![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
"The Staff Association Executive Committee would like to remind staff of its Town Hall meeting to discuss the Staff Recognition Awards program and respond to questions from staff regarding the program. The meeting is scheduled from 3:00 until 4:30. Managers are asked to release staff who are interested in learning more about the award so that they can attend. All members of the Staff Compensation Committee (with the exception of Bruce Mitchell who will be away) and the Staff Association Executive will be present.
"Although the award will not be available until the 2004-2005 salary year, the Staff Compensation Committee has been working on the guidelines and although not all of them are worked out, the committee has most of them in place."
The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. today in Biology I room 271.
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is best known for handing out the Millennium Scholarships and bursaries, two of the federal megaprojects in support of education and research over the past few years, but it also does studies of education financing and student issues, and said it "will convene" next year's discussions as the result of a self-evaluation study.
Said a news release: "The Government of Canada and the provinces consulted by the Foundation have voiced their support for this initiative. Meetings will take place in more than 20 centres across Canada and will be led by an independent committee of three co-chairs with expertise and experience related to student financial assistance."
UW winners honoured todayA reception will be held today to honour 170 UW winners of the Millennium Scholarships. "This occasion," said the invitation, "provides an opportunity for Excellence Award laureates from all years to come together as we celebrate their scholastic achievements, leadership abilities and demonstrated service to their communities."Among the winners are nine UW students who will receive the first in-course awards. They were selected on the basis of community involvement, the ability to lead and motivate others, an interest in innovation and academic achievement. The awards amount to scholarships valued at either $4,000, $8,000 or $10,000. This new initiative completes the foundation's existing Millennium Excellence Award Program. The entrance award already supports talented Canadians who are beginning post-secondary studies for the first time. The new in-course award is dedicated to those whose talents only began to be recognized after they started their post-secondary studies, the foundation said in a news release. The foundation devotes up to five per cent of its scholarship funds to its millennium excellence awards, which are distributed on the basis of merit. Hosting today's event (at 5:00 in South Campus Hall) are Norman Riddell, executive director of the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation, and UW president David Johnston. |
Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation: Evaluation of the Foundation's performance, 1998-2002 was independently prepared by the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at Queen's University, and involved researchers from five universities.
Said the news release: "The Foundation hopes that all interested parties will participate in reflecting on the financial assistance available to Canadian students.
"The Foundation is looking for their input on some key issues: Can we make a better use of the $4.7 billion available each year in financial assistance? Can financial assistance be better targeted? Who should benefit from these programs? Can the financial aid system across the country be improved, ensuring that those who actually benefit are those who have the greatest need?"
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was created in 1998. "It encourages students to strive for excellence and pursue their post-secondary studies. Since 2000 the Foundation has provided the student community with 360,000 bursaries and scholarships at an annual value of $285 million and a cumulative value of $1.2 billion, as of Fall 2003."
Hulls, along with colleague David Brush, received a grant from the Learning Initiatives Fund this fall for development of eight "learning modules" in 150. She says they're working -- at least, she's noticed what she calls "strange goings-on" with her students this fall and is optimistic about the impact of the tutorial modules.
Tom Carey, associate vice-president (learning resources and innovation), is behind the Learning Initiatives grants, and says the project for E&CE 150 is particularly interesting because it represents a kind of learning technology that hasn't been seen much in the faculty of engineering.
Engineering is rich in teaching technology, of course -- CAD-CAM design software is an obvious example. But, Carey says, many of the techniques that have been spreading in the arts and science faculties have been largely based on what's done in distance education, and engineering doesn't play a big role in UW's distance teaching. However, he predicts that will change as the UWone "online environment" for teaching and learning is better developed and reaches into all the faculties.
![[Hulls]](/images/2003/1112hulls.gif)
Over in Engineering II, Hulls (left) says that at the beginning of this
year she didn't know much about e-learning and
learning objects. But she did know that something needed to be done to
help the inexperienced programmers in the 150 programming course.
"A lot has happened since then," says Peter Goldsworthy of the LT3 learning technology centre, which is sponsoring tomorrow's presentation. "This fall, students in 150 are able to access a set of eight learning modules that provide an opportunity for students to experiment with the course concepts before and after the topic is covered in the lectures. The modules can be viewed online."
