Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

Working behind the scenes: A co-op experience at CECA

Nicole Simec in the Tatham Centre lobby.

by Yuni Jo.

Ever wonder how your dream companies land on your JobMine page? Or who arranges your interview right on campus so you don’t have to? Nicole Simec, a 3A Arts and Business student majoring in Social Development Studies, had the chance to find out firsthand in her co-op work term at Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA).

“My current position is working as a Marketing Associate in CECA where I work to promote the co-op program to prospective students and employers,” says Nicole. “I have the opportunity to create front-facing content both in writing and design that help solidify ݮƵ’s reputation as a global leader in co-operative education.”

Nicole was intrigued by the chance to work for CECA and learn what goes on beyond the interview room walls while also returning to work on campus. In her first work term, she held a position as an Advancement Assistant for the Arts Advancement office.

“While being a junior student [in Arts Advancement], I was given responsibilities that were valuable and impactful - not only to myself but to external stakeholders as well,” she says. “Moving over to CECA, I was also given tasks that were significant to the success of the department where I was able to develop my skills in writing, project management, and attention to detail.”

By having a firsthand experience of what goes on at CECA, she not only developed a deeper appreciation for the department, but for co-op overall.

“CECA does a lot more than students think. We have a whole centre full of devoted staff just for co-op, which means they are devoted to our success and to providing us with great co-op opportunities,” she says. “Co-op has given me the chance to dabble in numerous fields which will help tremendously in focusing my career path. But with any work term, no matter what field, I was able to learn tremendously by facing challenges and learning from my mistakes. It’s an invaluable opportunity.”

Nicole is confident that she is better prepared for future work terms and her post-grad career by being given the chance to produce meaningful content that will be viewed by both professional employers and prospective students. She even helped conduct interviews for future CECA co-op students!

As for advice for students looking for their first work-term positions, she says, “Be flexible and stay open-minded. Devote time to writing an effective cover letter and show your exceptional qualities and personality in the interview. The Centre for Career Action (CCA) has excellent resources to help you land that dream job, and even if you don’t, I guarantee that you will learn from whatever ends up happening.”

President's Town Hall next Tuesday

President's Town Hall cover image.

The President's Town Hall Meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 3 at 10:30 a.m. in the Humanities Theatre.

At the meeting, entitled “Defining Innovation,” President Feridun Hamdullahpur will reflect on the University’s accomplishments this past year and will talk about the year ahead.

The centrepiece of the event is the question and answer period with the President.

Members of the University community can share their thoughts and ideas about where ݮƵ is heading in a number of ways:

  • Questions can be sentinvia e-mailٴٴǷɲԳ󲹱ܷɲٱǴ.;
  • Questions can be submitted viaaquestion submission formon the President’s Town Hall website;
  • Questions can be sent in viaTwitter both before and during the President's Town Hall Meetingby tweetingto @UݮƵLIVE or by using the hashtag #uwth; and
  • members of the audience can ask questions from the floor during the Town Hall.

The event will conclude with a complimentary light lunch, served in the atrium of the School of Accounting and Finance at 12:00 p.m.

Please registerto save your seat at the town hall and the luncheon event.

Student Success Office update on reorganization

A message from the Student Success Office.

In 2014 the Student Success Office conducted an internal review of it services and operations. With feedback and assistance from the University community the department made a significant shift towards a more strategic and scalable model to support student success. This included reorganizing and repositioning staff to focus on activities in four key priority areas:

  • Student experience and transition
  • Faculty-specific success strategies
  • Student engagement and communications
  • Research and assessment

With positive feedback from the campus community, the SSO will be moving towards a permanent complement of staffing. Working with the staff in the SSO, many existing positions have been realigned with the new direction in order to make best use of resources. Therefore you’ll see jobs being posted over the next several months, but no net new resources have been required. The Office continues to be supported financially through a partnership between the University and the students with continued support from the Student Services Ancillary Fee.

An updated copy of the org chart can be found on our website and any questions can be directed toDirector, StudentSuccessPam Charbonneau.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our faculty partners, student representatives, and all campus partners in working with us to provide the best possible support for students to be successful at ݮƵ.

Chilling out with polar data researchers

Polar Data Forum banner image.

This week 110 researchers in the global polar data community are assembling at theUniversity of ݮƵ for the.

The PDF II hopes to build collaborations and systems for long-term preservation and access to data and information in our polar regions. It also aims to set standards, best practices, and procedures tobuild and link systems and online dataportals.

