24-hour relay team raises cash for the kids
UVic and Friends, the university’s entry in the 24-Hour Relay for the Kids, raised $5,741.52 in the June 24–25 fundraiser at Centennial Stadium. The 60-person team of students, staff, alumni, faculty, senior administrators and their friends and spouses were led by co-captains Helen Kobrc (business) and Catherine McLeod (development). The team held individual and team fundraising activities with Leelah Dawson (business) single-handedly raising $465 — the highest individual total. The round-the-clock event raised a record $561,000 for the B.C. Lions Camp Shawnigan for children with a disability. The team’s co-captains are already on the lookout for participants and volunteers for next year’s event. If you like to wear cool T-shirts and possibly play soccer at 4:30 a.m. contact McLeod at cmcleod@uvic.ca
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Be a B.C. Games volunteer
Volunteers are still needed for this year’s B.C. Games, taking place in Victoria July 27–30. UVic will be the site of several athletic events. Games competition venues include Centennial Stadium (athletics), Wallace Field (rugby), the warm-up track interior field and artificial field (field hockey) and the McKinnon complex pool (triathlon and pentathlon). Volunteers are especially needed in the areas of food services (preparing box lunches and serving meals), accommodation (housekeeping duties in the school gymnasiums that serve as dormitories) and security. About 4,500 athletes, coaches, managers and officials are expected in Victoria for the event. Volunteer registration forms are available at the Games office at 957 Fort Street or visit the Games Web site at <www.vicgames2000.cjb.net> or call 405-3000 for more details.
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Nominations invited for Provost’s lecture series
The Provost’s UVic Faculty Series committee is looking for nominations for speakers in 2000-2001. The series started seven years ago and offers faculty members an opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise with university colleagues and the local community. Candidates must have a national or international reputation for excellence and achievement, and the ability to convey this expertise to people outside the field. Nominees can be at any rank, and limited term, adjunct or emeritus faculty members are also eligible. An honorarium is offered as an unrestricted research fund. Last year’s nominees will automatically be considered again this year. Nominations should be sent to: office of the vice president academic and provost (Business and Economics Bldg., room 480) by July 21. View the nomination form and a list of presenters since 1993 online at <web.uvic.ca/vpac/>.
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Ill will dogs civil service, committee finds
A lack of trust and understanding and the government’s dual role as employer and legislator are the main impediments in labour-management relations between the federal government and the 16 unions representing its employees, according to a federal advisory committee chaired by Prof. John Fryer (public administration). The committee’s first report notes that mistrust has made it harder for the parties to work out problems in the workplace and at the bargaining table. “(However) I am pleased to see a number of recent human resource initiatives taken by the Treasury Board — initiatives which appear to be creating a more co-operative environment for labour-management relations in the public service,” says Fryer. The Fryer committee’s second report to the federal treasury board is due early next year.
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$25,000 donation helps aboriginal students
Aboriginal students attending UVic will be the beneficiaries of a $25,000 donation from the HSBC Bank Canada. The bank’s president and CEO, Martin Glynn, was on campus to present the funds at a reception on June 28. The funds will be used for bursaries for aboriginal students who are entering or continuing their studies at UVic. “In the last few years we’ve encountered First Nations students who required emergency financial assistance because their own sponsors had curtailed funding,” says UVic aboriginal liaison officer Bill White. “These bursaries are a start toward alleviating difficulties for aboriginal students in need.”
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Education faculty seeks grad nominations
The faculty of education would like your suggestions for outstanding UVic education grads for the 2000 Distinguished Education Alumni Awards. Three winners are selected each year by a committee of alumni and faculty, and three scholarships are awarded in their names to students who are deemed to have best served the goals of education during the preceding year. Anyone — not just alumni — may submit a nomination. Nominations must include a letter and brief profile of the nominee and be sent by Aug. 31 to the office of the dean of education. The awards will be presented on Nov. 7 at a special evening reception. For further information, contact the dean’s office at 721-7757 or e-mail mnelms@uvic.ca.
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If you’re a member of UVic’s optional life insurance plan…
A university committee is looking for feedback from UVic employees on ways of distributing money derived from demutualization of Sun Life, which administers UVic’s Optional Group Life Insurance plan. Demutualization is a process in which a company changes to being owned by shareholders rather than policyholders. As a “participating policyholder,” the university received a cash payment equal to 31,418 shares. To disperse the funds, a working committee has recommended: that all members of the Optional Group Life Insurance plan since Jan. 27, 1998 be eligible for benefits; that the distribution ratio be calculated with the same formula used by Sun Life; and that the cash value of the shares — $392,725 — be dispersed in its entirety. If you have any questions or comments, send them by July 31 to Lois Jones (human resources) or to committee members Tom Cleary (English), Bill Pfaffenberger (faculty association), Ian Thornton (biology) or Jackie Langley (pension office). For more information, go online to <http://web.uvic.ca/human_resources>.
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