses from students, faculty and staff. The survey results indicated a clear desire from students for a cloud-based email solution that allows them to retain a University of Waterloo affiliated email address. Faculty and staff noted their preference to communicate with students using a uWaterloo email address. Survey comments also highlighted the expectation of a richer communications/collaboration tool than we currently provide.

The survey results were not unexpected and are in line with what we’re seeing at other Ontario universities.

Moving forward, a project committee will investigate options for cloud-based hosting of undergraduate student email accounts. As part of this process the committee will explore pedagogical requirements, privacy expectations, usability, additional collaboration tools, and cost to the University, before making a recommendation to move to a cloud hosted solution.

Please contact Bruce Campbell if you would like to be involved with the project committee.

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CECA thanks Bay Area employers

by Kate Surtees, Marketing Specialist, Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA)

On June 26, Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA) held an employer thank-you reception in San Francisco, California to recognize employers in the Bay Area. Zynga, a major employer of Waterloo students, hosted the event at their impressive headquarters and the festivities attracted a crowd of over 250 employers, students, and alumni, making it a fantastic first-time turnout. Pictured above (l-r) are uWaterloo alumnus Artem Avdacev, a software engineer from Yelp, David Timms, Director of Advancement from the Faculty of Science, Peggy Jarvie, Executive Director, CECA, and uWaterloo alumnus and former Co-op Student of the Year Simon Lancaster, Advanced Manufacturing Design Engineer at Apple.

Canada’s Consul General Cassie Doyle kicked off the evening by sharing her amazement at the number of students working in the San Francisco and Bay Area. Dynamic Bay Area companies  like Cisco, Tagged, SugarCRM, Yelp, Palantir, Storm8, Zynga, and Facebook (all of which hire Waterloo students) sponsored the event, which included speakers sharing how uWaterloo co-op helps their business. Karen Morris, the Director of University Strategy and Operations for Cisco said “the University of Waterloo is one of the most important universities to the future of our world.” Janelle Godfrey, Lead Recruiter from Facebook, took to the stage to proudly claim that Waterloo was their number one source of interns in 2012. Zynga’s multi-level atrium buzzed with networking and conversation surrounding one of the world’s most competitive talent markets while people enjoyed drinks and Canadian-themed food in celebration of Canada Day.

Overall, the event was a great opportunity to thank our employers in the San Francisco and Bay Area. Students worked the room to find their potential next employers while alumni networked and met fellow Canadians living and working in the area. There were many requests from both employers and students for CECA to return and do it again, so stay tuned!

Last week’s question: 35 per cent of you were correct! 2,000 students will be searching for their first job in Fall 2013.  Congratulations to this week’s winner, Daniel Weng, Systems Design Engineering student.  

This week’s question: What percentage of students working in the U.S.A. find employment through JobMine? (Hint: Check this website.) Take a guess and enter to win a mug!

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Share the Knowledge Tour makes local stop

A four-year, 56,000 km tour to promote open access to educational materials will be rolling into Waterloo on two wheels today.

Max Peer of the Interaction Design Foundation began his Share the Knowledge Tour in Orlando, Florida back in May and will be crisscrossing North America (and later the globe) on bicycle and canoe, arriving at SAP Labs Waterloo in the David Johnston Research + Technology Park today at 2:00 p.m. to share his story with students, professors, and members of the community.

Peer will showcase the equipment being used in his tour, including a modified bicycle, trailer, and collapsible canoe, and will be sharing his knowledge about free educational resources that are aimed at improving technology design and creating a more sustainable world. Peer will be providing all access passes to the Interaction Design Foundation's published educational content (courseware and other curated content) for professors and participating students.

Students, faculty and other members of the university community are invited. The event has been organized by SAP, SAP University Alliances, and the Interaction Design Foundation.

Peer is an accomplished long distance bike rider, pedaling tens of thousands of kilometres on behalf of multiple NGOs across North and South America, Europe and Asia during the last fifteen years. After crossing the United States and Canada, Peer's tour will continue over the next four years with stops in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.

The event begins at 2:00 p.m. outside Sybase (Hagey Blvd. at Wes Graham Way), and concludes at 4:00 p.m.

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Student Success Office hosts live chats

by Ainsley Munro, Student Success Office

As the incoming class prepares for their first year at Waterloo, there’s a common theme: they have questions.

The Student Success Office is hosting live chats for new students throughout the summer to help answer some of these questions while sharing advice from upper-year students.

Starting today, incoming students are invited to watch the half-hour live chats anonymously, or log in to ask questions. Both options allow students to see and hear upper-year students and campus experts as they answer questions posted by viewers in real-time.

“The live chat format allows incoming students to decide how they want to interact,” says Gabrielle Smith, Coordinator, New Student Transition. “We encourage students to submit questions and engage with the hosts, but we also understand that some students would rather listen in and benefit by hearing the hosts’ responses to other students’ questions. It lets them pick up useful information they might not know they needed.”

Live chat topics include living in residence, Orientation, and student life at Waterloo. Nine chats will be held over the summer, with each one tailored to a specific incoming student population. Graduate, international, exchange and transfer students each have their own live chat to address their unique concerns.

University staff who interact with the incoming class are encouraged to point them towards the live chat sessions to find answers to their questions and learn more about student life before they arrive.

To find out more, visit the Student Success Office website and read about the new student live chat sessions this summer.

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