President names special advisors

 

President Feridun Hamdullahpur has announced the appointment of two special advisors in the areas of equity and entrepreneurship.

Effective July 1, 2013, Professor Diana C. Parry of Applied Health Sciences' Recreation and Leisure Studies department will assume the role of Special Advisor, Women's and Gender Issues. Parry chairs the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo's Status of Women and Equity Committee. In January, she was named one of the Waterloo Region Record's’s Top 40 under 40.

"As Special Advisor, Women's and Gender Issues, Professor Parry will work with senior administration, faculty, and the Director of Equity to advise on policy and structural level gender equality issues, and to help foster a supportive environment in which female faculty can maximize their career opportunities," wrote the president. "Professor Parry will lead the development of a long-range plan, with clear and actionable goals, to guide and track measurable progress in this portfolio.

Effective September 1, 2013, Professor Howard M. Armitage will assume the role of Special Advisor, Entrepreneurship. The Founding Director of the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology Centre at the University of Waterloo, Armitage is also the Gordon H. Cowperthwaite Professor of Accounting at the School of Accounting and Finance. He is a recipient of the 3M Teaching Fellowship Award, the LS Rosen Outstanding Educator Award and the University of Waterloo Distinguished Teaching Award.

"As Special Advisor, Entrepreneurship, Professor Armitage will co-ordinate and plan campus-wide entrepreneurship capacity," the president wrote. "Specifically, he will work towards greater integration of academic and non-academic entrepreneurship activities, and work with campus and community partners to advise on policies and activities that will lay the groundwork for creating a campus-wide entrepreneurship entity."

"As the University of Waterloo works toward the implementation of our new Strategic Plan, and continues its rise as a world-class innovation university, these two individuals will be valued members of my team, and make significant contributions to our community’s culture, capabilities, and reputation," concluded the president. "Please join me in congratulating Professor Parry and Professor Armitage on their appointments."

 

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Academic integrity survey findings released

by Anaia Shaw, Office of Academic Integrity

We are all committed to acting with integrity here at the University of Waterloo – but what do students, TAs, and faculty think about the ways in which academic integrity is being taught, enforced, and upheld on campus?

The “Report on the Findings of the 2012 Academic Integrity Survey”, now available on the Office of Academic Integrity’s website, sheds some light on this very important aspect of uWaterloo life.

The survey in question was conducted in Fall 2012 in collaboration with Dr. Don McCabe of Rutgers University. The survey asked students, TAs, and faculty to rate the seriousness of academic offences, assess current penalties and policies, comment on aspects of academic integrity on campus, and make recommendations to improve AI at uWaterloo. The quantitative data was compared to data from a 2006 survey, featured in the report “Toward a Level Playing Field: Enhancing Academic Integrity at the University of Waterloo,” to determine what changes, if any, occurred in respondent groups’ behaviours and opinions from 2006 to 2012. The qualitative data was used to determine overarching themes in respondents’ recommendations.

The results, while promising, indicate that there are still several aspects of academic integrity at uWaterloo that need further improvement or investigation. The report concluded with three recommendations from the Office of Academic Integrity:

• Re-evaluate the process for reporting cases of academic misconduct. Comments in the qualitative summary often call for a simplified process and more support for misconduct investigations. Furthermore, quantitative data indicate that only 16% of faculty members rated the existing policies as effective.
• Re-examine student evaluation methods in courses. Qualitative and quantitative data indicate that uWaterloo should investigate how students are evaluated, as well as how collaboration is recognized as a form of misconduct.
• Provide academic integrity education. While the quantitative data indicate that the vast majority of students are familiar with academic integrity policies, the qualitative data call for an increase in education of students, teaching assistants, and faculty members.

For more highlights and the full report, visit the “Report on the Findings of the 2012 Academic Integrity Survey” on the Office of Academic Integrity’s website.

 

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Student Life 101 schools students, parents

by Kirsty Budd, Student Success Office

The Student Life 101 team has spoken to over 5,700 incoming first-year students over the last month in preparation for the program’s first session tomorrow. Upper-year mentors reached out to the new class to answer any questions they might have about starting university and to invite them to come to campus this summer for Student Life 101.

The program, now in its 18^th year, is a two-day, overnight experience that helps students with the transition to university before classes begin in September. There are eight sessions throughout the summer. 