Building off the success of PDF I, 2013 in Tokyo, PDF II comes at a time when interest in the Arctic is high in Canada. Due to climate change andresource development, Aboriginal peopleand other northern Canadian residents are experiencing socialand environmental changes which are having tremendous impact on theircommunities andecosystems.Responding effectively to these challenges requires information and data to support northern strategiesforadaptation, sustainable development, and governance.

A radar satellite image of Antarctica.

Last year geographers at ݮƵ released. The map is a mosaic of more than 3,150 individual, high-resolution readings, taken in the Southern Hemisphere's autumn of 2008, and tiled together into a coast-to-coast view of the entire continent with its coastal waters. And the results sure are pretty.

The University of ݮƵ’s Department of Geography and Environmental Management (ranked 48thin the world) is a leading institution on polar andcryosphericresearch.

Wednesday's notes

University of ݮƵ women staff, grads, post-docs and faculty are cordially invited to attend the nextݮƵ Women’s Wednesday (W3)event. The next event will be held on Wednesday, October 28 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00p.m.at the Grad House when they officially welcome new woman-identified staff, faculty, post-docs and grad students.

A poster for the Architecture event.

The next lecture in theArriscraftseries will be held at the School of Architecture onThursday, October 29, at 6:00 p.m. inMLH-1001. The lecture is entitled "de un re- Recent Works 2010-2015: Buerger Katsota Architects."

Stephan Buerger and Demetra Katsota establishedin 2005 with offices in Athens and Vienna. Having successfully been engaged with a variety of architectural and urban design projects as well as academic and editorial research on architecture, in a decade, buerger katsota architects have gained reputation as a leading young European architectural practice.Their work has been widely published in reviews and publications, exhibited internationally and received several awards and honours.

SAP, locatedin the Research + Technology Park,will be hosting its annualon Thursday, November 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the company's cafeteria.A portion of the proceeds will support the Ray of Hope Morning GloryCaféprogram. In addition to a bake sale and raffle prizes, there will be a variety of vendors including Discovery Toys, Stella & Dot jewelry,Arbonne,Norwex, Epicure, and Tupperware.All are welcome to attend.If you know of someone who would like to be a vendor at the bazaar, please have them notifyevent organizerDove Champagne by e-mailingdove.champagne@sap.com.

Employers on campus next week hostingemployer information sessionsinclude:,,,and.

Link of the day

When and where

High Risk Flu Clinics and Community Clinics,Tuesday,October 27to Thursday, October 29, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., ݮƵ Centre Multipurpose Room.

“Generics Don’t Essentialise People; People Essentialise People,”public lecture by Jennifer Saul, University of Sheffield, UK, Wednesday,October 28, 10:00 a.m., HH 373.

, Wednesday, October 28, 7:30p.m., Environment 3 room 4412.

UWSA Annual General Meeting,Thursday, October 29, 9:00 a.m., DC 1302.

“Misleading and Morality,”public lecture by Jennifer Saul, University of Sheffield, UK, Thursday,October 29, 10:00 a.m., HH 373.

CBB Biomedical Discussion Group featuring Alfred C. H. Yu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, “Ultrasound imaging innovations for live monitoring of complex flow dynamics,” Thursday, October 29, 10:30 a.m., EIT 3142.

Soup andBannockThursdays at Aboriginal Education Centre, Thursday, October 29, 12:00 p.m.,STP 228.

Water Institute WaterTalks Lecture Seriesfeaturing Dr. Dustin Garrick, McMaster University, “Pathways to Water Security for Rivers under Pressure: Water Markets and Transboundary Governance in Australia and Western North America.” Thursday, October 29, 2:30 p.m., DC 1304.

Arriscraft Lecture Series featuringBuerger Katsota Architects, “de unre:Recent Works 2010-2015,” Thursday, October 29, 6:00 p.m., MLH-1001, School of Architecture.

“Implicit Bias,Stereotype Threat and Women in Academia,”
public lecture by Jennifer Saul, University of Sheffield, UK, Friday, October 30, 11:00 a.m., HH 373.

Hallowe'enLuncheon Buffet, Friday, October 30, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

2015 Farvolden LecturefeaturingDavid Rudolph, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and founding Executive Director of the Water Institute, University of ݮƵ, “A Renaissance inRegionalHydrogeology: In the Footsteps of Farvolden.” Friday, October 30, 2:30 p.m., Humanities Theatre.

Noon Hour Concert: Attacca Quartet plays Haydn, Friday, October 30, 12:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel Chapel.

President's Town Hall Meeting, Tuesday, November 3, 10:30 a.m., Humanities Theatre.

