Tuesday, October 30, 2007

  • Board asked to approve Engineering V
  • Witch will collect for the United Way
  • 'Codes' help analyze co-op jobs
  • Editor:
  • Chris Redmond
  • Communications and Public Affairs
  • bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

[Turner]

Baiba (Gomes) Turner speaks at a recent reception marking her retirement — which took place officially July 31, though she's still at work part-time in the UW library. She first joined the library in 1968 as a student assistant, and has worked over the years in circulation, interlibrary loan and other departments, as well as pursuing a UW degree. She served a term as president of UW's staff association and was a member of the first health and safety committee, among other instances of service to the campus over 39 years.

Link of the day

How they do it in Detroit

When and where

Pre-enrolment for spring 2008 undergraduate courses, on Quest now through Sunday.

‘Monster sale’ of UW Shop merchandise, today and Wednesday, Student Life Centre multipurpose room.

Education Credit Union seminar: Stewart Duckworth, “Investments, Assessing Your Risk” 12:15, Davis Centre room 1302.

Wilfrid Laurier University grand opening of new Centre for Co-operative Education & Career Development, 3:00, 192 King Street North.

Application deadline for winter term admission to UW is October 31; deadlines for September 2008 admission vary (January 9 for current Ontario secondary school students applying to most programs).

'Becoming Canada's Knowledge Capital' update for K-W Chamber of Commerce from UW president David Johnston, Wednesday 7:30 a.m., Delta K-W hotel, details and tickets online.

Arts Endowment Fund annual general meeting Wednesday 5:00, Arts Lecture Hall room 208.

Chinese ambassador to Canada, Shumin Lu, “Challenging Issues Facing Canada Today”, Thursday 11:45 a.m., Renison College chapel lounge, reservations ext. 28648.

Centre for Teaching Excellence workshop on the use of clickers in the classroom, Thursday 3:00, Flex Lab, Dana Porter Library, register by e-mail: CTE@admmail.

Universities Art Association of Canada annual conference held at UW November 1-3; details online.

Render (UW art gallery) opening reception for "Cold Storage" by Patrick Mahon and "The Pavilion Project" by UW architecture students, Thursday 5:00 to 8:00, East Campus Hall.

One Waterloo presents Seung Bok Lee, former Korean Olympic candidate, now in a wheelchair, professor at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Thursday 6:00, Student Life Centre great hall.

Military history speakers' series presents Major-General Tim Grant, "Reflections of a Senior Commander in Afghanistan", Thursday 7:00, 57 Erb Street West, admission free.

St. Paul's College presents Drew Hayden Taylor, "Two Indians Walk Out of a Bar: Native Humour and Political Correctness" Thursday 8:00, MacKirdy Hall, St. Paul's, all welcome.

Human Rights Conference sponsored by Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, Friday-Saturday; keynote talk by filmmaker Peter Raymont, Friday 7:30, Humanities Theatre; details online.

Women's self-defence workshop sponsored by iKickback, Friday 1:30 to 3:30, Physical Activities Complex Studio 2, $49.

CKMS 100.3 FM presents Sonic Boom awards show Friday 7 p.m., Federation Hall, tickets $10, details online.

St. Jerome's University presents Stephen Bede Scharper, "Facing Our Ecological Reality: Ecological Crises as Issues of Faith and Justice," Friday 7:30, Siegfried Hall, free admission.

Black Knight squash tournament sponsored by Campus Recreation, Saturday, details online.

Fall open house for prospective students and their families (formerly known as UW Day) Saturday, details online.

Science open house, activities for children kindergarten to grade 8, Saturday 10:00 to 4:00, CEIT building, including chemistry magic show 11:00 and 2:00; annual gem and mineral show, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 to 5:00.

St. Jerome’s Feast: reception, dinner, Chancellor John Sweeney Award to children's activist Craig Kielburger, Saturday from 6:30 p.m., St. Jerome's University community centre and Siegfried Hall, address by Kielburger on “Me to We: How Communities of Faith Can Create Positive Social Change", ticket information ext. 28277.

Safety Awareness Day Wednesday, November 7, sessions from 10:00 to 3:00, Davis Centre, details online.

2007 Hagey Lecture: astronaut Roberta Bondar, "What Space Medicine Teaches Canadians About Life on Earth", November 14, 8:00, Humanities Theatre.

Board asked to approve Engineering V

UW's board of governors holds its quarterly meeting today and will be asked to give approval for the "concept design" of Engineering V building, to occupy a site east of the railroad tracks in part of what's currently parking lot B.

A report from the board's building and properties committee gives a little background: "At its April 3, 2007 meeting, the Board of Governors approved the construction of a $48 million building for the Faculty of Engineering on the ECH land and the appointment of Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners as Architects for the project. Shore Tilbe and Urban Strategies have subsequently worked together on the district/development plan for the land (known as East Campus Hall lands) to properly situate this first building.

"The proposed building is a six-storey structure. The first two levels will accommodate a student design centre for the various automotive engineering projects; the third floor, Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering; the fourth and fifth floors, Electrical & Computer Engineering; and the sixth floor, Systems Design Engineering. The upper four floors will provide much needed office and teaching space. A large cubic space isolated from electro magnetic interference is located at grade on the north end of the building and the mechanical and electrical services rooms will occupy most of the roof area.

"The exterior of the building will be mainly glass with grey and black accent panels at the base of the building and as an enclosure for the anechoic chamber at the north end. An enclosed pedestrian bridge will connect this building to Engineering 3 where there is easy access to the existing engineering space."