During Student Life 101, students stay in a traditional-style residence community and become familiar with campus and their specific faculty buildings. They are matched with an upper-year mentor, attend a lecture with a professor and can choose to write the English Language Proficiency Exam.

“Student Life 101 is an opportunity for our new class to come to campus early, meet their peers and get a head start on their first year at Waterloo,” said Gabrielle Smith, coordinator, new student transition. “During the program we provide them with the foundation and tools they need to be successful throughout their university career.”

The program also partners with units across campus to ensure new students learn about the student services available to them in their first year including success coaching, student awards and financial aid, health services, career planning and co-operative education, among others.

International students are invited to a special three-day session at the end of August that focuses on their transition to Canada, cultural and social customs and academic expectations. Through a partnership with housing, international students who attend this session can move into their residence room at its end.

Parents and supporting family members are encouraged to attend Parent Orientation, a one-day program that runs alongside the Student Life 101 sessions. Parent Orientation offers a campus tour, presentations on what parents can expect in a student’s first year and the opportunity to ask staff questions about campus life and available services. “This one-day parent program will educate parents on how they can coach their student in their transition to university life,” says Smith.

 

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Smith to tackle student workplace troubles

by Shannon Tigert, Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA)

Larry Smith, professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo since 1981, has a long history of inspiring students, most recently with his TedxUW Talk, “Why you will fail to have a great career.”  Up next for Smith is the launch of his highly anticipated lecture series “What’s your problem?” beginning on July 11, which will focus on showing students how to find and solve ‘killer’ problems in their workplace.

The inspiration for this program came from several places. Entrepreneurship is one of the foundation pillars of the University of Waterloo.  Expanding and bettering our entrepreneurial services is a high priority and, as Smith states, the way to do this is to look at Waterloo and other universities in terms of what they both are and are not doing to improve entrepreneurial services.  From that, it’s necessary to look at what Waterloo can accomplish that other universities can’t. 

“We didn’t get where we are by catching up,” says Smith, “We pioneer.” 

Smith (left), who has been passionate about entrepreneurship since his own undergraduate days, says that there are two main gaps that Waterloo needs to address.  First is the very idea that students can still be entrepreneurs even if they aren’t starting their own enterprise.  “Nobody is dealing with the issue of entrepreneurial employees,” says Smith.  “There’s a lot of activity on helping people start companies, justifiably, of course, and very little on helping our students become entrepreneurial employees.  The majority of the students on this campus are not about to start their own enterprises if it neither matches their personal interests or goals.  However, they can all be entrepreneurs.”

The second area will be teaching students how to find important (‘killer’) problems in their work place.  “If you wish to be very useful to your employer, then you find a problem that needs to be solved. An important one, not the fact that someone’s stealing the paper clips,” says Smith.  “Imagine this were 1950.  Being useful was all you needed to do, especially if you had some education.  Therefore, you would shine.  That was then, this is now. Students haven’t even seen competitive pressures yet. It’s my job, this institution’s job, the entire faculty’s job to prepare them for the job market upon graduation.  We’re supposed to prepare students for a lifetime of accomplishment.”

The program was driven by the evidence found by Larry Smith and his research partners, engineering graduate George Wang and economics graduate Brian Stewart who, as Smith notes, went above and beyond expectations with their research, helping produce a 300-page report. “This isn’t a one man show; 99.9% of that document is their writing and their research. If we were going to do this, we wanted to do it right.”

Smith recognizes the challenges of reaching students with this information on a campus as large as Waterloo’s.  “It will be a relentless weight of activity, sustained over time. You have to start somewhere.  I’m here because I want our students to be more effective innovators.  Their talent isn’t being applied as effectively as it could be, and it’s our job to help our students take their game up several notches.” 

The first step of the program is the lecture on July 11, which is sponsored by Co-operative Education and Career Action, but Smith says there is a lot more in the works for this project.  “The goal is a full set of teaching resources – workshops, certifications and partnerships across campus, as well as tools that can be offered to alumni.  There’s a window of opportunity to get this started, and we’re moving as quickly as we can.  The more experience we get offering the program, the faster we can implement everything. We need student guidance too; we’ll be paying attention to their reactions and suggestions.”

The event details are as follows:

Larry Smith lecture: “What’s your problem?”

Date: July 11, 2013

Location: Biology 1, Room 271

• 4:30-5:00 p.m. - check-in, networking, and pizza
• 5:00-6:15 p.m. - lecture

Space is limited. Register and reserve your spot now.

 

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