Data discussion: Hilary Mason, data scientist-in-residence at Accel Partners, speaks at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus Friday as part of the CODE Inspiration Day Program.

Photograph by Stephenie Koerne.

 

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Mini Town Hall set for Thursday

The first in a series of Mini Town Halls is set for Thursday, March 6 at the Velocity residence great hall in the Minota Hagey Residence with the theme of Entrepreneurship front and centre.

The town halls are being organized to give members of the university community an opportunity to learn how the Strategic Plan is being put into action as the theme leaders and members of the theme working groups present their progress and take questions.

Each town hall will feature a discussion about how a particular theme fits into the overall plan and why it is vital to the University.

Thursday's Town Hall, which runs from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., will begin with remarks by President Feridun Hamdullahpur. Members of the Entrepreneurship working group participating in the panel include:

• Howard Armitage, special advisor to the President;
• Bud Walker, special advisor to the Provost;
• Doug Sparkes, associate director, MBET program at Conrad;
• Mike Kirkup, director, Velocity and Student Innovation; and
• Geoff Malleck, professor in the economics department.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about Waterloo's strategic priorities, learn details of the action plans that support each strategic priority area, and hear from expert advisors and graduates committed to building a better university.

As with the Fall and Spring town hall meetings, questions can be submitted in advance to townhall@uwaterloo.ca, and the conversation can be joined using the #UWth hashtag and by following @uWaterlooLIVE. The event will be webcast. Seating is limited.

Upcoming sessions, each based around one of the strategic plan's themes, are scheduled as follows:

• Transformational Research - Tuesday, March 18, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., location TBA
• Internationalization - Wednesday, April 2, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., location TBA

Locations, dates and themes for the remaining town halls will be announced in the Daily Bulletin and on the Strategic Plan website.

 

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Course selection week begins

Hey, undergraduates: want to avoid lineups and those pesky course override forms? The Registrar's Office has served notice that Course Selection Week for the Fall 2014 term begins today and runs until Sunday, March 9. The Registrar's Office notified students that Course Selection Week is underway in an email sent this morning.

Students can select their Fall 2014 courses through Quest. Step-by-step instructions on how to do so can be found on the Quest help page.

Depending on a student's program or plan/major, core and required courses will be placed into the course list.  Schedules can still be adjusted during the drop/add period, which runs from July 21 to September 19. Courses can be dropped without penalty until September 26.

For more helpful information, students can check out Quest, the Registrar's Office, the Scheduling, Timetabling, and Examinations Project (STEP) page, the Student Awards & Financial Aid site, and the Undergraduate Calendar.

 

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Nutrition Myth vs. Fact returns and other notes

March is Nutrition Month, and for the past two years, Health Services dietician Sandra Ace has provided the Daily Bulletin with a month's worth of "myth vs. fact" nutrition tips, which I posted on a daily basis. Based on the positive feedback we received in previous years, we'll be running a new set of myth and facts for 2014 throughout the month of March.

The theme of Nutrition Month 2014 is "Simply Cook and Enjoy" and is supported by the Dieticians of Canada.

Sandra has put together the month's worth of tips based on questions she gets asked regularly and nutrition-related topics that have been in the media recently.

Myth: Baked goods are not part of a healthy diet.

Fact: A healthy approach to eating doesn’t eliminate any single food or groups of foods, but focuses on balance and moderation. If you like to bake and enjoy baked goods regularly, there are easy ways to keep them healthy and tasty. Replace half or more of the white flour with 100% whole grain flour, replace water with lowfat or nonfat milk, replace a quarter of the sugar with skim milk powder, or substitute mashed sweet potato for half of the fat called for in a recipe. For more ideas, check out these simple swaps.

As always, Sandra Ace is ready to hear your questions and comments.

The Women’s Centre, a Federation of Students’ service, is hosting International Women’s Week on campus from March 3 to 6. The special events include Bust Casting, a lively comedy night, and a figure drawing exercise to promote acceptance of all types of bodies. The full schedule of events is available online.

Congratulations are due to the dozen teams, like the team from Advancement, pictured at right, who spent the last few weeks collecting food donations and building structures out of those donations at the inaugural UWaterloo CanBuild event, which was held on Friday, February 28.

Up for grabs is a CanBuild Cup Award.

Now, it's the community's turn to help the CanBuild organizers choose the winner of the People's Choice Award. Voting opens today from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the University of Waterloo's Facebook page. Select the structure that you believe should win the People's Choice Award and click "submit." Choose wisely, as you only get one vote.

Winners will be announced on the University's social media platforms later today.

 

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