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Editor’s Note

There are still a couple of weeks before we have to put our noses back to the grindstone, so this is a plea to take it easy. Soon we will all be locked firmly behind the bars of academe, wishing for the hot and fun days to return - so make sure you’re enjoying yourselves!

This newsletter is intended to help you get back into the swing of things. You’ll find out what’s new on campus, learn a bit about what other co-ops have been up to, and be reminded of a few impor-tant updates and news.

About the Inside sCo-op

The Inside sCo-op newsletter is published three times a year by the Co-opera-tive Education & Career Services department for students of the University of Waterloo

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future issues of the sCo-op, please contact Olaf Naese, Communica-tions & Public Relations Administrator.

Best wishes,

Hugh

Fall 2005

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Who would have thought that a four month work term would be time enough to visit London, Madrid, Munich, Rome, Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Geneva, Prague, Bu-dapest, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Paris? Nine countries in four months seems a little excessive, even for the most seasoned and versatile traveller, let alone for a co-op student. Seem far-fetched? That’s what Graham Bury initially thought, before embarking on the adventure of adventures.

Graham Bury is a 3B >Systems Design Engineer who, until last fall, never had the chance to venture outside of North America. The Oakville native had completed four work terms prior to his fall 2004 term. Three were with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, working initially as a student analyst, and then later in the proj-ect management and logistics area. He subsequently worked at RIM Headquarters for one term.

“Basically, my travels involved living and working out of hotels and testing Blackberrys according to test plans, either in the hotel or along driving routes as needed. I was able to see some sights during these trips, since I wouldn’t work all day and night, but mostly only to get a feel for the different cuisine and culture.” On weekends, Graham travelled with a London friend, taking part in Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich, La Ramblas festivals in Barcelona and tours of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower in Paris .

"These weekend trips were very intense - seeing most of the popular tourist sites and also the night life. This involved museums, ancient churches, world famous parks, boat tours, and national monuments. Also, shopping and great local food were a big part of every trip."

The view of the Thames River from the London Eye.In the end, Graham came home with a truly memo-rable experience and a wealth of knowledge. "I learned what aspects of a job I enjoy and dislike, and further what I would and would not want to do in a full-time career. In Europe, I didn't just learn on the job skills with testing, but I learned about histories, cultures and current lifestyles."

Graham's story exemplifies the value of networking, and the need, in a competitive marketplace, to put your contacts to good use. But he also understands the difficulty in getting your foot in the door. He of-fers some valuable advice for students entering their first work terms: "It can start out frustrating, where you just accept the only job you can get, since you don't have any experience. But eventually, if you work hard at your jobs, things will work out for you, and if you return to a company you can explore more, and better things will happen." A bit of luck helps too.

Indeed, Graham describes his studies at the Univer-sity of Waterloo as both a personal and professional progression. "I am at Microsoft for my last term, where I feel like a full-time employee because of the responsibilities that I have. I only grew in this manner because of the setup of the co-op system. I learned much about work life and relevant skills in my forma-

The adventure began when Graham learned about RIM’s United Kingdom (UK) office by networking through his manager, while working as a Project Co-ordinator at RIM Headquarters in Waterloo. With his manager’s help, Graham was able to contact the Director of the UK office. “I talked with a member of the UK team who visited Waterloo on training. He was interested, and requested a co-op position in the UK.”

As a field test specialist, Graham learned, updated, and refined test procedures. He updated and refined internal templates for results gathering to achieve faster testing, and simpler summarization of data. Of course, his main task was field testing, both lo-cally and internationally. Graham and another RIM employee tested BlackBerry devices on the radio networks across Europe, covering hundreds of kilo-metres each week.

Nine Countries in Four Months

By Hugh Vagt

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At the beginning of Karyne Velez’s winter workterm with Ericsson in Mississauga, the 4B Arts and Busi-ness student received an alarming email from her previous employer at the Guyana Red Cross. The email described widespread flooding in the most densely populated regions of Guyana. Excessive rainfall was the cause, and over 170 000 people in Georgetown and eastern coastal communities were affected. With so many international aid organi-sations focussed on the recent tsunami disaster, there were few funds being directed towards relief efforts in Guyana.

