Campaign seeks graduates for the federal civil service

Daily Bulletin

Trudeau funeral on campus TV sets

Scott Charles of the audio-visual centre said the funeral coverage, beginning at 10:30, can be found on channel 11 on TV sets in lecture rooms and similar locations. "There's a large number of rooms that have resident TV sets," he noted.

The university's flags remain at half-staff as part of the national mourning for Trudeau, prime minister 1968-79 and 1980-84, who died Thursday at the age of 80. There has been a national outpouring of sentiment over the past four days as the man with the rose lay in state in Ottawa, then was carried to Montréal by train yesterday morning. Today's funeral, in Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral, will be attended by some 2,700 mourners, including four other prime ministers of Canada, two presidents of the United States, and the Duke of York.

Company keeps students coming back -- from the UW Recruiter newsletter for co-op employers

Kevin Beck (UW alumnus), and LP’s plant manager in Toronto states, "Employee satisfaction/loyalty is certainly something that there is much emphasis on at LP. It is important because without sustained high performance in an organization you have high turnover, and eventually your competition will surpass you." The challenge, he says, is to create opportunities to satisfy students’ work term and/or career aspirations.

Meeting students’ needs is a high priority of LP. As such, students are exposed to ten distinct manufacturing processes, as well as a range of opportunities in Process Engineering, and Project Engineering. LP ensures each student embarks on important work assignments geared towards their specific area of study, a guarantee made during interviews. Sandra Lowrie, 2B Chemical Engineering confirms, "The promise was followed through and suitable projects were supplied for all students." Students gain a secondary benefit as well. The majority of projects are conducive to one of the co-op requirements, writing a work term report.

LP encourages its employees to strive for success. Autonomy is provided to allow individuals to gain the work experience they want and to have fun in a relaxed atmosphere. All managers and engineers take the time to discuss projects and answer questions with students – another example of individualized attention. LP supports employees to explore different areas of the company. As a returning student, Lowrie was able to request the department within which she wanted to work.

Recognizing their financial needs, LP pays its students above the median, and rewards returning students with a 5% wage increase, in addition to the raise in base pay for a more senior work term. A variety of opportunities are available for students to join company sports teams, and to participate in social activities away from the plant. The camaraderie created allows people to enjoy being at work more.

Students have equal participation in communication meetings, and are fully involved within project teams of which senior students are encouraged to lead to gain additional experience. Employee loyalty among UW students is crucial for LP. "We are using the Waterloo Co-op program as a recruiting tool for permanent employees," Beck adds, "so we view the relationship as a long term one."

Mandatory student presentations highlight the experiences of each student at the conclusion of the term. Feelings of loyalty are enhanced, as the presentations showcase the significance of the students’ work, allow professional interaction among all employees, and improve the students’ presentation skills. According to Lowrie, "Every manager showed up to the presentations. It was great to see the interest that everyone in the plant had in what the students were doing, and [the presentations] gave them an opportunity to learn how the students are contributing to the company." Clearly, LP has learned how to take full advantage of the co-op program, thus reaping all the benefits UW students have to offer.

The original "poster girl" for Student Life 101, Melanie Hazelton, has left her post as first-year student life coordinator. She's pictured with Matt Iley, the originator of Student Life 101.

First-year coordinator moves on -- by Avvey Peters

She had been extensively involved with campus programming for first-year students since 1997, when she joined program founder Matt Iley on Student Life 101 -- the campus visiting day for some 4,500 new students and their parents that happens in August.

The first-year student life coordinator has only been around since 1996, but "Mel really consolidated this job," says Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services). Her predecessors, Kelly Foley (former Federation of Students vice president) and Pam Charbonneau (current residence life coordinator for Ron Eydt Village) did the research and planning necessary to establish the job, says Scott. That gave Hazelton a solid foundation to build on.

As first-year student life coordinator, Hazelton was co-chair of orientation, working on training the 800 leaders who were involved this year. She also developed one of the Bridges programs for first-year students living off campus, and launched an e-zine for first-year students.

One of the most notable things Hazelton did was to put a friendly face on UW, Scott says. "She became a contact person for students and their parents. "She answered hundreds of phone calls and e-mails, and really built that part of the first-year student life coordinator's job."

