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Wednesday, August 28, 2002

  • HR warning about visa delays
  • Prof proclaims his passion
  • This week's positions available
Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

Frantic construction continues at WLU


Physics instructor is mourned

David McVicar, an instructor in UW's department of physics for the past 37 years, died Monday at University Hospital in London. He was 62.

The funeral will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Edward R. Good Funeral Home on King Street in Waterloo. Visitation there is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

Engineering student killed in Spain

Omar Alizzi, a fourth-year electrical and computer engineering student, died August 18 in a road accident in Spain, according to information received by the UW police.

Alizzi, who listed Waterloo as his home address, would have been on a work term this fall. Plans for a memorial service are still being worked out.

The crash killed several other people as well, and a second UW student, Bartek Kunowski of fourth-year computer science, was seriously injured and is in hospital in Spain, the police reported.

HR warning about visa delays

Paperwork for UW employees from outside Canada is taking longer than it used to, thanks to changes in federal law, a memo from UW's human resources department warns.

The memo was distributed this week to departments across campus. Here's what it says:

"Recent changes to the Immigration Act has created serious delays in Immigration Canada ability to provide documentation for work authorizations and visitors visas. This delay is expected to last into next year and it has the potential for serious consequences for payroll, OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) and UHIP (University Health Insurance Plan).

"Immigration Canada confirmed that extensions to Employment Authorizations are taking 50 days from the application date to deliver new documentation. Employees used to apply about four weeks prior to the expiration of their EA, however they should now apply at least 2 1/2 months before the expiration of their EA.

"If the application for extension is made before the EA expires, they are considered to have 'Implied Status'. This means we can continue to pay them while waiting for the new documentation. If the application for extension is not made before the EA expires, they are considered to be 'Out of Status' and must apply for a reinstatement within 90 days. This means we are not able to continue to pay them until the new documentation is presented to us. If UW continued to pay these employees, we could face a large fine from Immigration Canada.

"Given the seriousness of the situation, we will require copies of the application for extension for their EA's along with the usual re-appointment letters. Departments should forward a copy of the application for extension along with the re-appointment letters to the Payroll-Benefit Assistants for their work area in order for pays to continue into the new appointment terms.

"OHIP uses the employment authorization (EA) plus our UW appointment letters to establish eligibility for OHIP and to establish their three month waiting period. Immigration Canada does not back date the EA's to show continuous employment approval. Instead the date shown on the EA is the date the document is printed (even though the approval is given from the start of the appointment letter).

"The date on the EA impacts OHIP: If the extension to the EA shows a gap of more than 30 days between the existing document and the new EA, the local OHIP office must re-apply the three month waiting period. The employee may appeal to the OHIP General Manager to remove the three month waiting period, however this is a long process. In the meantime, employees and their dependents are required to sign-up for UHIP.

"Therefore Human Resources strongly encourages departments and individuals to apply for an extension well in advance of the expiry date in order to ensure that there is no disruption in pay or OHIP coverage."

More information, the memo says, is available from Glenda Rutledge (ext. 6120) and Dianne Llewellyn (ext. 6682) in human resources.

[A smile and a canoe paddle]

Prof proclaims his passion

Bill Power -- "no stranger to hard work, excellence, and commitment" -- is also "passionate about supporting his students and the UW community", says a profile that appeared recently as part of the Keystone Campaign. It's accompanied by a picture (right) of Power on the water in his favourite spare-time activity.

The profile, prepared by Keystone organizers and running as an unpaid ad in the Gazette, tells a little about Power and about why he's helping to support the campaign, which seeks to raise $4.5 million for UW from staff, faculty and retirees over the next five years.

It says: "As the recipient of numerous awards, including a department teaching award in 1996 and a Premier's Research Excellence Award in 1999, the Chemistry professor is passionate about supporting his students and the UW community.

"For the past nine years, Bill has been involved with the Faculty Association, Faculty of Science Foundation, University Senate, Open House for Distance Education, Campus Day, and many other events for current and prospective students."

He grins, "What can I say? I like the big picture. I think it's important to get involved and see what goes on across campus."

What do you like best about your work at Waterloo? "The Faculty of Science Foundation, which supports science students, is one of the greatest things I'm involved with. I work with the most energetic, dedicated, and committed students in Science -- and have fun doing it!"

What do you value about Waterloo? "The attitude across campus, and especially in Chemistry, is a positive, committed, and ambitious one -- UW isn't prepared to play second fiddle to anyone. There's also a huge amount of energy in this place and it's hard not to get excited about coming to work. I enjoy what I do and I'm fortunate to work with some very dynamic people."

Why do you donate? "The bottom line is to support students. It's that simple. I feel that we have a significant lack of scholarship support, so I contribute to graduate and undergraduate scholarships. We need to attract and support the best."

And a few other notes

Rehearsals are under way for this year's production of "Single and Sexy", to be staged all next week to give new students something to think about. A preview performance is scheduled for this Friday at 11:30, in the Humanities Theatre, open to staff, faculty and other "interested parties".

Residence life staff for the coming term are going through "training week" right now in Ron Eydt Village. Also taking up some Village rooms are about 60 participants in a Skate Canada camp. And that winds up the conference centre season for another year.

The plant operations department advises that sidewalk repairs are under way at the main entrance to the General Services Complex, facing the north side of the Davis Centre. If you want to get into the plant operations and human resources departments, "the preferred entrance" for the next few days will be at the back, from the courtyard parking area of GSC.

This week's positions available

"University Policy 18," says the human resources department, "provides maximum opportunity for promotion of regular, internal staff members. Those interested in applying for an available position are invited to call Human Resources at ext. 2524 for more information or are welcome to visit during regular working hours to view a detailed job description. Human Resources is located in the General Services Complex, Room 130. A current resume is required with your application.

"Due to the number of applications received, we regret that we can not respond to external applicants who apply to the vacancies listed below unless an interview is scheduled.

"If there are no qualified internal applications, a decision may be made, no earlier than seven working days from the job posting, to seek external candidates. All applications received after this decision will be treated on an equal basis, without consideration of the internal status of the candidate."

On this week's list:

More information about each job is available on the human resources web site.

And more from HR: "The university welcomes and encourages applications from the designated employment equity groups: visible minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and aboriginal people. For more information call ext. 2524."

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY

August 28, 1965: Homer Cox of the department of English is killed in a highway accident near London.

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