Monday, March 31, 2008

  • UW lists $100,000 salaries for 2007
  • Talk will explore Afghanistan 'answer'
  • A few more pixels in the big picture
  • Editor:
  • Chris Redmond
  • Communications and Public Affairs
  • bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

Link of the day

Bunsen Burner Day

When and where

Soup's On vegetarian soup (donation $1; bring bowl or mug) from 11:30 a.m. while soup lasts, Environmental Studies I foyer, sponsored by Conviviality Action Group.

Harriet Lyons, department of anthropology, “The Death of God or the Gods’ Return”, 12:00 noon, Kitchener Public Library main branch.

Music student recitals, Conrad Grebel University College chapel, 12:30 today and Wednesday.

Mechatronics design symposium showing 36 projects by final-year mechatronics engineering students, 2:00 to 5:00, Student Life Centre great hall.

Debate Society weekly meeting 5:00, Rod Coutts Hall room 301.

African Awareness event with artwork, crafts, music and dance, Tuesday noon to 4:00, Student Life Centre.

UW board of governors Tuesday 1:00 p.m., Needles Hall room 3001.

Media’s Portrayals of Women “event to address and discuss various topics surrounding body image”, sponsored by UW Women’s Centre, Tuesday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., Student Life Centre multipurpose room.

Victoria, BC, alumni networking reception Tuesday 6:00 to 8:00, CFB Esquimalt wardroom, details online.

UW Instrumental Chamber Ensembles concert, Tuesday 7:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel University College Great Hall, admission free.

Intellectual Property “from Universities to New Businesses” (“how to find a technology partner”), Wednesday 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Davis Centre room 1302, advance registration ext. 33300 or zadilsky@uwaterloo.ca.

Perimeter Institute presents Jeffrey Rosenthal, University of Toronto, “The Curious World of Probabilities”, Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Waterloo Collegiate Institute, ticket information 519-883-4480.

DaCapo Chamber Choir, based at Conrad Grebel University College, spring concert rescheduled from March 8, now to be held Wednesday 8:00 p.m., St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Kitchener, tickets $20 (students and seniors $15).

Artworx, East Campus Hall, last day for the season April 3, reopening in September.

Orchestra@UWaterloo spring concert: Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and Chopin’s 2nd Piano Concerto, featuring concerto competition winner Taylor Wang, Thursday 8:00 p.m., Humanities Theatre, tickets free from Humanities box office.

UW Choir spring concert, Sunday, April 6, 3:00, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 22 Willow Street, admission $12 (students/seniors $10).

Last day of classes for winter term is Monday, April 7; examinations April 10-24.

‘Your Last Lecture’ for faculty of arts class of 2008, Monday, April 7, 12:30, Humanities Theatre, celebration with UW president, dean of arts and others, register by e-mail: mobriens@watarts.uwaterloo.ca.

Faculty association annual general meeting Tuesday, April 8, 2:00 p.m., Math and Computer room 1085.

Athletics Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony, Saturday, April 12, Festival Room, South Campus Hall.

Staff salary system and settlement information sessions, Tuesday, April 15, 12:30 p.m., Arts Lecture Hall room 113, repeated April 23, same time and room.

PhD oral defences

Electrical and computer engineering. Chaomin Luo, “Novel Convex Optimization Techniques for VLSI Floorplanning.” Supervisors, Miguel Anjos and Anthony Vannelli. On display in the faculty of engineering, PHY 3004. Oral defence Friday, April 11, 9:00 a.m., CEIT room 3145.

Health studies and gerontology. John Garcia, “A Realistic Account of Evidence-Informed Tobacco Control Practice in Ontario Public Health Agencies.” Supervisor, Roy Cameron. On display in the faculty of applied health sciences, BMH 3110. Oral defence Friday, April 11, 2:00 p.m., Matthews Hall room 3119.

Civil and environmental engineering. Jinyu Zhu, “Stochastic Stabillity of Flow-Induced Vibration.” Supervisors, Wei-Chau Xie, and Ronald M. C. So. On display in the faculty of engineering, PHY 3004. Oral defence Monday, April 14, 1:30 p.m., Engineering II room 1303.

Chemical engineering. Yousef Saif, “Optimal Design of Hybrid Membrane Networks for Wastewater Treatment.” Supervisors, Ali Elkamel and Mark Pritzer. On display in the faculty of engineering, PHY 3004. Oral defence Tuesday, April 15, 10:00 a.m., Doug Wright Engineering room 2534.

UW lists $100,000 salaries for 2007

UW is releasing a list this morning of the 688 employees who were each paid more than $100,000 during 2007.

It's something public-sector employers in Ontario have had to do annually in March since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was passed in 1996. Other universities, school boards, hospitals, colleges, municipalities, and the government itself have been making similar information for last year public this week.

The majority of UW's professors appear on the list, as the average salary of full-time faculty members in 2006-07 was $108,734, according to the office of institutional analysis and planning.

The $100,000 list also includes a number of senior administrators and some people in staff positions. It includes people employed by St. Jerome's University, Renison College, Conrad Grebel University College and St. Paul's College as well as by UW itself.

As in the past, president David Johnston receives the highest salary at UW, according to the disclosure list, followed by provost Amit Chakma. The published list identifies some of the deans and other academic administrators simply as "professor". The figures are the amount of salary actually paid during the twelve months of 2007 (which can lead to anomalies when somebody begins or ends a job in the course of the year).

In addition to the salary, a figure is given for taxable benefits received by each individual, for such extras as employer-paid life insurance and tuition benefits for dependants.

Past year's lists are also available online.

