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Daily Bulletin


University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Monday, June 10, 1996

A memo to staff members

The staff relations committee issued this memo late last week and asked that I pass it along:
The Staff Relations Committee (SRC) wishes to thank staff for their thoughtful input to the Committee as a consequence of reviewing the SRC proposal for an amendment to Policy 18, Section VIII. The proposed policy revision went on view April 2, 1996. In recent weeks, this feedback has been carefully reviewed and has resulted in revisions which more adequately reflect the Committee's intention to permit a reasonable degree of latitude when determining the point at which a position may be filled. The revised section, now entitled "Provisions For A Staff Member Able To Return To Work After Long Term Disability", has been forwarded to the President for approval.

Soliciting feedback on policies affecting staff members is an integral and important component of the SRC's mandate. In line with recent discussions to create a more effective conduit for communication to flow between staff and the SRC, on a regular basis, the Chair will publicly post brief reports summarizing activity which is under consideration by the Committee and will announce upcoming topics to be reviewed. By doing this, the SRC hopes to create a proactive process for including staff comment in its deliberations prior to concluding proposals for policy changes.

Staff may be interested to know that the Committee will soon be focusing on a review of the Staff Grievance Policy (Policy 36) as well as those recommendations in the PACOHAD report which may impact on the procedure for hearing staff grievances. Further information as to when this process is initiated will be posted in a future edition of the StaffNews letter.

The chair of the staff relations committee is Karen LeDrew, an assistant registrar and the president-elect of the staff association.

A shocking innovation

Current news, so to speak, from Randy Bareham in electrical and computer engineering: "Late last night" (that would be Thursday) "in the depths of the university's high voltage lab, we tested what we believe to be the world's smallest 1-million volt power supply."

The device was developed by ECE faculty member James Cross and his research group, "and will be used to run a particle accelerator that makes up a contraband detection system being developed by Triumf labs at UBC. The supply was conceived of three years ago, and has been in the design and construction phase for the past year. After months of development and modifications, it was turned on last night.

"The Megavolt is one of many projects that James Cross has underway, including a high voltage plastic perforator, and a large NSERC grant to look at water purification using high voltage."

And speaking of plastic . . .

UW supporters who plan to travel or buy a first home can now use the UW Bank of Montreal MasterCard to help make their dreams come true. Starting this spring, the UW MasterCard is offering Air Miles and First Home options for cardholders. Students, faculty, staff and friends can learn more about these new programs at a promotional booth in the Student Life Centre this week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Since the UW MasterCard was launched in 1989, some 6,000 cardholders have generated more than $182,000 in revenue for alumni programs.

About making dental claims

Sandie Hurlburt of the human resources department has some information for staff and faculty who make use of the dental plan:
In response to many requests, Human Resources has now set up direct access to ManuLife's inquiry line for employees with questions about dental claims. Effective June 1,1996, the numbers to call are: 747-5484 or 1-800-265-2260. When the phone is answered, press #2, and have ready: your group number (G10888), your individual ManuLife certificate number, name of patient, date of appointment with the dentist and amount of claim. You can continue to call Tricia Loveday, ext. 3134, in Human Resources if you have dental questions, but direct access to ManuLife offers you an alternate method.

Of note on the Web

Some documents and pages of interest on the World Wide Web these days:

And finally, on a greyish Monday

According to UWevents, the Outers' Club is going to play beach volleyball in Math and Computer room 4040 tonight -- which frankly doesn't seem very likely. You can check UWevents on-line any day (it's available right from the UWinfo home page), as well as in printed form in the Gazette every week or two.

And let's wish a happy birthday today to Jon Mark of the electrical and computer engineering department.

Chris Redmond -- credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004

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