Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca
ݮƵ reappoints Dominic Barton as Chancellor
The University of ݮƵ is reappointing Dominic Barton, a globally renowned business strategist and executive who is serving as Canada’s ambassador to China, to a second term as chancellor.
Since his original appointment in 2018, Barton has championed the University’s commitment to innovation, equity and economic development, and has heightened the global reach of both the institution and the nation on the world stage.
Barton is a former managing partner at international consulting firm McKinsey and Co., where he provided strategic advice to national leaders, government and corporations. He will begin his second three-year term as the University’s 11th chancellor on July 1, 2021.
“Dominic Barton is an important and influential champion for ݮƵ and for Canada,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, the university’s president and vice-chancellor. “As the University of ݮƵ seeks to meet global challenges with game-changing talent, research and technological solutions, Dominic Barton will continue to play a vital role in connecting ݮƵ with strategic partners around the world.”
Elected by the University’s Senate to a three-year term, the chancellor serves as the ceremonial head for the institution and also presides over convocation ceremonies, conferring degrees, diplomas and certificates on graduating students.
Barton was appointed as Canada’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of the China by the Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sept. 4, 2019.
In addition to his work the Government of Canada and McKinsey, Barton was a trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Singapore Economic Development Board’s International Advisory Council, a board member at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and at the Asia Pacific Foundation Canada. He was a Rhodes trustee and is an honorary fellow at Brasenose College in Oxford. Barton served on the board of the Malala Fund, has been actively involved in the United Nations’ HeForShe initiative, and has worked with the Mastercard Foundation to help create employment in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Born in Uganda, Barton received a BA Honours in economics from the University of British Columbia and studied as a Rhodes scholar at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford.
Barton is the author of several books ranging from the role of business in society to leadership and talent development. He is a recipient of the INSEAD Business Leader for the World Award (2011), the Korean Order of Civil Merit (Peony Medal, 2013), the Singaporean Public Service Star (2014), the Foreign Policy Association Corporate Social Responsibility Award (2017), and Canada’s Public Policy Forum Testimonial Award (2017).
Past chancellors of the University of ݮƵ include Tom Jenkins, Chair of OpenText Corporation and Chair of the National Research Council, Prem Watsa, chair of Fairfax Holdings, Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of BlackBerry, Valentine O’Donovan, founder of COM DEV Intl and Sylvia Ostry, a Canadian economist and public servant.
Rooted In History event today
The President's Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) will be hosting a special event to mark Black History Monththis afternoon.
will include musical performances, a keynote address, and a panel of some of ݮƵ's most formidable thinkers in celebration of Black History in Canada, and those trailblazers making history right here at ݮƵ.
The event will run from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m..
Comprised primarily of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC)members,PARTdedicates its workto ending systemic racism andholds itself toguiding principlestowards realizinga more inclusive environment.
The event will highlight the achievements of Black Canadians and members of ݮƵ's Black community while educating and mobilizing support around anti-Black racism.
Key participants at the event include:
- Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of ݮƵ;
- Charmaine Dean, Vice-President, Research, University of ݮƵ;
- Laura Mae Lindo,Member of Provincial Parliament, Kitchener-Centre, delivering the keynote address;
- Kathy Hogarth, Special Advisor, Anti-Racism and Inclusivity, VPRI and Associate Professor, School of Social Work, emcee;
- Aaron Francis, Equity Advisor, Graduate Student Association, panelist;
- Naila Keleta-Mae, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Arts, panelist;
- Christopher Taylor,Lecturer, Department of History, panelist;
- Vershawn Young,Professor, cross appointed English Language and Literature, and Communication Arts, panelist;
- Michele Ryan, Business Process Analyst, Campus Housing; and
- Rufus John,Kitchener-ݮƵ Canadian-Caribbean vocalist.
“This event is a historical moment for the University of ݮƵ, affirming its commitment to confronting and addressing racism in its midst,” says Professor Kathy Hogarth, special advisorto PART andprofessor with the School of Social Work atRenisonUniversity College who will be moderating the panel discussion. “Thesemoments of all communities coming together to celebrate BIPOC excellence offers rich spaces for dialogue and potential for change — change that is so desperately needed through the institution”.
W Store | Gifts + Apparel Reopening March 1
A message from Print + Retail Solutions.
In close consultation with the University’s Safety Office, Print + Retail Solutions is happy to announce the reopening of our W Store | Gifts + Apparel location in South Campus Hall on Monday, March 1.
The UݮƵ community is invited to visit W Store | Gifts + Apparel to browse our collection of official UݮƵ and ݮƵ Warriors apparel and gear, dorm essentials, stationery items, technology products and general supplies.
