A campus winds down for the holiday

It's the time of the year when Canada Geese outnumber students on campus, as Alicia Bedard's photo above attests. And as you can see, they are definitely into the holiday spirit, and likely thankful that the University Club is serving turkey and not goose at its annual luncheon buffet, which winds up today.

Yes, Virginia, today is the final working day of 2014. In a few hours, the University will close for its longest holiday of the year, and apart from a few people providing essential services, the institution will take a breather until 2015.

You may have noticed that some campus services are already ahead of the game - most Food Services operations are closed today, with the exception of the University Club, the Tim Hortons in South Campus Hall, open until 2:30 p.m., and the Tim Hortons in the Student Life Centre, which is open until 3:30 p.m. today.

The Dana Porter and Davis Centre libraries are in the midst of Fall Intersession hours, and are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. today.

The Musagetes Library in the School of Architecture is open today from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The School of Pharmacy and the Waterloo Stratford Campus are open today as well.

Central Stores will be providing normal service today.

The IST Service Desk (CHIP) is open for regular hours today —8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.—in its new location in the foyer of East Campus 2. Services include software distribution and helpdesk services. The MC1052 location includes Media Resources, exam scanning and in MC 1063 Multimedia equipment loans.

The Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today.

All Retail Services stores—The Book Store, Waterloo Store, Write Stuff, Watcard, Campus Tech and Media.doc locations across campus—will be open until 4:30 p.m. today, in case you need to do some last-minute shopping.

Feds Used Books is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Health Services will be closing at 5:00 p.m. today and will remain closed until Monday, January 5 when they reopen at 8:30 a.m. Students with medical problems over the holidays are encouraged to first call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for medical advice.

On the Housing front, REV, V1, MKV, and UWP Front Desks are currently closed and will reopen on January 3 at 1:00 p.m. The CLV Front Desk will close today at 5:00 p.m. and will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. on January 1 and 2. The CLV Front Desk will commence 24 hour operation on Saturday, January 3.

Rick Zalagenas, Director of Maintenance and Utilities, says building conditions will be held at normal night and weekend setback temperatures starting tonight, and most ventilation will be turned off. "The university is closed," he stresses, "and anyone who elects to be here should not be expecting normal services and temperatures." Zalagenas invites everybody's help with conservation, ensuring all appliances, office equipment and unused fumehoods are turned off. "And please make very sure all windows are closed before you leave.”

The time has also come for laboratories to be shut down in an orderly fashion for the holiday break. The Safety Office has circulated a list of precautions to be taken to ensure a safe shutdown over the holiday period, with comprehensive guidelines posted on the Safety Office website. All laboratory operations must be suspended by tonight at 5:00 p.m. Any failures of equipment or the physical plant should be reported to Plant Operations at extension 33793, and if there are any concerns about hazardous materials spills, contact the Safety Office or the UW Spill Team through Police Services at 519-888-4911 or extension 22222.

Custodial staff who usually work later in the evening will start today's shift at 4:00 p.m. and work until midnight. During the holiday break, grounds staff will be on call to do winter maintenance of emergency routes on campus as requested by either Police Services or the Central Plant.

Police will begin locking the buildings on campus at 5:00 p.m. today. Buildings will remain locked over the holidays. Anyone needing access will have to have made prior arrangements with the faculty or department responsible for the building. Be sure to secure or remove your valuables before leaving.

Most university buildings will remain closed until Monday, January 5, 2015.

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The twelve days of Christmas holidays: a guide

Starting tomorrow through to Monday, January 5, the libraries, Retail Services outlets, Food Services locations, recreational facilities, and offices will be closed.

The School of Pharmacy and the Waterloo Stratford campus will both be following the university's main campus shutdown schedule.

All parking lots will be open and free throughout the holidays, except for lot D under Needles Hall and the Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC) lot at the Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology (PAS) building. Gates to the lots around campus are being opened one by one in the course of this afternoon, says parking manager Sharon Rumpel. From now until the morning of January 5, there's no need to put money into any pay-and-display machines.

Students who live in residence and are leaving their cars on campus over the break should register with Parking Services and will be told just where to put the car, for the sake of snowplow operations. Enforcement of parking rules on fire routes and in handicapped spaces will continue, the university police say.

Snow removal on the main campus over the holiday period will be "limited", according to the plant operations department. "Grounds staff will respond to serious snow issues," is the official word, especially to clear priority areas such as the ring road.

Residences, with the exception of Columbia Lake Village-North, are all closed for the holiday break. There are short-term accommodation options available.