Ericsson staff playing blackjack for charity.Having worked with the Red Cross in Guyana last sum-mer, Karyne was compelled to help her previous employer, as well as those who were left home-less, jobless, and hungry. “I really enjoyed my time in Guyana and I saw just how fortunate we North Americans are compared to the type of conditions that people in Guyana endure.” With the support of the Ericsson co-op students and staff, Karyne began planning a Monte Carlo fundraising event to raise money for those stricken by the disaster.

“During the planning stages, we went around to the various departments and asked for people to donate prizes and money to help pay for the cost of running the casino. People were more than gen-erous! We had a lot of prizes, all of which went to Ericsson employees, in support of the Guyana Red Cross.” The company generously agreed to match the money raised by Karyne and the co-ops.

The fundraising event was a huge success, says Karyne. It was so successful that dealers soon ran out of gambling chips, “As a solution, we’d write the values on pieces of paper (temporarily) un-til the house won back more chips, so crisis was quickly averted.”

In total, the Ericsson co-ops raised $875, which was matched by Ericsson and donated to the Guyana Red Cross’s flood relief efforts.

The Waterloo co-op process is famous for empha-sising a close link between the classroom and the workplace. But many students take it upon them-selves to expand this link, and to touch people who are outside the co-op system.

For students like Steve Cosman and Kunal Gupta, both 2B Software engineer students, co-op is more than a method of applying school knowledge to work experi-ence; it’s an opportunity to contribute to the community and to volunteer time and effort for a greater good. Both Cosman and Gupta worked for Telus in Vancouver during the winter term and founded the Telus Regatta, a co-op driven charity event that raised more than $1500 dollars for the Lower Mainland United Way for youth charities.

The students sold paper boats to Telus employees, before holding a boat race (“a spinoff of the popular rubber duck races,” says Kunal) down the Stoney Creek River in Burnaby, with the winner taking home an iPod Mini. The Telus Regatta was launched with the support of Waterloo alumnus Kevin Salvadori, the Telus execu-tive VP, and winner of the 2004 Canada ‘s Top 40 Under 40 award.

Steve and Kunal’s charity work did more than ben-efit less fortunate youth and promote Telus’ co-ops; it united Telus employees and provided a forum for informal discussion. Says Cosman, “My favourite part was the fundraising events where we would be able to meet hundreds of other Telus employees and discuss the company and the values of the charity. It gave me a chance to learn about the company in a wider context.”

As a student, it is difficult enough to live and study off of a tight budget, and many students couldn’t be both-ered with contributing to charities. But co-op employ-ers frequently offer the opportunity, resources, and a conducive environment for their students to organise fundraising and charity events to enhance their work-term experiences. Many students, like Alison Wong, do more than work a nine-to-five shift. For the 3A comput-er engineering student, volunteering should be a major part of a co-op student’s work term.

“There are a large number of less-fortunate individuals who need help in their daily living. To them 5 dollars do not only signify a meal but also signifies warmth and happiness. The mere thought of being able to make such a big difference in other people’s lives is enough reason for me to support the United Way .”

By Hugh Vagt

Story continued on pg. 3 >>

Co-ops for Charity

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Alison worked as an assistant web developer for the Ca-nadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada) last fall and designed the United Way campaign web site. The web site was an electronic stage for one of the campaign’s main events: a charity auction. “The way the auction worked is very similar to how eBay works. Peo-ple sign in, view the auction items & start bidding online.”

The online auction helped alleviate some of the pressure involved with raising $10 000 in one week, a daunting task to say the least. Nevertheless, Alison’s past co-op terms fostered the skills he needed to succeed, “I would have to say that the exposure and the need to ‘sell’ my ideas to different people during my previous work terms helped me in promoting employee participation in the campaign because I had to talk, talk and talk a bit more to be able to encourage people to participate.”

