Convocation: a difference of degrees

It's going to be a hot one this week as 5,472 degrees are awarded at the University of Waterloo's 106th Convocation. Over the next five days, the graduating classes across all six faculties will receive their degrees, both undergraduate and graduate.

Today, the morning ceremony is for graduates from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and environment, with the Faculty of Environment's ceremony taking place this afternoon.

Some 344 Applied Health Sciences students will convocate at this morning's ceremony, which begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Physical Activities Complex.

The guest speaker is internationally-recognized leader in the field of maternal and child health Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese, who will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws.

Addressing convocation on behalf of students will be valedictorian Kinshuk Kamar.

Receiving the departmental awards for distinguished academic achievement are Chi-Ling Joanna Sinn of the School of Public Health and Health Systems, Alexandrea Christine Peel of Kinesiology (Fall 2012) and Bo-Ran Han of Recreation and Leisure Studies.

The faculty's Alumni Achievement Award will be awarded posthumously this year to Honours Recreation & Leisure Studies grad Alyson Woloshyn, whose cancer battle, fundraising efforts, and the inspiring effect she had on her close circle of friends received national media attention last year. Accepting the award on her behalf will be her partner Jared Long.

Adil Bhatti will receive the Applied Health Sciences Young Alumni Award.

Ammar Bookwala will receive the University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medal.

Professor Kelly Anthony of the School of Public Health and Health Systems will receive the Distinguished Teacher Award.

Receiving the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies award will be Darin Bloemberg (Master's) and Caitlin Mulcahy (Doctoral).

This afternoon, starting at 2:30 p.m., 589 Faculty of Environment students will receive their degrees. This year, graduates of the Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation will cross the stage for the first time.

Ian Burton, an expert on natural hazards and resources management, will receive an honorary Doctorate of Environmental Studies and will address convocation.

The valedictory address will be given by Lucy Hinton.

Receiving departmental awards for distinguished academic achievement will be:

• Gary Marsh (Environment and Business)
• Janet Kimantas (Environment and Resource Studies)
• Russell Soeder (Geography and Aviation)
• Aaron Thompson (Geography and Environmental Management)
• Shengan Zhan (Geomatics)
• Nafisa Kassam (International Development)
• Vanessa Minke-Martin (Knowledge Integration)
• Jia Lu Lin (Planning)

The Alumni Gold Medal will go to Janet Kimantas.

Professor Jeffrey Casello of the School of Planning and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will receive the Distinguished Teacher Award. Paul Parker of

Department of Geography and Environmental Management will be given the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

Amber Silver will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies (Master's) award, with Suzanne von der Porten receiving the Doctoral award.

At both ceremonies today for the rest of the week, President and Vice-Chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur will also deliver closing remarks.

 

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Final examination schedule published

The Registrar's Office has published the final exam schedule for the Spring 2013 term.

For those writing exams on campus, the exam schedule (PDF) is available to view, or they can access their schedule in Quest.

Students taking courses online can use the exam schedule in Quest to find out their online course exam schedule.

The exam period runs from August 6 to 17. The libraries will be operating for extended hours beginning July 21.

 

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High jump video hits viral heights, other notes

You know that viral video that's been making the rounds on the web of those Kenyan high school kids going over a high jump bar using an interesting technique? Yeah, a University of Waterloo student shot that on his iPhone. The Waterloo Region Record has the full story about Michael Stewart, whose co-op work term put him in the right place at the right time to capture a magical moment on video.

Human Resources is reporting that Patrick Cameron has retired, effective June 1. Cameron started working at the university in November 1983 and retired as Stationary Engineer, 2nd Class in Plant Operations.

Institutional Analysis & Planning is hosting Alex Usher, president of the Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), who will be giving a series of talks on campus today. A number of technical discussions are scheduled this morning, and a general talk is being presented on measuring performance in higher education and best practices in performance monitoring and measurement in PAS 1241 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. that is open to everyone.

A correction to note: yesterday I referred to the Health Services snapping turtle as a hero in a half-shell. It has since been pointed out to me that from the photograph, it looks like said turtle is building a nest, which makes it likely that I should have referred to it as a heroine in a half-shell.

 

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