Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Monday, March 8, 1999

Tuition, salaries top budget unknowns
UWinfo committee invites feedback
Registration dates change
Events on a bone-chilling Monday

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Tuition, salaries top budget unknowns

Meetings between student leaders and UW officials this week will pave the way for a decision on tuition fee rates for 1999/2000 -- one of a number of unresolved items yet to be quantified before the university budget for next year can be finalized.

While Ontario universities may now establish differential tuition fees that better reflect actual costs of certain deregulated programs -- including optometry, computer science, engineering and graduate programs -- a UW task force earlier this year urged the university to proceed with caution in setting the fees.

Following meetings with representatives of the Graduate Student Association and the Federation of Students, Jim Kalbfleisch, vice-president academic and provost, plans to take a recommendation on tuition increases to the board executive committee, then to the board of governors' meeting on April 6 for approval.

Among other "major uncertainties" impeding budget deliberations, said Kalbfleisch, are salary increases for faculty and staff, which are currently under negotiation. "While they might not be resolved before May 1, we hope most will be in place before the end of the fiscal year."

Ontario universities are anticipating an increase of one per cent in the provincial operating grant, which was previously announced. However, the increase has been tied to OSAP costs, and if the government determines that OSAP expenses are too high, that figure might be reduced.

Although final word has not yet been received from the province regarding the ATOP operating grant for 1999-2000, said Kalbfleisch, the university is projecting ATOP funding of just over $4.3 million (not including start-up grants).

"There were concerns that all the money and attention (from ATOP) would focus on two departments," he noted, "and that ATOP would even siphon resources from other areas. In fact, the resources can be used elsewhere, as well," since the university has discretion in where it chooses to spend both the operating grant and extra tuition income.

While engineering is slated to receive $861,000, and mathematics $1,605,000 to fund the ATOP expansion, 10 new faculty positions are expected to be funded in other faculties, as well, with some $598,000 from ATOP. They include architecture (1), biology (4), economics (1), English (1), physics (2), and speech communications (1). An additional $1,246,000 has been earmarked for "central costs" related to ATOP.

UWinfo committee invites feedback

Jay Black, associate provost IST, struck an ad hoc committee in late 1998 to provide guidance on the future development of UWinfo. The committee, which began meeting in January, comprises Ken Lavigne (registrar), Bruce Lumsden (CECS), Richard Pinnell (library), Chris Redmond (internal communications), Roger Watt (IST), and Richard Wells (kinesiology), chair.

Its mandate is to make recommendations on the use, management, and evolution of UWinfo, and to consult with representative stakeholders to develop a framework and rationale for the continuing management and evolution of UWinfo.

The committee is inviting comments on the "areas for consideration" section, below, and also asks users to suggest ways to enrich UWinfo (e.g., what have you looked for and could not find? are you aware of areas of duplication?). Excerpts from the committee's report:

Definition and scope

The Committee has reviewed the current operation of UWinfo and sites and policies at a selection of other institutions in Canada and abroad, has recognised the current wide extent and distributed nature of UW's information, and suggests the following as a starting point:

UWinfo is the collection of information and information-systems interfaces that use the medium of the Internet to describe the University and provide access to its services. The homepage for this collection of information is www.uwaterloo.ca. UW has authority over most of this material, including copyright ownership in some cases. However, some materials relate to external collective endeavours in which UW is a participant but for which UW is not singularly responsible (such as the TriUniversity Group of Libraries, TUG), or to associations in which UW units or members are active but for which UW has no institutional responsibility. UW has no direct authority over these materials.
The Committee believes that UW should capitalize on opportunities offered by the medium of the Internet to provide information about the university and access to its services.
The need for creation of information in other forms (e.g., paper, graphic arts, CDs, multi-media) is recognized but, whenever possible, it should be derived or obtained from the network-accessible collection.

Areas for consideration

The goals identified by the Committee include ensuring that UWinfo reflects positively upon the image of the University, and that information is delivered in a complete, accurate and timely fashion. The Committee has noted several areas that may serve to guide you in reflecting upon UWinfo. These include:

coordination among UW information providers to reduce or eliminate duplication of effort and to ensure that UWinfo is as broadly based and comprehensive as possible
consistent look and feel (e.g., style; image; a template for web documents)
accuracy, consistency, reliability and maintenance of posted information
security and confidentiality (e.g., data bases which include personal information)
searching and navigating UWinfo; enriching UWinfo documents to improve retrievability
performance standards (e.g., responsiveness of servers; use of cumbersome graphics and scripts)
training (choice of tools, use of technologies) and resources required to further the evolution of UWinfo
legal and audit implications (e.g., copyright; what constitutes the official version of the calendars; electronic signatures)
archive (e.g., "instance-in-time" versions of the Graduate and Undergraduate Calendars)
who or what body should have oversight responsibility for UWinfo?