Mansi Shirodkar with a donation check and 576 lbs of food.Waterloo co-op students are well known for their professionalism, eagerness and innovation, but few people know of their charitable ambitions. Mansi Shirodkar, a 4B Sociology student, recently wrapped up a food drive at Slipstream Data here in Waterloo. In total, the company donated 576 pounds of food to the Food Bank in Waterloo. Mansi, who has participated in and organised fundraising events during previous work terms at Foresters and Ericsson, offers some advice for students thinking about fundraising on the job:

“It doesn’t have to be a huge campaign to be suc-cessful. Take initiative, don’t be discouraged, and be very open. Research charity organisations, talk to your boss about it, and most importantly, think creatively. We set up our food bank fundraiser as a competition, and advertised it with flyers in employees’ pay stubs. It required a relatively minor time commitment, but it resulted with a major accomplishment - plus it was a lot of fun.”

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Like many students graduating from high school, Laura Brittain was interested in English language, and English literature. But, like most high school students, the Ottawa native was turned off by a guidance counsellor’s query: “So you’re interested in teaching?” Laura refused to be constrained by the stereotypes of an English degree, and came to Waterloo hoping to escape from being pigeon-holed into a profession.

“I wanted to come to Waterloo because it was the only school offering an English Rhetoric and Pro-fessional Writing program in conjunction with co-op, and I didn’t want to simply complete a 4-year Arts degree and then have to tackle the real world without any real experience, so it seemed like a feasible way to add an applicable, hands-on side to my studies.”

English Rhetoric Student Defies Stereotypes

Laura spent her first work term as an Implementation Team Member with Indian Residential Schools Resolutions, the federal department dedicated to strengthening partnerships within government and with Aboriginal people, religious denominations, and other citizens to address and resolve issues arising from the legacy of Indian resi-dential schools.

Her second work term was also with the federal government, this time as a Project Officer with Industry Canada’s Government On-Line initiative. Laura returned to Indus-try Canada for a third work term, and it was here that Laura was given an opportunity to travel across Canada, working with the BizPaL team. story continued on pg. 4 >>

By Hugh Vagt

Postings will appear in JobMine under the term “1065,” including those for students looking for employment in January. Job postings will be advertised for 2 weeks with each posting indicating application procedures, i.e., direct-ly to the organization (email, fax, mail, company web site) or JobMine Interviews are usually conducted at the Tatham Centre, with possible second interviews at the organization. Ca-reer Services can assist you with information on job offers, terms of employment and salary negotiation.

How to Prepare for Employment:

Graduating from university and making the transition from school to work is an important and challenging time for every student. A good place to start is to visit Career Ser-vices, either in person or online at www.careerservices.ca, where there is a wealth of resources to help you determine where your strengths and interests lieThere are many sections of the new, more interactive, Career Development eManual that can assist you as you prepare for the workplace. Self-assessment, resume writ-ing, interview skills, and work search advice will help you to be successful. Visit http://www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca for in-structions on how to access the new Career Development eManual in UW ACE.

JobMine is a great place to begin looking for employment, but be sure not to limit your search to the advertised mar-ket (more on this in the eManual module on work search).

RIM Park is the location for the upcoming Career Fair on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. Come out to Career Fair to network with over 180 employers. Free admission and bus transportation is provided with your UW student/alumni ID. For more information visit http://www.partners-4employment.ca.

At any stage in the job search, Career Services is there to help. In addition to online modules, consider face-to-face workshops and individual advising appointments. There is no such thing as being too prepared when it comes to your career, so grab a friend, visit Career Services and hit JobMine on September 14th. Happy job searching!

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BizPaL is a web-based service that will allow business clients to easily generate a customized list of the per-mits and licences they require from all levels of gov-ernment. Currently, the BizPaL Pilot Project is being developed by a lead group of government partners, and is a distinct initiative since it involves collabora-tion across all levels of government in Canada.

Laura Brittain braving the cold in Whitehorse.Last fall, the team had completed a prototype of the web service being built and decided it was time to put the BizPaL product to the test by giving it to poten-tial users and recording how they navigated through mock-up scenarios. “Testing had already been con-ducted in Toronto, so off we went to the West Coast, stopping in Whitehorse, Vancouver, and finally Kam-loops . While in each location, my colleague Alec and I would run several full days of usability testing, with Alec conducting the tests while I recorded and con-solidated the results. We were gone for a very busy two weeks!”

