Title: TBRG Tuesdays for Teaching-Based Research Group
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Time: 10:00 to 11:00 am
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: TBRG Tuesdays are for Teaching-Based Research Group members and other faculty and staff interested in research about teaching and learning.  Join your colleagues who are also conducting (or planning to conduct) research about teaching and learning for an informal chat about work in progress, research issues, sharing of tips and tricks, peer help on questions arising.  Sessions are also held on Tuesday, February 23 and Tuesday, March 30, 2010.
Presenter(s): Dr. Nicola Simmons, CTE
Note(s): No need to RSVP, just bring your coffee and drop in!  Contact Nicola Simmons with any questions.

Title: CTE621 Communicating & Facilitating in the Online Environment
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010
Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
Place:  Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: Online and blended courses represent a significant proportion of our course offerings at the University of Waterloo.  Communication with a class through online tools such as announcements, email and FAQ boards can increase a sense of community in a course and enhance learning for students.  Online discussions between students are often an integral part of the learning experience in these courses, and effective facilitation by the instructor can be key to their success.

Through a combination of activities and discussion, this workshop will explore the variety of communication tools that are available in UW-ACE and how the use of these tools can contribute to the creation of a strong community of learners in an online discussion and how the facilitator can help students move through these stages and exchange and construct knowledge effectively as a group.
Presenter(s): Jane Holbrook, CTE, and Rudy Peariso, CEL
Note(s):
Register

Title: CTE622 Grading and Giving Feedback in the Online Environment
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Time: 10:30 to 12:00 noon
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: Instructors in online and blended courses are often responsible for grading assignments and giving feedback to students online.

Through a combination of hands-on activities and discussion, this workshop will explore the use of rubrics for grading assigments, essays, online discussions and other learning activities, as well as the importance of the timing and quality of feedback to student learning.  We will explore several tools that are available in UW-ACE for building activities where feedback is an important component, such as drop boxes, discussion forums and quizzes.  We will also explore how the grade book can be used to communicate feedback through the "Comments" facility.
Presenter(s): Jane Holbrook, CTE, and Rudy Peariso, CEL
Note(s): This is not a "how to" session about using grade book.
Register

Title: CTE623 Pitching Your Project:  Strategies for Effective Grant Writing
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description:

What does it take to write a great grant application? In this workshop you will have an opportunity to talk with peers about the research project for which you are seeking funding, and get input on crafting a strong application. Come to hear about what makes a successful application along with resources to support your process. Angela will address the factors that make a grant successful - and help you know how to address the factors that are part of unsuccessful grant applications.
Presenter(s): Angela Roorda, Faculty of Arts
Note(s): This workshop is intended for TBRG members. Register by emailing nsimmons@uwaterloo.ca.
 

Title: Loving to Learn Day
Date: Monday, February 15, 2010
Time: all day
Description: Loving to Learn Day - Contest entries must be received no later than 7:00 pm on Sunday, February 14, 2010. Send contest entries to mmorton@uwaterloo.ca.
Presenter(s): Dr. Mark Morton, CTE
Note(s):

Title: CTE625 RefWorks for Teaching-Based Research Group and other faculty and staff interested in research about teaching and learning
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 noon
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: Learn how to manage your references, create bibliographies, and format your papers in a variety of citation styles using RefWorks, a web-based citation software freely available to all Waterloo students, faculty, and staff.

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• create a RefWorks account
• import references from databases, the Library's catalogue, and other sources
• navigate RefWorks and edit your citations
• create and format bibliographies in a variety of citation styles
• create and format bibliographies within Word using Write n Cite
• identify options within RefWorks for reference sharing
• access your account and citations from anywhere
  
  Presenter(s): Tim Ireland, Dana Porter Library
  Note(s): This workshop is intended for TBRG members.  Register by emailing nsimmons@uwaterloo.ca.

