New faces at Senate and Board

There are several new and familiar faces at the university's two highest decision-making bodies whose terms began on or about May 1 of this year.

The university's Senate refreshes its membership regularly, as its undergraduate and graduate student members are elected to two-year terms, with other non-student members serving for three years. This leads to a number of overlapping terms of office, with some new faces expected every May 1.

New ex officio members of Senate include Feds president David Collins and GSA president Robert Henderson.

New faculty senators include Bruce Frayne (environment), David Rose (science), James Rush (AHS), and James Skidmore (arts), with Anwar Hasan (engineering) and Olaf Weber (environment) returning as re-elected members.

Faculty-at-large members include John Burbidge (economics), Don Eui Chang (applied mathematics), David Edwards (pharmacy), Shelley Hulan (English language and literature), Marios Ioannidis (chemical engineering), Susan Leat (optometry), Daniel O'Connor (sociology & legal studies), and Bryan Tolson (civil & environmental engineering), with Paul Guild (management sciences) returning after re-election.

Two faculty members from the Federated University and Affiliated University Colleges (FUAC) were re-elected: Jim Pankratz of Conrad Grebel and Tracy Penny Light of St. Jerome's.

Undergraduate student senators serving a term that begins this year include Sacha Forstner (mathematics), Allyson Francis (engineering), and Nickta Jowhari (AHS), with an at-large seat being filled by a re-elected Sean Hunt.

On the graduate student side, Maya D'Alessio (biology), Coleen Even (French Studies), and Boyd Panton (mechanical & mechatronics engineering) begin their terms, with Michael Makahnouk (earth & environmental sciences) returning as a re-elected member.

The university's Board of Governors has 36 members, including seven faculty members appointed by the Senate from among the sitting faculty senators, five student members that are also appointed from the Senate's student membership, and two full-time staff members elected by staff members of the university.

Undergraduate student senators who will be occupying Board seats include David Collins, president of the Federation of Students, and at-large senator Sean Hunt. The president of the Graduate Student Association, Robert Henderson, will be the newest graduate student senator sent to Board.

New faculty senators serving on the Board of Governors include Paul Guild (management sciences), Shelly Hulan (English language & literature), and Bill Power (chemistry), with Michele Mosca (Institute for Quantum Computing) returning as a re-elected member.

The board's "community at-large" members number 10 at any given time, and are elected by the Board of Governors. At least three must be Waterloo alumni.

New community at-large governors include John Lounds, president & CEO, Nature Conservancy of Canada, with two re-elected governors: Gerry Remers, President & Chief Operating Officer of Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc. and Ron Schlegel, Chairman and CEO of RBJ Schlegel Holdings Inc.

The complete membership of both bodies can be found on the Secretariat's website.

 

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Students ride the rails for strong cities

Two Waterloo Stratford students and an alumnus will be joining economic developer and entrepreneur Kadie Ward in a cross-country train trip that aims to spike interest in the parallel tracks of transportation infrastructure investment and broadband connectivity that are two important links to economic prosperity.

As part of the Build Strong Cities campaign, team of entrepreneurs and students will board the train in Halifax, NS today and cross the country to the end of the line in Vancouver on May 29, where the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Annual General Meeting is being held.

The team includes Manoj Kelath, Waterloo Stratford Campus Masters of Digital Experience and Innovation student, Jean-Francois Tremblay, Waterloo Stratford Campus Global Business and Digital Arts student, and Josh Wright, University of Waterloo Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) grad and cofounder of Marmot Labs. According to a statement from the Build Strong Cities campaign, "As the team rides from Halifax to Vancouver they will discuss the role transit and transportation infrastructure played in building our economy. They will also discuss the emerging digital economy and the infrastructure need for connected and sustainable municipal growth."

The train will be making stops in Halifax, Toronto, Kitchener, Stratford, London, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Jasper and Vancouver, and the team will be hosting community and media events at rail stations showcasing infrastructure investments that are fueling local economic development.

The trip contains a significant digital media component, which is to be expected, with videos, blogs, and photos to be posted on the campaign site regularly, and social media support. Other content will be posted to North America's largest economic development blog.

The initiative is being sponsored by the University of Waterloo, the Canadian Digital Media Network, Cisco Systems, Holcim, Libro, the Southwest Economic Alliance, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and Via Rail.

 

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Senate meets and other notes for a short week

The university's Senate convenes for a rare Tuesday meeting today. Among other things, Senate will be asked to recommend that the Board of Governors give a "favourable consideration" to the university's 2013-2014 operating budget. Also on the agenda are a number of revisions to the Psychology department's PhD in Clinical Psychology, approval of English for Academic Success Admission Requirements, a new Bachelor of Science in materials and nanoscience, a 2+2 program with Beijing Jiaotong University, and the inactivation of the Faculty of Environment's geomatics option.

Senate will also hear the report of President Feridun Hamdullahpur and a presentation from Professor Kelly Anthony of the School of Public Health & Health Systems.

The complete agenda is available on the Secretariat's website.

The latest Education Credit Union Lunch ‘n Learn session, "Why prepare a Will/Power of Attorney" takes place today at 12:05 p.m. in DC 1302. The lunchtime event features guest speaker Don Travers, Lawyer Paquette Travers & Deutschmann. The event is sponsored by the Education Credit Union and the University of Waterloo Staff Association.

New this week on Waterloo Stories are several engineering profiles: Siva Sivoththaman of electrical & computer engineering discusses the health and safety aspects of emerging technologies, building a better electric car with Roydon Fraser of mechanical and mechatronics engineering, the University of Waterloo Nanorobotics Group puts its microbot through its paces, and Jatin Nathwani (civil and environmental engineering) talks about the electric future.

The VeloCity Campus Kickoff takes place on Wednesday, May 22, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Life Centre Great Hall. The event features Aaron Grant and Matthew Bailey from successful startup Thalmic Labs, and the first 80 students to attend get a free boxed lunch.

And here's some advanced warning from the good folks who keep Quest up and running. Quest will be down and unavailable from Saturday, May 25 at 8:00 a.m. to Sunday, May 26 at 12:00 p.m. for a scheduled upgrade.

 

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