Guylaine Brunet, project manager of BizPaL, was pleased with Laura’s performance: “Her work ethic is impeccable. She managed to understand and contrib-ute on some very complex issues our project is deal-ing with, such as governance at multiple levels of gov-ernment, issuing request for proposals, dealing with other groups within and outside of Industry Canada to resolve policy and legal issues.” Not only did Laura perform her tasks extremely well, but she provided solid feedback to the team, in order to enhance future testing sessions.

At Industry Canada, Laura was given opportunities to write, speak, learn about technological systems and their design, and compile and analyze test results. This may seem strange for someone aiming for an Arts degree, but it exemplifies the versatility of Wa-terloo co-op students. “It was really interesting to be involved in web services, while the writing and public speaking experience apply directly to my studies.”

Are you graduating this year? Thinking about starting your job search? Here is what you need to know about Grad-uating Student Job Postings and Career Services.

Graduating Student Postings: The Process

Job postings for full-time employment will be advertised as they are received beginning Wednesday, September 14. Job descriptions are available for viewing by ALL STUDENTS (co-op and regular).

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Graduating Student Jobs: What You Need to Knowby Tara Keogh

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This past spring, Canadian Forces sent a Contingent of over 230 people to the Netherlands in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of this country. As a co-op student at the Department of National Defence (DND) in Ottawa, I was given the opportunity to ac-company this Contingent as a public affairs assistant. The unique experience of attending the largest of these celebrations thus far and, probably the last of which so many Canadian veterans could attend, was an unforget-table opportunity of a lifetime.

I applied for the job of Assistant Historical Researcher at the Directorate of History and Heritage, DND, through the application process on Jobmine and, I could not have been luckier in a job match. This job is perhaps the best placement a history student could hope for. Work-ing under the supervision of a doctoral recipient in his-tory, it is not very often that an undergraduate student will receive long-term one-on-one direction and atten-tion from such an intellectual. There are also many other PhD recipients in history as well as other well-respected historians and authors who work in this Directorate and who take an avid interest in the work I produce. My job here is to complete research papers on various aspects of Canadian military heritage. My employer uses there papers as a reference in completing the currently in-progress multi-volume book on Canadian military heritage. Again, it is an amazing opportunity for an undergraduate history student to be able to learn how to retrieve and source primary source documents and information.

I was invited to stay for a double work term (an 8-month contract) so that I might participate as a public affairs assistant during the CF Contingent’s time in the Nether-lands. As a public affairs assistant, I helped the CF media in their work. This work included assisting in filming, photographing, collecting information through inter-views, etc. Upon returning to Ottawa, I set about writing of my experience and, hoping to share this experience with others, getting this writing published in various publications.

To stand on a dyke once possessed by the enemy and from this vantage point look down onto the flat, wet lowlands and farmers fields which our soldiers had to cross to only then battle for possession of the dyke, is terrifying. Looking through a watchhole of a German bunker on the Leopold Canal and being able to see for miles down this narrow stretch of water is unnerving. To stand on the flat land of Kap-plshe’ Veer and look across the river knowing that 60 years ago, any movement would have brought a reign of fire from the enemy, is disheartening. Dam-age from the war can even still be seen on buildings that survived the destructive fighting.

After the Tour, the participants were taken to Ber-gen Op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery. Here are buried the men that had died in the battlefields just seen. The connection made was overwhelming, and brought tears to many eyes.The Canadian Forces contingent marches through the Dutch city of Apeldoorn.The opportunity of accompanying the CF Contingent to the Nether-lands in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation was extraordinary and I recognize that I am very fortunate to have experienced this event, made possible through the co-op program. To also have participated in the battlefield tours given by two remarkable historians has forever changed my perception and understanding of remembrance and commemorative events and, especially of the veter-ans who granted us the freedom and the ability to enjoy life’s privileges. I believe I have demonstrated the thoughts and beliefs of all of the soldier partici-pants who, like myself, are Canada’s future genera-tion of leaders. Because of this experience, we will never forget and, neither will our future generations. All that can be said, should be to the veterans:

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Work Term Builds Appreciation for Sacrifices of Warby Tara Keogh

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Work Term Builds Appreciation for Sacrifices of War

After five years of seeing a continuous stream of co-op students come and go, Carole Strome is still excited about hiring students. “We have a system that allows us to build relationships that extend beyond the co-op system,” she says. In the last four and half years, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has hired twenty-eight full time former co-op students. And with eighty percent of junior co-op students re-turning for second and third work terms, there seems to be more students coming, than going. “The key is to entice students to return for more work terms by exposing them to everything the company has to of-fer,” says Strome. And IESO has a lot to offer.