Title: CTE629 How to Customize Your Course in UW-ACE Studio
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Time: 9:30 - 11:30 am
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: In this hands-on setting, there will be three "work stations", each run by a CTE staff member who can help you implement communication tools, develop a class schedule that links content throughout your course or customize the look of your course through banners, tabs and colour changes.  Choose which stations you want to visit or visit all three if you like.  You will get the most of your time with us if you have a course to work on, so please request any spring courses and copy over course content in advance, and bring along an image that you would like to use if you choose to create a course banner.  A laptop will be provided or you can bring your own.  You are also invited to bring along a colleague who would like to make changes to his/her course in ACE.
Presenter(s): Marlene Griffith Wrubel and Lynn Long, CTE
Note(s):
Register

Title: Documenting Your Teaching for Tenure and Promotion (Lunch and Learn for tenure-track individuals)
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Time: 11:45 am - 1:15 pm
Place: Flex Lab (LIB 329)
Description: TBA

Presenter(s): Moderator:  Geoff McBoyle, AVP-A, Panellists:  TBA
Note(s): Register through the Watport web registration form.  www.watport.uwaterloo.ca/new_faculty_events/LunchLearn.html

Title: CTE626 Using Twitter to Increase Student Engagement
Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Time: 3:00 to 4:30 pm
Place: FLEX Lab (LIB 329)
Description:

When I was developing a workshop on Twitter back in 2007, my biggest challenge was finding someone else who used that application so that I could practice exchanging "tweets" with them.  Now, two years later, so many people - and even corporations - are using Twitter, that I have to be cautious about not following too many fellow Twitterers.  In fact, Twitter has become so popular that I could probably write this workshop description without even explaining what Twitter is.  just to be on the safe side, though, I will offer this definition:  Twitter is a form of micro-blogging in which users share messages that are limited to less than 140 characters.  The application  originated as a method of sending text messages to users of cell phones, whose screens were too small to display a large amount of text.  Twitter has become, however, something more, namely, a means of keeping your "followers" informed about your thoughts and activities at whatever frequency you desire.  like all technologies that extend our communicative reach, Twitter can be misused:  if you are constantly twittering about the jejune trivialities of your day, your followers will soon start "un-friending" you.  On the other hand, I find it incredibly helpful when people who have interests similar to my own send a tweet containing a web link to an article they have come across, or when they tweet about a great conference session they are in the midst of attending. In the classroom, too, Twitter has potential to increase engagement, a fact that some instructors are already beginning to recognize and implement.  As David Zax writes in the November 2009 issue of Prism,  a journal published by the American Society for Engineering Education, many professors are beginning to "harness the organizational, aggregating, and social possibilities of the [Twitter] technology, recognizing it as a potent educational tool."  Monica Rankin, for example, a History professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, has used Twitter to, in her words, "pull more students into a class discussion."  This workshop will aim to do four things:  1.  Help you feel comfortable setting up and using Twitter (and complementary applications such as TweetDeck); 2. Give you an overview of how instructors at other institutions are already using Twitter in their courses effectively; 3. identify potential pitfalls and problems; 4. Provide an opportunity for the workshop attendees to share ideas and brainstorm about how they might use Twitter in their courses.
Presenter(s): Dr. Mark Morton, CTE
Note(s):
Register

Title: CTE602 UW-ACE Instructor User Group
Date: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Time: 10:30 to 11:30 am
Place: FLEX Lab (LIB 329)
Description:

This event provides an opportunity for instructors to see examples of innovative ways that otehr faculty members are using UW-ACE on campus.  Three instructors will present activities that they have created for their students in UW-ACE.  They will discuss why incorporating the activities into an online environment enhanced the learning experience for their students and share their own experiences of creating and facilitating these activities.  Past topics have included how to use online polls to enhance in-class discussions, how to create student-generated self-assessment quizzes, and unique ways to enhance student communication through discussion boards.
Presenter(s): Jane Holbrook, CTE, and guests
Note(s):
Register

Title: CTE627 Using NSSE Data for Your Teaching and Learning Research
Date: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Place: FLEX Lab (LIB 329)
Description:

Description will be available in late March 2010.
Presenter(s): Mary Jane Jennings and Jennifer Kieffer, Institutional Analysis and Planning
Note(s): This workshop is intended for TBRG members.  Register by emailing nsimmons@uwaterloo.ca.