ECU Lunch ‘n Learnfeaturing Eva Englehutt, CFP – Wealth Management, “Retirement: Are you ready!” Tuesday, November 3, 12:00 p.m., DC 1302. RSVP to Janet Redman by Tuesday, October 27 by e-mailingjanetr@ecusolutions.comor calling 519-742-3500, ext. 2221.

Ecosystem and Resource Management in Protected/Natural Areas Guest Lecture Seriesfeaturing Josh Shea, Ecosystem Management, City of Kitchener, Wednesday, November 4, 1:00 to 2:20 p.m., AL 105.

, Wednesday, November 4, 7:30p.m., EV34412.

Soup andBannockThursdays at Aboriginal Education Centre, Thursday, November 5, 12:00 p.m.,STP 228.

Post-Conflict Columbia: Writing trauma and the challenges of translating it, Friday, November 6, 11:00 a.m., HH 1108.

CBB Bioinnovations Seminar featuring Charles Cooney,Robert T. Haslam (1911) Professor of Chemical Engineering Emeritus, and Faculty Director, Emeritus Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, MIT, “Accelerating Academic Research into Commercial Impact,” Friday, November 6, 11:00 a.m., DC 1302.

Ecosystem and Resource Management in Protected/Natural Areas Guest Lecture Seriesfeaturing Kristyn Ferguson, Program Director, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Friday, November 6, 1:00 p.m. to 2:20 p.m., AL 105.

Remembrance Day, Wednesday, November 11.

Remembrance Day interfaith service, 10:45 a.m., ݮƵ Centre Great Hall.

Research Talks featuring Professor SusanTighe, "Roads of the future: environmentally-friendly and resilient pavement," Friday, November 11, 12:00 p.m., DC 1302.

Noon Hour Concert: Songs My Mother Never Taught Me, Wednesday, November 11, 12:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel University Chapel.

, Wednesday, November 11, 7:00p.m., Quantum-Nano Centre room 0101.

featuring visiting lecturer Professor Kim Pate, Wednesday, November 11, 7:00p.m., Alumni Hall, St. Paul’s University College.

Soup andBannockThursdays at Aboriginal Education Centre, Thursday, November 12, 12:00 p.m.,STP 228.

, Thursday, November 12, 7:00p.m., Quantum-Nano Centre room 0101.

, Saturday, November 14, CIGI Campus.

, associate professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Chile, “Design of a Participatory Model/Microgrid/Smartfarm system for Mapuche Indigenous Communities,” Tuesday, November 17, 10:30 a.m., DC 1304.

, Tuesday, November 17, 7:30p.m., QNC room 1506.

, Wednesday, November 18, 7:30p.m., EV3 4412.

CBB Biomedical DiscussionGroupfeaturing Thomas Willett, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Program, “A tissue mechanist found in translation,” Thursday, November 19, 2:30 p.m., E5 2167.

Ecosystem and Resource Management in Protected/Natural Areas Guest Lecture Seriesfeaturing Leonardo Cabrera, Ecologist Team Lead, Rouge National Urban Park Initiative, Parks Canada, Wednesday, November 25, 1:00 p.m. to 2:20 p.m., AL 105.

, Thursday, November 26, 11:00a.m., ݮƵ Centre Great Hall.

WaterTalksLecture featuring John Reynolds,Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Conservation, Tom Buell BC Leadership Chair in Aquatic Conservation, Simon Fraser University, “Salmon-fuelled ecosystems of the Great Bear Rainforest.” Thursday, November 26, 2:30 p.m., DC 1304.

Positions available

On this week's list from the human resources department, viewablethroughmyHRinfo:

  • Job ID# 3002 – Programmatic Assessment Manager – School of Pharmacy,USG 10
  • Job ID# 3004 – Undergraduate BETS and E Co-op Advisor – Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre,USG 8
  • Job ID# 3008 – Academic Development Specialist – Student Success Office,USG 10
  • Job ID# 3005 – Lab Instructor/Hardware Specialist – Electrical & Computer Engineering,USG 8-9
  • Job ID# 3007 – Senior Academic Development Specialist – Student Success Office,USG 11
  • Job ID# 2997 – Custodian I – Plant Operations
  • Job ID# 3000 – Building Service Person I – Carpenter,Plant Operations
  • Job ID# 3006 – Information Systems Specialist – Information Systems & Technology,USG 12-13

Internal secondment opportunities, viewable on:

  • Academic Development Specialist – Student Success Office,USG 10