IESO was formed after the former Ontario Hydro was broken into five independent companies in anticipa-tion of the opening of Ontario’s competitive electric-ity market. IESO, a not for profit crown corporation, began hiring co-op students after splitting from On-tario Hydro in 2000. “We hire about 65 a year, which is a lot for a company of 400” says Strome.

Through such value-added programs as Lunch and Learn (topics include the 2003 Summer Blackout) and Power Systems 101 (a twenty hour certification course surveying the complexities of the power business), students are given an up-close and personal look at how IESO balances Ontario’s demand for and supply of electricity. Strome sums it up: “We realize that we’re competing for these students, so we’re continuously finding new ways to improve the mentorship in the program.”

One way to improve mentorship is to give junior stu-dents the opportunity to explore different career paths. Job shadowing at IESO allows less experienced co-ops to get a feel for different departments in the organisa-tion, and is another incentive for students to return for a second or third term. Even IESO’s student tours of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station and the Sir Adam Beck Plant in Niagara Falls are enough to spark the interest of engineers and non-engineers alike. “It’s a win win situation. We invest time and effort in the students, and we give them different exposures to make them want to come back. In return we get the freshest and brightest minds that Waterloo can offer.”

Indeed, one IESO student first arrived as a junior, stayed for three work terms and then was hired even before he graduated, on the condition that he passed all his cours-es. It is this kind of dedication, motivation and enthusi-asm shown by both student and employer, that fosters strong and mutually rewarding relationships.

Interestingly, Strome points out that co-ops are more than highly motivated and enthusiastic employees. She recognizes the role of students as public relations ambassadors on campus, which contributes positively towards recruitment efforts, company image, and mar-ketplace identity. “Co-op provides the opportunity for our business to be known. Peers trust peers, so word of mouth marketing is the best recruitment tool. When we were interviewing at the University three years ago, nobody knew who we were because we had just broken off from Ontario Hydro. I was here last week interview-ing students, and everybody knew about us ahead of time.”

With this kind of public exposure, IESO doesn’t need to conduct employer information sessions to entice stu-dents. With such an attractive program in place, stu-dents become interested through word of mouth alone. “The least an employer can do is to make the co-op experience enjoyable and provide a true and profound sense of what is going on in the company.” And by of-fering the best, the least IESO can do is to expect the best. •

Having started with 30 co-op students five years ago, Strome recognized the potential in Waterloo’s co-op program: “Our population here is getting older, and we’ve been on the job for a long time, so we’re always open to fresh new ideas. The students are our future, and we want them to have first-hand experience working in a corporation which is part of a growing industry.”

Growing industries means growing competition, and if you want to hire the best, you need to offer the best. IESO offers its students more than the opportunity to grow, network, and be “mentored by the brightest in the field.”

Offering the Best, Expecting the Bestby Hugh Vagt

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In an article entitled “Rethinking the Design of Online Courses” (2000) Kemi Jona noted that most online courses are simply fancy “page turners” – online presentations of lecture notes, facts, and concepts in which learners passively read text or watch videos. The learner may con-trol the button to advance to the next page of material but they are not active learners in any meaningful sense. Individuals learn best via simulation, trial and error, and through stories.

With this in mind, Career Services has formed a partnership with Learning and Teaching Through Technology (LT3) to revise (content and usability) the Career Development eManual. Beginning in September, students will get active with UW online career advice. The new version will live in ACE (UW’s online course environment) and will be accessible by all students (regular/co-op, undergraduate/graduate).

While all sections of the eManual will get a facelift, the first more interactive modules are: Résu-mé Writing, Interview Skills, Work Search, and Success on the Job. Students will review relevant resources (text, audio and video), complete activities (e.g., answer interview questions, rate the performance of students at a job fair, create a self introduction), receive feedback and compare their work to the feedback given.