W Store | Gifts + Apparel’s hours of operation, as of Monday, March 1 will be Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
In accordance with the message from the Office of the President, a face covering must be worn at all times while inside W Store | Gifts + Apparel. Additionally, all shoppers are asked to practice physical distancing wherever possible and to stay home if feeling unwell. The front entrance to the store is now located by the staircases leading up to the South Side Marketplace and the Student Success Office, in order to allow more space for physical distancing and to control traffic. In-store capacity has been reduced to a maximum of 13 shoppers at a time.
Please note that W Store | Course Materials + Supplies, W Store Essentials SLC and W Store Essentials STC will remain closed to the public at this time. W Store will continue to process all orders placed online atfor door-to-door shipping or contactless curbside pickup.
Next week is Ed Tech Week
A message from the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE).
The Centre for Teaching Excellence is hosting their annualEducational-Technologies Week(Ed-TechWeek) next week.From Monday, March 1 to Friday, March 5there will be a total of 11 workshops offeredthroughout the week that focuses on teaching development andtechnologies that promote deep learning in the online environment.
Platforms such as Bongo, MS Teams, Perusall, Crowdmark, PebblePlus, and even topics such asExtendedReality (XR) that can enhance student learning and success will be coveredduring this week.
If you have never heard of these platforms, we encourage you to join us and if you are already familiar with thesetechnologies, please join us to learn about features you may beunaware about.
ݮƵ alumnus earns an inaugural Globe and Mail Changemakers award
Cassie Myers (BA ’18), alumnusof theGreenHousesocial impact incubator at St. Paul’s University College andConrad Grebel University Collegeat the University of ݮƵ, has been recognized as one ofinThe Globe and Mail’sReport on Businessmagazine for 2021.
This new editorial award program is intended to showcase emerging leaders who are transforming business today. Myers is a graduate of the Peace and Conflict Studies program with an Economics minor at ݮƵ. She was nominated for the award by Tania Del Matto, director of GreenHouse and Paul Heidebrecht director of theKindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancementat Grebel.
“It is such an honour for me to be recognized in this way,” said Myers. “Using the resources I have available to make an impact has always been important to me and it will always be a big part of my life.”
As a student, Myers participated in GreenHouse’sSocial Innovators in Trainingprogram, where she lived at St. Paul’s for a term in winter 2017. This program supports students in making actionable steps towards their ideas for social change and acquiring the skills required for entrepreneurship.
“GreenHouse has been a constant in my journey as an entrepreneur,” said Myers. “It’s one of those amazing communities where you’re not there for a moment, you’re not there for a term, you’re there for however long you are willing to give back to a community that does not stop giving back to you.
“It’s wonderful to have a place you can go back to and share your learnings and gain more learnings.”
For the past four years, Myers has been working on creating a more equitable world where people of all identities can thrive, as the CEO and founder of. This technology startup uses specialized software to perform a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) audit and develops an actionable management plan for organizations to meet their DEI goals. Its mission is to help companies and brands flourish by providing DEI solutions that put people first and drive real returns.
“We are so privileged to be working with amazing clients that trust us with such an important aspect of their long-term vision,” said Myers. “DEI has come to the forefront now more than ever and it’s truly an amazing opportunity for organizations to make DEI commitments to create impactful cultural changes on what can be a really complicated road.”
Since September 2018, Lunaria has been part of the Peace Incubator at Grebel’s Center for Peace Advancement, where Cassie and her team have continued to grow their impact alongside other startups and established organizations seeking to create a more peaceful and just world.
“Cassie is a leader in the drive towards gender justice and diversity,” said Tania Del Matto, GreenHouse director. “Her visionary leadership has evolved her company Lunaria and we are thrilled she has been recognized as the impactful changemaker she is.”
Outside of Lunaria, Myers volunteers for, mentoring a group of women who are building a product to solve a social problem. She also supports sexual assault victims as a support line volunteer with the Sexual Assault Support Centre of ݮƵ Region.
She’s also currently earning a Master of Cultural and Social Theory from, where she is taking a critical look at anti-Black racism in the workplace and how it manifests or changes amid growing attention of the Black Lives Matter movement, which will undoubtedly support the work she does with Lunaria.
Myers looks forward to continuously growing her knowledge as a social entrepreneur and innovating to improve the work she does at Lunaria to better serve her clients.
Social media helped spread misinformation during pandemic
This article was originally published onݮƵ News.
Researchers at the University of ݮƵ examined 81 published articles examining social media during the pandemic, with more than half assessing Twitter posts.
“All media tend to see increased use when an emergency occurs, but social media is the easiest to turn to and engage in when an event like a pandemic breaks out,” said Zahid Butt, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. “And because the content is user-generated, it is also easy to present inaccuracies or subjective information, going so far as unchecked conspiracy theories.”