Title: CTE175 Clickers in the Classroom
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 am
Place: FLEX Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: Clickers, also known as Personal Response Systems, are handheld devices that allow large numbers of students to respond to in-class questions, with the responses being aggregated and tabulated by the Clicker software. An increasing number of instructors at UW are already using clickers, with a view to increasing student learning. However, getting the most out of clickers requires some careful planning: there are, for example, different kinds of clickers to choose from, and they can be used in different ways (and not all of the ways are effective). This workshop will explore best practices for using clickers in large classes.
Facilitator: Mark Morton, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT particpants can submit a response paper within two weeks for credit or receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• The workshop is open to all UW instructors and graduate students.
• Limited to 40 participants.

Title: CTE165 Interactive Teaching Activities
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time:12:00 to 1:30 pm
Place:FLEX Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description:This workshop will focus on helping participants find new ways of integrating interactive teaching activities in their lectures, labs and/or tutorials.  While many of us want to include more interactive techniques in our teaching, we are often unsure of what types of activities to use and how to implement them to best facilitate student learning.  A variety of interactive activities will be discussed in this workshop and we will explore which types of activities will work best in your classroom – based on your learning goals.  The workshop itself will also be highly interactive as you will have the chance to practice some of the learning activities presented as we explore issues such as how to choose, plan, troubleshoot, and evaluate the techniques.
Facilitator: Richelle Monaghan, CTE and Mareike Muller, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT particpants can submit a response paper within two weeks for credit or receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.  
• The workshop is open to all UW instructors and graduate students.
• Limited to 40 participants.  

Title: CTE113 Teaching Dossiers Workshop
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Time: 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Facilitator: Svitlana Taraban Gordon, CTE
Description: At this workshop, you will learn what a teaching dossier is and how you can use one. We will analyze two sample dossiers - an activity which you will begin before the workshop - to discover what constitutes an effective dossier. From there, we will turn to the teaching philosophy statement, which is a critical component of the dossier but is also the most difficult to articulate. We will engage in an interactive metaphor exercise to demonstrate one tool that you can use to help create your own philosophy statement. You will receive additional resources at the workshop.To prepare for this workshop, you need to do two tasks:

1. Read the two sample dossiers (link to be sent) so that you can complete the worksheet (also linked from that message) - bring your responses and the dossiers to the workshop for a group discussion.
2. Choose a metaphor that describes you as a teacher (i.e., gardener, architect, travel guide) - bring this with you to use in a small group exercise.

Note(s):

• This workshop is intended primarily for participants in UW's Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program. It will be offered at least once every term.
• You must be registered in GS 902 before taking this workshop.
• If you are a CUT participant, a Workshop Attendance Form must be completed and brought to each workshop.

Title: CTE146 Research Projects Workshop
Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010
Time: 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Place:Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: At this workshop you will learn what is required for the GS 902 research project component, as well as about research and referencing skills specific to higher education. This workshop is designed to be interactive and to start you on the process of narrowing your research question and identifying the 10 scholarly references needed for your project. You will be taught how to use various search strategies and research databases, and then you will use these strategies during the workshop to find possible resources for your own topic.
To prepare for this workshop, you need to bring a proposed topic for your research project. Ideally it should be based on a question you have had regarding teaching and or learning practices in higher education. Avoid making it too broad (i.e., instead of "motivating students," a more appropriate topic would be "how to establish relevance in a first year course").
This workshop is required for GS 902 participants. It will be offered at least once every term.
Facilitator: Dr. Svitlana Taraban-Gordon, CTE, Laura Howell, Library, Christine Jewell, Library
Note(s):

• If you are a CUT participant, a Workshop Attendance Form must be completed and brought to each workshop.
• You must be registered in GS 902 before taking this workshop.
• Cannot be used as an attendance credit by ITA Training participants.