After completing the online module, students are invited to sign up for face-to-face assistance on the same topic. Meeting with a student who has an understanding of the main concepts via the online module will allow career advising staff to focus their attention on tailoring the general advice to the individual’s needs resulting in a more in-depth and quality appointment. And the face-to-face workshops will become true “work” shops rather than lectures. Students will benefit from the opportunity to get feedback from staff and peers as they practise their skills.

Can’t wait to get started? Visit http://www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca to for instructions on how to access the new Career Development eManual in UW ACE.

New Career Development E-Manual Onlineby Kerry Mahoney, CECS Associate Director, Training & Development

Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote The Art of Rhetoric in an attempt to provide a methodical argument supporting the art of persuasion. Without knowing it, most co-op students usually employ 2 of his 3 persuasive proofs during interviews, ignoring the most important proof, and thus reducing their chances of being hired.

Stand out from the crowd – inject some pathos into your interviews. During employer interview season, countless co-op students, whether they know it or not, call upon these three proofs in an attempt to gain the upper hand over their fellow students. But more often than not, pathos is avoided, as it seeming-ly evokes a less professional image, and is sometimes seen as a sign of weakness. In this case, I’m not talking about the pathos an audience feels for Hamlet which involves pitying and sympathising with a tragic hero. Pathos in the context of rhetoric refers to the rousing passionate feeling one has for something or someone they hold dear. Ethos is usually sprinkled liberally throughout résu-més,

Aristotle and Co-op Interviewsby Hugh Vagt

since the résumé is a reflection of reputation. Logos is frequently evoked during interviews: when students give specific examples of projects they’ve worked on, they appeal to the practical reasoning side of the em-ployer. But pathos is usually avoided: nobody wants to open up to the interviewer.

I say embrace pathos. A lot of students do poorly dur-ing interviews because they lack emotion. Ironically, on the inside students experience just the opposite: anxi-ety, nervousness, and even terror. Fear inhibits the “good” pathos, so prepare for your in-terview, anticipate questions, practise answers, and get comfortable in the CECS building. Try to imagine your-self about to climb those stairs for the interview. They aren’t as steep as you think they are. After my fourth workterm, I started to force myself into enjoying inter-views. It’s hard, but try to wrap your head around the idea that interviews are fun. If you are prepared, you will be confident. If you are confident, you will enjoy your-self. If you enjoy yourself, you’ll be more convincing.

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When interviews finally roll around, inject some pathos into your conversation. Think about some-thing really funny. You don’t have to tell the inter-viewer about it (“Hi, nice to meet you, there once was a man from Nantucket …”), just make sure you’re smiling. After you get through the initial typical questions, try to work in some personal comments, something unique about you. Have you created your own flash video game? Have you ever created a neat macro or script that helped you either at home or at work? Do you enjoy read-ing, if so, what and more importantly, why? Do you like to write? Are you a movie buff? Do you like taking stuff apart and rebuilding it? What is it that makes you unique?

I once had an interview for a job I was under quali-fied for, but I had “writing a screenplay adaptation of Dante’s Inferno” on my résumé, and the inter-viewer and I talked about the eight stages of hell for twenty minutes. I connected with the employ-er, and I was offered the job.

A little nervousness shows that you care about doing well in the interview, and a little pathos shows that you are human. If you’ve already made it to the interview, your qualifications as docu-mented on your résumé have already passed the test. Your personality is what is on the line now. And remember, if your personality really bites, just make sure you smile a lot; sometimes actions speak louder than words.

For the student, the interview should be an op-portunity to stand out from the crowd. This should be the student’s primary focus, because there’s nothing worse than interviewing ten people who all have the same qualifications and the same ner-vous demeanour. If your résumé can convince the employer of your eligibility, then your personality, your interests, your passions, your true self , has to convince the employer of your suitability.

Everybody has some small hobby, no matter how quirky, that sets them apart. You need to show that you’re passionate about something, that you can get excited about something. And if this something can be related to the job you’re apply-ing for, consider yourself hired.