“Co-operative Education and Career Action will be closed during the break and re-open on January 5," says Olaf Naese of the co-op department. "For co-op students still needing January-April 2015 employment, JobMine postings will resume on January 6. Graduating student interviews will continue as of January 5."

Quest service will remain available during the Christmas holidays subject to unexpected system outages, however support for Quest will not be available from 4:30 p.m. today through to 8:30 a.m. on Monday, January 5. Any support issues that arise during the holiday period will be addressed beginning January 5 after 8:30 a.m.

"If you notice an outage of the campus network or any major IST-maintained computing facility, you can leave a voice message at 519-888-4357 or submit a request online," writes Peggy Day. "Please note only critical requests, such as a network outage, will be handled."

There is a NetApp outage scheduled for Monday, December 29 that will affect a number of campus systems as upgrades are carried out to the file storage system. The full details are on Information Systems & Technology's website.

The School of Architecture is closed from December 24 to January 4 with facilities in "closure mode" for that entire period - access to the school will be on a key fob-only basis for students, faculty and staff. Regular hours will commence on Monday, January 5. The Melville Cafe is open from December 22 to December 24, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is closed on December 25 and 26, reopening on December 27 and open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. until December 31. It is closed January 1 and then open from January 2 to January 4, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Design at Riverside is closed from December 24 to 26, and January 1, and otherwise follows the same hours as Melville Cafe.

The Waterloo Summit Centre for the Environment in Huntsville closed for the rest of 2014 at the end of business on Monday, December 22, and will be available for 2015 on Monday, January 5, at 8:30 a.m. "Have a safe and Happy Holidays!" writes Jody Andruszkiewicz, environmental education co-ordinator at the Summit Centre.

A major exception to the 12- day campus closing is the Student Life Centre. Scott Pearson, Operations Manager of the SLC writes that the building will be open throughout the holiday season as always.  The Turnkey Desk at 519-888-4434  “will be staffed 24 hour a day with friendly Turnkeys to provide assistance to those who stay on campus,” says Pearson.

Most of the businesses in the Student Life Centre will shut down entirely throughout the break including Lifetouch Photography, Campus Tech, Tim Hortons, Brubakers, the Bombshelter, International News, Student Health Pharmacy, WatCard and SOS Physiotherapy.

The basement branch of the CIBC will be open on both December 24 and 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will be closed on December 25, 26 and January 1.  The branch will be open regular hours on December 27, 29, 30 and January 2 and 3.

Campus Dentist will be closed on December 24, 25, 26. 31 and on January 1, but will be open regular hours on the remaining days.

The Airporter will make its usual stops at the Student Life Centre.

GO Transit and Greyhound will continue to service campus throughout the shutdown, although some days the schedules will operate on holiday scheduling.  Full ticketing and travel information is available at the Turnkey Desk.

Pearson also says that “on New Year’s Eve all transportation on GO Transit is free system-wide after 8:00 p.m.  No tickets are required.”

Grand River Transit will be operating on a holiday schedule from December 22 through January 4.  GRT is also free after 6:00 p.m. on December 31.

Construction work on a number of projects will continue over the break. Active projects include the Needles Hall and Science Teaching Complex additions, the Fed Hall renovation, and the Applied Health Sciences addition on M lot. UWP's new Community Room will have some activity and there's a chance of some work getting done on the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre.

The Needles Hall central stairway will be closed from Monday, December 29 to Saturday, February 28, 2015 as the skylight is replaced.

Over the holidays there will be no entry to the Davis Centre through the sliding doors on either side of the Library. To access the building, please use the entrance by the Institute for Computer Research (ICR), the entrance closest to the vending machines, or the entrance opposite Bon Appetit facing Chemistry 2. Signs will be posted as a reminder.

Electrical power will be shut off in EIT and PHY on Monday, December 29 as a new power substation is hooked up. Computer equipment in those buildings should be shut down in an orderly fashion, particularly UNIX systems. During the shutdown, Physics will have minimal heat.

Several rooms and basement corridors in Biology 1 will have no electrical power on Monday, December 29 as renovations require the replacement of a panel in room 184. The affected areas include:

• First floor:  Rooms 160, 161, 162, 169, 170, 171, 178A, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184
• Second floor: Rooms 261, 262A, 263, 264, 273, 274, 276, 288, 289, 294, 295, 296
• Third Floor: 361, 362, 362A, 363, 364, 373, 374, 379, 379A, 379B, 380

Other than that, things should be pretty quiet around these parts. The companies and services in the David Johnston Research + Technology Park will set their own holiday schedules.