If you are a CUT participant registered in GS 902, you can present your CUT research project on teaching/learning topic of your choice at this year’s Graduate Student Research Conference in April. Your presentation can be in a poster (Option 3) or a research presentation (Option 1) format.  The abstracts should be submitted to the conference website by February 8, 2010. For conference dates and details please visit: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/Conference/abstract_call.asp.   

When submitting your CUT abstract, select “CUT” under the “Specialty Sessions” section.

Presenting your CUT research project on teaching at the GSRC does not prevent you from presenting your own research at this conference! You can submit two separate abstracts for the conference – just be sure to indicate your CUT research project.

Please contact Dr. Taraban-Gordon (staraban@uwaterloo.ca) to discuss your abstract and proposed format PRIOR to submitting your conference abstract.

Title: CTE068 Understanding the Learner
Date: Friday, February 12, 2010
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: As instructors, we often think about what constitutes effective teaching. But let's put ourselves in our students' shoes for a moment. What constitutes effective learning? How does learning occur and what individual differences affect the teaching and learning process? These are just a few of the questions that will be explored in this CTE event on Understanding the Learner. In this half-day workshop, key theories of learning and a variety of learning styles will be presented and discussed. Participants will identify their own unique learning styles and explore how these characteristics affect their approaches to teaching. The goal of this workshop is to prepare instructors for designing and implementing instructional activities that will maximize student learning.

This workshop is a required workshop for GS 901. One response paper is required and must be accepted for credit towards CUT. If space is available, faculty members, graduate students, and staff instructors at UW are welcome to register. Participants will be required to complete a pre-workshop exercise of 20-30 minutes sent via email shortly after registration.

Due to the highly interactive nature of this workshop, registration is limited to 20 participants for each session.
Facilitator: Svitlana Taraban-Gordon, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT participants must submit a response paper within two weeks.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.

Title: CTE208 Grading
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Time: 12:00 to 1:30 pm
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: Do you have a mountain of papers staring back at you waiting to be graded?  Perhaps a tower of multiple choice quizzes teeters at the corner of your desk?  You've been tasked with grading these assignments, but lack a strategy? In this workshop you will learn how to make your grading fair and efficient.  We will begin by reviewing some of the challenges surrounding grading, and examine why these challenges arise. Then we will discuss how to create rubrics for your assessments, helping you to ensure each student is graded against the same standard.  You will also have a chance to start creating a rubric for an assignment. 
Facilitator: Seanna Davidson, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT particpants can submit a response paper within two weeks for credit or receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.  
• The workshop is open to all UW instructors and graduate students.
• Limited to 40 participants.

Title: CTE193 Teaching Dossiers: Consultation Session
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Time: 3:00 to 4:30 pm
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: This consultation session is designed for GS 902 participants who have completed the Teaching Dossier workshop and are intending on completing their dossier in the near future. The consultation session is designed to assist you in the final preparation of the dossier by leading you through several exercises with a partner to establish a solid teaching philosophy statement which carries through your entire dossier.
To prepare for this session, you need to do two tasks:
1) bring a copy of your own completed teaching philosophy statement
2) bring any supporting materials (i.e., appendices) you wish to include in your dossier
3) complete a pre-consultation session activity (link will be sent after registration).
Facilitator: Svitlana Taraban Gordon, CTE
Note(s):

• This consultation session is intended for participants enrolled in GS 902 of UW's Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program. For CUT participants not in the revised program, you may attend the consultation session if registration is not full.
• You must have attended the Teaching Dossiers Workshop.
• If you are a CUT participant, a Workshop Attendance Form must be completed and brought to each workshop.

Title: CTE194 Research Projects: Consultation Session
Date: Friday, March 12, 2010 from 10:00 to 11:30 am
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Facilitator: Svitlana Taraban Gordon, CTE

Description: This consultation session is intended for GS 902 participants who have completed the Research Projects workshop and are completing their project in the near future. The consultation session is designed to assist you in the final preparation of the research project by leading you through several exercises with a partner to establish a final draft of your main deliverable (paper, mini-workshop or poster) and a review of your chosen literature sources.