Joseph Fung (Computer Engineering) was named the 2005 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year at a recent awards ceremony where he received $2,000 “for the development and operation of the most innovative and entrepreneurial business by a Canadian post-secondary student.” He received this distinction for founding and operating Lewis Media, a Waterloo-based web develop-ment company.

UW’s Midnight Sun VIII, a student built solar car travelled from Texas to Calgary during the North American Solar Challenge, and came in 5th place.

A jury met the week of August 1st to choose among five proposals -- one of them from UW architecture student Ken Lum -- for the Flight 93 Memorial in central Pennsyl-vania, with the winner to be announced in September.

UW’s aerial robot comes in second place at the Interna-tional Aerial Robotics Competition in Georgia.

A Canadian vision of the vehicle of the future has taken top honours at a North American competition in Detroit. A team of Waterloo engineering students -- the only Canadian team in the competition -- beat out 16 top U.S. universities to win first place overall at Challenge X for their fuel-cell-powered vehicle design.•

Awards

This summer, Dr. Gary Waller replaced Dr. James Downey as director of WATCACE, the agency that studies and promotes the co-op system. Dr. Waller is a faculty member in psychology, who has served as interim dean of graduate studies and acting dean of research, as well as serving as associate provost (aca-demic and student affairs) from 1996 to 2003.

Kimberly Lewis also joins the full time staff as an Em-ployer Advisor with Employer Services, as well as Doug Ryan, a new Field Co-ordinator.

New Staff

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* Starting in the fall, employment stats will now be post-ed on the bulletin boards on main floor in the Tatham Centre. * Upon your return to campus, check your Co-op Stu-dent Record in JobMine to ensure that it is accurate and up to date. If there is an error, please contact the CECS Information Centre. * Be sure to update your current telephone number and address in Quest. CECS may need to contact you to pass on important messages. If the department doesn’t have the right contact information, you could miss an important notice or even an interview.

Reminders:

I think we have all been there, at least once. You know the drill, the dead-end-thank-god-it-is-only-four-months job. That job that killed your motivation so entirely that you not only counted but memorized the number of steps it takes to get to the washroom, your car, your house, anywhere but where you are, etc. Essentially we have all had a job that ate our brains. The question is how can we turn these brain-eaters into a bearable j-o-b?

The other day I had a co-worker comment to me “Wow, it’s like you actually love everything that you do!” Now, there is some truth to this, (otherwise why would I be working overtime to write this?) but I broke it down for her as best I could and hopefully by sharing this with you, you can salvage your grey matter.

Remember, nobody likes everything. In fact most people will create hatred out of nothing especially in a sub par job. There will always be some part of what you do that you dislike. It is work after all - but, no biggy fries . . . here’s why.

Let’s break it down. In your own personal hell you actu-ally have control over things. Before you protest, just give me a second. Our starting point is the assumption that you have a job. A job consists of tasks, duties, and re-sponsibilities. In other words a job consists of “stuff” that you “do”. You are paid to do stuff.

Beware of workplace zombification.The thing that we usually forget or lament over during the onset zombifi-cation of our minds is that we own each task, duty, and responsibility in our job description. There will always be specifications due to odd policies, eccentric people, and strange practices foreign to the reasonable student. Just think of yourself as being on another planet, what seems foreign to you is regular culture for everyone else.

Once you can adapt, or at least tolerate the odd planet of strange creatures and stranger cultures you are ready for your first revelation. When you own stuff you can make it your own. Like I say, there are always limits, but the secret is to find as much wiggle room as possible. Be creative. For example, in any job you have a space. It’s no Ritz Carleton but hey it’s yours . Change it up. Move your desk around. Bring in stuff (I brought in some R2D2’s). Put up posters. The posters can’t say @#$% or *&^, but you can still funkify your work zone. In fact I urge you to funkify as much of your space as you can. Cultivate your plot of land on the foreign planet landscape. What does a task consist of? Usually a task consists of the following things: A goal, pathways to the goal, and an associated time frame or deadline.

Of these elements what do we have control over? Usually the goal is not negotiable (i.e., if it is your job to build circuit boards, you can’t bake some cookies and call it a day), the deadline might be flexible but the component you can really own is the pathway. In other words, you get to choose how you do it. You get to own the process. Just as you can funkify your space you can funkify your processes and pathways.