Responses should be submitted via email (uwinfo-adhoc@ist.uwaterloo.ca), by Friday, March 12. Comments will be considered by the committee and may be reflected in a draft report for discussion at a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, at noon, probably in NH3001. "An indication of anticipated attendance at the April 7 public meeting will allow the Committee to ensure that the proper room size is booked," adds the secretariat.

Registration dates change

"The change to fee payment dates, registration deadlines and late fees which were implemented for Fall 1998 registration have improved registration," says UW registrar Ken Lavigne. "After observing the pattern of registration activity in Fall and Winter and listening to suggestions from students and staff, we are making the following refinements to registration practices, effective for Spring 1999 registration. These changes were reviewed by the Provost's Advisory Committee on Student Fees and approved by the Provost. The 1999-2000 calendar reflects these changes."

The fees due dates have been revised slightly .
- Spring 1999 April 26, 1999
- Fall 1999 August 31, 1999
- Winter 2000 December 15, 1999
Students can post date payment each term. No late fees will be charged for post dated payments received on or before the above fees due dates. Post dated cheques must be dated no later than the following dates:
- Spring 1999 May 3, 1999
- Fall 1999 September 7, 1999
- Winter 2000 January 4, 2000
All students must pay fees by mail or at one of three on campus express payment boxes. The return envelope will include prepaid postage. The secure express payment boxes are located at the cashier's office, registrar's office and graduate studies office in Needles Hall. Cashier and registrar's office staff remain available to answer questions and solve problems related to fees but "over-the-counter" service will no longer be available for fee payment transactions. The Registration Planner, enclosed with fee statements and schedules, will include information about receipt distribution each term.
Enclosing a copy of the OSAP Notice of Assessment or a copy of a scholarship/award letter with the fee statement is an acceptable means of payment.
Late fees will be assessed on the following dates.
- Spring 1999 April 27, 1999
- Fall 1999 September 1, 1999
- Winter 2000 December 16, 1999

Events on a bone-chilling Monday

Final results of the recent Ontario University Lifeguard Championships have been revised "due to a variation in method of points awarded for specific placings in the competition." As a result, the Brock team, BLT, won the championship, with the UW team, Go Again, finishing second. The team from Western placed third. Other UW teams placed fifth and ninth in the competition.

In co-op and career services, architecture interviews are scheduled this week, and will be held in Toronto on Friday. Today, job match results will be posted at 3 p.m. Continuous process meetings for students without employment following the computer match will be held at the following times: AHS, ES, science, 4:30 p.m, Biology 1 room 271; arts, accounting, mathematics, 4:30 p.m., Davis Centre room 1351; engineering 1Bs, 4:30 p.m., Engineering Lecture Hall room 101; engineering 2As and up, 5:30 p.m., Engineering Lecture Hall room 101. The employer information session scheduled by Micro Strategy at 7 p.m. has been cancelled. Posting #1 (continuous phase) expires at 8 p.m.

The Financial Econometrics Workshop sponsored by the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance, begins at 9 a.m. today in Davis Centre room 1304. For more information, contact the centre at ext. 5728.

A TA brown bag workshop is scheduled for noon today in Math and Computer room 5158. The TRACE event will explore "Learner Profiles and Scenario-Based Design Using the TLC Design Kit". For more information, phone ext. 3132.

Kim Wilson-Giovinazzo from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty will speak at 12:15 p.m. in the Blue Room at Conrad Grebel College. Topics will include the Out of the Cold program, as well as the impact of recent/ongoing cuts to social services on the local community.

Solution physics of filamentous biopolymers is the subject of a seminar at 3 p.m. by J.X. Tang of the department of medicine, hematology division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Tang is a candidate for a physics biophysics faculty position. The seminar takes place in Physics room 308.

The Embassy and Campus Crusade is sponsoring Politically Incorrect Night tonight at 7:30 in the Theatre of the Arts, Modern Languages. Guests will include Mano Watsa (Warrior Basketball), Hendrik van der Breggen (Imprint's Apologia), and a representative of the Federation of Students.

Students who wish to transfer to architecture for the Fall 1999 term need to complete an application for internal transfer form, available from the registrar's office, Needles Hall. Applications must be received by Friday, March 12.

Techworx in the Student Life Centre is having a promotion on Clearnet phones. Stop by and check out the savings, says Beth Alemany, marketing co-ordinator at retail services.

Looking ahead to Thursday, the registrar's office (on the second floor of Needles Hall) and the graduate studies office (on the third floor) will be closed between 10 a.m. and noon so that all staff may attend a meeting.

And from the weekend, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs defeated the Waterloo Warriors 66-61 on Saturday afternoon to capture the OUA West Division men's basketball crown.

Barbara Elve
bmelve@uwaterloo.ca

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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