Some examples that highlighted the misinformation include studies examining YouTube videos. One of them analyzed the top 100 YouTube videos with the most views from January 2020 and found that fewer than 33 included any of the key recommended behaviours for COVID containment. Another study from South Korea showed that misleading videos made up almost 40 per cent of the most-watched videos and had more likes and longer viewing times than did useful videos.
Misinformation was also prevalent on Twitter. One study analyzed 12 million tweets from the U.S. and 15 million from the Philippines in March, and both countries showed a positive link between bot activities and the rate of hate speech in dense, isolated communities. However, another study analyzed 942 tweets that showed that although there were more tweets with false information, they also had fewer retweets and lower engagement than those containing scientific evidence or factual statements.
“Social media has an increasingly important role to play in health education and the understanding of policy,” Butt said. “What this review shows us is that public health organizations and governments need to be present and active on social media platforms in order to guard against misinformation.”
“” was published inThe Lancet Digital Health, and authored by Shu-Feng Tsao (ݮƵ), Helen Chen (ݮƵ), Therese Tisseverasinghe (Seneca College), Yang Yang (ݮƵ), Lianghua Li (ݮƵ) and Zahid Butt (ݮƵ).
Beyond the Bulletin Episode 79
The latest episode of the Beyond the Bulletin Podcast.Professor Blair Feltmate, from the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, shares his proven methods for getting research before policy-makers, creating partnerships with industry, and informing the public through the media. ݮƵ mourns a much-respected professor emeritus from Optometry and an accomplished PhD student from Engineering. The University and the faculty association reach an agreement on salary increases. And the weather station wants your guesses for the first 20-degree day.
Linkof the day
When and Where to get support
Studentscan visit theStudent Success Officeonline for supports including academic development, international student resources, leadership development, exchange and study abroad, and opportunities to get involved.
Instructorscan visit theKeep Learning websiteto get support on adapting their teaching and learning plans for an online environment.
UpdatedCourse templatesare now available within your course in LEARN to help you build and edit your content and assignment pages quickly.Support for Winter 2021is available.
The following workshops, webinars, and events are offered by the KL team (CTE, CEL, ITMS, LIB):
Independent Remote Course Design Essentials. Self-directed, continuous self-enrollmentcourse in LEARN.
Introduction to Assessments in PebblePad (ATLAS) (CTE7512),Monday, March 8,2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Employeescanto help them work remotely, includingmanaging University records and privacy of personal information.Here are sometips for staying healthywhile working from home.
Stay informedabout COVID cases on campus byconsulting the COVID case tracker.
Whether you’re a student or faculty member, theWriting and Communication Centrehas virtual services and programs to help you with all of your academic writing needs. This term we have added evening and weekend one-to-one appointments with our peer tutors, and ourNEWone-to-one workshops, where you can learn the content directly from one of our writing advisors.
- Undergraduates:Work with us to brainstorm, draft, revise, and polish your assignments in one-to-one appointments. Ask questions and learn writing tips at our Instagram Live Q&A sessions, and beat isolation while improving your writing skills at the weekly PJ-friendly writing groups.
- Graduates:Meet with our advisors in one-to-one appointments. Join the online writing community at the Virtual Writing Cafés, learn how to present your work at Speak Like a Scholar, or get moving on your dissertation at Dissertation Boot Camp.
- Faculty and Instructors:Request custom workshops for your courses, join the ݮƵ writing community at the Virtual Writing Cafés, or make progress on your article, book, or chapter in one-to-one meetings with our faculty specialist.
Co-op studentscanget help finding a joband find supports to successfully work remotely, develop new skills, access wellness and career information, and contact a co-op or career advisor.
TheCentre for Career Actionassists undergraduates,graduate students,postdocs,staff,faculty, andalumnithrough navigating career services that are right for them.You can attend aone-on-one appointmentor same day drop-in sessionat the CCAforassistancewith cover letter writing, career planning and much more.You can also bookanappointmentorvisitourto connect withourClient Support Team. The CCA is hereto helpyou.
If you feel overwhelmed or anxious and need to talk to somebody, please contact theUniversity’s Campus Wellness services, eitherHealth Servicesor Counselling Services. You can also contact the University'sCentre for Mental Health Research and Treatment.Good2Talkis a post-secondary student helplineavailable to all students.
The Libraryhasonhow to avoid information overload.
TheFaculty Association of the University of ݮƵ (FAUW)continues to advocate for its members.for more information.
TheUniversity of ݮƵ Staff Association (UWSA)continues to advocate for its members.Check out the UWSA blogfor more information.
TheIndigenous Initiatives Officeis a central hub that provides guidance, support, and resources to all Indigenous and non-Indigenous campus community members and oversees the university Indigenization strategy.
