Phased rollout for WaterlooWorks

by Stephanie Tortorici.

This past spring, the WaterlooWorks pilot project was successfully executed. Architecture students commented that the system was a huge improvement from JobMine, and employers were able to self-serve for the majority of processes. CECA has found a lot of new ways to engage with students – we launched our Facebook group, hosted webinars, and had demos in new locations on campus. We’re going to continue using these tools (and some new ones, like videos and interactive sessions) as we move through the project.

The project team has learned a lot about our stakeholders, their priorities, and their thoughts about the system – input that has been carefully considered as pilot two begins.

The second pilot, taking place this fall, includes three classes of architecture students and both recruiting-term and work-term support are in scope. The first pilot aimed to get the system running on Waterloo infrastructure; the second aims to learn how to use the system most effectively and develop best practices for utilizing all the features of the new tool.

After a positive experience with the pilots, the project team has determined that the best approach to implementing WaterlooWorks university-wide is through a phased rollout over multiple terms.

The new implementation plan helps to ensure that, when WaterlooWorks goes live to all students in spring 2015, the system is functioning at its best. The major components of the new implementation plan are as follows:

• Architecture students have been using WaterlooWorks and will continue to, with increasing functionality each term.
• Non-co-op recruiting (that is, part-time, summer, graduating, and alumni jobs) will be posted on WaterlooWorks in January and students looking for those jobs will be using the new system. Co-op recruiting will still be done on JobMine.
• All students and employers will be using WaterlooWorks in spring 2015; nobody will be using JobMine. Interview day services functionality will be introduced in this term.
• Remaining in-scope functionality (career advising appointments, career workshops, information sessions) will be included in WaterlooWorks in fall 2015.

The number of users will greatly increase in January, with the introduction of job boards for part-time, summer, graduating, and alumni jobs. This will help test the system more thoroughly before it goes live to all students and employers the following term.

We’re confident that we’ve selected the right product and the right vendor – and that WaterlooWorks will be an amazing tool to ensure that the university continues to be a leader in co-operative education.

To learn more about the project, visit CECA’s Systems Strategy website or join the student panel Facebook group.

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Grad is first Canadian to lead Mars simulation

by Carol Truemner. This is an excerpt of a piece appearing in Waterloo Stories.

Life on Mars – Where Mars is a Dome in Hawaii - is not only the title of Martha Lenio’s new blog, it also sums up where she’ll be for eight months.

Beginning October 15, the Waterloo Engineering graduate will be the first Canadian and first woman to lead the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission funded by NASA. She and her five-member crew will live in a dome located on the slopes of Mauna Loa, a Hawaiian shield volcano with an environment similar to the Martian surface. And like an actual mission, they’ll don space suits when venturing outside.

NASA gathers information on group interaction

“It’s a two-tiered program,” Lenio explains. “The main goal is for NASA to gather information on group interaction, cohesiveness and performance during an isolated mission. Members have their own research that we’ll conduct as well.”

For Lenio that research will include an energy and water audit of the dome, indoor gardening using LED lights and anaerobic composting.

“Composting was tried in another Mars simulation program, but it attracted rats, which is not a problem you’d find on Mars,” she points out.

Crew chose Waterloo grad to be commander  

Applying to be part of the HI-SEAS mission almost a year ago, Lenio went through a rigorous selection process that included interviews, aptitude testing and a camping trip in Wyoming where the crew received training similar to what NASA provides its astronaut candidates. It was at the end of last month’s trip that she was to be chosen by secret ballot to be commander of the mission.

Co-founded Waterloo’s Space Society

Passionate about space exploration since she was young, Lenio was a member of the University of Waterloo’s Free Flight Glider Team when she was approached to help launch the university’s Waterloo Space Society in 2001. The society’s first speaker was astronaut Chris Hadfield, now a Waterloo adjunct professor.

“It’s exciting to see the club still going strong so many years later,” Lenio says.

After graduating on the dean’s honour list from Waterloo’s mechanical engineering program in 2004, Lenio volunteered in Ghana for six months, completed her doctoral degree in photovoltaic engineering at Australia’s University of New South Wales and spent time in California’s Silicon Valley working for two companies.

Read the rest of the article on Waterloo Stories.

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Staff conference issues call for proposals

Organizational & Human Development is inviting internal proposals from the campus community for workshop sessions for the Eighth Annual Staff Conference taking place on April 7 & 8, 2015.

