1. PRESIDENT’S REPORT to BOARD OF GOVERNORS
4/4/17
Presented by: Feridun Hamdullahpur
President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo

2. HIGHLIGHTS Government Relations update Artificial Intelligence GEDI
QS rankings
Faculty roundtable and departmental visits
X + Business programs
Action on mental health

3. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
Advocacy and outreach
UW hosts Minister Kirsty Duncan at Canada Research (CERC) Funding announcement $117M on April 3rd
Provincial SMA negotiation process has been launched and Bonnie Patterson visited campus March 30th
Hosted Health Canada DM Simon Kennedy on campus on February 27th
Federal Minister of Heritage Melanie Joly visited Velocity Garage on March 2nd
Successful Waterloo Parliament Hill event held on March 7th with 75 attendees including 12 MPs and two minister’s offices
Significant lobbying activity in Ottawa/local MPs raising UW profile in quantum, AI, autonomous and advanced manufacturing

4. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The Vector Institute in Ontario was championed by Ed Clark, Premier Wynne’s advisor on economic growth. The Vector Institute will be funded jointly by federal, provincial and corporate dollars.
The federal budget also announced $125 million to launch a Pan- Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The Strategy is intended to promote collaboration between Canada’s main centres of expertise in Montréal, Toronto- Waterloo and Edmonton and position Canada as a world- leading destination for companies seeking to invest in artificial intelligence and innovation..
Alan Bernstein and CIFAR were specifically named as the group that will lead the new AI strategy on behalf of the Government of Canada. Waterloo is working to ensure inclusion for research chairs that will be available to Waterloo to support AI research.
The developments regarding an AI institute in Ontario have moved quickly and are championed by Ed Clark, Premier Wynne’s advisor on economic growth. The U of T based institute has support from the province, Ottawa and several corporate investors; Alan Bernstein of CIFAR was also brought into evaluate and influence. It is not yet clear the number and value of chairs that will be available to Waterloo to support AI research. We are anticipating a potential announcement for the Vector Institute as early as March 28.
At the same time, a national network for AI is under development in anticipation of details on the innovation network and cluster funding coming forth in the federal budget. Local scale-up firms have recommended that Waterloo create 150 spaces for an undergrad machine learning co-op program in Engineering. This is being reviewed by deans of math and engineering, but only in a context where Waterloo is awarded relevant research funding.
PHOTO CREDIT: University Relations
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains a strong advocate of University of Waterloo students and research initiatives.

5. Value-proposition for Industry
GEDI
Value-proposition for Industry
Opportunity to connect, optimize and accelerate existing research collaborations
Corporate personnel and UWaterloo researchers tackle real world problems collaboratively
Identification of future research opportunities
Physical space on campus
Assigned UWaterloo Relationship Manager to navigate and co-ordinate activity on campus
A laboratory for innovation
A testing ground for ambitious and entrepreneurial students
An education platform for change agents in business and industry
A hatchery for solutions to the world’s most pressing problems
A model that over time can be scaled and replicated at other universities
Global Entrepreneurship & Disruptive Innovation -- GEDI
Campus Engagement Manager
Future talent and capacity development
Curated Idea Exchanges with researchers & graduate students
Access to a secure environment to certify, test and demonstrate possible solutions
Big Tent Collisions with startups and entrepreneurs
Solutions Hackathons

6. QS SUBJECT RANKINGS 2017 51 to 100 101 to 200 Top 50
Architecture and Built Environment
Chemical Engineering
Civil and Structural Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Sciences
Geography ▿
Material Science
Psychology ▵
Sports Related subjects(new)
Statistics and Operational Research
Accounting and Finance
Chemistry ▿
Earth and Marine Science
Mechanical Engineering
Philosophy ▿
Physics and Astronomy
Politics and International Studies
Sociology ▵
#13 — Hospitality and Leisure Studies (new)
#31 — Computer Sciences and Information Systems ▿
#34 — Mathematics ▿
Results are largely the same as last year. Waterloo featured in the top 200 in 21 of the 46 featured subject areas. Some movement in the overall rank from year to year is typical in these types of ranking results and can be considered “noise”. Results in the reputational surveys fluctuate from year to year based on the overall sample and composition of survey respondents. In the QS surveys, institutions have the opportunity to contribute lists of potential participants, and Waterloo has increased its efforts in recent years. We will continue to pursue these efforts in the coming year as well.
The four main indicators continue to be: academic peer survey, employer survey, and citations per paper, and h-index. QS changed their methodology between 2014 and 2015, but have not made major changes this year.  QS subject rankings are all based on the same four indicators (academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty member and h-index), however the weighting of these indicators is different for each subject and many tend to be more heavily weighted on the reputational indicators. The reputational indicators are based on survey results.
Overall university rankings are expected in the fall.

7. Faculty roundtables/dept. visits
President/Provost Department Visits - 6 to date with 4 more scheduled before June (ongoing next year)
Informal Faculty roundtables with President (ongoing)
Discussing direction of UW, leadership, opportunities to pursue and challenges faced at UW
Very positive engaging conversations/Emerging common topics of interest
Enhanced interdisciplinarity at UW
Insights into how to build a robust intellectually stimulating/closer campus community
Ideas for networking and mentorship
Internationalization
Great desire for discussions on interdisciplinarity, research and internationalization
Colleagues asking for opportunities to socialize/discuss research with other colleagues – working on plans/format to pull together

8. BUSINESS EDUCATION AT WATERLOO
Subject-grounded, business-enriched, experiential and entrepreneurially focused programs in all Faculties — replaces traditional business school model.
23.6% of students were enrolled in a business-related program (2015/16).
Waterloo ranks #12 among Canadian business universities (Maclean’s 2017).
Business programs at Waterloo include accredited programs (Accounting and Finance, Management Engineering); “X and Business” programs in AHS, Arts, Environment and Science; and Quantitative Business in Mathematics.
Recommendations: The Working Group recommended three structural initiatives to enhance value for Waterloo’s decentralized approach to business education and research:
A Waterloo Business Forum to develop measures to increase quality and visibility of Business at Waterloo, including enhancements to experiential learning, strengthening concentrations of business scholarship, supporting new faculty hires, and guiding undergraduate recruitment;
A Waterloo Business Student Hub, initially conceived to be a virtual center and resource, then to become a physical space that supports Waterloo business students from first year to graduation, and instructors of business courses; and,
A Business Curriculum Committee to coordinate major business programs, including common business (’BUS’) courses among Faculties and to improve operational delivery effectiveness.

9. ACTION ON MENTAL HEALTH
Issues of mental health and suicide — specifically among youth — are present across our country.
As a community we will come together to learn what more can be done to support those who may suffer in silence.
Waterloo is taking action, building on the 2012 Student Mental Health Review.
Actions include:
Convening a President’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health
Launching a series of campus engagements to collect ideas, comments and concerns from students, faculty, staff and alumni — in person and online
Increased public education efforts around student mental health and supports and services available
IRA NEEDLES HALL — STUDENT SERVICES
The recent expansion of Needles Hall on the main campus includes expanded mental health and wellness services for students.