TheݮƵ Indigenous Student Centre, based at St. Paul’s University College,provides support and resources for Indigenous students, and educational outreach programs for the broader community, including lectures, and events.
WUSA supports for students:
Peer support(Visitto book an appointment):
- MATES– Available Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday andSunday,10:30 a.m. to5:30 p.m. (online only)
- Support sessions available in the following languages: Cantonese, English, Hindi, Mandarin, Portuguese,Punjabi, Spanish, and Urdu.
- Glow Centre– Available Monday to Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (online only)
- RAISE– Available Monday toFriday – Varied hours (online only)
- Women’s Centre– Available Monday toFriday,2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (online only)
Bike Centre– Will be reopening soon. Checkfor current operating times.
Campus Response Team, ICSN, Off Campus Community and Co-op Connectionall available online. Checkfor more details.
food hampersare currently available from the Turnkey Desk on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.in the ݮƵ Centre. If you have any questions please email us atfoodsupport@wusa.ca.
Centre for Academic Policy Support-CAPS is here to assistݮƵ undergraduates throughout their experience in navigating academic policy in the instances of filing petitions, grievances and appeals. Please contact them atcaps@wusa.ca..
WUSA Commissionerswho can help in a variety of areas that students may be experiencing during this time:
- Equity –equity@wusa.ca
- Co-op and Experiential Affairs –coop.affairs@wusa.ca
-Seeking legal counsel can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first time facing a legal issue.The legal assistance helpline provides quick access to legal advice in any area of law, including criminal. Just call1-833-202-4571.
is a confidential mental health and wellness service that connects students with qualified counsellors 24/7. They can be reached at1-833-628-5589.
When and Where (but mostly when)
.Free programming including Online Fitness, Health Webinars, Personalized Nutrition and more from Warriors Athletics and Rec. Open to students, staff, faculty and alumni..
Livestream Exercises for ݮƵstaff: Join us for an energy boostingBootcampor a fast and effectiveExpress Home Workout!Open to UW Staff and subsidized by the Staff Excellence Fund.
continues to offervirtual events and workshopsto help students practice their English language skills.
Warriors vs. LaurierBloodDonation Battle. Join your fellow Warriors, donatebloodand help us win theBloodBattle against Laurier for a second year in a row.or add the PFL code: UNIV960995 to your account if you have ablood.ca account already. Questions? ContactWarriorsInfo@uwaterloo.ca.
,January to February.Wide range of free opportunities available to keep students active and healthy including:,,,,and..
Drop-in toWarrior Virtual Study Hallson Wednesdays from5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Come together in this virtual space to set goals and work independently or in groups each week.
ITSeminar:Technology Integrated Services (TIS) Update,Friday February 26,9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m..
, Friday, February 26, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Intellectual Property Presentation Series – IP Case Study,Friday, February 26, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., virtual event through WebEx,register today.
Master of Taxation, Virtual Information Session,Saturday, February 27, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. To register, visit.
, Tuesday, March 2,8:00 a.m.to9:30 a.m., part of the “Accelerating progress towards the SDGs in post-COVID era.”
, Tuesday, March 2, 5:30 p.m., virtual event.
Noon Hour Concert: Phenomenal Women!Wednesday, March 3, 12:30 p.m. Accompanied by renowned pianist Stephanie Mara, flautist Laurel Swinden will perform works to help celebrate International Women's Day,Monday, March 8.Free, online.
OER Workshop (Copyright, Licensing, Searching, and Selection), Wednesday, March 3, 11:00 a.m., Teams. Contactkblair@uwaterloo.caorcpeters@uwaterloo.catoregister by March 2.
PhD oral defences
Combinatorics and Optimization.Sina Baghal,"Simple Early Stopping Rules in Machine Learning." Supervisor,Stephen Vavasis. Thesis available from MGO -mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday, March 5, 1:00 p.m.
History.Russ Freure, "A Modern American Conservative: How Ronald Reagan Legitimized the Religious Right and Helped Reshape the American Zeitgeist." Supervisor, Andrew Hunt.Available upon request from the Faculty of Arts, Graduate Studies and Research Officer. Oral defence Tuesday, March 9, 12 noon.
Physics & Astronomy.KristineBoone, “Concepts and methods for benchmarking quantum computers.” Supervisor(s), Joseph Emerson.Thesisavailable by request from SGO –science.dissertations@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Monday, March 8, 12 noon.
Chemistry.SeYoungKim, ”Tuning Cation and Anion Redox Chemistry in Transition Metal Oxide Positive Electrode Materials for Lithium and Sodium-Ion Batteries.” Supervisor(s), Linda Nazar.Thesisavailable by request from SGO –science.dissertations@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Thursday, March 11, 9:00 a.m.