How did this project go from an idea to reality? "Hulls will reflect on the project progress," says Goldsworthy, "and will share some of the successes and failures involved in the development effort. She will also look at where the project is going from here." Among other developments, she has just finished interviewing for a co-op student position to provide further development on the tutorial project.
Tomorrow's session runs from 11 a.m. to noon in the Flex lab in the Dana Porter Library. Participants can register on the LT3 events web site.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Technology Information Show, "business-to-business expo",
10:30 to 4:30, Waterloo Inn.
'Just Because' luncheon buffet, University Club, today, reservations ext. 3801. "Nations of the world" presentations from the Society for International Students -- "China", 6 p.m., Rod Coutts Hall room 306. "As You Like It", drama department major production, Theatre of the Arts, 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday. News conference to honour 14 recipients of Canada Research Chairs at UW, Thursday 10:30 a.m., South Campus Hall. "Integer Optimization in Data Mining", talk by Romy Shioda, combinatorics and optimization, Thursday 4 p.m., Math and Computer room 5136. "Refabricating Architecture", Arriscraft lecture by Philadelphia architect James Timberlake, Thursday 7 p.m., Environmental Studies II room 286. St. Jerome's University lecture by Cynthia Mahmood of Notre Dame University, "Understanding Terrorists and Martyrs", Friday 7:30 p.m. |
UW's board of governors will get a new member with the election of Herb Epp as mayor of Waterloo, defeating incumbent Lynne Woolstencroft. (Epp served as a board member during a previous stint as mayor in the 1970s.) Re-elected, and continuing on the UW board, were Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr and Waterloo Region chair Ken Seiling.
Flu shots are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in the Student Life Centre. "Bring your Ontario health card," says a memo from health services. "Please wear a loose-fitting short-sleeve shirt. . . . Most people who have their flu shot experience no side effects, while others may experience mild side effects such as soreness, redness or swelling at the injection site. Occasionally, a small number of people may experience a fever or muscle aches."
I announced one of today's events a day early in yesterday's Daily Bulletin; my apologies. It's actually tonight that the new Waterloo-Israel Political Affairs Committee sponsors something called Israel @ Heart. "This event," writes Tom Chervinsky, "is a cross-Canada tour of young Israelis who help show Canadians just how similar Israel and Canada are. The speakers come from various backgrounds and political viewpoints, and welcome those with questions about Israel." The event starts at 8 p.m. in Biology I room 271.
A note has arrived in the wake of last week's blood donor clinic: "Canadian Blood Services would like to thank everyone who attended the clinics October 27-30, where we collected a total of 226 units of blood! Since every donation can help or improve the lives of up to four people, over 900 lives could potentially be affected by this generosity. A special thank you goes out to the 68 first time donors we welcomed to the clinic -- your support is greatly appreciated! We would also like to recognize the 29 donors from the Faculty of Mathematics and the 25 donors from Faculty of Engineering. For those students who came to the clinic and unfortunately could not be accommodated due to the overwhelming response, we thank you for taking the time to stop by." The next on-campus clinic is January 19-22, but anyone who would like to give blood sooner can call 1-888-2-DONATE to find a clinic and make an appointment.
There's also a thank-you from Heather Read, manager of the visitors centre and a key organizer of last Saturday's You @ Waterloo Day. She says the predicted attendance of 4,000 potential students and family members was about right, "and we've already received a lot of compliments. . . . Just as exciting as knowing our visitors enjoyed their day, is the number of current students who participated in this event. Over 320 UW students participated across all areas of the campus. These UW students took the time on Saturday to make this campus come alive. They provided a warm welcome for our visitors, helped them plan their day, talked about life and academics at UW, took them on tours of the campus and residences and generally demonstrated that UW was a great place to be! It was great to see so many different areas on campus come together to provide such a comprehensive and exciting opportunity for prospective students."
Finally . . . today's Wednesday, which means there is a Positions Available list from the human resources department noting staff jobs for which internal applications are invited. It's a short list this week:
CAR