Daily
Bulletin

Alan George today ends his seven-month stint as acting vice-president (academic) and provost. As of tomorrow (or more accurately, when he returns from a brief vacation) he'll return to the post of dean of mathematics, and new arrival Amit Chakma takes his seat behind the provost's desk in Needles Hall. At the June meeting of UW's board of governors, president David Johnston paid tribute to George: "I can't say enough about Alan. I just admire this man enormously." He said he had been able to work so closely with the acting provost that "We complete each other's sentences. . . . I cannot speak highly enough of the commitment Alan has brought to the university over these last few months."

Gang of four heads plant operations

The department is plant operations, which has 332 staff members and annual spending of $20 million, not counting construction projects.

"Effective immediately," says a memo from Dennis Huber, vice-president (administration and finance), "the senior leadership team in Plant Operations" consists of these four men:

• Tom Galloway, who continues as director of custodial and grounds services.
• Daniel Parent, who keeps his existing title of "university architect" as well as becoming director of design and construction services.
• Gene Starchuk, who remains director of business services.
• Rick Zalagenas, who moves from being manager of the central plant to take on the title of director of maintenance and utilities.

The current reorganization, says Huber, "reduces the overall management complement and provides an increased emphasis on the design and construction function reflecting the $100 million of construction activity on campus".

New leaders for Keystone campaign

The new campaign co-chairs (pictured at left) are Jim Kalbfleisch, former vice president (academic) and provost, representing retirees, Howard Armitage (school of accountancy), representing faculty, and Shirley Thomson (mathematics), representing staff.

The Keystone Fund is the annual fundraising appeal for faculty, staff, and retirees, which is the keystone of the university's Annual Fund. Annual donations from faculty, staff and retirees together total close to $500,000, with an emphasis on scholarship funds.

The new Keystone Fund co-chairs will spend the year recruiting a Keystone Fund campaign committee and department representatives. Their volunteer team will plan next year's launch of the Keystone Fund campaign, scheduled for May and June.

Surplus sale set for tomorrow The next regular sale of surplus UW property -- from used furniture to obsolete computer equipment -- will be held tomorrow, from 11:30 to 1:30 at central stores in East Campus Hall (off Phillip Street).

Breathe with care: smog is back

Says the ministry's warning: "A Smog Advisory means that there is a strong likelihood that there may be poor air quality within the next 24 hours due to ground-level ozone and particulate matter. During the smog episode, individuals may experience eye irritation. Heavy outdoor exercise may cause respiratory symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath. People with heart or lung disease including asthma may experience a worsening of their condition."

It encourages people to drive as little as possible during a smog alert, and "avoid strenuous exercise in the heat of the day". Other urgings: "Save electricity at home by turning down the air conditioner and turning off lights you are not using; leave lawn mowing for another day; restrict the use of gasoline-powered equipment; delay using oil-based paints, solvents and cleaners; do not use the barbecue."

Finally a northern medical school -- by Geoffrey Tesson, executive director of health initiatives at Laurentian University, reprinted from the Laurentian Gazette

In the new medical school, 55 places will be allocated between Sudbury and Thunder Bay, and the target date for start-up is September 2004. The announcement of Laurentian as the main campus caused some tension across the North, but both Laurentian and Lakehead universities and their physician and hospital partners have committed to working together to build a medical school that will serve the whole of the North without favouring any single location.

This will be the first new medical school developed in Canada in over 30 years and it will assume a new form. It will differ from traditional models in that students will be divided into small groups adopting a problem-based learning approach with the training taking place in clinical settings right across Northern Ontario. The model will be particularly valuable for the North, since graduates will be prepared especially for northern and rural practice. However, it is also assumed that the range of clinical experience that students will be exposed to will serve as an excellent foundation for practice anywhere in the world.

The program will have a significant impact on the recruitment and retention of health professionals throughout under-serviced areas of the North. A special effort will be made to address the health needs of Francophone and First Nations communities. . . .

The new medical school will allow students to focus on the health issues of the region, such as environmental and occupational health and safety issues. It is anticipated that Laurentian will develop speciality training in core areas such as general surgery, internal medicine, geriatric care, obstetrics and gynaecology, etc., and develop research strengths to parallel these educational aspects. Some Laurentian researchers are already involved with important national projects, such as the study of rural and remote nursing to improve nurse recruitment and retention, and a national study of family physicians being carried out at the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research. . . .

The International Symposium on Medical Education in Rural Communities and the North which took place in April was the first step towards the creation of a medical school of international calibre in the north. More than 300 delegates coming from all parts of Canada took part in order to benefit from one another's experience. The four distinguished speakers came from universities that have pioneered in establishing schools of rural medicine, in Norway, Australia, Finland and New Mexico.

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 © 2001 University of Waterloo