Also on the agenda for today's board meeting:

  • A "master plan" with general principles for development of what's now being called the West Campus, the area north of Columbia Street that includes the environmental reserve, Columbia Lake Village and unused land along Fischer-Hallman Road. "The West Campus may be a prime location for new academic and support uses," a consultant's report says, adding that "existing hedgerows, woodlot, and stream features should be protected from future development."
  • Approving a contractor for the $20 million "Building 2" at the Kitchener health sciences campus, which would include a home for McMaster University's satellite medical school.
  • A proposal for returning "over-contributions to the pension plan" to some UW employees who find at retirement time that they're not legally allowed to receive as large a pension as they have been paying for.
  • Discussion of the 2006-07 financial statements and an update on the university's 2007-08 operating budget.
  • A report on the task force that has been looking at UW's external relations activities in the era after Campaign Waterloo changes gears.

The board meeting, which is open to the public, will start at 2:30 today in CEIT building room 3142. Board members have been invited to have lunch there at 12:00 followed by a bus tour of UW properties before the meeting starts.

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Witch will collect for the United Way

[Hallowe'en poster]That's not exactly a portrait of Sheila Hurley at right, but you get the idea, as she moves into full Hallowe'en mode for tomorrow in support of the United Way campaign. "I will be going across campus in a witch's costume," says Hurley, whose day job is in the UW safety office. "I will be wearing a fibre optic witch's hat with fibre optic wig and flashing lights on the witch's dress, I will be noticeable." (No problem believing that part.)

"For those who give me a donation I will be handing out either my homemade chocolate cookies or mini chocolate bars. At lunch time I will attend the Nightmare Before Christmas party with UW co-workers who will be dressed up as well."

The Nightmare event is also a United Way fund-raiser, and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. tomorrow in Physical Activities Complex room 2021, sponsored by Campus Recreation. Tickets are $5 with costume or $8 without; information, call ext. 36340. Wednesday is the last official day of the United Way campaign, which at last count had raised $126,267 toward its $170,000 goal. Both payroll pledges and special events are continuing to swell that total, and more will come in from a Hallowe'en lunch to be held tomorrow in the human resources department.

In another Hallowe'en charitable event, more than 200 UW students are expected to be going door-to-door Wednesday night, not to collect candy, but to collect canned food for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. More than 8,000 pounds of food should come in as part of the annual Trick or Eat event affiliated with the UW Food Bank and Meal Exchange, organizers say.

At least 40 campuses across Canada and the United States are participating in Trick or Eat, says local coordinator Carly Heung. "Trick or Eat puts a new spin on Hallowe'en as costumed youth canvass their neighborhoods collecting food for local social service agencies.

"Millions of people do not have enough to eat, and there are an estimated 57,300 at risk of hunger in Waterloo Region. Of those, 19,300 are children under the age of 15, and 6,600 are seniors. All the food donations are being collected and stored at the Student Life Centre multipurpose room and will be sorted before pickup by the Food Bank on November 1. Food donations are also being collected to fill up the UW Foodbank, which is available for use by all UW students."

For those who can also find time to party this Hallowe'en, options include an all-ages, alcohol-free event tonight at the Bombshelter pub ("doors unbolt at 8 p.m.") and the 21st annual party Wednesday night at Federation Hall (ages 19-plus), with advance tickets for sale at the Federation of Students office.

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'Codes' help analyze co-op jobs

from the Inside Scoop newsletter for UW co-op students

The co-op and career services department is continuously improving the employment process and procedures to ensure that the quality of UW’s co-op program remains high. One of the ways that CECS has been improving the co-op process is by incorporating two nationally-used coding systems to classify job industries and types of jobs within those industries. These codes are the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes and the National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes.

The NAICS codes classify organizations into industrial sectors in Canada and the United States. For instance, as a Canadian organization, Research in Motion would be part of the Communications, Equipment, and Manufacturing industry. The NOC codes categorize the type of job within a company. For example, Company X may be a law firm; however, not all of the people employed in the company are lawyers. Each position, ranging from the custodial staff to the paralegals, may be classified using a different NOC code.

These codes enable CECS to analyse what kinds of jobs and industries students from a particular program are employed in, during any given work term.

Let's consider an example analysis of this data involving the 18 Arts English students employed during the winter 2007 term. The following represents the NAICS Industries that English students obtained employment in: Universities, 23%; Communications Equipment Manufacturing, 17%; Computer Systems Designs & Related Services, 12%. Also, CECS can see the type of jobs which students were obtaining from the NOC, job type classifications: Post Secondary Teaching/Research Assistants, 28%; Authors and Writers, 24%.

As this is a relatively new system for CECS, there is still much to be explored and learned. At its current state, the system provides CECS with valuable new information to assist with learning about the jobs and key industry sectors available for UW co-op students.

According to Rocco Fondacaro, the director of Student & Faculty Relations at CECS, "The data obtained from incorporating these codes into the co-op system will enable CECS to monitor the employment of co-op students in terms of job categorization and job fit as well as help us to develop and manage quality jobs, moving us closer to achieving our mission: "More students in more relevant jobs, earlier in the employment process."

The data obtained from this new system has also sparked an interest in current co-op students. When explaining the concepts of the coding system to Brenda Fraser, a 3B Arts and Business, Psychology major, she replied, "It would be great for CECS to have access to this kind of information because it will help them to show students what kinds of jobs are available for a particular program, and what kinds of industries will be hiring when we graduate."

CAR

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