Change the order of operations. Add to the product or service. Use your creativity to invent and innovate. The more time you take to brainstorm ideas the better (so long as they are actually carried out at one point). For example, create a logo and instead of just putting your name on something, put your logo on it. Go beyond the norm. In other words, do what is needed, but then supplement it with something relevant and beneficiary. Many employers will appreciate you “going the extra mile”. Once employers realize what you are capable of they are more likely to give you other projects. The more tasks you own the better because it will allow you to switch gears. However, to raise some caution, it is important that you know your limits. Don’t keep pur-suing new work and leaving old stuff unfinished, but be sure to have some variety. •

The Job That Ate My Brain

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By Hugh Vagt

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Yup, it’s that time again! Along with the tuition increases, UW has increased the fee for students en-rolled in the co-op program. The new fee will be $510, and that includes the $25 building fee for the Tatham Centre. Here are some questions and answers regard-ing the fee:

Why an increase?

UW’s Board of Governors approved an increase in the co-op fee at their April 4, 2006 meeting. The amount of money currently collected from students to pay for co-op is significantly less than the costs the fee was intended to cover. The co-op fee itself actually only addresses CECS costs for co-op related activities, which represent approximately 20% of the total ex-pense of operating our co-op program (see the co-op manual link below for details). The shortfall in revenue collected to cover CECS co-op related activities in the 2004-05 fiscal year was $839,000. A substantial deficit has occurred each year for four out of the past five years with the University underwriting the fund-ing gap each time.

Basically the increase in the co-op fee will go toward keeping pace with a higher student population and new co-op programs of study, as well as higher costs of supplies and services purchased by CECS. When will the increase take effect?

The new co-op fee will be in effect beginning with the Spring 2006 registration.

Will this fee increase solve the problem?

The increase in the co-op fee will not fully cover next year’s CECS co-op related costs, but will start to close the gap between costs and revenues. Gradual increas-es to the co-op fee in upcoming years are possible.

Was CECS not under budget for 2004-05?

Yes. And, CECS expects to stay within budget this fis-cal year too. But co-op fee revenue has not kept pace with budget increases, so there is a gap. The largest expense is staff salaries, so when positions become vacant our needs are always thoughtfully examined before replacements are considered. The current review of the employment process being conducted by Management Science professors will make recom-mendations for improvements in how we work as well as in service. This will enable CECS to move toward a clearer understanding of its co-op costs in the future.

By Hugh Vagt

Is CECS budget conscious?

Yes. In fact, CECS has been managing its costs ef-fectively and expects to stay within budget this fiscal year. But co-op fee revenue has not kept pace with budget increases, so there is a gap. The largest ex-pense is staff salaries, so when positions become va-cant, needs are always thoughtfully examined before replacements are considered. The current review of the employment process being conducted by Manage-ment Sciences professors will make recommendations for improvements in how CECS works as well as in service.

How do UW co-op fees compare with other schools?

A sampling of co-op fees at other universities indi-cates that, after the increase, UW will still be within the range of per work term fees. For example, assuming a student has six work terms and eight academic terms, the UW cost per work term works out to $680 (not including the building fee). The costs per work term at some other universities are:

•Brock University - $600•University of Guelph - $600•Wilfrid Laurier - $624•University of Ottawa - $750 •University of Toronto - $1,000-$1,200

Amounts above are based on a 2005 survey and are costs per work term, i.e. total fee billed divided by number of work terms. •

Increased Co-op Fee Q&A

Important Reminders: The Important Dates Calendar for the Spring 2006 term is available online. Look for job posting dates, career workshops, ranking and match dates, and other important deadlines. You can pick up a paper copy of the important dates handout at the co-op information centre, (ground level TC) or at your return-to-campus interview. The University of Waterloo will no longer be mailing out hardcopies of students’ fee bills as of this fall term. Students will now have access to up to date account information through QUEST, the University’s student information system. The finance page on QUEST will also have links to online-banking institutions, UW financial forms, payment instructions, financial aid in-formation, and a frequently-asked-questions page.