Nominations open for our next chancellor

The Chancellor Nominating Committee is putting the call out for nominations for the next Chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

 

The University is looking for a chancellor, to serve a term from May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2018, to succeed Prem Watsa, whose second term ends on April 30, 2015.

The Chancellor Nominating Committee is charged with the task of making a recommendation to Senate. All members of the university community, including alumni, are being invited to send nominations by Wednesday, February 26 to:

Logan Atkinson
Secretary of the Chancellor Nominating Committee and
University Secretary & General Counsel
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo ON N2L 3G1

Nominations are also accepted via email.

Nominations are confidential and a nomination should not be made known to the nominee. Candidates for chancellor must be Canadian citizens. The chancellor's duties include membership on Senate and the Board of Governors and presiding at convocation ceremonies.

 

Back to top

Management Sciences students showcase skills

This is an excerpt of a piece originally published on the Management Sciences website.

Each year, the Institute of Industrial Engineering holds national conferences for university students around the world. 

Each conference features many competitions, allowing students to showcase their skills, talents and understanding of industrial engineering concepts learned in class. 

Management Engineering students have regularly attended the Canadian national IIE student conference and successfully represented their program in a variety of organized competitions. 

2014 was no different. Ryerson University hosted this year's Canadian student conference, and universities across the country sent their finest students to meet and compete against the best of the best in Canada. 

Waterloo's Management Engineers again attended and placed in three of the four competitions this year:

The Consulting Case Competition

It challenges the students to find a solution to a practical problem in a participating company. Competitors visit the site, analyse the problem, and present the optimal solution before peers and the IIE panel of judges. 

These solutions, reports and documentation can be retained and applied by the participating company who may choose to use any or even all of the presented solutions. 

This year the study involved streamlining patient flow and waiting times in the Toronto East General Hospital emergency department, green zone. 3rd place was awarded to our Management Engineering team composed of Scott Walton, Kamal Aman, Jared Evans and Kiran Turna. 

Technical Paper Competition

In this competition, individual students present a technical paper related to a project they completed. The IIE panel of judges select the winners from a pool of engineering students from top universities across Canada. 

This years 2nd place was awarded to Management Engineering student Nikita Ajit Kumar for her paper on improving inventory control for food service promotions. 

Theoretical Competition

Participants write a general examination that challenges them to apply their academic skills and knowledge. 

Management Engineering students Kait Parks, Ariana Rodriguez, Aby Ali Mahmoud and Zahra Bodla were awarded 3rd place in the Theoretical Competition this year. 

Read the rest of the piece on the Management Sciences website.

 

Back to top

Open house for Ring Road safety Thursday

In response to safety concerns related to increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the east side of Ring Road, the Provost formed a committee in 2013 to recommend possible changes to improve safety for all users. The committee's members included:

Logan Atkinson - University Secretary & General Counsel
Dennis Huber - Vice President – Administration and Finance
Kevin Stewart (ret)- Director – Safety Office
Kate Windsor - Director – Safety Office
Tom Galloway - Director – Custodial , Grounds & Parking Services
Dan Anderson – Director – Police Services

The committee engaged a transportation engineering consultant to assist with developing recommended changes which were recently presented to the Provost.

An informational open house will be held on Thursday February 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in DC 1301, the Fishbowl. This will provide the university community with an opportunity to view the recommendations and have discussions with the committee members and the consultant.

 

Back to top

Feds elections begin and other notes

Showing heart, wearing red: Lisa Schneider submitted the above photo, coordinated by Tanya Pompilio of the Registrar's Office, of staff members wearing red in support of National Wear Red Day on Friday.

The voting period for the Federation of Students elections begins at 10:00 a.m. today. Polls will remain open until Thursday, February 13 at 10:00 p.m. Candidates are running for a number of positions on the Feds executive, Students' Council, and the University's Senate. Undergraduate students will be voting for four executive positions, and there are Students' Council elections in the Arts, Math, and Science constituencies. In addition, students can vote for one at-large undergraduate student senate position, and Arts students can vote for an Arts representative to senate.

Undergraduate students will also vote in a referendum, held simultaneously with the elections, that asks if they support continued participated in the Grand River Transit Universal Bus Pass Program for a termly fee of $77.29, up from $72.23, per full-time undergraduate.

"Student leaders have an impact on many areas of campus life including Feds clubs, services, operations, part-time employment for undergraduates, and the Health and Dental Plan," writes the federation's Jacqueline Martinz. "Every vote matters, and it's important that undergraduates participate by visiting vote.feds.ca."

The Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) will be hosting a talk with senior sustainability scholar Sander van der Leeuw, director of the Complex Adaptive System Initiative at Arizona State University, today at 2:00 p.m. in ALH 113.

The UWSA Area Reps meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to Friday, February 14 to accommodate staff who may wish to attend the EAP Brown Bag lunch Thursday, February 13, entitled "What is Mental Health? How do I know when I am losing it? How do I get it back?" with guest speaker Dr. Alison Edgar Bertoia. The lunch event takes place from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday in DC 1302.

Finally, the nomination deadline for the Amit and Meena Chakma Awards for Exceptional Teaching by a Student is this Friday, February 14.

Back to top