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Talk will explore Afghanistan 'answer'

[Manley]John Manley (right), Canada's former deputy prime minister, will give a talk on the country's role in the conflict in Afghanistan at the UW Friends of the Library lecture and authors event tomorrow.

Manley was appointed last fall by prime minister Stephen Harper to head an independent panel reviewing Canada's future involvement in Afghanistan. Manley's public lecture, titled "Afghanistan: Is There an Answer?", will take place Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

"This year's event will be an opportunity to learn about Canada's most significant international commitment since the Korean War," says Mark Haslett, university librarian. "We're also pleased to be showcasing the fine work of talented members from the UW community."

Earlier this year, Manley's panel reported on Canada's Afghanistan mission, and the government accepted its recommendations. Manley's talk will provide the context for the work of the panel he chaired. He will discuss the panel's thinking in reaching the five recommendations it made to the government.

Manley was first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1988 and has since held various positions, including minister of industry, minister of foreign affairs and minister of finance. Following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, he became chairman of a cabinet committee on public security and anti-terrorism. For that role, he was named Time Canada magazine's Newsmaker of the Year in 2001. In January 2002, Manley was appointed deputy prime minister. After leaving the federal cabinet in December 2003, he advised the Ontario minister of energy on the future of the provincially owned electrical power generation company. In 2005, he co-chaired an independent task force on the future of North America for the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. Currently, Manley is senior counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, where he provides strategic advice in matters relating to public affairs, including trade, telecommunications, security and finance.

The annual public lecture and authors event, hosted by the library and its "Friends" organization each spring since 1993, highlights the creative process and features a display of books, musical scores, photography and art produced by UW's faculty, staff, students and alumni. The public is welcome to attend the talk, which this year is co-sponsored the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Seating, however, is limited. To register, call ext. 32281 or email ckieswet@uwaterloo.ca.

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A few more pixels in the big picture

"With all the buzz about the University of Waterloo at Stratford," said a piece in Friday's issue of the Stratford Beacon-Herald newspaper, "a question being asked by many is where will the campus go." It quotes the city's mayor, Dan Mathieson: "We're going to sit down with the university and lay out a very clear public consultation session to look at possible sites." The mayor wouldn't identify any specific sites being considered: "Until we have the money we're not building anything, so there's no sense going too far down that road." Target opening date for the campus, the paper said, is September 2009.

The end of another fiscal year is almost here, a memo from UW’s finance office re minds departments: “The University's fiscal year end, April 30, is approaching and it is necessary to finalize all accounting transactions for the 2007/08 year in a timely manner. Please take the following necessary steps to ensure all requests for accounting transactions and payments are submitted to Finance or Human Resources as soon as possible. This includes outstanding internal billings; travel claims or settlements for completed trips; all vendor invoices; faculty professional expense reimbursements that can be settled now. . . . Monthly financial statements up to and including February should be reviewed, if not already done so, and any significant errors requiring correction need to be submitted to Finance or Human Resources. . . . Once preliminary April 2008 monthly statements are issued, a limited time will be available to address any issues from April that result in additional accounting transactions. Once the 2007/08 fiscal year is closed, no internal transactions will be processed in the next fiscal year that relate to the period prior to April 30, 2008. Specific year end deadlines will be published at a later date.”

“On March 18,” writes Melissa McNown, coordinator of the Living-learning programs in UW’s residences, “the Arts and Business Living-Learning Community invited alumni from the Arts Applied Studies program to the Ron Eydt Village residence to chat with first-year Arts and Business students. Students had the opportunity to discuss choosing a major, career paths, and co-op experiences with the alumni. In addition to alumni meet and greets, living-learning also organizes study sessions, job search seminars, and dinners with faculty members. Through these events, students enhance their learning and enrich their overall university experience.”

News from the department of psychology: “On March 14 and 15, Danielle Rochon, Cristina Lau, Nhu Nhat Nguyen, and (alternate) Amanda Briganti, students from the Human Resources Management program, competed in the prestigious Excalibur Tournament — the Canadian University Tournament in Human Resources. Held annually, this event allows students to compete in front of business executives, key figures in the human resources community as well as academics. This year’s event had 70 students from 23 universities. The tournament involves a series of case competitions based on real-life work situations, and judged by panels of business people and HR professionals. The Waterloo team members had been working since January with coaches Len Luksa (adjunct professor and HRM management team member) and Sean Schofield-Hurwitz, a former Excalibur competitor, and HRM managers from a number of local companies provided expert advice to the students as part of their preparation. The students’ hard work was rewarded as the Waterloo team won third prize and a $1,500 scholarship. This is the first time the Waterloo team has reached the finals.”

Tomorrow afternoon, lecturer Dave Howlett “will teach business professionals, community members and students how to advance their careers with real-world reputation and networking tools”, says the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, which is co-sponsoring the event with Toastmasters. Howlett's "Knocking Down Silos" workshop is the fourth event in the centre’s Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series and will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in room 201 in the Bricker Academic Building at Wilfrid Laurier University. Howlett — who has been a scuba-diving instructor, Canadian naval officer, pharmaceutical sales manager, and corporate executive, among other things — promises “concrete steps and actions that peole can wallk out of the evening with and apply straight away”. The Laurel Centre was founded a few months ago and is organizing several other initiatives for later this year, including a mentorship program, a social entrepreneurship "bootcamp", a research conference, and a second annual conference. Admission tomorrow night calls for a monetary donation for the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society or a non-perishable food donation to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region — for more information, e-mail knockingdownsiloswlu@gmail.com.

CAR

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