Scott hopes to have Hazelton's replacement hired sometime this fall. Ideally, candidates will be those who are either about to graduate, or who have graduated very recently. "You need to relate to the experience of first-year students to do this job," says Scott. Information about the position is available through the human resources department.

Another busy day on campus

I have a note from the faculty of applied health sciences pointing out that UW has more and more links with the Grand River Hospital, which is the umbrella organization operating the old K-W Hospital and Freeport Hospital. Grand River is running a series of health promotion events this fall, including one today: a "depression screening and information clinic" today at Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, under the title "There's More to Good Health Than Not Looking Sick". (Someone wrote a few paragraphs about depression which I quoted in the Daily Bulletin earlier this year, and here was the key sentence: "Depression is caused by a biochemical imbalance and it is no one's fault.")

The fall "Bridging the Gap" lecture series starts today: a series of talks on non-technical issues aimed at engineering students and sponsored by the dean's office, the Sandford Fleming Foundation and the Engineering Society. Today's speaker is Tony Davis, co-founder of Delrina, Delano Technologies, and Brightspark. He'll speak in Carl Pollock Hall room 3385 at 11:30 a.m. Topic: "Building World Class High-Tech Start-ups -- The Excitement, Risk and Rewards".

An information session will be held at 12:30 today (Needles Hall room 3043) about the Women in Science and Engineering program. In yesterday's Bulletin, unfortunately, I said this program came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council; in fact, it's from the National Research Council, which of course isn't the same thing. "The Women in Engineering and Science program encourages women to pursue careers in math, science, physics and engineering. As a WES student, you'll work alongside some of the leading scientific minds in the world, using cutting-edge technology at one of the National Research Council Institutes across Canada. . . . Candidates must be enrolled full time in their second year of an undergraduate program in science, engineering or mathematics."

Representatives of a dozen universities in the Atlantic provinces will be in Waterloo today to offer information to high school students who might like to head eastward for their post-secondary education. Their Waterloo session is publicly advertised: 1:30 to 3 p.m. today at Waterloo Collegiate Institute on Hazel Street.

The Waterloo Public Interest Research Group has a panel discussion scheduled for this afternoon:

What's Up with Free Trade? Seattle -- Washington -- Windsor -- Okinawa -- Melbourne -- Prague -- and next Quebec City! Why are people all over the world protesting globalization? Could it be that there is something wrong with the unrestricted flow of capital? Something that puts more power in the hands of western elites? Join in a discussion with four Montreal activists who are coming to town to discuss the Free Trade Area of the Americas, as well as plans for protesting the April 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

It'll be "Motorola Day" in the Davis Centre lounge, with a series of "presentations from key Motorolans" as well as food and prizes. "All students interested in more information about Motorola are encouraged to attend," a memo notes. The open house runs from 11:00 to 7:00, and technical speakers begin at noon.

There will be a special event in the prayer room of the Student Life Centre this afternoon, says math student Junaid Quadri:

Students from around the campus will attempt to express solidarity with the right of Palestinians to a peaceful existence in their own land by attending a prayer for those who have been killed in recent clashes between Palestinian civilians and Israeli authorities. The death toll continues to increase every day. As citizens half a world away, it is our duty to do whatever little we can to achieve peace and justice, though it may be nothing more than remembering those who have been killed in its pursuit It is with this intention that the prayer on Tuesday has been organized. . . . We hope that the turnout tomorrow will prove that skirmishes half a world away are indeed of importance to those of us here at UW.

Food services is announcing "Burgermania" in the Ron Eydt Village cafeteria from 4:30 to 7 this evening -- a burger with fries or a side salad is $3.95 cash, half that price if it's bought from a residence meal allowance.

The first chapel service of the fall term will be held at St. Paul's United College at 6:00 tonight. Paul Ellingham, UW's United Church chaplain, will speak on "Thanksgiving". Everyone is welcome.

And looking ahead to tomorrow -- the third annual Environmental Studies Lecture will be given Wednesday night (7:30, Theatre of the Arts) by Pierre Filion of the school of planning. His topic: "Planning in a Post-Modern World -- The Weight of Tradition and the Need for Innovation".

CAR

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
| Yesterday's Bulletin
Copyright © 2000 University of Waterloo