Note(s):

• To be eligible for this consultation session, you must
  1. be registered through Quest for GS 902 or currently working on GS 902
  2. have attended the research projects workshop
  3. have identified your topic and 10 key literature sources, and
  4. have a draft of the written component of your project.
• You must bring to the consultation session the following materials
  1. a fully-written introduction for your written component
  2. an annotated bibliography for your 10 key literature sources that gives 2-3 sentences stating the relevance of each source
  3. an outline of the main body of your written component (i.e., main section headings with bullet point notes).
• For CUT participants not in the revised program, you may attend the consultation session if registration is not full.

Title: CTE197 Academic Job Interview
Date: Monday, March 15, 2010
Time: 12:00 to 1:30 pm
Place: TC 2218
Description: Learn best strategies to succeed in your next academic interview and hear from professors who have gone through the process recently, as well as what Chairs/Deans are looking for in candidates.    
Facilitator: Elisabeth Adrian, CECS
Note(s):

• CUT and ITA particpants can receive an attendance credit for either "CTE211 Academic Interview Skills" or "CTE197 Academic Job Interview" (not both), if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted. However, you are welcome to attend both workshops.
• This workshop is open to all graduate students and instructors at UW.

Title: CTE209 Graphic Syllabus
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 am
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description:Students rarely take the time and have the patience to read an entire text syllabus carefully. Even when they take the time to go through the syllabus, they often lack the background and experience to be able to grasp the big picture of the course organization from weekly schedule in the course outline. This workshop will present graphic syllabus as a complimentary tool to a traditional text-based syllabus. We will discuss its advantages and steps in creating an effective graphic syllabus. You will also have a chance to start developing a graphic syllabus of your own!
Facilitator: Arash Shahi, CTE
Note(s):

• You must bring a complete text syllabus for a course that you have either taken as a student or have TAed in the past.

• CUT particpants can submit a response paper within two weeks for credit or receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.  
• The workshop is open to all UW instructors and graduate students.
• Limited to 40 participants.

Title: CTE211 Academic Interview Skills
Date: Monday, March 22, 2010
Time: 12:00 to 1:30 pm
Place: TC 2218
Description: Improve your performance in an academic job interview by practising in a small group setting.
Facilitator: CECS Staff
Note(s):

• CUT and ITA particpants can receive an attendance credit for either "CTE211 Academic Interview Skills" or "CTE197 Academic Job Interview" (not both), if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted. However, you are welcome to attend both workshops.
• This workshop is open to all graduate students and instructors at UW.
• Limited to 30 participants.
• Register

Title: CTE073 Course Design
Date: Friday, April 9, 2010
Time: 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Place: FLEX Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: One exciting task as an instructor is to design your own course. But where do you start? In this half-day workshop, you will use one course-design model to start working on your own course. Beginning with a pre-workshop worksheet (which will be sent out with registration confirmation), you will answer a variety of questions to help organize your planning process and reveal the information needed to design a course focused on student learning. During the workshop, we will discuss setting course learning goals, planning feedback and assessment, and choosing teaching strategies, all in relation to factors such as the context of the course, your students, and yourself as an instructor. Then you will test out how well your course components are aligned. We will also briefly cover course outlines and course evaluation. Although a few large group activities will occur, you will be working primarily on your own or in pairs, with a lot of feedback from the workshop facilitator.

This workshop is a required workshop for GS 901. One response paper is required and must be accepted for credit towards CUT. If space is available, faculty members, graduate students, and staff instructors at UW are welcome to register. Please note that attendance is contingent upon participants completing and submitting a pre-workshop worksheet by the date given.

Because of the one-on-one feedback being offered in this workshop, enrolment is limited to 20.
Facilitator: Donna Ellis, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT particpants must submit a response paper within two weeks for credit.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted AND if course is not full.
• Register

NOTE: When booking a session, please provide your name, department and title of your mini-lecture in the email.

Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

• Time: 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
• Place: FLEX Lab, Porter Library, Room 329
• Notes: To register, please email Mareike Mueller.