Proposals should be for an educational and interactive session(s) focused on professional and/or personal development— from all areas of campus life, be it work-life balance, to health and wellness, to emerging technologies—that will include discussion, activities, and engagement on your specific topic. 

For more information about the Call for Proposals, please review the 2015 Staff Conference: Call for Proposal guidelines.

The deadline for submissions of proposal abstracts is November 18, 2014. If you have any questions about the proposal guidelines, or the submission process, please contact Mark Lisetto-Smith.

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Wednesday's notes

On September 18, Professor John Hirdes of the School of Public Health and Health Systems was inducted as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS).

The CAHS recognizes the full breadth of academic health science ranging from fundamental science to social science and population health.

"Fellows elected to the Academy will be well recognized by their peers nationally and internationally for their contributions to the promotion of health science," says a background statement. "They will have demonstrated leadership, creativity, distinctive competencies and a commitment to advance academic health science."

Professor Hirdes was one of 50 Fellows inducted to the CAHS.

Students who have not yet renewed their 2014 GO Transit student ID cards are being reminded that they can renew the cards online by logging into Quest and requesting the 2015 card on the Student Centre page. The 2014 GO Transit cards expire on October 31.

Students can contact the Registrar's Office if they have any questions.

"Effective immediately the Communications team of the Graduate Studies Office (Communications, Events, Marketing, Recruitment and Postdoctoral Affairs) have been relocated to the Research Advancement Centre (RAC building) on the north campus," says a memo from Lynn Judge, director of graduate academic services. "We anticipate the return of the team to Needles Hall following an expansion of our office space sometime next summer. Also note that a new staff person, Angela Rooke has been hired on a contract basis to assist the Communications team over the next few months."

The communications staff are located on RAC's third floor as follows:

• Marta Bailey, Assistant Director, Communications & Postdoctoral Affairs Room 3024
  
• Claire Taylor, Manager, Graduate Marketing & Recruitment Room 3023
  
• Tasha Glover, Coordinator, Graduate & Postdoctoral Events & Communications Room 3026
  
• Trevor Clews , Graduate Communications Officer (on leave to December 8) Room 3022
  
• Angela Rooke, Graduate Communications Specialist (as of October 14) Room 3021
  
  

The School of Accounting and Finance has organized a bake sale in support of the United Way that will take place on Thursday, October 9 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in HH 3158. The School is accepting donations of homemade or store-bought goodies, which will then be sold at the charity bake sale. Contact Alex Lippert by email or by calling extension 38227 for more details. And be sure to drop in to HH 3158 on Thursday!

There will be a University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) Area Reps meeting on Thursday, October 9 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in NH 3001.

Associate Provost, Human Resources Marilyn Thompson will be the guest speaker, providing an update on new programs and services coming from the Robust Employer-Employee Relationship theme of the University of Waterloo's Strategic Plan. These new programs and services include:

• Healthy Workplace initiatives
  
• New departments starting with Excellence Canada
  
• Changes within Human Resources
• Employee engagement visits across campus

The Bookstore will be hosting an author event featuring Laurie Hoffman-Goetz Ph.D., M.P.H., Lorie Donelle R.N., Ph.D., and Rukhsana Ahmed Ph.D., who will be offering an introduction to their book “Health Literacy in Canada – A Primer for Students”.

"Why do we need health literacy?" asks the event's synopsis. "Through a health promotion and social justice lens, Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, Lorie Donelle, and Rukhsana Ahmed describe health literacy as an increasingly important determinant of health and highlight the necessity of health literacy skills for ensuring equitable access to health care information and services. This core text offers a critical examination of how culture, ethnicity, social media applications, and the literacy and digital divides affect individuals’ ability to secure health information, services, and support. Health Literacy in Canada will inform the way we respond to public health issues in Canada and around the world."

The event takes place on Thursday, October 9 at 4:30 p.m. in the Bookstore, located in South Campus Hall.

For the first time, advance polling stations for the upcoming municipal election will be open on campus today. Open to all eligible voters, the poll is located in the Student Life Centre and will run from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. More information is available on the City of Waterloo's website.

And on a "can-you-believe-it's-that-time-of-year-already" note, Recreation and Leisure Studies student Lindsay Kalbfleisch has been selected as this year's Miss Oktoberfest.

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