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Monday, August 27, 2001

About fee statements: 'Don't panic'
Minister brings renovation funds
Of cabbages and kings
The special gift of Dan Watt

About fee statements: 'Don't panic'

Quite a number of things have gone wrong with fee statements this fall -- the latest glitches as UW and its students get used to a new student information system, including the Quest interface.

Jane Manson, UW's director of finance, says her office and other administrative departments are getting "thousands of phone calls" from students and their parents about such problems as missing fee statements and documents that have unexpectedly changed full-time students into part-timers.

Her immediate advice: don't panic, and things will get sorted out.

Students should pay the fees they think they owe, Manson says. "Fees are owing by the published due dates whether you have received a fee bill or not." Today's the official deadline date for those paying by cheque. But the finance office is encouraging students to use the new option of paying by bank transfer, in which case they have another eight days. The deadline for payment by bank transfer was announced as September 3, but will now be September 4 because it turns out that banks don't like to work on Labour Day.

As for those students who are suddenly being listed as part-timers, things will be fixed, Manson said. "If your fee bill received does not reflect the total number of courses you had anticipated, pay your fees based on your expected status for fall term. Fees assessed at a particular point in time are based on courses scheduled at that time. As additional courses are scheduled, related fees will appear on subsequent fee bills. Bills are run and mailed weekly."

Minister brings renovation funds

Elizabeth Witmer, MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo and Ontario minister of the environment, will be on campus this morning to deliver special funding "to improve facilities" at UW and Wilfrid Laurier University.

An announcement from the UW news bureau says the money will, among other things, "support a retrofit with a new elevator at UW's Modern Languages Building to provide better access for disabled students". [Hamming it up] The elevator was under construction for most of last winter and spring, and opened for business in July. Pictured at right are Scott Spidell (of the Theatre of the Arts) and Sheila Ager (an associate dean of arts) pretending to enjoy a ride on the elevator's first day of operation.

Witmer and UW president David Johnston will take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Modern Languages at 11:00 this morning, the news bureau says.

The news release adds: "The additional financial support comes from this year's SuperBuild Facilities Renewal Program to help universities and colleges renovate and renew their facilities."

An announcement in the Ontario budget in early May spoke of a $100 million fund for colleges and universities. At that time Dennis Huber, UW's vice-president (administration and finance), estimated that Waterloo's share of the money would be about $4.3 million, and said the university was working on a list of projects on which it would be spent.

Of cabbages and kings

I'd better start with a correction to Friday's Bulletin. Caryn Malabar, the new one-day-a-week career advisor for UW alumni, is not based in the career services department, as I said. She is in counselling services on the second floor of Needles Hall. I did have the phone number right: ext. 2655.

Spring term grade reports will be mailed to students' home addresses this week, the registrar's office says. And if those are the last grades you'll ever be receiving as a Waterloo undergraduate, you need to be filling out an "Intention to Graduate" form, available at the registrar's office or on-line, in preparation for October 20 convocation.

About 60 participants in a camp organized by Skate Canada arrived at the Ron Eydt Village conference centre on Saturday and will be here until Wednesday.

Hot water will be shut off in Needles Hall tomorrow morning from 8:00 to 11:00, the plant operations department warns. (Hot air will be available as usual.)

Let's repeat a message from Charlene Schumm, the assistant registrar in charge of scheduling, that I passed along a few days ago: "The software used for booking rooms here on campus is being replaced, and as a result, staff across campus who were able to book rooms can no longer access the system. The new software is currently being configured to suit UW, so it may be a while before staff are once again able to book rooms. In the meantime, requests for academic-related room bookings can be sent to scheduling at amwendt@uwaterloo.ca."

The special gift of Dan Watt -- reprinted from the Insights newsletter published by UW's development office

When Daniel Grey Watt, PEng (below), became interested in establishing student awards at the University of Waterloo, he went about it with the same quiet, intelligent way he approached everything he did. As a result of his careful planning, outstanding UW students who want to pursue graduate studies in history now have access to two new scholarships worth $1,500 each. The scholarships will be funded in perpetuity by a significant bequest from Mr. Watt's estate.

[Watt] A graduate of Queen's University (1931) and the University of Toronto (1937), and professional engineer, Dan spent all of his life reading and learning-about anything and everything that attracted his interest. He enjoyed taking History courses at UW after he retired and moved to the area in 1974.

"Before we travelled anywhere, Dan studied the countries, cultures, and people extensively," his wife Margaret remembers.

Dan was a person whose intellectual pursuits were limited only by his imagination and his ability to access knowledge. Naturally quiet and reserved, he was a truly private person who didn't wish to draw attention to himself or his achievements. However, he felt strongly about the importance of education, and left gifts to several institutions of higher learning when he died so that others would have the opportunity to follow their quest for knowledge.

Planned gifts to UW are the special responsibility of Brent Charette in UW's development office. He notes that long-term "gifts for the future" can range from bequests to insurance policies, charitable gift annuities and trusts, and he's happy to discuss the possibilities in each individual case.
Dan contacted the UW Development Office in 1995 to begin the process of making a planned gift. He learned as much as he could about how his bequest could make a significant difference to both his estate's taxes and to the University and its students, and was often in contact with the University to ensure that he had done things correctly. As a result of his wisdom and care, his estate was very well prepared for distribution after his passing in July 2000 -- thus avoiding the time-consuming obstacles which can sometimes occur when wills are poorly written.

Throughout his lifetime, Dan's strong intellectual curiosity led him to pursue every avenue that intrigued him. The Dan Watt Scholarships are a fitting tribute to a man who was passionate about understanding his world. Because of his forethought, his love of learning will carry on through the students who benefit from his gift now and in the future.

CAR