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Looking ahead to the New Year

Monday, January 5 will be the first working day of the Winter 2015 term, with lectures commencing, co-op work terms beginning, and offices, athletic facilities, food services, and retail outlets opening back up.

Libraries will be open even earlier, on Saturday, January 3 and Sunday, January 4 from noon to 5:00 p.m. as per their hours page.

The Waterloo Residences office will reopen on Sunday, January 4 at 9:00 a.m.

Columbia Lake Village-North residents can begin moving in on January 1 after 8:00 a.m. MKV, REV, UWP, Village 1, Minota Hagey, and Columbia Lake Village-South residents can begin moving in on January 4 after 8:00 a.m. Visit Housing's move-in dates and times page for additional information.

The Book Store, Waterloo Store, and Write Stuff are open Sunday, January 4 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will be open Monday, January 5 at 9:00 a.m. Special extended hours will be in effect for the first week of January. WatCard, Campus Tech, and Media.Doc also open their doors January 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Check the Retail Services hours page for a full listing of openings and extended hours.

The ECEC children’s program, which closed December 19, re-opens on Monday, January 5 with regular hours.

Check the Food Services locations and hours site for detailed information about each operation's reopening in the New Year.

Feds Used Books will have extended hours in January, opening Friday, January 2 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, January 3, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, January 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The bookstore will be open from Monday, January 5 to Wednesday, January 14 (including Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11) from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It will be open from Thursday, January 15 to Saturday, January 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Physical Activities Complex and Columbia Icefield will be open at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, January 5.

Finally, the Daily Bulletin will return on Monday, January 5. Any emergency announcements before that date will be made on the university's home page.

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A thank-you to Daily Bulletin contributors

Throughout the year, I have had the privilege of working with many talented people across campus and beyond who have provided content for the Daily Bulletin and who have helped you keep informed about life at the University of Waterloo.

I would like to recognize and thank the following contributors: Dan Ackerman, Hina Ahmed, Whitney Albright, Amy Aldous, Eugenia Xenos Anderson, Amanda Annarilli, Stacey Ash, Marta Bailey, Husnia Barakzay, Mark Beadle, Bill Bean, Anna Beard, Jennifer Bentley, Clare Bermingham, Jody Berringer, Christine Bezruki, Natalee Blagden, Matt Bondy, Sharr Cairns, Jennifer Calbery, Sean Campbell, Patrick Carroll, Ziwei Chen, Farrah Chow, Dana Ciak, Paula Colaso, Susan Cole, Ryan Connell, Mari-Beth Davis, Kelly Deeks, George Dixon, Kayla Dixon, Victoria Faraci, Alex Farley, Caitlin Feehan, Susan Fish, Chantel Franklin, Julie Friddell, Julie Funk, Carrie Gabla, Ben Gaffney, Nan Gao, Victoria Gentile, Sandra Gibson, Tasha Glover, Susan Gow, Gowsi Gowribalan, Karina Graf, Cherri Greeno, Ketri Grisé, Igor Grossmann, Mark Groulx, Feridun Hamdullahpur, Mary Anne Hardy, Robert Henderson, Kaitlyn Holbein, Laura Holtby, Julie Hummel, Colin Hunter, Yvonne Hunter, Mackenzie Jacklin-Graham, Bailey Jacobs, Laura Janzen, Rachel Jenson, Beth Jewkes, Ryan King, Judith Koeller, Jennifer Konkle, Corrine Krauss, Terry Labach, Dana Evans Laity, Mark Lisetto-Smith, June Macdonald, Justin MacDonald, Michael Makahnouk, Karleigh Masney, Fred Martin, Jacqueline Martinz, Ken McGillivray, Mark Morton, Fahd Munir, Olaf Naese, Scott Nicoll, Carrie Ann Nickerson, Christina Pace, Gloria Pageau, Diana Parry, Mirko Petricevic, Judene Pretti, Lenore Ramirez, Alice Raynard, Zahra Razavi, Megan Scarborough, Alice Seviora, Alisa Sivak, Sarah Southcott-Whyte, Lyndia Stacey, Mary Stanley, Jill Storey, Lori Straus, Jodi Szimanski, Jason Testart, Brent Thornhill, Shannon Tigert, Julie Timmermans, Lisa Tomalty, Sam Toman, Stephanie Tortorici, Carol Truemner, Katharine Tuerke, Sophie Twardus, Victoria Van Cappellen, Kira Vermond, Chantal Wall, Lauren Ward, Madison Woodhouse, Virginia Young, Jennifer Yuen, Jenn Zehr, and Sammi Zhao.

If I have forgotten anyone, my sincere apologies, and also my sincere thanks. See you in 2015!

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