Title: CTE165 Interactive Teaching Activities
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time:12:00 to 1:30 pm
Place:FLEX Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: This workshop will focus on helping participants find new ways of integrating interactive teaching activities in their lectures, labs and/or tutorials.  While many of us want to include more interactive techniques in our teaching, we are often unsure of what types of activities to use and how to implement them to best facilitate student learning.  A variety of interactive activities will be discussed in this workshop and we will explore which types of activities will work best in your classroom – based on your learning goals.  The workshop itself will also be highly interactive as you will have the chance to practice some of the learning activities presented as we explore issues such as how to choose, plan, troubleshoot, and evaluate the techniques.
Facilitators: Richelle Monaghan, CTE and Mareike Muller, CTE
Note(s):

• CUT particpants can submit a response paper within two weeks for credit or receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.
• ITA participants can receive an attendance credit if a Workshop Attendance Form is submitted.  
• The workshop is open to all UW instructors and graduate students.
• Limited to 40 participants.  

Title: CTE206 Classroom Communication Strategies
Date: Friday, February 26, 2010
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Flex Lab, Porter Library, Rm. 329
Description: International instructors, even those with high level of proficiency in English, often have concerns about their communicative competence in the classroom and their pedagogical language.  Effective instructors are expected to know how to use communication techniques to orient the students to the lecture, help them to follow the material and to anticipate what's coming. They also need to know how to use communication strategies for checking student comprehension and engaging students with the material through questions, examples, and other techniques.

This workshop will explore effective classroom communication strategies that allow you to verbally manage your class, make your explanations comprehensible, and encourage your students to participate in class. You will have the chance to practise different communication strategies in a small-group setting and receive feedback from peers and the workshop facilitator.
Facilitator: Mareike Mueller, CTE
Note(s):

• This workshop is aimed at teaching assistants with English as a Second Language.
• ITA participants must arrive on time and stay until the end of the event to receive attendance credit.
• ITA and CUT participants must bring a Workshop Attendance Form to receive attendance credit.
• Registration is limited to 15.

Why are we changing systems?
Until now, we have been using "Easyform" registration. The functions are, as you can probably tell from the name, simple. As we have increased the number and kind of workshops and events we run, tracking everything has become very difficult. With a centrally-supported, database-driven system we can automate tasks, track the impact measures of our work more effectively, and give you more control over your own enrolment record. That means that you can enroll yourself in events and also see your own enrollment history. 

What are the direct benefits of this move?
In short, you'll have more control over your own records in a secure, anywhere / anytime environment. We'll be able to set it up so that you get automatic reminder emails, the chance to go on a waitlist for full sessions if you so choose, and a direct way to see available offerings plus a full archive of events as of Spring 2009. On our side, we'll be able to interpret attendance patterns and workshop ratings in order to serve you all the better.

How did we decide on the Human Resources system?
After surveying teaching centres across Canada, considering our own in-house resources and expertise, and looking at external solutions, we decided that a centrally-supported system that other UW groups are or will be using would bring the most benefits to us and to you. Other possibilities, although perhaps having more attractive or intuitive interfaces, lacked the security levels appropriate for faculty and graduate student information and privacy, or they required a level of expertise we do not have on staff in our Centre.

What will change?
Rather than linking directly from our site to a registration page for a particular workshop, a link from our site will lead to the myHRinfo page, where you will need to log in with your UW credentials (the same user id and password you would use, for example, to access ACE and Nexus mail, or your server on your office computer). You'll then search for a course number, view its associated information, and click register on the session that you want. Instead of "workshops," you'll see "courses" and "session offerings" of the courses. You'll see numbers 001-499 for graduate student course sessions, 500-599 for new faculty, and 600-999 for faculty. There's no other meaning for the finer slices of those numbers.

Questions?

• Graduate Students need to contact Darlene Radicioni (ext. 33132).
• Faculty Members need to contact Verna Keller (ext. 33857).

Please note that events for Grad Students are numbered between 001 and 499; events for Faculty are numbered from 500 to 999.

Feedback on the new system?
Contact Trevor Holmes at ext. 33408, who would love to hear your thoughts now or any time.