Hi all! I hope your reading week went well. Over the next month and a bit I’ll be wrapping up my role as VP Academic and transitioning over to my successor Thomas Dedinsky, the VP Academic-Elect. It’ll be an interesting time to transition as there is so much change happening on campus.
Resume Rescue
Can you believe Resume Rescue is turning 2 years old? As such, it is time to re-evaluate and get feedback on the services. Please reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions on what you’ve liked and not liked about the system, and what we should continue or should look into trying! We’re always looking out for ways to best help our students. Shout out to Megan Town who’s been running it this term.
Exam Bank
Exam Bank is a grey area with respect to university policies and it’s usage. We’re working on brainstorming a new system, which is pretty open ended. We’re looking to work with the faculty, students, and Engineering Computing. So, please let me know if you have ideas or suggestions!
Co-op Fee
CECA (now called CEE), is continuing to look into the co-op fee and its structure so, hopefully, we’ll hear more about what changes may happen and an increase in student engagement on the issue. Let me know if you have concerns about it.
Teaching Awards Due March 9th!
www.engsoc.uwaterloo.ca/about/awards/waterloo-engineering-society-teaching-excellence-award/
Nominate great instructors (professors, lecturers or laboratory instructors) for the Engineering Society Teaching Excellence Award! We award professors based on a mixture of quantity and quality of submissions. Support your teachers!!! Especially if they have: 1. Employed non-conventional teaching techniques, 2. Allowed opportunities for experiential learning, 3. Showed a commitment and dedication towards ensuring academic success for our students.
Note that instructors must be part of the Engineering Faculty (This does not include most MATH or PHYS instructors).
Any additional questions should be forwarded to the Teaching Award Committee at teachingaward@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca.
OSAP & Minimum Wage
Co-op has looked into the effect of minimum wage increase. They actually reported an increase in employed students in the short term, but stay slated for any updates. OSAP is also looking to see how the minimum wage impacts parental income and OSAP allocations. Let me know if you’re interested in hearing more.
Engineering Change Lab
www.engineeringchangelab.ca/en/home/
I recently have gotten involved with an evolving movement called Engineering Change Lab about furthering the engineering profession beyond traditional problem solving. One of the initiatives under the ECL is around post-secondary engineering education, how to make it more applicable to industry, and more aware of technological stewardship and responsibility. If you know any educational initiatives that your department or the faculty are doing, pop me a message.
Have thoughts/opinions/concerns on the topics above? Or anything academic/co-op related ? My office hours are Fridays 11:30 am – 1:20 pm in the Orifice or drop me an email at vpacademic.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca. Cheers!
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